P-W runners excel at state meet

 

By John Raffel

 

As usual, Pewamo-Westphalia’s girls cross country team made a huge impact on the team standings in Saturday’s Division 3 Lower Peninsula cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway.

P-W was fifth place with a score of 179.

For Pewamo-Westphalia in the team races, Aubrey George was 11th (19;32.2).

Amelia Smith was 24th (20:00.4), Emily Nurenberg 42nd (20:30.6), Julia Esch 47th (20:35.2) and Katelyn Kramer 55th (20:46.1). Among all runners, George was 17th to earn all-state honors. Smith was 33rd, missing All-State by three places.

“We came in with the mindset of giving it our all and leaving it all on the course,” George, a senior, said. “We knew it would be tough. We started out in a big mudpile but got through that. Our goal was in the last mile to give it our all. When we hit the stadium, we had a half-mile left. We definitely worked our hardest in the last mile. We tried to pick off as many girls as we can in the last l00 meters. It paid off.”

George, a senior recalls her highest state finish was when she was a freshman and P-W was in Division 4. She placed seventh. Last season, she was 19th.

“Division 3 is a lot tougher, a lot more competitive,” George said. “I actually was happy with my time today. The course is very muddy here. It’s not personal best or season’s best but I was really happy with how the race went today, especially with the muddy conditions.”

Her personal record was 18:55 at a CMAC jamboree on Oct. 18.

“The season went quite well. As a team everything came together toward the middle of October,” George said. “The training was perfect. We knew it would be tough today. We were ranked sixth. We placed higher than ranked which is good.”

The P-W boys were 16th but had two All-Staters in seniors Ashton Walker and Hayden Germain. Walker was fourth overall (16:16.8) and Germain fifth (16:18.2). They were second and third in the team race.

Also in the team race, Troy Hagen was 59th (17:44.8), Hudson Simon 141st (18.55.6), Alex S. Thelen 149th (19:04.3), Caleb Pohl 150th (19:04.5) and Nathan George 155th (19:12.5).

“I thought it went well, all things, considered,” Germain said. “The course is sticky and muddy. For the most part, it was a hard-fought race. Everyone came to play. I was very happy with how I placed,”

Germain said he and Walker ran together for the most part.

“The last smile we split up a little bit and I got ahead of him for awhile,” Germain said. “He pulled ahead in the last 800.”

“I went pretty well,” Walker said. “Overall it was decent. I had a bit of kick at the end and stuck with him and did what I could.”