Escanaba's Mabie wins third cross-country meet of 2024 season

EBEN JUNCTION — Alisha Mabie earned her third straight victory in helping the Escanaba girls finish second at the Superior Central Invitational cross country meet here Saturday.

Ewen-Trout Creek, which placed fourth in the top eight, won with 44 points. The Eskymos finished with 100 points and third-place Powers North Central had 112.

“The girls are doing their best times” Esky’s coach Scott Dykema said. “Overall, they’re running really well. Ashley Spreitzer lost another minute. A couple of kids were sick today, but we’ve got some good kids to work with.”

Stephenson’s boys beat Engadine 89-95 for the title. Crystal Falls Forest Park placed third with 99 points.

Mabie covered the 3.2-mile course in 20:38.38 and Engadine eighth-grader Molly McNamara was second in 21:14.53 on the sunny, windy and warm morning.

“Molly pushed me all the way.” Mabie said. “I just tried to climb the hills and give all the glory to God. I think I started a little too fast. The journey was a little long.”

McNamara was followed by Stephenson junior Faith Cappaert (22:09.74).

North Central’s Hope Varoni took fourth (22:54.46) and E-TC freshman Bree Besonen was fifth (23:02.05).

“Our girls are really very strong.” E-TC coach Brad Besonen said. “This is the first time we’ve had a full team. We’re really excited. We have a chance (for the UP D-3 final), even though Newberry is pretty good. We’re running as a group and everyone is running good times.”

Stephenson junior Canon Kuntze won his second straight in 18:03.15.

“I think I carried my momentum from the last meet (Kingsford Invitational) and used a similar strategy in this race,” Kuntze said. “They changed the course, but I think it’s better than in the past. I wanted to go fast and get a gap. It was a nice day to race. I would say the breeze helped a little bit, although you don’t really feel it in the woods.”

Engadine senior Dakota Taylor finished second in a personal best time of 18:20.08, followed by North Central’s Ben Knauf (18:21.47).

Ben Knauf was followed by Esky senior William Weise (18:33.11) and North Central’s Wes Knauf (18:59.69).

“It was Ben’s first meet because he plays football and Alex (Pipkorn) had his best time of the season,” ” said Jets coach Katie Depuydt. “It’s good to have a full boys’ team and we’re pretty happy that the girls finished third. The competition was good here. All the kids ran decent times.”

Max Mainville of Forest Park took sixth (19:06.86) and his brother Joey Mainville followed in 19:08.12.

“You never know who’s going to win between these two.” Forest Park coach DJ Rasner said. “It’s fun to watch. They have a brotherly relationship that most brothers don’t have.”

Boys

Stephenson 89, Engadine 95, Crystal Falls Forest Park 99, Escanaba 131, Powers North Central and Superior Central 148, Gwinn 161, Rapid River 197, Manistique 198, Norway 248, Ewen-Trout Creek 249.

Top 10 — 1, Canon Kuntze, Stephenson, 18:03.15; 2, Dakota Taylor, Engadin, 18:20.08; 3, Ben Knauf, Powers North Central, 18:21.47; 4, William Weise, Escanaba, 18:33.11; 5, Wes Knauf, Powers North Central, 18:54.69; 6, Max Mainville, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 19:06.86; 7, Joey Mainville, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 19:08.12; 9, Duane Krenek, Engadin, 19:09.28; 10, Ben Gilroy, Manistique, 19:20.35.

Girls

Ewen-Trout Creek 44, Escanaba 100, Powers North Central 112; Stephenson 118, Rapid River 128, Engadine 139, Norway 157, Manistique 160, Escanaba Holy Name 161, Rock Mid Peninsula 172, Gwinn and Superior Central NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Alisha Mabie, Escanaba, 20:38.38; 2, Molly McNamara, Engadine, 21:14.53; 3, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 22:09.74; 4, Hope Varoni, Powers North Central, 22:54.46; 5, Bree Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 23:02.05; 6, Emma Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 23:23.28; 7, Leona Schultz, Ewen-Trout Creek, 24:07.11; 8, Aly DeCremer, Ewen-Trout Creek, 24:08.67; 9, Gabi Putnam, Stephenson, 24:29.37; 10, Grace Hamlin, Escanaba, 24:39.32.

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