Wildcat Men's Cross Country wins the South Lyon Invitational

At the gun the field exploded towards the first turn 200 meters away. Soon the runners settled into their pace to complete the 3.1 mile course.

“I think that the front pack went out a little too fast” commented Coach Robert Smith. “A sub 5 minute mile is a bit too ambitious for a race in August.”

The defending champion Wildcats hung on and won the race with a comfortable margin. In cross county the low score wins, and Novi’s score was 46, twenty one points ahead of their nearest rival (Temperance Bedford).

Mike Blaszczyk paced Novi with a third place personal finish. His time of 16:29 proves that he is ready to compete at the front again this year. As a junior Blaszczyk was an all-state runner at the State Finals.

Junior Joe Schubring finished 6th with a time of 17:01. “Joe had an outstanding summer. He put in a lot of quality miles, and now he is enjoying the fruits of his labor” noted Coach Smith.

Alex Minghine was the third Wildcat to come across the finish line. “Alex ran the smartest race of all of our guys today” said Smith. “Last year he often started a little too slow. Today he ran his first mile more on pace for this time of the season”. Alex raced to a 10th place finish with his time of 17:11.

Close behind Alex was Geoff Giese. “Geoff started the season injured last year. With him in the line-up we are a much better team”. Giese came in 12th place; running 17:21.

Rounding out the top 5 (scorers) for the Wildcats was Brett Giampa. “Brett has really stepped up his game. He is running about 45 seconds faster than he did last year at this time. In fact, Brett ran a career best time of 17:27 to give him 12th place”.

Dan Egner came in 6th for his team (21st overall) running 17:36. “Dan was a little off of his game today” commented Coach Smith. “Dan ran as our number 2 man many times for us last season. As he makes the transition from the 800 meters (spring track) to 3.1 miles I am confident that he will return to challenge the rest of our top 5. When that happens, we will be even more solid than we are right now”.

Junior Chase Conrad was the 7th runner for Novi in the varsity race. Chase ran an 18:13 for 40th place. Last year Chase did not even finish this race due to an injury, so it sure was nice to get him back in the line-up. Overall, the Wildcat junior varsity squad also did an outstanding job. Garrett Murphy led the charges with a 5th place finish. His time of 18:21 proved to be a career pr (personal record) by almost half a minute.

Other top times in the race include Steve Pravato in 19:01, Ben Jenkins (freshman) in 19:02, Travis Trainor (19:04), Eric Gardner (19:43), Mark Wagner (19:49) and Kevin Hanlon (20:09).

The Wildcats will have two weeks until their next competition when they take on the South Lyon East Cougars at Cass Benton on Tuesday September 15. Race time is 5 pm.