Novi Boy's Cross County again places in top ten in county
October 11, 2010

The Novi Wildcat Men's Cross Country Team Finished 10th in the Oakland County Championships last Saturday (October 9). This marks the 14th straight year that the Novi squad has finished in the Top 10.

The Oakland County meet is quite prestigious, with results and a traveling trophy dating back 51 years. This meet is also the largest race in the state, with 41 teams on the starting line. In comparison, the State Finals has 27 teams racing.

"It is quite an honor to again be part of history; to be part of the top 10. This meet is a preview of how things start to shake out before the state finals. Oakland County is the hotbed of cross country in the state of Michigan. Most, if not all of the top 10 teams will be representing their schools at the Finals. The only thing that may be holding some teams back would be the lopsided and skewed regional set-up that is present this year. This meet proves that Novi is one of the top 27 teams in the state. It will be unfortunate if we don't get the chance to prove it," said veteran head coach Bob Smith.

Not only did Novi keep their 14 year top 10 streak alive, they also kept their 14 year streak alive having at least one all-county runner. To be all-county athletes needed to finish in the top 30. Joe Schubring (16:41) and Brett Giampa (16:48) certainly did their part. The dynamic duo raced to 10th and 13th places respectfully.

"Being all-county is quite an honor. The top 30 in the county represents a Who's Who in running. Our guys will wear their medals with pride. It was exciting to see these two going out with the front pack right from the beginning. It was obvious that it was their intent to race today. I am very proud of them," said Smith.

Ryan Tgiros (68th in 17:56), Eric Gardner (84th in 18:13), and Garrett Murphy (106th in 18:27) completed the scoring.

"Those guys ran in the trenches; in the huge pack of runners. It is easy to lose concentration with so many athletes bunched together throughout the entire 3.1 miles. I am very proud of these guys too! It takes 5 guys to score for a team, not just front runners," added Smith.

Dan Lee (133th in 18:35) and Steve Pravato (132 in 18:48) rounded out the Novi runners in the varsity race - all finishing in the top half.

A very encouraging sign for the future is the fact that Novi's JV squad finished in 4th place in the 41 team field. Travis Trainor (16th in 18:39), Tim MacPherson (20th in 18:45), Mike Benkarski (31st in 19:04), Chris Vera-Burgos (35th in 19:09), and Allen Potter (42nd in 19:18) garnered 144 points. Michael Dickmann was the fastest freshman racing to 46th place in the JV race with a very solid time of 19:22.

MacPherson, Paul Hoag, Bjoern Haug, and Palguna Thalla all set season personal records at the meet. This is noteworthy given the fact that the Possom Hollow course is both hilly and long.

Next up, the 'Cats take on Livonia Stevenson on Tuesday.