Wildcat Harriers score another Top 10 finish
10/2/2011 Photo: Brian Barnes, Eric Gardner

“I thought we ran extremely well today,” commented the Wildcat Coach Robert Smith. “We raced like a team.”

Novi was again led by sophomore Brian Barnes coming across the line in 42nd place with a fine time of 17:12. Right behind Barnes came senior Eric Gardner, who ran the fastest time of his high school career (44 / 17:14).

“This may well be his breakout race," noted Smith. "I knew all season that it would be just a matter of time before Eric would be challenging for the team lead. He was right there today. This race should give Eric the confidence to now run at a higher level. This is great for him and great for the team."

Junior Allen Potter also ran a career PR (Personal Record) of 17:35).

“Allen is dropping his time in almost every race. He is also running with much more confidence lately.”

Kevin Hanlon (85th / 17:45), Ben Jenkins (88th / 17:48), John Potter (91st / 17:49) and Josh Squires (99th / 18:00) rounded out the Novi varsity.

“Four of our top 7 ran season PRs today, and we had had a pack time of just 48 seconds. Those are two key stats. We are improving every meet.”

Barnes, Gardner, and Potter were among the medalists in the varsity race in a field of 202 athletes. An unusual aspect in this meet was that each time was allowed to enter ten athletes in the varsity race. Mike Benkarski (113 / 18:20), Nate Hall (121 / 18:28) and Andrew Turek (126 / 18:37) all got the chance to run varsity.

In the JV competition Cameron Richman ran an outstanding race (13th / 18:02).

“Cam chopped off more than 30 seconds off of his seasons’ best. He is set to break into the 17’s,” noted Smith

Travis Trainor, Casey Croad, Evan Thomas, Bryant Sweet, Kevin Boran and David Gardner joined him on the medals stand. Other athletes who set big season bests include: Trevor Malarkey (2:14 better), Michael Richmond (1:24), Tom Groechel (1:11), Dan Dixon (57 seconds), Alex Sekuloski (54 seconds) and James Jones (53 seconds).

Six out of the top 8 times produced today were by underclassmen.

“Our young guys are stepping up. That is what we need as we continue down the homestretch," noted Smith.

You can visit the team's website, here.

JV Photo above: Left to Right, Front Row: Cameron Richman, Kevin Boran, Casey Croad, Back Row: Evan Thomas, David Gardner, Bryant Sweet, Travis Trainor