Fast times, tight finishes at EUP Jamboree race in Rudyard

By Dan Hardenbrook

With less than two weeks before the U.P. Cross Country Finals wrap up the season, EUP teams raced in the second of three EUP Conference meets on Monday. Engadine and Newberry were among the entries at the EUP Jamboree, which took place at the school farm course in Rudyard. Runners were met with true fall-like conditions. It was cold, windy, and sometimes wet, but runners thrived on the fast course anyway.

All eyes were once again on Newberry’s senior phenom Abby Taylor, who has put up never-before-seen times in recent races. She ruled again on Monday. Fellow top-ranked teammate Molly McNamara wasn’t there, so no one else could keep pace with Taylor. She broke away from the starting pack and led by almost a full minute halfway through the race.

Cruising on the usually fast Rudyard course, Taylor blew away the field with a winning time of 19:26, more than two full minutes ahead of second place Colleen Rice of Rudyard. It was Taylor’s second straight conference meet win after taking the first EUP race in Naubinway last week.

The Engadine Lady Eagles top female runner, sophomore Sarah Chapman, finished in the top five. Chapman stayed with the main pack and held her ground for the strong finish. Chapman finished the run in 22:01.

Engadine’s Fern Stielstra and Maggie Mersnick had a memorable finish when they and Rudyard’s Leah Russell crossed the line at almost the same time. They were separated by a fraction of a second, with Stielstra edging Mersnick by two thousandths of a second (25:00.02 to 25:00.04). The Lady Eagles were rounded out by Cali Robinson, who finished 34th.

Newberry’s next highest finisher after Taylor was Ari Cornell, who came across in 31st. A trio of Lady Indians wrapped up the race together, with Delaney Bliss, Emily Mills, and Allison Wallace ending up 39th, 40th, and 41st respectively.

On the boys race, Cedarville-DeTour’s Ethan Snyder, who is among Michigan’s elite male distance runners, ran through the Rudyard course with ease. He barely looking winded after earning an EUP meet record time of 16:39.8 seconds.

Two other runners broke the 18-minute mark, and the top 12 all finished in under 19 minutes.

Two Engadine Eagles brought home top 10 honors. Nate Stielstra flew to a 6th place finish (18:20) and teammate Eddie Franckowiak finished in 8th place at 18:25.4. Stielstra and Franckowiak led the way for a full Engadine squad. Birch Bitely (25th – 20:42), Oliver French (38th – 22:16) and Eli Franckowiak (48th – 25:40) contributed the performance for Engadine.

Local teams will return to Rudyard on Saturday for the annual Autumn Classic, and the EUP Championship finale is next Monday in Pickford.