Milan Puddle Jumper

On Thursday, the team was in action at the Milan Puddle Jumper.  The picture above describes it well - smiling athletes with a championship trophy! 

There were two races at Milan, as we will see quite often this season.  In the varsity race, we were allowed to run 12 athletes.  It's an unusual number for a race but one they base on the number of teams and athletes attending.  Personally, I like it as it allows more of our athletes to get exposure to the varsity environment.  In this particular race, they blend all the divisions together for the race but then split results out to division 1 and divisions 2-4.  

As we were getting ready for the D1 results, someone showed me what it looked like on anet - a Saline sweep.  I knew we had won the meet with a perfect score of 15 points.  I was not aware that we had also taken the top 12 spots in the D1 version of the race.  That's impressive given that we had a formidable SEC opponent (Monroe) also in the race. 

McKinley Jones won the race in 19:26, a time that will place her as the 18th fastest freshman of all time at Saline.  There is more to come and I doubt she will remain at 18 for long.  She was followed by Savannah Staton who ran a blistering 20:01 and will be seeing sub 20 and a place on that freshman record board within her next few outings.  

Following Grace, was Mackenzie Sellenraad with an impressive 20:46.  Kate Munson, who took the race out with a gutsy first lap of the course, was the 5th finisher in 21:02. She was followed by Corynn Gady, Sophie Roth and Lilli Schlack.  Following Lilli was freshman Addie Turck, who has been amazing to watch as she has adapted to the rigors of varsity training, was the next Hornet across the line in 21:38 (a PR, but we will be saying that a lot for her).  She was followed by a trio of seniors, Abby Roth, Kylie Warner and Lizzie Thibeault all of whom had very solid efforts. 

After the varsity race, the team lined up for the open race.  This was another race in which there was a great showing for Saline where we saw the Hornets take 6 of the top 10 spots.  

Jillian Hayes took the race out and led for much of the race.  Jillian is a strong starter and not afraid to go to the front early and take control.  She held on for 2nd place after she was passed by fellow junior Mahalia Staton.  Mahalia ran a great race and deserves the title of "champion"!

Jillian was followed to the line by Riley Provost and Kennedy Lange (separated by just 3 seconds).  14 seconds back, Hannah Gritzmaker had a strong finish with Ruthie Bonfiglio closing the gap. 

Claire Oberski was the next Saline finisher in a PR of 27:29, over 1 minute faster than she ran at the Saline Campus Invite last week.  Put a mark by this name as there is more to come from her this season.  Emma Allis followed Claire to the line.  She had a goal, set the pace early, and did everything she could to get there on a very hot day.  Soon Emma, soon! Eliza Farr was the next athlete to cross and she was followed by Captain Madi Rogan.  It was great to see Madi out there and we know this is just the beginning of the season for her.  Madi was followed by first year runner Hayley Hummel.

After Gabby, Isabella Routson finished in 32:24.  She was followed by Megan Sweet (yes, that Megan of basketball fame), Elizabeth Giles, Moira Laundree, Shelby Fordeck, Dylan Erickson and Natasha Hatlem. 

In total, Saline had 32 finishers at Milan.  We were missing several athletes/musicians who were excused from the meet due to a performance with marching band at the football game.  Our team is 56 strong this year and we're excited to go through the season with this group. 

Next week, on 9/7, the team will be at two different meets.  Some of our athletes will attend the Bret Clements Bath Invitational, while the majority of the team will be in action at the Rambling Rock Invitational at Willow Metropark.