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Boys/Girls Varsity Cross Country @ Mancelona Invite
4.0 months ago @ 6:14AM | Doug Brown
- Game Date
- Oct 1, 2025
The Blazer cross country teams raced upon the plains of Mancelona on Wednesday, October 1, at the Mancelona Invitational. Kalkaska raced in the large school division, which was won by the Traverse City St. Francis girls and Traverse City Central boys. Brynne Schulte of Elk Rapids was the first girl of the evening, running 18:33.1, and Issac Dionne of Boyne City was the top boy, running 16:00.7.
Aaliyah Hillier led the Blazers with a fifth place finish and a new PR of 19:48.7. Izzy Wegener, Anna Martin, Courtney Borden, and Paige Balliet scored for the girls and Payton Bonofiglio and Lilly Trumble placed. All of these ladies ran PRs for the season, along with Nivaya Ochampaugh who ran a season record.
Coltrane Paryani led the boys, running a PR of 17:12.5 for a 15th place finish. Owen McGlone, Seth Storm, Kellen TenHopen, and Alex Bontrager scored for the Blazers, and Jackson Shetler and Zach Little placed. McGlone, Storm, TenHopen, Bontrager, and Little PRd, and Shetler ran a season best. Afton Staley, Brandon Martin, and Brayden Vanderloop also set new PRs.
Results are still being finished up, but at the moment the boys placed 6th of ten scoring teams, and the girls are 4th of eight teams after Payton Bonofiglio broke a tie breaker with Boyne City, since she beat their 6th runner.
The middle school girls placed 8th of ten teams in the large school middle school race, two points behind Grayling. Close one. Ryane Gilbert was the first Blazer, running a new PR of 14:58.1. Gwen Finley, Sophia Garcia, McKenna Jenkins, and Brynlee Adams scored, and Avery Shriver and Leylah Ochampaugh placed. Garcia ran a PR.
J.J. Fox won the boys race with a strong surge at the end, finishing with a new PR of 11:14.1, less than a second ahead of the Lincoln Hammer of TC East. Great race! Nick Wegener, Griffin Anderson, Kyle Ball, and Sam Belongia scored, and Ben Borden placed. Wegener and Belongia ran PRs. The boys finished 6th of eleven teams.
Great job to all of our runners. We will link results from Athletic.net as soon as possible.
The Blazers will race again on October 14 at the North Shore Conference Championship in Boyne City!