Bidwell Second at MHSAA D-2 Cross Country Final
(Marshall): Marshall High School runner Jack Bidwell (520) is just behind T.J Hansen of Freeland during the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway.
Photo, story by Jeff Steers
Recorder Contributing Writer
Marshall High School runner Jack Bidwell finished just one second off his school record and finished second at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state cross country finals.
Bidwell ran the 5K course at Michigan International Speedway in 14 minutes, 57 seconds to finish second to T.J. Hansen of Freeland.
Following Bidwell across the line were Abe McHugh in 47th (16:09), Reece Davis in 54th (16:15), Clark Erwin in 126th (16:53), Ty Winchell in 222nd (18:03), Cam Weers in 223rd (18:03) and Chase Weers in 235th (18:25).
“The boys did a great job, as they have all season,” said Coach Steve Wissink. “Jack ran an outstanding race, going stride for stride with the 12th ranked runner in the entire country. He pulled away from him at the end, but Jack’s time (14:57) was the second fastest in DII history and 12th fastest ever.
“Marshall’s boys have only finished in the top ten three times in the sport’s history, and two of those were last year and this year, so we’re pretty proud of that. Our two seniors, Jack and Reece, have a pre-state meet record of 242 – 5 in races they both ran in. That says a lot about those two young men”.
Marshall finished seventh as a team for its second consecutive top 10 team finish at the state finals.
In the girl’s race, Marshall junior Leah McPartlin finished 122nd out of 260 runners.
Division 4 Boys: Concord finished 24th as a team with 501 points. Maddox Hutchinson finished 87th in 17:46, Paul Herendeen was 146th with a time of 18:32, and teammate Dustin Hamilton was 150th in 18:32. Diego BoCole of Jackson Prep placed 94th (17:47) and Dallas Swaenepoel of Vandercook Lake placed 178th in 18:56 as individual qualifiers.
Division 3 Boys: Lumen Christi finished fourth as a team with 246 points, Hanover-Horton was fifth scoring 270, and Columbia Central finished 23rd scoring 516. Isaiah Dinverno and Leo Swager earned all-state medals by finishing in the top 30. Dinverno was fourth overall in 15:41 and Swager placed 25th in a time of 16:10. Landen Boulis of Hanover-Horton finished 17th (15:57) to earn all-state honors. Teammate Cooper Flick finished 36th in 16:24. Columbia Central was led by freshman Clint Couchman who finished 78th in 16:55 and Wyatt Vowell who was 120th with a time of 17:16. John Edler of Homer placed 59th with a time of 16:45.
Division 4 Girls: Concord High School finished 24th as a team with 535 points. Haley Stimer finished 43rd overall with a time of 20:34. CHS junior Cieara Barrett was 92nd in 21:28 and teammate Mya Barrett placed 149th in 22:26.
Division 3 Girls: Lumen Christi finished ninth as a team with 272 points and Grass Lake was 23rd scoring 542 points at Michigan International Speedway Saturday. Samantha Schroeder earned all-state honors by placing eighth with a time of 18:06. Teammates Macy Fazekas was 54th (19:57) and Layla Lopez was 92nd (20:41) for the Titans. Grass Lake freshman Adalyn Jarchow as 114th (20:57) and Elise Bullock was 143rd in 21:20. The Warriors competed with two freshman and three sophomores in its top seven runners. Maisey Toteff of Hanover-Horton finished 49th (19:53) and teammate Brynlee Swihart placed 127th (21:11) in the individual competition.
Division 2 Boys: Western High School finished 20th as a team and had a pair of all-state runners Saturday at MIS. Edison Lopeman finished eighth overall in 15:23 and teammate Ryan Good placed 17th in 15:30 for the Panthers.
Division 2 Girls: Chloe Khon of Northwest placed 106th at the D-2 state final with a time of 20:08 at MIS.
Division 1 Girls: Grace Brown of Jackson finished 209th with a time of 20:34 at the Division 1 state finals at MIS Saturday.
