BROOKLYN -- Actions speak louder than words.
That could be the motto for the Harbor Springs girls, who successfully defended their Division 4 state cross country championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
The Rams finished with 66 points. Manton was second with 96.
"This is one of the most focused teams I've ever had," Harbor Springs coach Emily Kloss said. "They knew what they had to do. They didn't talk about it. They just went out and performed."
Underclassmen led the way. Freshman Rhi Cullip came in fourth (19:49.1), sophomore Maddie Buntin fifth (19:58.1), sophomore Grace Carbeck 10th (20:37.3), junior Kendal McCarthy 17th (20:37.7) and senior Jessica Hall 24th (21:00.7). Those places were after individual qualifiers were taken out for team scoring.
Cullip was the fastest freshman in the race and Buntin the fastest sophomore.
In all, four Rams earned All-State honors.
It was the second girls' championship for Harbor Springs, which has offered cross country for 11 years. The boys have won three state titles.
Manton, which came into the race ranked No. 1, was led by four juniors -- Stephanie Ingraham (seventh in 20:07.9), Katie Raymer (13th in 20:26.4), Sonny Jenkins (20th in 20:43.5) and Courtney Roth (25th in 21:06.4). Senior Liz Baller was 31st (21:21.5).
Grand Traverse Academy placed fifth with 213 points. Sophie Schuetze came in 12th (20:21) in the team scoring. Stephanie Horning took 36th (21:29.2), Alysia Campos 43rd (21:45.4), Rowan Estenick 52nd (21:53.3) and Joanna Tarbell 70th (22:28.3).
Boyne Falls finished ninth with 262 points. The Loggers were paced by Kaylee Wilson (14th in 20:26.5), Erica Westbrook (15th in 20:32), Jennelle Roberts (51st in 21:53.2), Kathryn Miller (68th in 22:23.2) and Natalie Aikens (114th in 23:30.6).
Wolverine was 17th with 428 points. Leading the way: Bobbee Papi (27th in 21:12.5), Ajae Whittaker (72nd in 22:32), Heather Rogers (101st in 23:05.9), Becky Papi (109th in 23:20.9) and Jordan LaMothe (119th in 23:43.7).
St. Francis, whose top runner is injured, placed 23rd with 532 points. The Gladiators were paced by Sarah Arthur (34th in 21:27.5), Jessie Michelin 102nd (23:06.9), Kelly Zelinski (11th in 23:25.1), Addey Meachum (117th in 23:36.7) and Katy Jenkins (168th in 27:25.8).
Bellaire's Emily Kwekel finished fifth overall -- counting individual qualifiers -- in 19:44.8.
Jaylee Brown of Bear Lake/Onekama took 24th in 20:34.8. Hannah Passino of Inland Lakes was 31st in 20:46.4 and Ellsworth's Olivia Certa 34th in 20:56.2.
DIVISION 3
Depth was the ticket for Benzie Central's boys, who didn't have a runner in the top 20, but came away with the Division 3 state crown.
Robert Kerby's 25th-place run (17:04) led the Huskies, who had their three runners cross the finish line within five seconds of each other. Tom Smeltzer was close behind Kerby in (17:07, 26th) with Travis Clous just a couple of ticks later (17:09, 28th). Add in David Rhodes in 17:19 for 39th place and Rick Jones in 17:25 for 46th and Benzie's top five runners crossed the finish line within 21 seconds of each other.
The next best area D-3 team was Charlevoix in 13th place, led by a 14th-plce run by Eric Buday (16:38.9).
Benzie's girls were third, as Michaela Carnegie and Taylor Nye were fourth (19:10.8) and fifth (19:20.4). Jill Louisignau was 28th (20:21.4), Marika Grabowski 35th (20:31.3) and Amber Peabody 28th (20:37.4). Theresa Warsecke and Miranda Besey were 45th and 53rd.
Kingsley was led by Kirstin Volkening's 33rd-place finish in 20:30.2.
DIVISION 1
Traverse City Central did even better than its coach hoped for.
The Trojans placed fourth in Division Saturday, including all-state honors for Julia Otwell for the second time.
"I was hoping for a top 10, so we were really excited with a top four," coach Lisa Taylor said. "To rank last year's happiness with a state title as a 10, I'd give this a nine. That's how happy I am with this performance.
"I'm especially proud of our four seniors. They all ran so well for us for a long time.
Otwell was 17th in 19:06.3, while teammates Samantha Ehle (19:33.6, 32nd), Katie Perkins (19:42.7, 39th), Maren Bahra (20:08.7, 63rd) and Hannah DeBortoli (20:10.5, 67th) were all in the top 70. Sixth runner Jessica Krantz was 68th, one-ten of a second behind DeBortoli, and Maria Lyons was 80th in 20:18.8.
TC West's Sebby Kucera was 182nd for TC West in 17:44.2
DIVISION 2
The Gaylord boys came in sixth with 221 points.
For the Blue Devils, Jayden Hesselink was 22nd (16:49.1), Joe Jones 23rd (16:51.8), Bryan Slocum 34th (17:03.4), Charlend Howard 55th (17:20.5) and Nate Fischer 87th (17:40.4).
The girls placed 17th with 424 points. Anna Kassuba was 59th (20:40.8), Megan Borgeson 64th (20:46), Amanda Olds 82nd (21:04.8), Geena Duff 103rd (21:26.8) and Katelynn Dreyer 116th (21:42.1).
DIVISION 4
Suttons Bay's Ben Wynsma was the top Division 4 boys finishers from the area, coming in third in (16:17.3) behind a pair of runners from state champion Concord.
Bear Lake was the top area boys team in Division 4, placing sixth overall.
The Lakers were led by senior Chuck Schoedel's 13th-place finish (17:01.2), followed by sophomores Tyler Groenwald (39th) and Josh Goins (50th) senior Danny Brown (60th) and junior Lewis Bartlett (66th).
Harbor Springs was eighth, paced by Nick Cooper's 26th-place finish in 17:25.8.
The Rams put their top five all in the race's top 70, with Michael Sydow (31st), Benjamin Kloss (37th), Patrick Frank (67th) and Connor Buntin (70th).
Suttons Bay was 13th, led by Wynsma's third-place finish.
The Norsemen were hit by illness in the last several weeks, and three of their top five runners ran while ill at the finals.
"To get here three years in a row is great," Suttons Bay coach Mark Smith said. "But to get here and have this (sickness) is a little frustrating."
Chase Palmer was 46th in 17:54, while Juan Reyes, Mark Jasinski and Travis Smith -- the Norse's three sick runners -- were the next three Suttons Bay finishers.
Central Lake was 23rd as Jordan Becker was 15th in 17:04.7.
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