Jackson, MI. – The weather was perfect at Ella Sharp Park Friday afternoon as over 16 boys and girls High school teams gathered from all over the state to compete at the Jackson Cross Country Invitational. Over 300 boys and over 180 girls came to compete in the 5,000-meter (just a little over 3 miles) races.
For the boys, Skyline took first with Saline finishing second and Dexter took third place overall.
The boys’ heat took place first, and a thundering herd ran down the hill, giving it their best in the rough competition. Ella Sharp is not an easy course, as it is full of hills and many twists and turns. At the finish line, it was Dexter freshman Jack Bigelow taking first place with a personal best (PB) time of 17:07. Freshman James Carpenter from Ann Arbor Pioneer finished with his PB just 8/10 of a second off from first place. Skyline Senior Paxton Rose got his PB and finished third.
Skyline dominated and took first overall in the points, followed by Ann Arbor Pioneer, and Saline finished in third place for the girls’ competition.
For the girls, it was Skyline athletes taking first and second place, with Junior Calla Sopoci getting her PB with a winning time of 19:52, and she was followed by Senior teammate Ruthie Scott finishing with a PB time of 20:12. Pioneer teammates Ella Erman and Gemma Morsman tied for third with times of 20:58. 8 of the top 15 fastest competitors were from Skyline.