Joki wins, Midgettes finish 2 points out of first

IRONWOOD TOWNSHIP - Three Indianhead Conference cross country meets and the results never wavered.

The Washburn girls, Drummond boys, Ironwood's Jared Joki and Washburn's Ketzel Levens finished first every time, including the championship meet on a sunny and very warm Thursday at Boulder Creek Golf Course.

The Washburn girls defeated Hurley by a thin two-point margin, 38-40. Three Washburn runners finished in the top six with Hurley's highest finisher in seventh. That erased all-around deeper Hurley's advantage; the Midgettes' sixth runner was in before Washburn's fourth.

"Heartbreaking, but I'm still extremely proud of how well our girls performed today," Hurley coach Hope Bretting said. "They're upset about it, yes, but it's going to be fuel for next Friday."

The WIAA Division 3 sectionals are next week at Bruce. Hurley and Washburn will be among the teams seeking a top-two finish and a trip to the state meet.

Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield-Marenisco runners have the U.P. Finals Saturday at Gentz's Homestead Golf Course in Harvey, just two days after the conference meet. With Wisconsin sectionals next week, the conference did not schedule its biggest meet of the year with the Michigan schools in mind.

"It was kind of unfortunate they scheduled this on Thursday," said Bessemer's Zack Mazurek, who finished third. "I was trying to run hard, but then not get too terribly tired out. I did that and I was happy."

Mazurek said he let a pack get ahead and then practiced catching back up and passing them in advance of the Division 3 U.P. Finals he hopes to win Saturday. Mazurek finished second last year to Stephenson's Connor Cappaert, who is a senior this year.

"I know there's some other strong runners," Mazurek said. "Division 3 is actually really competitive because there are so many small schools. I'm hoping I'll be right up there in the mix."

Other D-3 contenders include: W-M's Sam Dean, who did not take part Thursday, Munising's Brett Hannah and Grady Kerst and North Central's Bryce Holle.

Joki still won the conference meet, but his time was slower than it has been, at 18:09.2. He said he thinks he will be fine for the Division 2 U.P. Finals, which he won last year under the same circumstances. He was third as a freshman and second as a sophomore. He's favored to win again this year.

"I definitely tried to stay with whatever pack would go with me," Joki said. "I definitely felt like I may have saved a little bit for Finals. Plus, it was actually really sunny today, so I felt dehydrated today. That may have played a little part in the slow time.

"I definitely wanted to win at conference. That was my goal, so I'm happy."

Hurley's Dakota Rice didn't have those concerns, so he led the first 1.5 miles and finished fifth.

"I started out fast," he said. "From there, I was going to settle back where I needed to be because they were catching up."

Rice has consistently been among the top finishers at conference. He's hoping to advance to the Wisconsin state meet. The top five individuals not on a state-qualifying team go to state.

"Hopefully, God willing, I'll be able to hold onto fifth position, but we'll have to see," Rice said.

Bessemer's Tim Rowe took 10th, Ironwood's Andrew Niemi was 12th and Hurley's Luke Marczak finished 18th.

The Ironwood boys were third with Mercer fifth in the team competition.

In the girls race, Bessemer's Lily Wieringa finished fourth. Hurley's Gabby Pecotte placed seventh with Kirkie Pecotte right behind her in eighth. Sarah Johnson led Ironwood in ninth. Melissa Wanink took 10th for W-M.

Hurley football players supported the Midgettes' bid for a team title throughout the course.

"It was extremely awesome to see the support we had," Bretting said. "Nights like this I'm very proud to call myself a Hurley Midget."

Girls

Team: 1. Washburn 38, 2. Hurley 40, 3. South Shore 51.

Top 5: 1. Ketzel Levens, Washburn, 21:40.4; 2. Alyssa Kavajecz, South Shore, 22:26.6; 3. Alexis Griggs, Washburn, 22:46.7; 4. Lily Wieringa, Bessemer, 22:51.2; 5. Emma Ostrenga, South Shore, 23:14.1.

Hurley: 7. Gabby Pecotte, 23:40.4; 8. Kirkie Pecotte, 23:48.3; 13. Tori Anderson, 24:29.6; 15. Tori Colassaco, 24:51.4; 16. Morgan Pinardi, 25:11.3.

Bessemer: 20. Molly Wieringa, 25:53.5.

W-M: 10. Melissa Wanink, 24:10.3; 33. Jennifer Wanink, 30:33.9; 34. Leonie Metzner, 36:30.5; 37. Abbie Sordahl, 38:53.2.

Ironwood: 9. Sarah Johnson, 24:05.5; 11. Corissa Mattson, 24:21.9; 19. Katie Piispanen, 25:37.4.

Boys

Team: 1. Drummond 30, 2. Washburn 56, 3. Ironwood 67, 4. South Shore 80, 5. Mercer 145.

Top 5: 1. Jared Joki, Ironwood, 18:09.2; 2. Eli Hancock, Drummond, 18:22.5; 3. Zack Mazurek, Bessemer, 18:37.3; 4. Blake Reijo, South Shore, 18:42.7; 5. Dakota Rice, Hurley, 19:03.4.

Ironwood: 12. Andrew Niemi, 20:07.4; 17. Tim Lorenson, 20:39.1; 33. Colin Clausen, 21:47.2; 36. Dylan Berg, 22:36.2.

Bessemer: 10. Tim Rowe, 19:48.6.

W-M: 32. Isaiah Sturkol, 21:33.9; 41. Roger Uhlig, 23:59.2.

Mercer: 40. James Reichard, 23:48.5; 44. Kyle Lukes, 25:26.3; 46. John Cassiani, 25:57.6; 47. John Klopatek, 26:09.9; 48. Lucas Huybrecht, 30:06.3.