Brother Rice, Lahser and Andover Cross Country Teams Competitive at Finals

Boys Varsity

Bloomfield area cross country teams were well represented at the Michigan High School Athletic Association state championships Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

On the boy's varsity side, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice finished 17th in Division 1, and was led by Senior Thomas Girardot's 15:40.2, good for seventh overall.  Freshman John Penington finished 63rd with a 16:21.6.

The Bloomfield Hills Lahser Knights finished 25th overall in Division 2, led by junior Michael Gawlik, who finished 54th with a time of 16:41.8. Junior Zahir Allarakhia was next with a time of 17:45.5, good for the 173 spot.

Detroit Country Day placed 26th overall in the division, headed by junior Nick Ott's 17:17.8, good for 132nd. Senior Eddie Ye finished 176th with a time of 17:49.2.

Girls Varsity

Laher's girls varsity finished 8th overall in Division 2, led by freshman phenom Jackie Bredenberg's 18:53.6. She finished 24th in Saturday's competition. Junior Elena Miller capped her strong season with a 19:45.5 time, good for 71st.

Before the finals, coach Nick Stration said he was happy to see both teams improve each week in competition and that their strong performances at the Oakland County Championships on Oct. 10 was a big confidence boost.

Bredenberg's and Miller's performances Saturday only reinforced Stration's belief in the potential for next year, when four qualifiers return and will be joined by a new crop of talented runners.

"We are excited about what we can do next year because of our youth and strength of our junior varsity team," he said.

Cranbrook-Kingswood's varsity finished 15th overall behind juniors Jemma Howlett's 19:10 (34th) and Emily Barish's 19:41.1 (60th). Country Day's Monica Babcock ran a 20:15.2 and finished 120th.

Bloomfield Hills Andover finished 21st. The Barons were led by sophomore Mackenzie Gammons' 19:23.3 (40th) and senior Lexi Sinclair, who's time of 19:29.5 was good for 45th.

junior Erin Finn continued her unbeaten 2011 season with a win in the Michigan High School Athletic Association state championship at Michigan International Speedway Saturday.

She said that her time of 17 minutes, 22.6 seconds wasn't what she had hoped, but it was enough to best Rockford senior Taylor Manett by two seconds.

Did you have a runner at the state cross country finals at Michigan International Speedway? Upload a picture to our gallery or send it to Art.Aisner@patch.com.

West Bloomfield Patch Editor Tim Rath contributed to this report.