UPDATED: Dexter Cross Country Teams Open Season at Hillsdale Invitational

The boys and girls' cross country teams ran in their first competition of the season at the Hillsdale Invitational on Friday.

Dexter competed without a large portion of its athletes due to band commitments, but put forth a solid effort against the other teams. Seventeen boys and 18 girls participated on Friday.

Both the boys' team and the girls' team had 11 of the top 30 finishers in their races.

Matt Greve led the way for the boys with a runner-up finish to start his senior campaign. He was followed by seniors Blake Loudermilk, Mike Hauke and Brad Carruthers.

"Those three did a great job pacing a few of the younger guys through 2 miles. As a result they didn't go full on 'pedal to the metal,' but it helped the younger guys to some personal records and it was awesome to see such selfless leadership out on the course," boys' coach Takashi Gould said.

The team had some surprise standouts in first year runners Alex Nevin (26th place) and Drak Rusk (30th place).

"Overall, we had 11 kids in the top 30 spots and 15 in the top 35. We have depth, lots of young guys stepping up, and the seniors set a great example of various ways to help others obtain goals," Gould said.

Girls' Coach Cheryl McLean was equally impressed with her team's performance.

"All the girls looked strong and we should have a great team this year," she said. "Two outstanding performances at the meet were Charlotte Read, who finished as our 5th runner, and Grace Latshaw, who finished as our 6th runner." 

The girls' team had five top 10 finishers: senior Mara Bottomley (5th, 21:25.38); junior Robin Jackson (8th, 21:44.98) and sophomores Madeleine Nicholas (6th, 21:35.57), Paige O'Piela (7th, 21:40.09) and Charlotte Read (10th, 22:00.70).

Also in the top 30 finishers in their races were Mike Hauke (13th, 18:49.35), Brad Carruthers (14, 18:54.85), Luke Bottomley (17, 19:03:18), Zach McKenzie (20, 19:22.48), Al Shoopman (21, 19:40.82), Alex Nevin (26, 20:02.84), Peyton Stimac (28, 20:13.13), Kavi Kulkarni (29, 20:23.92), Drake Rusk (30, 20:24.81), Grace Latshaw (16, 22:57.09), Abbie Betzolt (20, 23:25.34), Emily Bishop (21, 23:27.26), Tara Stetler (22, 23:43.87), Krista Schaefer (26, 24:11.85) and Shelby McKenzie (29, 24:30.27).

The teams will head to Bedford on Tuesday for the SEC Jamboree No. 1, followed by the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University on Friday.