By SCOTT NOVAK
Dowagiac Daily News

Divisions 1-4 will descend on Portage Middle School this Saturday for the Michigan High School Athletic Association Lower Peninsula Regional Cross Country meets.

The Division 3 meet will kick things off at 10 a.m. with girls race, while the boys race will be held at 10:40.

Competing locally in Division 3 will be Dowagiac, Buchanan and Brandywine.
The Division 4 races will follow at 11:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m.

Competing in Division 4 will be Eau Claire, Decatur, Marcellus and Howardsville Christian.

Division 2 will run next at 1 p.m. and 1:40. Niles and Edwardsburg will take part in this race.

The final two races of the day at the Division 1 events, slated to start at 2:30 and 3:10 p.m. respectively.

The awards for each division will immediately follow the second race.

The Division 3 awards will be presented near the tennis courts at 11:30 a.m.

The Division 4 awards will be handed out at 1 p.m. and the Division 2 awards at 2:30.

The top three teams in each race will advance to the state finals at Michigan International Speedway on Nov. 7. Any team that finishes fourth and has four runners in the Top 20, that team will also advance to the finals.

All medalists (Top 15) who are not a member of a qualifying team will advance to the finals.

Buchanan’s girls team qualified for the seventh time in the past 15 years in 2008 by finishing second to Schoolcraft.

The Lady Buck’s Torrie Eger finished second with a time of 19:51.7. Teammate Elizabeth Hein was 10th overall with a time of 20:32.2.

Niles advanced two runners last season.

The Vikings’ Mark Calhoun finished sixth with a clocking of 16:31, while Madie Rodts was 12th after running at 20:08.3.

Both are looking for a shot at improving on those places this weekend.

Edwardsburg also had a qualifier in Josh Clark, who finished 15th with a time of 17:01.