By By STEVE MORRISON / Niles Daily Star
NILES – On an ideal Saturday morning conducive for good performances Brandywine High School hosted its 37th consecutive Brandywine Cross Country Invitational.
"It's one of the oldest meets in the state," remarked host coordinator and veteran Brandywine cross country coach Jim Murray. "I started this race when I first came here to teach."
The field of competing schools included six girls' teams: West Bloomfield Hills, Bronson, Buchanan, Lawton, Brandywine, and Marcellus.
Due to scheduling conflicts caused by PSAT testing Brandywine only had two girls, Kelci Lockwood and and Kylee Salisbury, available for the varsity event.
In the first race, Buchanan's Lady Bucks, with 66 points, scored a solid third place finish, led by Torrie Eger's fourth place run at 20:52.5 and teammate Elizabeth Hein's 22:37.8 gallop for eighth overall.
A mud-caked Eger grinned as she reflected on the event, "It was fun because it was so wet!"
The big obstacle on the 5K course was " The Swamp", well-known to all cross runners who have participated here previously. The drainage from violent rainstorms on Thursday night enhanced the challenge making The Swamp more than just a ravine that is a tributary of Brandywine Creek.
"It was really muddy," contributed Hein. "My shoes stuck in the mud."
"It (The Swamp) is what makes people want to come run here," remarked Murray about the unique part of the course.
Sophomore Allysa Kruckow, at 17; Liz Reith, with a 21st place finish; and Ashley Best, right behind, rounded out the Bucks' top five runners, as they happily surprised themselves with their effort.
First place West Bloomfield Hills, a Division 1 school, accumulated a remarkably low total of 28 points with runners Christina Cappriccios, Samanta Scippio, and Klare Essad finishing first, second, and third, respectively.
The boys' competition, which followed immediately after the girls' race, featured an array of nine schools, scattered from all over the lower Michigan peninsula. Kalamazoo Hackett, a Division 3 entry, bested the team field, surpassing runner-up West Bloomfield by 11 points 35-46.
The rest of the competing teams included Concord, Bronson, Detroit Country Day, Lawton, Brandywine, Buchanan, and Marcellus, each in their order of their finish.
Tyler Weedon, of Brandywine, ran a strong sixth (17:56.9) in a spread of 57 participants. John Borr, of the neighboring Buchanan Bucks, paced his squad with an 18:58.time to qualify as a medalist, at 20th.
Weedon, who is seeded eighth heading into next Saturday's regional competition at Portage Middle School, assessed the course conditions.
"This was a tough course today. As soon as you hit The Swamp, you were sinking, sliding. It as a cool day, but I don't think everybody did their best. (The Swamp) had huge puddles, beyond belief."
Girls' Team Scores
West Bloomfield 28; Bronson 51; Buchanan 66; Lawton 80; Brandywine DNF; Marcellus DNF
Individual Top 10
1. Char Capriccioso (WB) 19:42.6; 2. Samantha Scipio (WB) 19:44.5; 3. Klare Essad (WB) 20:38; 4. Torrie Eger (BU) 20:52.5; 5. Kari Stempien (BRO) 20:58.4; 6. Lauren Dudley (BRO) 21:30.9; 7. Rachel Moreland (L) 22:08.1; 8. Liz Hein (BU) 22:37.8; 9. Rachel Kowalski (WB) 23:08.5; 10. Mindy Ratkowski (BRO) 23:29.3
Buchanan finishers
17. Allysa Kruchkow, 24:19.5; 21. Liz Reith, 24:44.5; 22. Ashley Best, 24:53.9; 23. Courtney Adolph, 24:56.1; 24. Allie Hemphill, 25:24.5
Brandywine finishers
29. Kelci Lockwood, 26:09.7; 30. Kylee Salisbury, 26:51.8
Boys' Team Scores
Kalamazoo Hackett 35; West Bloomfield 46; 3. Concord 82; Bronson 92; Detroit Country Day 150; Lawton 164; Brandywine 174; Buchanan 194; Marcellus 242
Individual Top 10
1. Michael O'Brien (KH) 16:57; 2. Andrew Breyer (KH) 17:03.8; 3. Kyle Stacks (C) 17:24.3; 4. Geoff Gloceri (WB) 17:45.9; 5. Tommy Migaki (WB) 17:53.9; 6. Tyler Weeden (BR) 17:56.9; 7. Peter Robinson (KH) 18:08.5; 8. Dalton Kane (BRO) 18:09.4; 9. Brandon Krinock (KH) 18:17.3; 10. Mitch Klinger (BRO) 18:19.1
Brandywine finishers
29. Elliott Richards, 19:43.2; 42. Aaron Sieting, 21:12.6; 46. Tom Buzzard, 21:37.9; 51. David Dykema, 23:02.9; 57. Samuel Gipson, 30:17.7
Buchanan finishers
20. Joe Borr, 18:58; 33. Rick Reith, 20:15; 43. Kohn Kuntz, 21:25; 44. Jon Young, 21:25; 54. Allan Morse, 26:21