State level runners motivate enter cross team
All-State. That’s the one thought that was running through junior Micah Beauregard’s mind, as he stands on the start line of the MHSAA States race for LP Division 3. Beauregard waits at the ready on the far right of sophomore Brock Jones, freshman Dalton Satkowiak, senior Kael Youngblood, junior Jeffery Debozy, sophomore Andy Schlaff and senior ron Tolson.
Varsity ninth grade runner Rylee Tolson took 1st place for Division 3 at Regionals, setting a school record with a time of 18:45.9. This victory gives the girls team an advantage, lowering their entire team score.
“Everytime we reach a goal, we make our goals harder,” Tolson said. “ For example, at the very beginning of the season, we said that we wanted to go to States. Our overall goal was just to make it there.” Stockbridge left MHSAA LP Regionals in 3rd place, 6 points ahead of the 4th place.
Steve Allison, the boys cross country coach, pushed his athletes to become better. Senior Kael Youngblood, a boys varsity cross country member, explained how he found himself doing better when he started to feel empty.
“Allison always pushes me when I tell him I can’t go anymore,” Youngblood said. “I always find myself going farther.” Youngblood listened to what Allison said to him and used his words as a boost of energy, which also helped his whole team achieve more.
MHSAA LP Division 3 Finals meet took place at Michigan International Speedway with 88 different teams running.
Rylee took 20th place for Division 3, pushing her small part on the whole team, which, in turn, helped the girls dig deeper, taking 19th place overall.
For the boys, junior Micah Beauregard took 19th place with a time of 16:44.9, 12 seconds slower than his personal record.
Senior Ron Tolson took 27th place with a performance of 16:53.0. At the season’s end, the two boys who went to state achieved All-State Top 30.
