Sports
Madrigal, Durand boys run to regional crowns
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009 9:55 AM EST
HOLLY - Durand's David Madrigal III captured an individual regional cross country championship and the Railroaders won a regional boys' team title Saturday at the Division 3 meet.
Adding icing on the cake was the fact that the Durand girls also qualified for the state meet as a team, running second.
Byron's boys also made the grade for the state meet, placing third in the standings to qualify for the finals at Michigan International Speedway.
The Byron girls had two individual state qualifiers in Karli Dooling and Kelsey Evans, who were seventh and ninth respectively.
The top three teams in the regionals automatically qualified for the states as a team. The top 15 individuals also qualified for the states.
Madrigal, a senior, raced first in 16 minutes, 23 seconds. He was well ahead of second-place Zach Carpenter of Whitmore Lake who ran 16:49.
“David played the predator role,” said his father and head coach Dave Madrigal. “He sat on the third-fastest D-3 runner's shoulder for the first half of the race. Then he laid the hammer down and won by a big margin.”
Durand senior Tyler Jenkins was third in 17:26.
Also finishing in the top 10 were Byron's Tyler Cremer, seventh in 17:50; Byron's Joe Whaley, eighth in 17:52; Durand's Kelsey Myers, ninth in 17:53, and Durand's Miles Drobish, 10th in 17:54.
Durand, which scored 38 points, was also spearheaded by Cody Duguid, 15th, 18:29; Cory Monroe, 24th, 19:16; and Aaron Walking, 27th, 19:48.
“The rest of the boys ran a veteran team strategy race,” said coach Dave Madrigal. “It was all about positioning not times. For the senior boys, it was their second regional championship in their four-year career at Durand.”
Whitmore Lake ran second in the team standings with 45 points while Byron was third with 67 points.
Byron's other runners included David Whaley, 13th in 18:06; Chris McClorey, 19th, 18:53; Cody Engisch, 20th, 19:05; Eli Forbush, 22nd, 19:09; and Sam Hunter, 26th, 19:21.
In the girls' regional race at Holly, Durand was second with 73 points. Lutheran North was first with 22 while Whitmore Lake was third at 74 and Lake Fenton ran fourth wth 86.
The Railroaders were paced by freshman Madi Atkinson, eighth in 22:45. Next came Jasmine Wildmo, 11th in 22:58; Jamie Madrigal, 17th in 23:22; Jennifer Declerg, 18th in 23:27; and Taylor Fagan, 19th in 23:30. Emily Fiebernitz ran 21st in 23:57 and Cecily Burton ran 27th in 24:51.
Added Madrigal, “The girls ran like a pack of hungry wolves as the race unfolded. Whitmore Lake was just a few places in front of the Railroader ladies. But all the hard work doing hill workouts paid off.”
Karen Murawski of Lutheran North was first overall in 20:53. Lutheran North filled the top four individual spots.
Byron's Dooling ran seventh in 22:34 to qualify for the state finals. She will be joined at MIS by teammate Evans, ninth in 22:50. Other Eagles to finish included Paige Hawley, 25th in 24:33; Rachel Lahring, 26th, 24:35; Vanessa Bayer, 28th, 24:53; Emily Klender, 36th, 26:38; and Chelsey Snead, 37th, 26:40.