John Raffel
Sports Scene
It was close, but the Corunna boys cross country team held back perennial power Fremont to bring home the Division 2 state title on Nov. 5 at the Michigan International Speedway.
When the results were in, Corunna had 92 points compared to 99 for Fremont.
Corunna senior Noah Jacobs took first place (15:28.0). In the team rankings, Ben Jacobs placed seventh (16:01.8); Dakota Hundley, 18th (16:24.5); Charlie Bruckman, 32nd (16:44.2); Kyle Nesh, 34th (16:46.4); Miles Petersen 49th (16:55.2); and Ryan Schwab, 54th (17:00.1).
“It was good day,” Noah said. “Conditions weren’t the best. I went out there, ran hard, gave it my all and that’s what I wanted to do coming into it, so I’m happy with my performance.”
Corunna entered the season with hopes of being state championship contenders.
“Our main goal was being able to come to (the state meet), give it our all and hopefully chase a state title,” Noah continued. “Today, we gave it our all. It was close and we got it. We were ecstatic when we heard we had won it. We were walking back to our tent. Three-quarters of the way there, someone yelled, ‘we won; we got them by seven points!’ Everyone freaked out. It was a surreal moment. It didn’t feel like it was real, it was so awesome.”
For the individual race, Ben Jacobs placed eighth, Hundley, 25th; Bruckman, 50th; Mesh, 52nd; Petersen, 72nd; and Schwab 80th.
“We were confident,” Noah said. “We know we had the ability. We just had to put it together and we did.”
Ben, a sophomore, is Noah’s younger brother.
“We both have a similar work ethic and a team mindset,” Ben said. “We don’t just run for ourselves, we always run for something bigger. Everyone who is out there like all the football players and volleyball players and every one from the town of Corunna came to watch us. We’re running for them and running for the other guys with that Corunna jersey on.
Hundley’s efforts were critical for Corunna.
“I did everything that I could,” Hundley said. “I’m glad I was able to help our No. 2 today, Ben. He just really pushed through it and he came up big in points. He stayed behind me for the first two miles. The weather was perfect, but the course was muddy and hard to run on.”
The team title “means a lot more than any individual title,” Hundley added. “We knew we at least had a shot (in preseason). We knew the top three were all in contention. Every bit helps us get a little more attention.”