On Saturday, the Boys Cross Country squad competed against the area’s top opponents in a battle for All-Area supremacy at Young Patriots’ Park in the Gabriel Richard All-Area Championship. Coming into the contest, the Allen Park harriers were ranked 6^th, but had different intentions once toeing the line. In what was clearly the most focused effort of the season from top-to-bottom, the Jags had a spectacular day, stunning the field to take away the 3^rd Place trophy.

Isaiah Jacobs, Troy Schnell, and Ryan Nicholson lead a determined effort from the start and earned All-Area honors placing 9^th, 12^th and 14^th, respectively. Troy Rogalski finished just outside the podium honors, placing 30^th, while Jerry Kephart, Daniel Reckling, and Jason Wu ran as a pack the whole 5,000-meters, placing 40^th, 41^st, and 43^rd, respectively. That pack running proved to be the key factor in edging out the Riverview and Wyandotte scoring 5, boosting the opponents’ scores higher.

In the Reserve race, Dylan Holly lead the pack from the start with a head-strong pace, despite losing pace along the way, managed to hold on to 3^rd place. Ross Koscielny ran a great tactical race, entering the woods with 1600-meters remaining in 12^th place and emerged in 5^th place 500-meters later, which he held to the finish. Freshman Drake Steele had a career-day breaking the 20-minute mark for the first time. Collin Miracle and Justin Miner rounded out the scoring for the Junior Varsity squad.

NOTES:

• On the day, the Jaguar harriers posted 8 season-best performances, with 7 of those being all-time personal bests.
• Championship Season continues Thursday at Lake Erie Metropark in the Downriver League Championship