HOUGHTON — The race for the Division 2 team title race was as close as could be at Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals.

Rudyard and Munising both scored 42 points, with the Bulldogs from the Eastern U.P. getting the nod on the sixth runner tie-breaker.

Painesdale Jeffers, which won Division 2 titles the past five years, placed third this time with 50 points.

“Our boys have been runner-up to Jeffers the past two years,” Rudyard coach Brad Hall said. “It feels great to win this one.”

Ishpeming senior Kemper Gearhart crossed the finish line first after covering the hilly 3.1-mile course in 17 minutes, 48.2 seconds on the Michigan Tech Ski Trails on a sunny and very warm day in the Copper Country.

“I’ve been working hard for this throughout my high school career,” he said. “I was listening behind me. When I heard people in back of me, I just picked up the pace. My time was about the same as many of the other races. This course was a little more challenging than most.”

Rudyard senior Eli Folkersma was runner-up (18:00.7) and Munising senior Blake Lakosky placed third (18:10.1)

“This wasn’t my best time, but it’s a tough course,” Folkersma said. “My goal was to go out easy. I have a strong finish, but today I was dead tired in the end – although, this is the best place I ever got at the Finals.”

Sophomore Jack Lalone finished eighth, senior Zaine Nichols ninth, senior Oliver Dankert 13^th and sophomore Liam Hoolsema 15^th for Rudyard. Junior Bryce Mitchell clinched the title with a 19^th place as the tie-breaker, as Munising’s sixth runner finished 22^nd. 

Freshman Evan Kelto finished seventh, with seniors Orin Shalom (11^th), Nolan Dolaskie (12^th) and sophomore Dylan Krause (14^th) also following Lakosky for Munising. 

Lakosky was happy with the Mustangs taking second.

“It feels good to be runner-up,” he said. “We knew it was going to be close. I was staying with their number one runner (Folkersma). I fell significantly behind him, then I closed the gap. It was a tough course. I ran my personal-best time (18:01) at Rudyard last weekend. I was going for it, but this was not the course for it.”

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Division 3

Nine points separated the top four contenders in Division 3 with Cedarville/DeTour taking its first title as a combined program with 78 points. Cedarville had won Finals in 2003 and 2004.

The Islanders also had the individual champion, senior Ethan Snyder, who retained his title at 16:51.4. Freshman Liam Bohn was third, junior Rush Hinnen 16^th, freshman Colin Geyer 27^th and sophomore Jayden Kemink 58^th. 

“This was my last high school race,” Snyder said. “I’m happy with defending my title, but it’s way better winning as a team. We have a lot of good runners on our team.”

St. Ignace and Rapid River scored 86 points each and Rock Mid Peninsula took fourth at 87.

“It was a tight race with St. Ignace and Mid Pen,” Rapid River coach Zach Truitt said. “It really came down to the last tenth of a mile. We had the most finishers in the top 15. We got three on the podium, but we really need four to win it. We’re losing four seniors who will be hard to replace.”

Engadine junior Nate Stielstra was the individual runner-up at 17:58.2 with Islanders freshman Liam Bohn taking third (18:02.4).

“The course was hard,” Stielstra said. “I was running sixth in the second mile. This wasn’t my best time, but everything came together. At 1½ miles I could see a couple kids ahead of me. I couldn’t ask for better.”

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Division 1

Marquette, as expected, was crowned champion for the eighth consecutive year with 19 points.

The Sentinels, who grabbed four of the top five individual places, were followed by Sault Ste. Marie with 79 and Houghton at 84.

Marquette senior Lucas Ballard earned his first U.P. title in 16:23 followed by classmate Vasu Esplin (17:08.1) and junior teammate William Lindsay (17:23.8) in second and third, respectively. Junior Garrett Crimmins ran fifth and junior Lake Skytta eighth to round out the scoring, and senior Welly Fillmore (13^th) and junior Jayden Seekie (14^th) also filled out the lineup impressively.

“I felt real good through the whole run,” Ballard said a day after his 18^th birthday. “It’s a beautiful day and a great way to end the season. I’m pretty happy with my time. I did a lot of training. It’s great to see my hard work pay off. This is a great birthday present.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Brimley's Darren Johnson (134), Munising's Blake Lakosky (177), Ishpeming's Kemper Gearhart (166), and Rudyard's Eli Folkersma (210) lead the start of the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final held on the campus of Michigan Tech in Houghton. (Middle) Cedarville's Ethan Snyder and Copper Island Academy's Jack Ruonavaara lead the beginning of the Division 3 Final. (Below) Menominee's Bradley Klann (85), Marquette's Lucas Ballard (69), Ishpeming Westwood's Calvin Carlson (41), Calumet's Alex Rodriguez (2) and Sault Ste. Marie's Chase Aldridge (115) set the pace at the start in Division 1. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)