Boullard, Saints win third-straight regional; Huskies qualify for Finals with personal bests
Updated: Oct 31, 2022
For the 23rd straight year, the St. Clair boys cross country team will be heading to the MHSAA State Finals this November. Joining the Saints at the Michigan International Speedway will be teams from Port Huron Northern, Yale, Armada, and three local individual qualifiers.
“I just ask them every single year, 'Give yourselves a shot at greatness,'” St. Clair head coach Tom Brenner said. “They had a shot at it and they took it.”
The Saints won their third consecutive regional title yesterday at Goodells County Park, led by senior Carter Boullard who was the Division 2, Region 17 individual champion with a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 56.8 seconds.
“It feels good, really good. That [time] was the goal all season so it feels really good to finally do it,” Boullard said. “It was the perfect day, perfect race. Everything that could go right went right I felt like.”
Boullard and his teammates David Harris, Dylan Distelrath, Joe Edgemon, and Vinny Schweihofer finished with a low score of 38 points, followed by Yale in second with 50, and Armada in third with 94. These teams have been in the top three within the region since 2018.
“I’m so happy for Carter Boullard. He’s been through a lot more than people know,” Brenner said. “For us to win back-to-back-to-back titles and for him to finally win an individual regional title, that’s all I could ask for.”
Another key component to the Saints’ success was Schweihofer, a junior who started off the season injured and steadily improved over the last month. His time of 17:23.8 on Saturday was a personal record by more than 30 seconds, allowing him to score for the first time this year.
“You could say he’s normally our No. 7…Anyone who can step up and run like they’re a scoring runner has a lot of guts,” Brenner said. “He stayed focused on the fact that we may always need him. The six and seven can’t just settle for being six and seven. You might have to be a five and he stepped up huge and scored for us and helped us win a regional title.”
Finishing as the individual regional runner-up was Armada senior Camden Khon. He led much of the race and crossed the line just behind Boullard in 15:53.4. And Yale junior Blake Ferguson finished in 16:31.3 to round out the top three.
Imlay City junior Elliot Whitney, Marysville senior Lance Kowalski, and Marine City junior Alex Robertson will each represent the area at the State Finals as well as individual qualifiers.
As for Northern, the Huskies ran in the Division 1, Region 9 race and finished second as a team with 77 points behind Romeo with 64 and ahead of Fraser with 125.
Senior Glen Davis led with a personal-best time of 15:56.8 to take seventh overall. His teammates Michael Paoletti, Luke Maher, Luke VanderHeuvel, and Matt LaFreniere all finished within the top 25 and ran personal records as well.
“I’m more excited about qualifying for states [than breaking 16 minutes]. It’s the team over me. We had a great day. They all wrote us off, but it was a great day for our team,” Davis said. “It means everything to me because all summer it was just about doing stuff the right way and it’s finally paying off…People had been hurt and sick all year, so it’s good to have everyone back at full strength and full of confidence, and we’re going to states.”
Division 2 State Qualifiers:
1. Carter Boullard (Sr., SC) – 15:52.7*
2. Camden Khon (Sr., ARM) – 15:53.4
3. Blake Ferguson (Jr., YALE) – 16:31.3
4. David Harris (Sr., SC) – 16:43.4
5. Giovanni Pardo-Keegan (Jr., YALE) – 16:47.5
6. Acer Campbell (Jr., YALE) – 16:50.8
7. Elliot Whitney (Jr., IC) – 16:55.1*
8. Anthony Goatley (JR., MHL) – 17:05.6
9. Dylan Distelrath (Jr., SC) – 17:07.5
10. Riley Andrews (Sr., ARM) – 17:08.7*
11. Joe Edgemon (Sr., SC) – 17:10.3
12. Lance Kowalski (Sr., MV) – 17:14.2*
13. Vinny Schweihoefer (Jr., SC) – 17:23.8 *
14. Jack McMahon (Soph., MLN) – 17:35.2
15. Ted Rutkofske (Jr., YALE) – 17:35.6
16. Alex Robertson (Jr., MC) – 17:37.4*
17. Jamison Snay (Jr., MLN) – 17:38.0
18. Peter Vitale (Sr., SC) – 17:39.1
19. Korbyn Thornton (Soph., SC) – 18:00.3
20. Xavier Roman (Fr., MLN) – 18:00.9
Port Huron Northern Division 1 State Qualifiers:
7. Glen Davis (Sr., PHN) – 15:56.8*
14. Senior Michael Paoletti (Sr., PHN) – 16:25.8*
15. Junior Luke Maher (Jr., PHN) – 16:33.9*
15. Junior Luke VanderHeuvel (Jr., PHN) – 16:37.3*
24. Matt LaFreniere (Sr., PHN) – 16:51.5*
62. Grant Gonser (Jr., PHN) – 18:01.4*
65. Brady Mayer (Jr., PHN) – 18:10.7
*Personal Record
More photos to follow.
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