Huskies ready to roll after MAC championship
Updated: Dec 6, 2022
Glen Davis and the Port Huron Northern Huskies led the area at the MAC cross country championship on Saturday at the Lake St. Clair Metropark. They finished sixth overall out of 25 schools and second in the MAC-White.
Romeo was the overall champion with 71 points, Northern totaled 155, St. Clair was eighth with 179, and Marysville and Marine City were 16th and 17th, respectively, with 448 and 450 points.
For the Huskies, Saturday’s meet was a step in the right direction, but they believe there’s still more progress to be made.
“We haven’t raced at full strength really since MSU [on Sept. 16], but the goal is to win the region next week,” senior Matt LaFreniere said. “We didn’t match up very well with Romeo today, there’s still work to be done, but I think there’s still a lot of belief we can beat Romeo.”
“We’ve had a lot of people either sick or with an injury hiccup that’s prevented them from training at the fullest, so today was the first day we’ve all been together and I think there’s still a lot of people still coming back,” senior Michael Paoletti said. “Romeo hasn’t seen all we have, so that does help a little.”
Competing with Romeo will be a big focus for the Huskies this week as they prepare for Saturday’s Division 1, Region 9 championship at Goodells County Park.
Paoletti said he thought he and his teammates ran well on Saturday, many “just shy of a PR,” but he knows there’s still more work to be done.
Davis led the way with a time of 16 minutes, 16.1 seconds. St. Clair senior Carter Boullard battled Paoletti down the crowded straightaway to edge the Husky by a half second, each taking 19th and 20th, respectively, in 16:47.0 and 16:47.5.
Senior David Harris of St. Clair was the only other area athlete to crack the top 25, taking 23rd in 16:55.0.
Marysville was led by senior Lance Kowalski who finished 55th in a personal best time of 17:51.1, and junior Alex Robertson finished 66th in a season’s best 18:06.7 to lead Marine City.
These four teams and all others around the state will gear up for the regional championship this weekend. While Northern will be in the Division 1 race, and nine other area teams will be in Division 2, Region 17 that same day at the Goodells County Park as well.
St. Clair will look to keep its regional title and maintain its 22-year streak of qualifying for the State Finals. Yale, which finished as runner-up to the Saints last season, will look to defeat the defending champs and extend its season one more week.
Northern, which finished third at the regional last year, is not only looking to qualify for the State Finals, but also bring home a title, and a key to surprising Romeo will be getting fully healthy and ready to go.
“We’re at the point where we’re not going to get much faster, we just have to unlock the speed that’s there and get our aerobic systems right,” Paoletti said.
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