Tecumseh boys run 7th, girls 13th at Jackson Invite

Tecumseh’s varsity boys cross country team placed seventh at the Jackson Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 26, while the Indians’ girls placed 13th.Otsego placed first in the boys division with a score of 71 while the Indians totaled 168 points to finish seventh. Adrian placed eighth with 182 points.“We had a great showing against some of the best teams in the state today,” said Tecumseh coach Eddy Foley. “Four of the top ten teams in the state were in the race against us today. We had six of our seven runners run all-time personal records!”Jack Lacasse led the Indians with a 13th place personal best record (PR) time of 17:08.5. He dropped 25 seconds from his previous best time. Foley said that Lacasse is now the Indians’ 12th fastest all time cross country runner.Tecumseh’s Collin Thompson ran in place of Jeff Case who’s injured. Thompson dropped 26 seconds off of his previous best with a 31st place time of 18:01.6.Ray Vigo dropped 29 seconds from his previous PR, placing 33rd for Tecumseh in 18:07.3. Ian Thompson was 13 seconds faster, placing 37th in 18:10.3 for the Indians.Lucas Manuszak placed 54th in 18:36.8 for Tecumseh while Lance Wood dropped 20 seconds off of his previous PR with his first ever sub-19:00 run (57th, 18:47.9). Foley said that Drew Marten stepped up big time as he was told just 30 minutes before the race that he would be running in place of Jeff Case. Martin dropped 20 seconds off of his PR with his first ever sub-19:00 minute race (58th, 18:48.8). “Our top eight runners are now under eighteen minutes and fifty seconds!” said Foley. “We are not quite where we need to be as a team yet, but we are definitely heading in the right direction. We are working very hard in practice, in preparation for the championship phase of the season that is just around the corner.”Tecumseh girls were led by Christina Sawyer’s 16th place time of 20:13.“Overall, we placed 13th out of 18 teams, however we had 4 all-time PR’s today and a season-best,” said Tecumseh coach Jill Stockford. Erin Rutledge (61st, 21:45, PR) improved greatly with her finish. “Erin Rutledge had a break-out race today, moving up from sixth on the team to second. She cut almost a minute and a half from her best time today and looked very strong throughout the entire race.”Also running for Tecumseh were Emily Alderman (73rd, 22:07, PR), Katie Selenko (78th, 22:21, PR), Katie Weatherford (80th, 22:27, PR), Kristina Ziemer (86th, 22:53, season best) and Kendall Brown (114th, 26:54).“We are heading the right direction but still have a lot of work to do to get ready for Regionals,” Stockford said. “The girls are working very hard in practice and showing that they are willing to do the work that will be needed in order to succeed in the most important races of the season.” The Indians were scheduled to compete on Tuesday in the second SEC Jamboree at Heritage Park in Adrian. Results from the meet will be reported in next week’s Herald.