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Michigan
International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
11/3/01
By Dave
McCauley, RMDC
At the end of the regular season, the
D-3 girl's team rankings saw Spring Lake sitting on top.
And Spring Lake had every intention of making sure that
the final rankings of the year, the ones that really counted,
remained that way.
Spring
Lake did just that, taking home the 2001 Girl's Division
3 team state title. Spring Lake finished with a total
of 176 points to runner up Hanover Horton's 202.
The
biggest surprise in the team competition came from unranked
Tawas City who finished in third place overall. Hillsdale
took home fourth place, while the Boyne City girls finished
off another strong year by taking home fifth.
Although
Wyoming Kellogsville could not repeat their 2000 team
title as a team, the defending individual champion, Kellogsville's
Nicole Bush, did complete a repeat as she took home the
state title for the second straight year.
Bush
won last year's D-3 girl's race in a time of 17:53, one
of the best on the day. In this year's race, Bush took
it out strong with a dominating 5:33 first mile. Only
Detroit Crockett's Krishawna Parker and Allendale's Jaime
Watson dared to stay close.
By
two miles, the pace had slowed considerably as Bush crossed
that mark with the lead in 11:40 with Parker still close
behind in second place at 11:42.
By
the third mile Bush's lead was safe as Parker, feeling
the effects of the fast start, had faded to third. Freshmen
Megan Young of Detroit Country Day, running a very smart,
even race had moved her way up to second place. Bush held
on from there to claim her second straight state title
in a time of 18:39.4 on the 5K MIS course.
Young,
who was a full 15 seconds back at the two mile mark ends
up in second place just five seconds back of Bush in 18:44.
Parker, last year's runner up, settle for third place
with a time of 18:49. Allendale's Watson placed fourth
in 18:58 and Albion's Lesley Jurasek finished in fifth
place at 19:00.
This
year's champion Nicole Bush still has some great high
school seasons ahead of her at this event, having won
the state title last year as just a freshman.
For
Detroit Crockett's Krishawna Parker, it's a different
story. The Detroit Crockett Senior finished off a great
high school cross country career. Parker finished in second
place individually in last year's finals.
"I
really wanted to win it, but you can't win all of them."
Parker knew with defending champion Bush in the race,
she was in for a fight.
"I
hung in with her until a little after the second mile
and she broke away from me." Parker fought hard to stay
with Bush, but wasn't able to hang on and had to settle
for third, as Young of Country Day moved past her at that
point and claimed the runner up spot.
For
the 13 year old freshmen young, a second place individual
finish capped off an incredible first year of cross country,
a first year that amazed even her. "This is a total surprise,"
she said after the race.
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