Spartan Invitational
MSU Campus
Friday, Sept. 12, 2008

On Friday, Sept. 12, the Saline Varsity A runners traveled to East Lansing to compete in the Spartan Invitational.  The Hornet runners turned in one of their best performances of the young season on the rain soaked Forest Acres Golf Course and brought home the championship trophy.  It was the first time that Saline had won this meet.

Using good team balance and a couple outstanding individual performances, Saline (134) edged rival running power Rockford (138) by four points and outdistanced third place Traverse City Central (164) by 30.  Led by junior Alex Leptich, Saline’s top five runners got out well at the beginning of the race and were in solid contention by the mile mark.  Junior Kate Carter and senior captain Erin Dowling were running stride-for-stride with each other in the top quarter of the field, and junior Desi O’Brien and senior captain Rachel Jackson were doing the same not far behind Kate and Erin.  By race’s end, only 29 seconds separated these four runners.  As the race developed, the Hornet runners managed to hold on to their good early race positions and with some strong finishes, particularly by Desi O’Brien, they were able to pick up a few crucial points in the final 200 meters of the race.  On what proved to be a relatively slow course because of the wet conditions, Desi O’Brien and Meghan McGregor turned in outstanding individual performances, both running all time PR’s.  Meghan bettered her best time by 12 seconds and Desi took a remarkable 31 seconds off her previous best.  It was also Desi’s first time under the all important 20:00 mark.

After winning the Bath Invitational last weekend, this was the second consecutive invitational win for Saline.  During the awards ceremony, the seven Varsity runners were all awarded championship medals, and they happily accepted the first place trophy – with one eye on the trophy and the other looking forward to the Jackson Invitational next weekend.

Varsity Results				Team Results
Name	Place	Time		Place	Team	Points
Leptich	7	18:56		1	Saline	134
Carter	24	19:40		2	Rockford	138
OBrien	29	19:49		3	TC Central	164
Dowling	31	19:51		4	Rochester Adams	178
Jackson	43	20:09		5	Troy	186
McGregor	102	21:33		6	GR Christian	206
Johnston	104	21:44		7	Brighton	216
				(19 teams.)

Highlights

• We placed our top 5 runners in the first 43.
• We had 1:13 between our top 5 runners and only 29 seconds between our #2 and #5.
• Four runners (and almost 5) under 20:00.
• This is the first time we have ever won this meet.
• Nine of last year’s top 13 teams in the State Meet were in the race.
• We won 2 individual medals and 7 team medals and the championship trophy.
• All Time PR’s:  Desi O’Brien – 31 seconds, Meghan McGregor – 12 seconds