Jackson Invitational: Hillsdale's Nolan Grant, Chloe Stalhood earn top 10 finishes
JACKSON — The Hillsdale Hornets competed at Ella Sharp Park in Jackson in the annual Jackson Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24. The boys cross country team competed in the purple division of the race. The girls cross country team competed in the purple division as well.
Purple Division Team Final Scores
The purple division boys race was won by Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard who finished just above Parma Western. Sault St. Marie took third place. The Hillsdale boys cross country team secured a top five finish in number four overall, finishing ahead of Sturgis, Columbia Central, Grass Lake and Jackson Northwest.
The girls race was won by Tecumseh. Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard took second place. Sturgis took third overall. Grass Lake finished in the top five overall. Parma Western rounded out the top five.
Boys Final Results
Sault Ste. Marie senior Cody Aldridge and teammate Gabe Litzner took first and second overall.
Hillsdale junior Nolan Grant followed up his top 10 finish in the first LCAA jamboree with a fifth place finish at the Jackson Invitational. Grant finished close to a minute faster than his previous result last week. Grant finished with a final time of 17.13.4, which is a new personal record. His previous personal best was 17:16.6 at the Gabriel Richard XC Invitational last October.
Hillsdale sophomore Miles Brown continues to track better each week of the season. Brown took a stumble at the first LCAA jamboree but still finished in the top 10. At Jackson, the sophomore managed to take 11th overall against some of the best competition the Hornets have faced this season. It wasn't just a season best time, but his personal best: 18:01.6. This beat his previous personal best of 18:11.2 in the Rambling Rock Invitational.
Junior Aiden Monroe took 16th overall with a time of 18:27.2. The junior is making strides back towards his PR time of 18:23.8 earlier this year at the Hillsdale Invitational.
Marius Zwick is running in his first cross country season (on record) for the Hornets. The junior set a new PR of 18:58.1, which was good enough for 25th overall.
Sophomore Braden Lige is in his second year of running for the varsity boys team. The sophomore took 43rd overall at the Jackson Invitational. Lige ran his best time yet in his career as a runner: 20:43.4.
Freshman Collin Mullaly improved on his result from the first LCAA jamboree (24:04.5) with a 22:46.2 final time at the Jackson Invitational. The result is a new personal record for Mullaly and it was good enough for a 50th overall finish.
Girls Final Results
The purple division race saw senior Gianna-Marie Schubert of Gabriel Richard win the Invitational. Sturgis freshman Berkly Holtz took third overall.
For Hillsdale, sophomore Chloe Stalhood took sixth overall. Stalhood has had a top 10 finish in each race this season and she has finished in the top 5 twice. The sophomore hit a season-best time of 20:09.7 at Ella Sharp Park. Her personal record time came at the LP D3 State Championship last season, where she finished with a final time of 19:52.3. Expect the Hornet cross country leader to continue to trend towards breaking that personal record this season.
Hornet junior Cailey VanZant finished the race in 53rd overall. This is the junior's first season of cross country, and her final time of 27:14.1 was a personal record.
Junior Maeve Mackie started her third season on the Hornet girls cross country team at the Hillsdale Invitational this season. At the Jackson Invite, she finished in 56th place with a time of 30:08.2. Her season-best and personal-record is 27:03.3.
The Hornets will compete again at the Stockbridge Cross Country invitational on Saturday, Oct. 1. Monroe, Stalhood and Mackie will look to break their personal records at the event.
This is a live reporting of results. The final times and places are subject to change and may be under review.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale's Nolan Grant leads Hornets with top 5 finish in Jackson
