Prep roundup: Traverse City West soccer wins fourth consecutive district championship; Trojans, Titans, Gladiators dominate Northern Michigan Cross Country Championships

Oct. 23—MIDLAND — Mark it four for the Titans of Traverse City West.

For the fourth time in a row and 15th time since 2001, the TC West varsity boys soccer team was crowned district champions as the Titans topped Midland Dow, 2-1, for the Division 1 title Saturday.

The Titans, who won the Big North Conference during the regular season with a 9-0-1 record, improve to 18-1-1 overall and travel to Portage Northern on Tuesday to try and tame the Portage Central Mustangs in the regional semifinal.

West took the lead just 90 seconds into the match when Jackson Cote found Aidan Orth and Orth found the back of the net. West head coach Matt Griesinger said the early score was "pretty much how we script our goals," but he added that Midland Dow responded with pressure on the ball and a "distinct, successful style" of soccer that has made the Chargers (14-5) a perennial contender and rival for the Titans.

"We did a good job of surviving," Griesinger said.

Dow tied the game in the 24th minute when Isaac Skinner fired in a goal from 12 yards out. The Titans and Chargers went into the break knotted at 1-1, and the score stayed that way until Ben Carlson's long throw-in was headed in by Ben Schramski to make it 2-1 Titans with 14 minutes left in regulation.

"We made some pretty deliberate tweaks at half to change our mindset and turn the screw to get the winner," Griesinger said.

West goalie Trae Collins made nine saves as the Titans allowed their first goal in exactly a month — a 1-1 tie with Alpena on Sept. 22. The Titans have defeated the Chargers in the district finals five of the last eight years, including the previous three and 2015 and 2016.

"It was a classic TC West-Dow district final," Griesinger said. "It played out exactly how those games play out. Two really successful soccer teams playing really successful soccer."

Tuesday's regional semi is slated for 7 p.m.

"What we've got ahead of ourselves is a two-game tournament, and that's how we'll operate," Griesinger said. "The goal every year is to win the conference, win the district, and win the region. So I'm glad we've got two of those three goals, but now we have the third one ahead of us."

BOYS SOCCER DISTRICT FINALS

Petoskey 4

Alpena 1

No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Northmen win a Division 2 district championship, improve to 16-7-1 and move on to regional play. The Wildcats end their season at 14-6-3.

McBain NMC 1

Buckley 0

No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Comets (14-3-4) win a Division 4 district championship and move on to the regional semifinals. The Bears end their season at 13-8-1.

CROSS COUNTRY

Traverse City dominates Northern Michigan Championships

GAYLORD — Saturday was a banner day for a trio of Traverse City schools as each took home multiple titles at the Northern Michigan Championships at the Otsego Club in Gaylord.

Traverse City St. Francis won both the boys and girls races in the small division as Sophia Rhein (18:34.94) and Betsy Skendzel (18:49.52) took the top two spots to lift the Gladiators over Elk Rapids, 40-44. Harbor Springs finished third with 108, followed by Johannesburg-Lewiston (108), Grand Traverse Academy (117), North Trails (135) and Tawas (153).

Area runners took the top nine spots, including Elk Rapids' Brynne Schulte at 19:22.27, Joburg's Yolanda Gascho and Allie Nowak at 19:48.62 and 19:48.77, respectively, St. Francis's Grace Slocum at 19:56.68, Elk Rapids's Hunter Schellenbarger and Anna Pray at 20:10.37 and 20:17.56, respectively, and GTA's Petra Foote at 20:23.22.

The Gladiator boys had 55 points to claim first, followed by North Trails (71), Harbor Springs (86), Elk Rapids (91), Johannesburg-Lewiston (92), Lincoln-Alcona (171), Tawas (172) and Grand Traverse Academy (172).

Joburg's Jacob Wartenberg took the top time by 36 seconds, finishing in 16:14.14 to North Trails' Trent Taratuta's 16:50.59. Other area finishers in the boys top 10 were Joburg's Blake Fox (4th; 17:04.48), St. Francis' Olin Kasperowicz (6th; 17:26.4) and Lewis Walter (8th, 17:39.43), and Elk Rapids' Max Ward (9th; 17:42.98) and Qwynn Darnell (10th; 17:45.9).

In the large division, the Traverse City Central boys and Traverse City West girls put in dominating performances to grab overall titles. The Trojans won with 29 points to TC West's 65, followed by Gladwin (87), Big Rapids (102), Alpena (117), Kalkaska (173), Pontiac Notre Dame (179), Clare (217), Gaylord (233), Boyne City (273), Standish Sterling (335) and Cheboygan (336).

West's Jonah Hochstetler took the individual championship with a 15:34.78, but Central nabbed second and third with Joe Muha (15:45.67) and Micah Bauer (15:48.02). West's Willem DeGood was fifth with a 16:22.83, and other area top-10 finishers included TC Central's Zack Truszkowski (6th; 16:28.4), Alex Durocher (8th; 16:36.2) and Jett Reimers (10th; 16:59.3).

The Titan girls won with 27 points, besting TC Central's 52. Gaylord was in third with 101, followed by Alpena (126), Pontiac Notre Dame (141), Gladwin (165), Boyne City (221), Standish Sterling (231), Kalkaska (240), Big Rapids (257), Grayling (270), Clare (323) and Cheboygan (340).

TC West freshman Abby Veit won the individual championship with a 19:02.71. Other area runners in the top 10 included TC Central's Alexis Ball (3rd; 19:17.25) and Regan Feely (9th; 19:47.65), Gaylord's Katie Berkshire (4th; 19:21.63), TC West's Reese Smith (5th; 19:31.35) and fellow Titans Peyton Tucker (6th; 19:38.49), Bailey Wenzlick (7th; 19:42.61) and Alyssa Fouchey (8th; 19:44.15).

The Trojans' JV boys team won the team title and took the top six spots, while the Titans' JV girls squad claimed that championship.

Benzie's Jones, Kelly grab wins at Late Season Warrior Invitational

CHIPPEWA HILLS — Hunter Jones and Mylie Kelly brought the Huskies home some hardware as the two Benzie Central runners won the boys and girls races at the Late Season Warrior Invitational at Chippewa Hills High School.

Jones competed in his ninth race of the 2022 cross country season and picked up his ninth win, beating the previous course record of 15:17 by nearly 12 seconds with a 15:05.71.

Saturday marked Kelly's first win of the season after finishing second at the third Northwest Conference Jamboree on Oct. 11. She ran a 19:12.6, besting the runner-up runner by nearly 35 seconds.

The Benzie girls finished second overall, while the boys took third.

Buckley's Harrand wins Michigan Class D state title

SHEPHERD — Aiden Harrand left the competition in the figurative and literal dust on Saturday as the Buckley junior won the Michigan Class D Cross Country State Championship varsity 5K at Shepherd High School.

Harrand ran an 18:59.4, which was more than a minute better than her nearest competitor — Pittsford's Ava Mallar at 20:02.04. Buckley placed second overall in the girls division while Leland took fourth, Frankfort eighth, and Gaylord St. Mary 10th.

Leland's Ella Knudsen took fourth with a 20:16.3, and GSM's Miriam Murrell was seventh with a 20:33.5.

Frankfort's Skylar Werden was the top area finisher for the boys, placing third with a 16:59. Fellow Panther Adam Townsend took ninth with a 17:37.1 to help lead Frankfort to a fifth-place finish. Leland placed ninth.

VOLLEYBALL

Comets win home invitational

Leland def. Kingsley 21-25, 25-20, 15-10; def. Benzie Central 25-10, 25-9 and 25-17, 25-15, 18-25; def. Lake Leelanau St. Mary 25-16, 25-12 and 25-21, 25-10, 25-18.

Leland: Fiona Moord 47 kills, 14 aces, 5 digs, 2 blocks; Alexis Luce 107 assists, 22 digs, 5 aces; Maeve Sweeney 25 kills, 9 aces, 22 digs; Flora Mitchell 13 kills, 6 aces, 28 digs; Kelsey Allen 24 kills, 3 blocks; Shelby Plamondon 12 kills, 1 ace, 4 digs; Olive Ryder 11 aces, 33 digs; Mallory Lowe 16 digs, 2 aces.

Kingsley def. Traverse City Christian 25-16, 25-16; def. Glen Lake 25-17, 25-18 and 25-19, 25-16; def. Suttons Bay 25-13, 25-13; lost to Leland 25-21, 2025, 10-15.

Kingsley: Jennifer Lefler 38 kills, 58 digs, 7 aces; Grace Lewis 30 kills, 7 blocks, 61 digs, 10 aces; Paityn VanPelt 12 kills, 88 assists, 4 aces; Aizlyn Hager 12 kills, 5 blocks; Sarah Wooer 48 digs, 2 aces; Olivia Reamer 9 kills, 3 blocks; Isabell Seitz 14 digs, 5 aces; Ellie Moran 2 kills, 19 digs, 5 aces.

Traverse City Christian: Lydia Brower 28 digs, 9 kills, 4 aces; Ava Wendel 37 digs, 38 kills, 2 aces; Rebekah Burch 41 digs, 1 ace, 2 assists; Lydia Critchfield 10 digs, 4 kills, 5 aces, 59 assists.

Glen Lake def. Suttons Bay 14-25, 25-16, 15-3; lost to Kingsley 17-25, 18-25 and 19-25, 16-25; def. TC Christian 25-9, 16-25, 15-11 and 25-19, 25-23

Glen Lake (19-14-2, 4-2 Northwest): Great setting, serving and hustle by Ava Raymond; Taylor Semple with great defense.

Lake City splits at tourney

The Trojans lost to St. John's 18-25, 15-25; def. Eaton Rapids 25-19, 25-15; def. New Lothrop 25-20, 25-17; lost to Pontiac Notre Dame 14-25, 22-25.

Lake City (36-7-1): Mackenzie Bisballe 18 assists, 12 blocks, 25 kills, 21 digs; Emily Urie 10 digs, 100%, 1 ace; Hannah Vasicek 7 digs, 3 kills, 1 block; Alie Bisballe 23 kills, 10 digs, 14 blocks; Kaylee Keenan 31 digs; Kasey Keenan 2 blocks, 3 kills, 12 digs; Haylee Parniske 32 digs, 6 kills, 2 blocks; Jenna Harris 4 digs; Hannah Hern 12 digs; Zoe Butkovich 3 kills; Helen Brown 21 assists.

8-PLAYER FOOTBALL

Gaylord SM 62

Bear Lake 0

Gaylord St. Mary: Snowbirds pick up program's 300th win. Lassee Fulton state-record 4 FGs; Gavin Bebble 3 TDs; Rylan Matelski 2 TDs; Lake Pawlanta TD; Dillon Croff TD.

Bear Lake: No stats reported.

UP NEXT: The Snowbirds (7-2) find out Sunday which team they will face in the playoffs. The Lakers end their season at 1-8.