With the towers of the Mackinac Bridge serving as a background, Nicole Elmblad of St. Ignace (front) and Abby Kelto of Munising (second runner) lead the girls during the first lap of the St. Ignace Kiwanis Cross Country Invitational Tuesday, September 30. The Munising Mustangs boys and Cheboygan Chiefs girls won the inaugural St. Ignace Kiwanis Cross Country Invitational team titles at the Mackinac Bridge Park trials in St. Ignace Tuesday, September 30.

The Mustangs finished with five runners in the first nine places to capture the boys crown with 20 points, followed by Cheboygan with 78, Mackinaw City 114, Rogers City 135, Sault Ste. Marie 157, St. Ignace 185, Cedarville 241, DeTour 250, East Jordan 292, and Pickford 323.

The Chiefs won the girls division with 41 points, followed by Munising with 53, St. Ignace 93, Mackinaw City 132, Rogers City 147, Cedarville 172, Sault Ste. Marie 174, Pickford 180, and East Jordan 248.

Alex Zaleski won the boys' race in 17:33, and Abby Kelto, the number one athlete at the Upper Peninsula Finals in 2007, won the girls' race with a time of 20:42. Both are from Munising.

Kristen Olsen, St. Ignace The top two area runners were Nicole Elmbald of St. Ignace, with a time of 21:29, good for second place, and Teryn Miller of DeTour, who placed sixth in 18:28.

A total of 135 high school athletes and 81 junior high runners competed in the event.

"I was pleased with the number of teams and the outcome of our first invitational," said Saints Coach Emily Fullerton. "Volunteers and the Mackinac Bridge Authority made this event a success."

St. Ignace girls: Kristen Olsen 13th 23:23, Grace Wheeler 17th in 24:16, Sara Tafelski 29th in 25:05, Stacy Goldthorpe 32nd in 25:29, Kayla Gustin 39th in 27:11.2, Page Paul 40th in 27:11.8, Samantha Radecki 42nd in 28:09, and Ivy Thurston 46th in 28:19.

St. Ignace boys: Devin Chargo 14th in 19:36, Patrick Sweeney 17th in 19:48, Kaiden Shiemke 27th in 20:29, Kevin Guillard 37th in 21:08, Ben Paul 50th in 22:19, Joe Snowaert 52nd in 22:40, Xan Belonga 58th in 23:15.3, Brandon West 59th in 23:15.8, Dane Christiansen 65th in 24:10, Lewis Steiner 68th in 24:51, Corey Harrington 69th in 25:31, and Raleigh Harrington 70th in 25:45.

Patrick Sweeney, St. Ignace Mackinaw City boys: Brandyn Clemens 7th in 18:31, Chris Laninga 8th in 18:42, Adam Alexander 18th in 19:52, Luke Alexander 21st in 20:12, Justin Campbell 60th in 23:19, Tate Paquet 66th in 24:15, and Michael Dery 72nd in 25:57.

Mackinaw City girls: Kristina Heilman 12th in 23:19, Hailee Paquet 18th in 24:29, Courtney Wallis 21st in 24:39, Tierney Bell 34th in 25:40, Hannah Morse 47th in 28:48, Taelar Steward 49th in 29:36, Amber Wallis 61st in 32:36.

Cedarville girls: Jessie Duncan 9th in 23:01, Erin Currie 11th in 23:04, and Emily Windberg 25th in 24:44.

Cedarville boys: Tyler Kanitz 19th in 20:10, Matt Schlosser 47th in 22:00, Brent Heerspink 48th in 22:01, Kaleb Grove 54th in 22:50, and Connor McLeod 73rd in 28:04.

Pickford girls: Brandi Kopitz 7th in 22:55, Callie Smith 19th in 24:32, and Megan Arbic 27th in 24:48.

Tyler Kanitz, Cedarville Pickford boys: Jamie Nettleton 36th in 21:06 and Dennis Wondergem 62nd in 23:47.

DeTour boys: Chase Livingston 32nd in 20:54 and Shane Viilo 63rd in 23:51.

Junior High Results

St. Ignace girls: Sarah Cullip 1st in 11:09, Rachel Hetherington 5th in 12:02, Angie Donajkowski 25th in 14:02, Brenna 00 27th in 14:11, Savannah Seccia 37th in 15:03, and Becca LaLonde 39th in 15:15.

St. Ignace boys: Andrew Sjogren 7th in 10:58, Kasey Bunker 12th in 11:15, Jacob Sjogren 16th in 12:11, Ellis Graham 20th in 12:39, Brian Harju 22nd in 12:48, and Devin Harju 33rd in 14:18.

Pickford girls: Victoria Cusick 4th in 11:52 and Olivia Smith 8th in 12:28.

Pickford boys: Camden Ledy 17th in 12:15 and Jacob Andrzejak 32nd in 13:58.

DeTour boys: Devin Livingston 29th in 13:44.

Brandi Kopitz, Pickford Teryn Miller of DeTour, followed by Brandyn Clemens and Chris Laninga of Mackinaw City, take the lead in the boys race during the St. Ignace Kiwanis Invitational.