Starting the right way [The Herald-Palladium, St. Joseph, Mich.]

Aug. 26--BRIDGMAN -- Bridgman's boys cross country team is off to a good start.

The team, which was Division 4 state runner-up last year, was dominant in its own invitational Wednesday as the Bees placed all seven of their runners in the top 25. That included taking the top three spots to outdistance Bangor 25-82.

Hartford was third with 96 points and Watervliet was fourth with 113.

Cameron Magro (17:24) easily won the boys race as he beat his twin brother, Conner, by 30 seconds (17:54).

Justin Kiewel (18:02) took third for the Bees.

"Our whole team is hungry and I am sure we will give everything we've got," Cameron Magro said. "We can win state with our depth. We just need to get our top five as close together as possible and have a little luck."

"I was looking over the teams coming and all the teams that were here last year were back" Bridgman coach John Wismer said. "I knew that the boys were going to do well, but I was pleased that all the kids ran better times than their time trials last week. "

In the girls' race, Jessica Nave of Berrien Springs won the race, but Bangor nipped the Shamrocks for the team title by two points, 79 to 81.

Hartford finished third with 82 points and Bridgman was fourth with 90 points.

"We have a lot of girls and have been training harder this year," Nave said. "We do not want to let all our hard work go to waste."

"We have tried in the past to get the girls to run during the summer and this year they did," Wismer said. "They look so much better now and to finish fourth when we were eighth last year is a big improvement."

The boys' race saw Cameron Magro take control before the 1-mile marker and he continued to push the pace and stretch his lead.

By the two-mile mark, no runner was close.

"I just wanted to get a feel for where I stand in the area," Magro said. "It was hot today and I probably went out too fast, but I always do that early in the season. I guess I was a little anxious, but as long as I am running hard I am happy."

The Bees' depth was also shown as Jarret Anderson placed seventh and Brandon Enders 12th to complete Bridgman's scoring.

"Right now we have a strong three to four runners," Wismer said. "We need to get our fifth and sixth runners to tighten the gap. Their progress will determine how far we go this year."

The girls' race saw three teams fighting for the top spot, but it was Bangor which showed its depth, taking the title.

The Vikings placed all five of their runners in the top 25 to beat Berrien Springs by two points. Hartford was another point back.

Nave executed her race and kept her pace as she eventually dropped the rest of the field.

Lauren Cody of Lawton finished second and Bangor's Montanna Hescott, who had the lead at the two mile mark, finished third.

"(Hescott) kept surging past me," Nave said. "When you surge, it only lasts for a short time so I tried to keep my pace. I know I run faster at the end so I worked on closing and passing her again."

Boys

Team scores -- 1. Bridgman 25, 2. Bangor 82, 3. Hartford 96, 5. Watervliet 113, 5. Lake Michigan Catholic 121, 6. New Buffalo 135, 7. River Valley 170, 8. Lawton 236, 9. La Lumiere 248, 10. Berrien Springs 264

Bridgman -- 1. Cameron Magro 17:24; 2. Conner Magro 17:54; 3. Justin Kiewel 18:02; 7. Jarrett Anderson 18:18; 12. Brandon Enders 19:00

Bangor -- 11. Oscar Tenorio-Leyva 18:57; 14. Branden Grahm 19:15; 15. Martin Munoz 19:26; 16. Stephon Willis 19:28; 26. Daniel Munoz 20:00

Hartford -- 6. Daniel Sexton 18:15; 8. Ian Haubold 18:30; 22. Ethan Benham 19:45; 29. Joe Baumeister 20:12; 31. Chris Llamas 20:18

Watervliet -- 9. Nick Kaley 18:33; 13. Kirkland Love 19:05; A.J. Gagliardo 19:49; 33. David McLendon 20:20; 35. Michael Foote 20:29

LM Catholic -- 4. Lucas Copi 18:04; 10. Frank Moen 18:48; 25. Jacob Kohler 19:57; 39. Ben Spencer 21:10; 43. Mitch Burk 21:42

New Buffalo -- 18. Ben Bartelmay 19:40; Sam Bartelmay 19:41; 21. Cameron English 19:42; 37. Tom Bartekmay 21:05; 40. Shane Hill 21:12;

River Valley -- 20. Trenton Prentice 19:41; 28. Alex Ehlert 20:06; 30. Forest Galanda 20:12; 45. BJ Clark 22:07.

Berrien Springs -- 36. Tom Miltenberger 20:31; 46. Will Holdsworth 20:31; 54. Robert Lake 23:07; 55. Mateo Conner 23:15; 57. Conner Luck 23:27

Countyside -- 45. Anthony Baker 21:19

Bloomingdale -- 7. Brian Larabell 18:16; 63. Nathan Dougless 22:35; 71. Andrew Johnson 23:21

Coloma -- 32. Alex Wilcox 20:14; 93. Derek Wyant 26:37

Girls

Team -- 1. Bangor 79; 2. Berrein Springs 81; 3. Hartford 82; 4. Bridgman 90; 5. Gobles 138; 6. La Lumiere 157; 7. LM Catholic 174; 8. Watervliet 183; 9. Lawton 190; 10. New Buffalo 214

Bangor -- 3. Montana Hescott 22:31; 11. Alicia Oviedo 24:19; 16. Yaritza Rodriguez 24:55; 24. Bethany Ross 24:55; 25. Joanna Tenorio 25:28

Berrien Springs -- 1. Jessica Nave 22:01; 12. Bekah Sherburn 24:36; 14. Amber Vanuvanee 24:46; 20. Koby Gillespie 25:06; 34. Ashley Kruck 26:14

Hartford -- 4. Janet Jonatzke 22:38; 13. Stefanie Tule 24:39; 15. Theresa Rodriguez 24:50; 18. Eric Baumeister 24:56; 32. Alex Burnett 26:03

Bridgman -- 5. Kelsey Stevenson 23:44; 10. Kelsey Ferguson 24:09; 22. Emily Ulrath 25:19; 23. Paige Melick 25:24; 30. Doville Vitkus 25:49

LM Catholic -- 27. Megan Landeck 25:46; 28. Janine Golob 25:47; 29. Ella Deaton; 33. Alisse Havicek 26:14; 57. Hannah Seger 30:39

Watervliet -- 9. Olivia Thibeault 24:08; 31. Taylor Willming 25:50; 40. Katie Collis 26:57; 50. Samantha Morris 28:17; 53. Laura Cook 29:07

New Buffalo -- 8. Elise Cambell 24:03; 35. Chelsie Lang 26:18; 54. Nina Kirkpatrick 30:01; 55. Malia Bradbury 30:23; 62. Samantha Hill 34:47

River Valley -- 61. Marissa Lubarski 28:51; 65. Brittney Deslauries 29:15

Bloomingdale -9. Staci Peterson 24:07

Coloma -- 22. Heidi Conrad 25:14; 28. Rachel Tallman 25:28; 58. Alison Corbin 28:12

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