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Alpena cross country team has high hopes for season

If everything falls into place, the 2016 season could be a very productive one for the Alpena High cross country team.

Alpena’s boys team is loaded with experience and has high hopes while Alpena’s girls team has lots of potential, but lots of room to grow. Alpena coach Joy Bullis has seen some good things so far in two meets, but she also knows her teams can do better.

“I can’t complain (so far). Almost every kid ran a better time (last week) than they ran the previous week. Sometimes that works easy, sometimes it doesn’t,” Bullis said.

Alpena’s boys team is packed with experience is aiming to become the first Alpena cross country team to qualify for the state finals since 2009.

Leading Alpena’s boys team is senior Mitchell Day, who will look to end his already stellar high school career on a high note. Entering his final season for the Wildcats, Day is a two-team all-stater and took second at the finals last year. He also won a regional title last year.

This season Day has his eyes set on a third consecutive all-state finish and a conference championship among other things. Day is the Big North Conference’s top runner and came up short of a conference title last year when he tripped during the conference finals.

“It’s exciting. He has put on a full year of full training and is probably the strongest that I’ve ever seen a runner come out of Alpena,” Bullis said. “He’s awesome, he’s done the work.”

Joining Day in Alpena’s quest to qualify for the state finals are sophomores Aden and Josh Smith along with seniors Isaac Cross, Dallin Toth and Garret McHarg among others. Aden Smith and Cross both qualified last year for the finals and Bullis said both Smiths are already running almost a full minute faster than their best times last year.

The boys team has already brought home two trophies this season after a third place finish in the Lancer Invitational and a first place finish at the Rau Invitational.

“I’ve been here 10 years (and) I’ve never seen a boys team go to the state meet,” Bullis said. “It’s so much bigger than taking one kid. All these kids, they all have something to do with it.”

Bullis admits that Alpena’s girls team is very young this season, but it has the potential within the next few years into a special group.

“This is probably the strongest group I’ve ever seen come out of Alpena,” Bullis said. “Six girls running under a six-minute mile.”

Such talent could soon produce another state qualifying team. Alpena’s last one had runners like Kelsey Lewis and Taylor Stepanski on its roster and Bullis thinks many of Alpena’s current group of runners can be just as good.

Sophomore Maddy Boyd returns as Alpena’s top runner and she’ll be joined in the mix by upperclassmen Alayna Nugent and Destiney Wirgau.

“They’re good leaders,” Bullis said of her top three. “I believe we have the potential to have three in the 20s and two in the 21s which would be a solid team.”

The rest of Alpena’s girls team is filled out by talented freshmen and many of them have already posted solid times. Among those in the mix are Anna Young, Kaylee Rondeau, Molly Dickenson and Malley McQuire.

Alpena’s girls team has yet to run a race with the whole team together, but the Wildcats did come away from the Rau Invitational with a second place trophy.

Alpena will race in the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing on Saturday and will have a Big North Conference meet at home on Tuesday.

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.

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