Courtesy Photo The Alpena Community College cross country team won the 2019 Firebird Invitational. Pictured from left to right are: Mason Kaniszewski, Tyler Cherry, Musa Kabbah, Nate Robey, Duncan Ross, Caleb Burger, Aidan Francis, Tylor Ross and coach Mark Jacobs.

The Alpena Community College cross country team had three goals going into Friday’s Firebird Invitational: win the meet, use the race as a hard tempo run and have all eight runners earn at T-shirt which is given out to the top 15 runners.

The Lumberjacks completed all three as Alpena’s top five runners finished second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh to run away with the meet. The other runners on the team finished ninth, 10th and 14th to complete their outstanding day.

“I knew we were ready to pop a great race. This past week was one of the hardest training weeks that I have ever been a part of here at ACC. We did a double at Chip Hills and spent time at both the Sandies and the track prepping for the rest of the season. This group is not only focused, they have heart and want to work hard on a daily basis” ACC coach Mark Jacobs said.

Tylor Ross (Fairview) again led the team, followed by Caleb Burger (Alpena), Mason Kaniszewski (Tawas), Aidan Francis (Memphis), Musa Kabbah (Voinjama, Liberia), Tyler Cherry (Gaylord), Nate Robey (Big Rapids) and Duncan Ross (Rogers City).

Friday’s success wasn’t guaranteed as the Firebird Invitational is a 6K race, rather than an 8K race and this race had just 25 runners compared to 200 and 350 from Alpena’s last two races.

The Lumberjacks next travel to Lansing to compete in the Lansing Community College Invitational.