Courtesy Photo John Siegert leads the ACC Lumberjack cross country team during Friday’s season opener at the Skipper Invite held in Marysville.

The Alpena Community College men’s cross country season began Friday at the Skipper Invite held in Marysville.

For the first time ever, due to COVID-19 safety guidelines, the meet was run in two separate heats, each one starting two minutes apart.

“It was a strange meet to say the least,” ACC coach Mark Jacobs said. “We were in the second heat so we had no idea who actually was in our heat when we got in the middle of the race. But it’s 2020, so nothing has been normal, we were just happy to race.”

John Siegert (Ludington) led the Lumberjacks with an opening season time of 31:27. Siegert was followed by Freshman Teddy Peters (Onaway) 32:40, Musa Kubbah (Voinjama, Liberia) 33:36, Nate Robey (Big Rapids) 34:04, Connor Bagnell (Memphis) 34:22, Rony Demirkol (Istanbul, Turkey) 34:26, Duncan Ross (Rogers City) 37:16 and Yuki Nishibashi (Ostu City, Japan) 40:56.

“I was pleased how today went,” Jacobs said. It’s very early in the season and the first meet gives us our starting baseline on where we need to improve. Plus, we have four more guys who can now tell their family and friends that they are now a college athlete. That’s an honor that very few people can ever claim.”

The Lumberjacks next meet will be Sept. 18 at Kirtland Community College.