Marshall High School

The Marshall Cross Country team competed at regionals on Saturday, October 31. Weather conditions were near perfect on this Halloween day and the runners didn't disappoint. Abraham McHugh placed 2nd in the men's race and Alaina Dillon 12th in the women's race to earn all region honors qualifying for the state finals at Michigan International Speedway next Saturday. Abraham went 15:57 breaking the 16 minute mark for the first time this season. Abe had a great summer conditioning program and started the season strong but struggled with some health issues that stalled his progress mid-season so it was great to see Abe run his season best at regionals. After just missing qualifying for the state meet last year, Alaina had one goal in mind when the season started...qualifying for state. Alaina trained hard, including running with the men during practice, and has been steadily improving all season. Alaina was ranked 17th for the regional race so, knowing she needed to be in the top 15, she knew she had her work cut out for her. Alaina went out fast and was in the 12th place position by the midway point in the race and she was able to hold this position and finish the race with a personal best time of 19:44. Be sure to congratulate Abe and Alaina when you see them this week and wish them good luck at the state meet next weekend. Also racing at regionals on the boys side were Caylor Elsesser (34th), Austin Ruppel (67th), Maxwell Romeri (77th) with a PB time, Luke Frye (90th), Jacob Spaulding (94th) and Aiden Vance (96th). The girls team consisted of Hailey McKinlay (62nd), Nadia Smyczek (69th), Gianna De Cola (76th) and Aaliyah Johnson (95th).