CADILLAC — The Big North Conference cross country championships were nearly a Traverse City sweep Tuesday at Veterans Serving Veterans Park in Cadillac.
Traverse City Central won the boys division with junior Trojan Caleb Keller taking the individual title, and the Traverse City West Titans won the girls division.
But Gaylord’s Katie Berkshire ensured that the Cherry Capital would not go 4 for 4 on the day as the junior Blue Devil won her second straight BNC crown by nearly a full minute.
“All races are tough, but I actually felt better than what I expected — especially with how cold it was,” Berkshire said, referring to Tuesday’s windy and sometimes rainy conditions with temperatures in the low 40s dipping into the 30s. “I felt really proud of myself. My training has been leading up to this, and I felt great.”
Berkshire’s time of 17:34.28 was not only a full 15 seconds better than her previous season-best, but it was also a personal-record time that earned her her fourth win of the 2024 campaign.
“It feels like I can represent Gaylord and the tough work we put into training and how committed and determined we are as individuals and as a team,” Berkshire said. “This is definitely a big boost. After this race, I’m feeling a lot more confident going into my future races.”
The Titan girls tallied 37 points for a comfortable win over runner-up Cadillac, which had 64. Central took third with 66 points, followed by Petoskey (95), Gaylord (129) and Alpena (139).
The champion Titans were led by junior Abby Veit in third with a time of 18:45.43. Tessa Mascari took fifth at 18:57.13, followed by Bailey Wenzlick in eighth at 19:18.61, Alyssa Fouchey in 10th with a 19:25.42, and Peyton Tucker rounding out West’s five scoring runners in 11th place at 19:27.54.
“I’m very proud of how all the girls ran,” West first-year head coach Lia Palomino said. “We had many PRS, season-bests and breakthrough races, today. We are building confidence and coming off some hard weeks of training just in time for regionals.”
The Trojan boys won with 29 points for the Trojans’ sixth straight Big North championship, edging out rival West at 35. Alpena finished in third with 80, followed by Petoskey (104), Cadillac (134) and Gaylord (135).
“In the lead-up, our focus was for each of the kids to do their job — which was to beat their man from West as it was essentially a two-team race,” Central head coach Bryan Burns said. “It was tight as West ran very well, too, but the kids executed the race plan and we were able to win.”
Keller broke the 16-minute mark for the third time this season and picked up his first win in the 5,000-meter race of 2024 as he clocked in at 15:59.1.
“Caleb ran a very smart race,” Burns said. “He showed a lot of patience and stuck to the race plan.”
Winning the Big North championship was one of Keller’s goals, and he said he felt “really accomplished” to get it.
“I would have been upset if I didn’t, but I’m also so grateful for the opportunity we all had today,” he said.
Keller said the weather didn’t bother him at all, despite most of the spectators bundled up to stay warm.
“I didn’t really even notice the weather at all,” Keller said. “It’s cross country. We train in this weather all the time, and we expect it. It’s definitely a big advantage for our team.”
All five of Central’s scoring runners finished in the top 10 with Keller in first, Jack Steen taking fourth at 16:22.61, Ian Boss in fifth at 16:24.32, Lawrence Cubitt in ninth at 16:43.9, and Luke Byland in 10th at 16:51.16.
“Our team is looking pretty good for regionals,” Keller said. “We have a really good chance to win.”
Alpena freshman Alexander Allen was second with a 16:04.62. West’s Liam Wierzba took third with a 16:10.62 and was joined in the top 10 by fellow Titans Hayden Murray (sixth, 16:26.53), Aidan Simrau (seventh, 16:31.57) and Finn Frost Grayson (eighth, 16:35.86).
“There was some good competition out there,” Keller said. “I have to give all the props to them.”
The top 14 runners in each division earned All-Conference honors, with the top seven taking home First-Team accolades.
West’s Austin Taft (11th, 16:54.85) and Ben Irwin (12th, 17:04.62) along with Petoskey’s Reeve Oberman (14th, 17:11.27) were Second-Team All-Conference.
The All-Conference runners in the girls division also included Cadillac’s Brooklynn Brown in second at 18:32.06, Ella McInerney in fourth at 18:51.36 and Chloe Mazza in 13th at 19:42.53 as well as Traverse City Central’s Ariana Rajah in sixth at 19:02.3, Sienna Cobb in seventh at 19:07.56 and Emily Truszkowski in ninth at 19:20.39. Petoskey’s Awa Pawlick was All-Big North, finishing 12th at 19:36.74.
Central and West travel to Shepherd for the Division 1 regional, while Cadillac, Gaylord and Petoskey compete in the Division 2 regional at Benzie Central. Both races are slated for Friday, Oct. 25.