Recent CHAP XC Senior High Girls News
Boys Team Continues to Improve and Drop Time
In their third race of the new season, the CHAP Chariot Boys Varsity XC team finished 6th overall among 18 teams at the annual Laingsburg "Early Burg" Invitational. This 5K course is flat and has traditionally proven to be fast, so it provides for an encouraging opportunity to improve early in the season. The Boys team came into this meet seeded to finish 8th, and moved up 2 positions to finish in 6th with strong races from the top five finishers who scored 173 points. The meet was won by Greenville, who finished with only 51 points, followed by Fowlerville and Leslie with podium finishes in 2nd and 3rd.
The Chariots Boys Team was led by freshman Daniel Thomas, who moved up slowly throughout the race to finish in 18:35.4 and capture 27th place among 141 runners. Thomas finished as the 4th best freshman in the race, and has a bright future ahead as the season progresses. Following closely as the Chariots 2nd finisher was first year runner Colton Dysart, who was 29th in a PR time of 18:38.3. That time was almost 1 full minute faster than Dysart's previous race. Rounding out the top 5 for the Chariots were Asa Rowntree (39th), Alexander Hundt (41st) and Dylan Thomas (48th). Not far behind that group was the Chariots 6th finisher Joseph Carson, who finished in 52nd place overall. Part of this team's strength is good pack running, with a top 6 capable of working together and encouraging each other through the race.
Other finishers for the Chariots (in order) were Jordan Feller, Dylan Ward, and Benjamin Hinkley.
The Chariots will be back in action next Saturday, September 7th, at the Bret Clements Bath Invitational. The course at Bath Middle School will be filled with dozens of teams and hundreds of runners all morning long. CHAP is entered in the Boys Class 3 race, which is scheduled to begin at 12:15pm, just after the Middle School races are concluded.
CHAP Varsity Girls XC Aims For Repeat State Championship
First Meet Coming Soon
The 2019 Lady Chariots XC Team will be back in action soon, with Team practices beginning on Monday, August 12th, and the first competition soon to follow on Friday, August 16th. The first Meet of the season will be the St. John's "Under The Lights" Invitational. This unique Meet is run after sundown, with races beginning about 9pm at St. Johns High School.
The Chariots are the defending MIHS (Homeschool) State Champions, and only graduated one Senior runner who ran in the top seven last season. The top returners will be Senior Co-Captain Sophia Shoemaker, Juniors Joy Kogut, Natalie Minnaar, and Rachel NImtz, and Sophomores Karen Nimtz, Emily Spencer and Libby Vanderwey. Also competing for spots in the Varsity top 7 will be some quality incoming Freshmen including Lily Kogut, Alivia DeMass, and Maggie Spencer.
Last season marked the 7th consecutive time the Lady Chariots have won the MIHS (Homeschool) State Championship Meet, having not lost since the Meet began in 2012. This year's squad will aim to defend that Championship and carry on the great tradition of CHAP Varsity Girls XC!
The CHAP Sr. High Girls XC team finished 3rd, in the last trophy position, among 19 teams at the annual Laingsburg Invitational on Thursday, August 23rd. Scoring 84 points, the lady Chariots finished just behind Fowlerville with 82 points, and the Women's Team Champions from Battle Creek Harper Creek, who scored only 41 points. The Chariots were led by a strong performance by Senior Molly Vanderwey, who finished 7th out of 170 runners in a 5K time of 21:14. Rounding out the top five in scoring position were sophomore Joy Kogut (11th in 21:22), sophomore Rachel Nimtz (15th in 21:57), junior Sophia Shoemaker (17th in 22:07) and sophomore Natalie Minnaar (34th in 23:16). The top four lady Chariots all finished in the top 30, earning medals for their performance. Despite their youthfulness, with only one senior among the top five, the lady Chariots ran well as a group, moving up steadily throughout the race. They were just edged out for a 2nd place team finish, and will look to challenge Fowlerville again in the weeks to come. Winning the weekly PR Improvement Award for this meet was newcomer Joy Kogut, who improved her PR by 1:38 from the prior week. The Chariots will look to continue improving their times at the annual Bret Clements Invitational hosted by Bath High School on Saturday, September 8th.
