HOWELL — The Division 1 regional is about a month away, but first-year Howell coach Clay Woll looked at Tuesday’s dual with Brighton as a measuring stick for that meet.
“It’s going to come down to Brighton and Howell as to who goes to regionals,” Woll said.
In cross country, depth is key, and the Bulldogs used their depth to pull out a one-point win, 28-29, at Howell High School on Tuesday.
“It was great,” Brighton coach Chris Elsey said. “The kids executed our plan coming in, and they ran really well together. They’re a really motivated young group and they’re working hard together. They’re running great.”
“We knew what we wanted to do before the race,” said Zach Stewart, who was first for Brighton and third overall. “We came in with a certain strategy and we performed what we wanted to do.”
The girls meet was dominated by Brighton, which took nine of the first 10 spots in an 18-45 victory.
The boys overall winner was David Mitter, whom Woll said was running a tempo meet rather than for speed. Mitter’s time of 16 minutes, 2 seconds was a pleasant surprise to both.
“I felt I could have run faster,” he sad. “It’s good to see I could run a 16:02 and feel good after the race.”
After nearly a decade running at Three Fires Elementary, the Highlanders are once again running at Howell High School, whose sprawling campus allows plenty of room for a course.
“We moved back on campus so they could do workouts without it being so hectic like it was at Three Fires,” said Woll, a 2010 Howell grad who competed in cross country. “It used to be on Howell’s campus, and I wanted to bring it back.”
Woll and the girls coach, Katie Deatherage, are both in their first year as coaches.
“They’re a good group to work with,” Deatherage said. “We only have four seniors, and none in our top seven, so we’ve got a lot to work with, a lot of potential in the coming years.”
A freshman, Emily Endebrock, led the Highlanders with a third-place finish.
“There were two girls ahead of me (Brighton’s Lauren Parrell and Bella Van Buren), and I tried to stay with that group,” she said.
Brighton competed without 10 ailing runners, but coach Kristi Matuszewski was pleased with the Bulldogs’ effort.
“They did great,” she said. “Today was about seeing how much we can group up and get pumped up. I had 10 girls sitting out the race, and it was hard to get motivated.”
Besides working on running together, Matuszewski said that duals have another function.
“We have such a big team,” she said. “and it’s nice for them at duals to see where they might be if they would be on another team. We don’t have to focus on the top five. Every one of them can see where they would land on another team and be encouraged by that.”
