Every step counted

Chiefs edge 'Cats by smallest of margins

  Canton's girls cross country team nipped Plymouth by more than the width of a shoe lace Tuesday afternoon -- but not much more.

  In a dual meet that more than lived up to heightened pre-race expectations, the Chiefs prevailed, 28-29, fueled by the first-place effort of Bianca Kubicki and a strong finishing kick by its final two runners.

  Both teams owned 2-1 Kensington Lakes Activities Association South Division records following the tension-packed showdown.

  "It was a tightly contested meet as the score would indicate," said Canton coach Eric Paul. "Our girls did what they had to do. Plymouth is a very good team and we knew it was going to be a fun meet to be at."

  The Chiefs ran without Abigail Gorzalski, one of their top runners who missed the meet due to an injury.

  Kubicki continued to shine for the winners, crossing the finish line in 20:03, 53 seconds ahead of Plymouth's second-place runner, Britta Swanson, who set a personal-best time of 20:56.

  The Wildcats' Paula Green finished third one second behind Swanson, but Canton's Emily Southern (21:01), Rachael Rohrbach (21:04) and Katie Grimes (21:05) notched fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place points, respectively.

  A trio of Plymouth runners -- Nicole Traitses (21:24), Julie Forster (21:26) and Kelly Hahn (21:35) -- placed seventh through ninth. Canton's final scorer was 12th-place Rachael Brunk, who was clocked in 22:10.

WILDCATS EXCEL AT MONROE JEFFERSON

  Plymouth placed fourth at Saturday's Monroe Jefferson Invitational, racking up 107 points. Brighton won the meet with 65 points followed by Monroe (82) and Livonia Franklin (91).

  "It was a successful day as eight girls on the team ran personal-bests and an additional four ran seasonal bests," said Plymouth coach Mary Kerwin. "We just need to keep improving every week and keep looking to the regional meet."

  Green was the top 'Cat, placing 12th in 20:17. Also scoring were Forster (18th in 20:47), Traitses (19th in 20:48), Kelly Hahn (23rd in 20:57) and Julie Hahn (35th in 21:34).
 

Ed Wright can be reached at [email protected] or (734) 453-1980.