STATE CHAMPS!!
Launch the media gallery 1 playerRebecca Salter
2013 State Champs!Your Beal City Lady Aggies Cross Country team won the 2013 MHSAA Division 4 State Championship on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway! With 120 points, the team bested runner-up Breckenridge, victors by 1 point over the Lady Aggies the week before at Regionals, by sixteen. As four of seven runners posted season or lifetime bests, the girls recorded the best team time in program history by over 42 seconds. Three Lady Aggies, the most ever, posted top-30 finishes to earn First Team All-State recognition. Hannah Steffke led the team with a 10th place finish in 19:27.0 to earn her second straight All-State honor. Hannah Neyer delivered the best race of her career to break 20 minutes for the first time ever at 19:57.0. Hannah’s 19th place finish was redemption for a heartbreaking 31st last year by 0.2 seconds. Hannah was on a season long mission to break 20:00 and earn All-State and, when the time came, she left no doubt! Emily Steffke set up a rare chance for four career All-State finishes as she passed multiple runners down the finish stretch to reach 30th in 20:12.5 and claim her third All-State honor. Freshmen Ariel Salter and Brenda Faber had great races in their first trip to MIS as Ariel ran a season best 20:52.6 to finish 58th and Brenda was close behind in 66th at 21:04.2. Hayley Neyer took over 35 seconds off last year’s finals time for a lifetime best 21:11.5 in 70th. Rachel Schwerin fought injury all year long, but finished off with a season best 25:43.7 on the championship course. Managers Heidie Neyer and Jaclyn Woodbury did a great job in support of the team this year and are greatly appreciated by the coach! The dedication and leadership of senior Hannah Neyer will be greatly missed by the entire program and we will all be wishing her the best when she doesn’t show for practice for the first time in seven years next fall! It was a fantastic finish to a year that saw the Lady Aggies claim five invitational victories and their third straight Highland Conference Championship as year round hard work paid off!
Top 10! For the first time in eleven years, Beal City was represented by our Boys’ Cross Country team at the State Finals. That 2002 team finished in the top half of the field in 13th, but this year’s Aggies posted the first top-10 finish for the program with a solid 7th place result! After working through injury all spring, summer, and into the season, Nick Pung earned his third consecutive All-State honor via a 10th place finish in a season best 16:56.6. Nick has improved each year, placing 26th as a freshman and 17th as a sophomore, and now joins Emily Steffke as they look to complete rare four time All-State careers next season. Ethan Schafer joined Nick on the podium as he worked his way to a 30th place finish to earn his first All-State honor in 17:13.0, less than one second off his career best at Regionals last week. Brendan Carrick was within :03 of his season best as he finished 84th in 18:07.2. The Aggies’ fourth through seventh runners crossed the line within five seconds between 18:36 and 18:41, a great pack! Apollo Schafer (117th, 18:36.4) led the group with James Kolb (118th, 18:36.9), Zach Bellinger (124th, 18:38.6), and David Reihl (129th, 18:41.0) on his heels. Thanks again to Heidie Neyer and Jaclyn Woodbury for keeping things running smoothly all season. With NO SENIORS on this year’s squad, the Aggies will look to capitalize on their excellent Finals experience to be a force in 2014! Watch out D4!
The Cross Country program would like to thank the students, staff, administration, and community for all the support this season. The send-off on Friday and the reception home on Saturday were GREATLY APPRECIATED! The runners and the coach would especially like to recognize the efforts of the program parents as they facilitate our year round training and support our athletes unconditionally. Thank you to all! Good luck to the Volleyball and Football teams as they pursue their own CHAMPIONSHIP DREAMS!