Everyone but Harberts plays follow the leader

Some things never change. Two of the constants on the girls cross country scene in Macomb County this year have been Romeo’s dominance as a team and Dakota freshman Jayden Harberts leading the way as an individual runner.

Itwasmore of the same Tuesday at theDivision1 pre-regional hosted by Romeo. The Bulldogs placed all seven of their runners in the top 12 to take first place with 29 points. Harberts took first place overallwith a time of 18:23.2.

“It was kind of like a formality, but it was good,” saidRomeo coachMike Buslepp. “I think it’s going to getus ready for the next one. There were definitely some good runners out here so it’s good to have that push. We’re just trying to keep our focus and get ready for beyond— which is getting closer every day.”

Harberts had a winningmargin ofmore than 21 seconds over Romeo’sMadison Clor, who had an outstanding race herself. Clor broke 19 minutes for the first time and may have moved into the Bulldogs’ all-time top 10 list.

“I felt very good today,” Harberts said. “The weather was perfect. My legs felt good. I felt like I was getting stronger during the race. I started out faster than I expected but I think I kept up pretty well with how I went out.”

Harberts appreciated the challenge from Clor during the first two-thirds of the race.

“I was worried because I could hear her,” Harberts said. “Usually I can’t hear someone right on me, so I knew I had to open my gap a little bit. I think that helped me speed up. I love when there’s someone right behind me. That really keeps me going.”

Dakota finished second with 46 points, followed by Anchor Bay 82 and Port Huron Northern 117. The top four teams advance to the regional next weekend at Anchor Bay.

“(Harberts) ran a good race and she ran a strong second half,” said Cougars coach Tom Zarzycki. “The other girls ran their best race of the year. Emma (Myziuk) had a PR (personal record) and Katy (Slone) ran her season best. Our fourth through seventh (Ava LaMilza, Chelsea Harvey, Lindsay Harvey and Allison Ferguson) just packed it up and did what they needed to do.

“I told them, especially our five, six, and seven, that you have to run together. I gave them a little strategy, not to go out too fast. They all ran good mid-parts of the race and did what they needed to do at the end. They ran a very competitive race. It was by far the best race of the season. They passed people and ran away from people.”

In an important race, teams need their top runner to perform well and Anchor Bay got that from Cora Kolodge, who finished third overall.

“I was very happy with Cora,” said Tars coach Jeff Payne. “She ran her season best by almost 30 seconds and she beat some girls she hasn’t been beating. That’s always good to see at this time of year. The girls behind her ran as a nice little group. We had a bunch of PRs today. The girls’ goal coming in was tomove on and that’s what they’re doing.”

Rounding out the Anchor Bay

scoring was Carlie Woolm, Grace Ragsdale, Serena Arnold and Lauren Thomas. Lauren Radtke and Ashley Stoneman also finished ahead of two Port Huron Northern runners to help secure third place.

Romeo’s top five runners were Clor, Rachel Felstow (5th), Amanda Felstow (6th), Sarah Greb (7th) and Rose Paoletti (9th). Emily Felstow and Brianna Wiegand also finished in the top 12.

The seven individual runners advancing to the regional are Emily Plouff, Margaret Chandler and Shannon McMenamin of Fraser; Casey Boni, Grace Gutmann and Delaina Nocki of Chippew Valley; and Leyna Doerr of L’Anse Creuse North.

Soccer

TROY2, UTICA 1 (OT)

Junior midfielder Ryan Decker scored the winning goal for the Colts in their double-overtime victory in a Division 1 district semifinal match played at Waterford Mott.

Decker rifled home a shot from 16 yards out following a pass from sophomore John Palomino with 2:47 to go in the first overtime session.

Utica (4-10-2) pushed up extra attackers in the second overtime period but could not net an equalizer. Troy senior goalkeeper Jacob Grimm leapt high to snare a bending cornerkick with four minutes to play in the second overtime.

Utica scored first on its first shot on frame. Senior midfielder Michael Dedvukaj’s cornerkick sailed through traffic and junior forward Weston Motloch volleyed home a close-range shot to the left post with

29:23 to go in the first half.

Troy tied the game with 5:38 left in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Nick Worrell’s short free kick went over to senior brother Chris Worrell and the elder Worrell uncorked a 30-yard left-footed blast that reached the upper 90 of the goal.

Utica senior goalkeeper Michael Ciubotaru, a hockey defenseman in the offseason, dove to his right to stop a header by Chris Worrell off the goal line with 8:38 remaining in regulation.

Troy (9-2- 4) will face arch-rival and defending state champion Troy Athens at 6 p.m., Thursday for the district championship, also at Waterford Mott.

TROY ATHENS 6, STEVENSON 2

Simply put, Athens played like a defending state champion Tuesday.

The Red Hawks dominated in all facets of the game and rolled to a convincing triumph in the Division 1 district semifinals at Waterford Mott.

The Red Hawks led 3-0 at the half, built a 5-0 advantage in the second half and coasted to the four-goal victory.

The RedHawks captured their sixth state crown last November.

Senior midfielder Adrian Lekocaj scored twice in the first half. Senior Quinn LeBay also scored in the first half.

Scoring in the second half for Athens (11-2-3) were sophomore Ben Maher, TJ Renaud and junior Abel Noble.

tevenson (5- 6- 4) got goals from senior forward Timothy Allos and senior Ramadan Hysa.

Volleyball

FRASER 25-25-25,