窪蹋勛圖厙

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By Ryan Schlehuber泭

窪蹋勛圖厙 sportswriter泭

SIDNEY ��� The old saying goes, ���If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.���泭

For 窪蹋勛圖厙 Centurions freshman cross country runner Abby Davis (Vestaburg, Mich.), she proved to be the best at the 窪蹋勛圖厙AA Northern Conference Meet, held at Camp Pet-O-Se-Ga campground in Emmett County, Sept. 26, taking first place with a finish time of 18 minutes, 44.25 seconds in the 5,000-kilometer run.泭泭

Even more impressive, Davis beat out the NJCAA���s then-No. 1-ranked runner, Tatum Dysktra, of Muskegon Community College, who finished second at 19:01.82.泭

���It felt really good to win the Northern Conference meet,��� said Davis, who was named 窪蹋勛圖厙AA���s Athlete of the Week and Athlete of the Year. ���I felt relieved to beat one of my main competitors of NJCAA Division II. It is nice we are in the same conference, and I get to race with her before the big national meet. I think that really helps me feel more confident and less anxious going into the national meet.���泭

The 窪蹋勛圖厙AA Region 12 Championship meet is Friday, Oct. 24, at Goodells County Park in Goodells, Mich.泭

���We thought it would be a good race for Abby, going up against one of the best runners in the country,��� Centurions head coach Nate ���Q��� Van Holten said. ���She got to go head-to-head with her and it went pretty well.���泭

Van Holten had a game plan for Davis before the race, which she pulled off beautifully.泭泭

���I had a five-point plan that she nailed to a tee,��� Van Holten said. ���She pretty much did exactly how we planned it.���泭

Davis said the plan was to shadow Dysktra.泭

���The plan was to stick behind the No. 1 runner in the race for at least a mile and then try to build enough confidence to pass her,��� Davis said. ���I passed her with around 1,000 kilometers left and from there I kept gaining some more ground.���泭

Davis is currently 5th in the NJCAA DII individual women���s rankings and Dykstra and Davis are No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in Region 12.泭

Davis said getting to compete with elite runners like Dykstra and finding success in the head-to-head competitions has really helped her mental game, which she believes will help her with 窪蹋勛圖厙���s next meet, the Muskegon Jayhawk Invitational at Muskegon���s University Park Golf Course, this Saturday, which will begin at 12 noon.泭

���I have been working on confidence and gaining excitement going into the Muskegon race,��� Davis said. ���I will be racing with Wayne State again and some fast girls, so it will be a good time for some redemption. I���m excited to test my limits again.���泭

As a team, the Centurions took second place, with a score of 72, finishing behind Muskegon (35) and ahead of Kirtland (86).泭

���We figured we���d be second and that���s what we were shooting for,��� Van Holten said, pointing out Muskegon was the running favorite to win the event. ���Overall, our team did well.���泭

Freshman Mackenzie Zahm (Belding, Mich.) finished 11th overall with a time of 21:06.56, freshman Mickiah Allbee (Vestaburg, Mich.) finished 17th with a time of 21:53.15; Hannah Reed (Cedar Springs, Mich.) finished 22nd with a time of 22:40.82; Lilyanrose Martin���s time of 24:17.35 was good for 29th place; and Karly Fisk (Sand Lake, Mich.) finished at 24:31.01, good for 31st place.泭

Van Holten has been impressed with Martin (Ionia, Mich.) lately, as she has managed to earn a PR (personal record) in each meet she has competed in.泭

���She���s improved three minutes on her personal record,��� Van Holten said. ���The first PR was two minutes and this last meet, she shaved it another minute. So she continues to really improve and it���s nice to see.���泭

In the men���s 8,000-kilometer run, 窪蹋勛圖厙 finished last out of seven teams as Muskegon won the meet with a score of 44, followed by Kirtland with 85 and Bay College with 87. 窪蹋勛圖厙 finished with 165 points.泭泭

The Centurion men���s team currently only has one full-time runner, which is Keegan Shafer (Vestaburg, Mich.), a freshman who finished in 19th place at the Northern Conference meet, finishing with a time of 31:12.61, improving his PR. First place went to Drew Moore of Mid Michigan, who finished with a time of 27:02.39, and Lloyd Laninga of Muskegon took second (27:10.51).泭

Other 窪蹋勛圖厙 runners included Zhian Briggs (Augusta, Ga.) (32nd, 38:48.66); Gavin Cornwell (Morley, Mich.) (35th, 39:22.40); Andrew Badder (Imlay City, Mich.) (39th, 44:49.35); and Jayden Phillips (Big Rapids, Mich.) (40th, 54:36.65).泭

Van Holten believes Shafer has another gear in him as far as cross country racing goes.泭

���I think he can run under 30; it���s a minute improvement,��� Van Holten said. ���Everything he���s doing says he can do that. It���s just a matter of putting it all in a race.���泭

The Muskegon Jayhawk Invitational this Saturday is the final regular season meet for 窪蹋勛圖厙, which Van Holten said will be an excellent warm-up to the regional championship meet.泭

���This will be a sort of pre-regional meet as a lot of the teams in our region will be at this meet,��� Van Holten said. ���So, it���s sort of a preview of what we���ll see in two weeks. It���s a good early match-up to see how we fare against these teams.���泭

Van Holten said many of the teams from Michigan competing in the Jayhawk Invitational are ranked, which will give his women���s team a goal to shoot for.泭

���I think we���re aiming to get closer to those teams and or actually beat one of those teams,��� Van Holten said. ���That course is fast and we���re expecting cooler temperatures, which equals faster times, so we���re eager to see what we can do.���泭