Sturgis’ boys cross country team placed fourth out of 25 schools in the Division 2 meet at the prestigious Holly Invitational Saturday without two of their top-five runners. Grant Brown took fifth overall with a time of 16:28, followed by Shawn Bell, who finished 13th in 16:49 and Trever Sprowls, who crossed the line 28th in 17:23.
The Trojans were without Daniel Steele and Terry Stahl, who are dealing with injuries. St. Clair (40), Croswell Lexington (97) and Gull Lake (125) rounded out the top-three schools.
“Grant Brown stepped up,” Sturgis coach Emerson Green said. “David Polzin (18:07) and freshman Daniel Tetzloff (19:03) came up big with season-best performances to score for the team. We are still about a half step behind Gull Lake, but hope to make up the ground on Tuesday when [Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference] East action opens up at Marshall.”
Peyton Boughton turned in a fine performance with a 19:48, taking second in the Division 2 race.
“Great breakout race for Peyton as she breaks 20 on her way to sub-19,” Green said. “She did an excellent job breaking a group of four runners from the 1-mile mark to the finish.”