PETOSKEY – October 29, 2024 – St. Michael High School (SMHS), the only classical high school in Northern Michigan, announced today that its Gents and Ladies Cross Country (XC) teams placed second and fourth, respectively, at Saturday’s Division-4 Regional at East Jordan. The Boys team advances to this Saturday’s State Finals for the sixth consecutive season.
The St. Michael Gents, unranked ahead of the Regional, fell only to a solid fifth-ranked Harbor Springs team, 41 to 63. All other schools finished with more than 100 points. (Lower is better in XC scoring.)
The team was led by Cody Bradley who seized the Regional crown with a personal-best and program-record time of 16:01. He is the second Guardian to win a XC Regional, and the first since Sam Paga in 2021. There was no drama up front Saturday as Bradley shook the field early and left no doubt.
He was followed by Atticus Cadarette, who delivered an incredible, breakout performance, placing seventh in 17:01, a 30-second personal-best. Russell Vandermus was close behind in 12th-place in 17:19. Cole Wesley turned in yet another stellar effort, placing 26th in 18:50, a 37-second personal-best. Cooper Feagan rounded out the St. Michael scoring at 32nd in 19:35. Carl Nolan and Elijah Pulver also competed for the Guardians. With a time of 20:24, Pulver chopped 139 seconds off his Regional time from last year.
Guardian Head Coach Larry Rudnicki commented, “Overall, I’m pleased with these results. We’ve come a long way from our horrific Shepherd trip, just four weeks ago! Cody, Atty, and Cole just crushed it and Russell and Cooper rallied enough to separate us convincingly from all but a very sound Harbor team. We have some healing and tidying up to do but, amazingly, we’re again within striking distance of a ‘top ten’ finish at State. Substantial credit for our October resurgence goes to freshman Cole Wesley, who has reliably and relentlessly led our group of younger, less experienced runners forward.”
The Guardian XC Gents, winners or runners-up at their last six Regionals, depart for Brooklyn Friday, newly reinstated to the weekly rankings, holding 13th in the final Coaches Poll. The Division-4 Boys race will kick off the State Finals at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday at 9:30am.
Despite a valiant effort – perhaps the most impressive in program history – the St. Michael Ladies team placed a disappointing fourth at the Regional, just shy of team qualification for the State Finals. The ladies finished just four points out of third place, and just nine points out of second.
Coach Rudnicki added, “There’s no question. This is, objectively, the best Ladies team to-date at St. Michael and we ran extremely well. Ironically, this is also the first season we haven’t qualified for ‘State’. Regardless, we have much to celebrate and we congratulate the Rogers City and Ellsworth teams that slipped past us.”
Fourth-ranked Harbor Springs easily won the Ladies Regional, claiming six of the top twelve spots and compiling a team score of just 28 points. Rogers City finished second, Ellsworth was third, and St. Michael was fourth, with 68, 73, and 77 points, respectively.
Harbor Light senior Jane Manthei was Regional runner-up for the second year in a row with a personal-best and program-record time of 18:45. (St. Michael XC is a Co-op with Harbor Light Christian.)
Running second for the Guardians, and qualifying for State individually (along with Manthei), Veronica Paga finished 15th in 21:02. She was followed by Ella Nolan in 22nd at 23:00, a massive 55-second personal-best and a 186-second improvement from her Regional time last year. Rookie freshmen Mea Wesley and Nora Weed rounded out the scoring, also clocking impressive personal-bests. Israel Pulver also competed for the Guardians.
Coach Rudnicki concluded, “I can’t say enough about our ladies’ fighting spirit and tremendous effort at the Regional. Despite our falling short, we can build on this experience as we look ahead to Track season.”
“As our annual campaign wraps up this weekend at the State Finals, we again ask for your prayers for our safe travels and our success!”
Regional results are at www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/238281/info.
St. Michael High School is High School with a Higher Purpose and a proud member of the Chesterton Schools Network. Established in 2013, the St. Michael mission is to nurture and elevate a new generation of joyful leaders educated in the Classical tradition and truth of the Catholic faith. For more information on SMHS, please visit the school website at stmichaelchesterton.org.