12-02-00 --- A. J. McConnell and Joe Skripka participated in the AAU Cross Country National Championship in Joplin, Missouri. A.J. placed 4th out of 247 runners in the 13-14 year age group, and Joe placed 91st out of 237 runners in the 15-16 year age group. Go to the links below for complete results of the races.
11-04-00 --- The State Finals were held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The Sparta girls placed 11th overall, finishing in the following order: Kelly Carter, Caitlin Hoseth, Tracy Bitely, Haleigh Thompson, Sara Rodgers, Sara Young, and Sara Nemecek. Caitlin Hoseth ran a personal best time of 19:42, earning her the 5th spot on the All-Time Top Ten record board! Also running personal best times for the year were Tracy Bitely, Haleigh Thompson, and Sara Rodgers. Freshman A.J. McConnell was the only Spartan on the boys' squad who qualified for the State Meet. A.J. ran a personal best time of 16:49, earning him the 6th spot on the All-Time Top Ten record board! Congratulations to all the runners for a successful season!
11-01-00 --- The Cross Country Awards Banquet was held at Sparta Middle School. It was well attended by both high school and middle school athletes and parents. Many outstanding performances were recognized, and the coaches also expressed appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the runners.
10-28-00 --- The Spartan girls ran to a second place finish in the Regional meet at Big Rapids, thus qualifying for the State Meet at Brooklyn on 11-04-00. Kelly Carter placed third in the meet and was followed by teammates Caitlin Hoseth, Haleigh Thompson, Sara Rodgers, Tracy Bitely, Sara Young, and Sara Nemecek. The boys placed fifth in the Regional, and freshman A.J. McConnell qualified individually for the State Meet by finishing in 15th place. Carter and McConnell both earned Regional medals for their performances.
10-23-00 --- The OK-Gold Grade Level Meet was held at Sparta on a rainy afternoon. Fifteen Spartans earned medals, led by second place finishes by Caitlin Hoseth and A.J. McConnell in the freshman races, and Haleigh Thompson in the 10th grade race. Many personal bests were also recorded, including Sara Rodgers, Ashley Greenup, Karla Upton, Dan DeRivera, Mike Haskell, David Elliott and Alex Jantz.
10-22-00 --- A color tour to Glen Arbor was enjoyed this weekend by members of the cross country team, family members, and coaches. Staying in cabins at the Leelanau School, the group spent their time training, seeing the beautiful fall colors, shopping, watching the Michigan - Michigan State football game, playing cards, and fishing.
10-19-00 --- The OK-Gold Conference Meet was held at Johnson Park on a warm and sunny afternoon. The Spartan girls completed their perfect OK-Gold season by placing first in the conference meet. Kelly Carter was the overall league champion, finishing the season undefeated in duals. Also placing in the top ten for Sparta were Caitlin Hoseth (6th) and Haleigh Thompson (10th). The boys also made a great showing, placing second in the conference meet behind Caledonia. A.J. McConnell placed 6th in the race, followed by Joe Skripka in 10th place.
10-11-00 --- In a double dual meet at Johnson Park, the boys defeated both South Christian and Wayland. A.J. McConnell was Sparta's top runner, followed by Cody VanDyke and Joe Skripka. The girls also defeated both South Christian and Wayland, but the dual with South Christian was a close one, with the Spartans winning by just 1 point! Kelly Carter, Caitlin Hoseth, and Haleigh Thompson led the way for the girls. Tracy Bitely ran her best time for this season.
10-07-00 --- The Spartans had a successful day at the Allegan Invitational on an unseasonably cold morning. The girls won their 8-team division, and Kelly Carter was the overall winner with a time of 19:41. Caitlin Hoseth improved her personal best to 20:31, moving her up to 9th place on the All-Time Top Ten record board. The boys placed second in their division, with Joe Skripka (17:35) and A.J. McConnell (17:37) running personal bests. In the JV race, Alex Jantz placed second with a personal best time of 20:11.
10-04-00 --- In a double dual against Wyoming Park and Caledonia at Johnson Park, the girls defeated both teams. The boys defeated Wyoming Park but lost to Caledonia in a very close contest. Top runners for the Spartans were Joe Skripka and Kelly Carter.
9-30-00 --- Sparta participated in the Carson City-Crystal Cross Country Invitational. Kelly Carter, who is third on Sparta's All-Time Top Ten Record Board, improved her time to 19:31. Caitlin Hoseth's time of 20:35 earned her the tenth place spot for the All-Time records. A.J. McConnell's time of 17:56 marked his first race under 18 minutes. Many other Spartans also ran personal best times.
9-27-00 --- The Spartans ran a double dual against Belding and Kenowa Hills at Johnson Park. The Sparta girls defeated Belding by a score of 15 - 49 and Kenowa Hills by a score of 18 - 45. The boys also won both duals, winning by a score of 23 - 36 over Belding and 20- 38 over Kenowa Hills. Cody VanDyke and Kelly Carter were Sparta's top runners.
9-23-00 --- The Lowell Invitational featured 12 teams in Sparta's division. The girls finished second to Holland Christian and the boys placed third behind Holland Christian and Cedar Springs. Kelly Carter earned the first-place medal. The boys were led by A.J. McConnell who placed 15th.
9-16-00 --- The Sparta Invitational featured 48 high school teams, with 12 teams competing in the Blue division with the Spartans. The girls were champions of the Blue Division, with each girl running a personal best for the 2000 season. Kelly Carter finished first overall to lead Sparta. Each of the boys also had a personal best for the present season, with Tony Shelton and Mike Haskell having all-time personal bests. In the reserve races, Brittany May finished 3rd overall out of a field of 147 runners, and Dan DeRivera was 4th overall out of 241 runners. They also ran all-time personal bests!
9-13-00 --- The Sparta girls raced to an important conference victory over Cedar Springs at Johnson Park. It was a total team effort, with the Spartans coming out on top by a score of 28 - 29. The Spartans were again led by Kelly Carter, followed by Caitlin Hoseth, Sara Young, Haleigh Thompson, Carrie Debski, Tracy Bitely, and Sara Rodgers. Young and Debski ran personal bests. The boys lost to Cedar Springs by a score of 22 - 33. A.J. McConnell led the way with a personal best time of 18:13. He was followed by Mike Snowden, Cody VanDyke, Brent Shirey, Tony Shelton, Mike Haskell, and Joe Skripka.
9-09-00 --- The Spartans ran well at the Central Montcalm Invitational, where each grade level runs a different race. In the 9th grade race, Caitlin Hoseth was the top runner overall. Sara Young (third place) ran a personal best time of 22:15, as did Sara Rodgers (sixth place) with a time of 22:52. A.J. McConnell placed third overall for the boys. In the 10th grade race for girls, Kelly Carter was the number one runner overall. Tony Shelton placed sixth for the boys. In the 11th grade race, Brent Shirey was Sparta's top runner, placing sixth. (There were no Sparta girls in the 11th grade race.) For the senior girls, Tracy Bitely placed tenth, and for the boys Cody VanDyke placed eighth.
9-06-00 --- In the first conference dual of the season, the Spartans defeated Unity Christian at Johnson Park. The girls won by a score of 16 - 45, with the top seven Spartan runners being Kelly Carter, Caitlin Hoseth, Sara Young, Tracy Bitely, Sara Nemecek, Haleigh Thompson, and Sara Rodgers. The boys were also victorious, winning 25 - 36. The top seven boys for Sparta were Cody VanDyke, A. J. McConnell, Mike Snowden, Brent Shirey, Tony Shelton, Dan DeRivera, and Mike Haskell.
9-01-00 --- It was a very successful evening for the cross country squads as both the boys and girls defeated Coopersville. The meet was held during the football game held at Sparta, and the runners were encouraged by the crowd cheering them on! The boys won by a score of 17 - 46. They were led by freshman A.J. Mc Connell, running a time of 18:45 on a very warm and muggy evening. The girls won by a score of 15 - 46. Kelly Carter was the top runner, finishing in a time of 20:40.
8-29-00 --- The Spartans participated in their first meet of the season at the South Haven Invitational. The girls were meet champions, with sophomore Kelly Carter leading the way. She placed first in the meet with a time of 20:33. The boys were runners-up, and were led by freshman A.J. McConnell with a time of 18:36.
8-7-00 to 8-11-00 --- The team went for their annual cross country camp at the Leelanau School in Glen Arbor, MI. Attending were team members Trent Barnhart, Tracy Bitely, Justin Boone, Kelly Carter, Carrie Debski, Dan DeRivera, Dave Elliot, Kristen Forgeron, Ashley Greenup, Mike Haskell, Caitlin Hoseth, Alex Jantz, Brittany May, A.J. McConnell, Aaron Mroz, Renee Murdock, Sara Nemecek, Sara Rodgers, Ken Shangle, Tim Shangle, Tony Shelton, Brent Shirey, Joe Skripka, Mike Snowden, Haleigh Thompson, Cody VanDyke and Sara Young. Coaches Pfeffer, Smith and Thomas were impressed with how hard the runners worked! Others who came to camp during the week were Mrs. Warrick, Kelly, Mrs. Young, Mrs. Debski, Sarah, Mrs. Pfeffer, Samantha, Zach, Mrs. Smith, Trenton, Mr. and Mrs. Shangle, and alumni Kristy Debski, Ryan McCallum, Stacey Smith, Nancy Vander Jagt, and Selena Cowden. It was a great week! |
