• The Spartan Invitational kicked off the Chieftains' Cross Country Season

EAST LANSING - The Okemos Chieftains' Varsity boys and girls cross country teams showed a lot of heart and determination at the
Auto-Owners Spartan Invitational Friday at the Forest Akers East Golf Course.

It was a team effort as both teams fought to the finish.

" It was unusual for us having the Spartan Invitational as the first race of the year," states assistant coach, Steve Arch.

"Typically we have one to two races before the Invite, but a lot of our runners stepped up big."

The boys recorded two top finishes in the Elite 5K race finishing 12th overall. Saano Murembya (Jr.) finished fifth in the event with a personal best of 15:56. Teammate Paul McKinely (Jr.) finished seventh with a time of 15:58.

The Lady Chieftains finished 16th in the Green Division 5K race. Brooke Soper (Fr.) lead the Chieftains with a time of 19:57, finishing 21st in the race.

The next race for the Chieftains is Tuesday, September 20 at the CAAC Jamboree in Jackson. Meet start time is 4:30 p.m.


Chieftains :
1 5 Saano Murembya 11 15:56
2 7 Paul McKinley 11 15:58
3 79 Evan McNall 11 17:04
4 94 Kyle Samluk 10 17:12
5 167 Ben Holland 11 18:01
6 186 Rylan Rawson 12 18:19
7 241 Will Jones 10 19:17



Lady Chieftains:

1 21 Brooke Soper 9 19:57
2 96 Anna Lin 12 21:43
3 101 Ally Burba 11 21:49
4 123 Melina Stone 11 22:04
5 130 Sal Bubolz 9 22:12
6 171 Lucy Meng 9 22:47
7 208 Haley Sawatzki 12 23:19


Head Coach Brian Harrod states, " I was pleased with everyone's effort."

"We ran well as a team and it was an opportunity to see the starting level of some of our younger runners ."

The next race for the Chieftains is Tuesday, September 20 at the CAAC Jamboree in Jackson. Meet start time is 4:30 p.m.


For more information on the Chieftains, head to www.runokemos.com .