Two members of the Dexter cross country team headed to Michigan International Speedway on Saturday to compete in the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals after qualifying as individuals during the previous weekend’s Regionals.
Both runners had strong races.
Dexter freshman Alena Blumberg ran 69th overall in her first trip to the Division 1 State Finals on Saturday. The freshman finished with a PR time of 19:14.46 on the challenging MIS course.
It was quite a nice way to end the season for the ninth-grader who went 20:22.4 in her first high school race way back on Sept. 2. She had a previous PR time of 19:21.9 at the Portage Cross Country Invitational on Oct. 9.
Blumberg placed 13th at the SEC Championship on Oct. 21 and then finished in 13th place at Regionals to earn a spot in Saturday’s star-studded lineup.
Dexter’s Brandon Anderson finished his high school season with two impressive runs. The sophomore ran a PR time of 16:34.5 to finish eighth at Regionals on Oct. 29 to earn a spot at the State Finals.
Anderson then crushed his PR time on Saturday with a 16:12.7 which placed him 41st among the best in the state.
Anderson also finished fourth (16:35.6) at the SEC Championships on Oct. 21 and ninth (16:30.5) at the Holly/Duane Raffin Festival of Races on Sept. 18.
He went 17:38.8 at the Lamplighter Invite in the first race of the season on Aug. 20. From 17:38.8 to 16:12.7 in a couple months is a tremendous improvement.
