By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
East Lansing—  On Sept. 13 the Martian Cross Country teams competed in the 43rd annual Spartan Invitational at Forest Acres East golf course.
“The race is primarily run on the fairways which can be tricky with hills and valleys, wet spots and occasional mud,” said Head Coach Al Warden. “The large heat sizes can be daunting,” he said. “This year the junior varsity races and the middle school races were canceled as a safety concern because of the heat index which impacted several of the athletes. Even with this difficult decision attendance was still exciting with at least one team from Ohio. It was a great meet that was well timed, officiated and announced.”
There were 1,889 high school runners in eight separate races that endured the heat and humidity that continued to climb from the high 70s to the mid 80s as each race began.
The Goodrich boys competed in the Bronze D2 race of 36 teams and 352 athletes. They finished 23.
GHS Junior Vincent Pattison finished fifth in a field of 361 with an impressive time of 16:22.7.
The Lady Martians competed in the Spartan Elite Race, specifically for teams that finished in the top ten at the 2023 state meet. The girls finished seventh of 16 teams.
GHS Senior Layla Jordan was ready and ran a gutty, smart race finishing 24th in a field of 161 with a time of 20:03.2.
At 4:30 p.m., Sept. 25, Goodrich Middle School will host 12 Flint Metro League teams