Kettle, Lewis Gain Michigan Intercollegiate Awards

Friday, October 07, 2011

HILLSDALE, Mich. – Sophomore Paul Lewis (Albion) and first-year runner Lauren Kettle (Milford) left the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships with awards after finishing among the top 10 individuals.

Lewis was the sixth overall runner to complete the 8K men’s course, posting a time of 26:40.38. He was the top Division III runner, finishing behind athletes from Grand Valley State University, Hillsdale College, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University.

While Lewis was Albion’s top runner by a 34-second margin, the Britons’ No. 2-5 athletes finished in a 38-second window. Mitchell Klingler (Coldwater/Bronson) finished 32nd out of 187 runners with a time of 27:14.30. Drew Fuentes (Grand Junction/Bangor) was the third Albion runner to finish (27:25.58), Dylan Danowski (Highland/Milford) turned in what Coach Hayden Smith called a nice bounce back race of 27:50.55, and Evan Smallman (Milford) crossed the line at 27:52.04.

The Albion men were the second-best Division III team at the meet, finishing second only to Calvin College. The Britons were fifth out of 20 teams in the non-Division I standings. Hillsdale and Grand Valley were separated by a point, 43-44, at the top, followed by Wayne State (80), Calvin College (148), and Albion (159).

Kettle was the fifth runner to complete the 5,000-meter women’s course. She posted a time of 18:54.44 to finish behind a runner from Hillsdale, two from Calvin, and one from Grand Valley.

Amanda Weaver (Marshall) also cracked the top 20, finishing 18th at 19:30.84. First-year runners Rachel Derocher (White Lake/Holly) at 20:04.69, Victoria Sochor (Portland) at 21:01.61, and Megan Wickens (Livonia/Franklin) at 21:14.07 completed Albion’s top five.

The Albion women were the second-best D-III team and sixth among non-Division I squads.