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Sports

Berkley Edges Royal Oak Shrine in Cross-Country Opener

Bears and Knights are very close in inaugural meet.

Could this be the start of the next great running rivalry?

When Berkley High School and met for the first time in cross-country last week at , the outcomes were about as close as it can get — Berkley took both races with one-point victories, 28-29 on the girls' side and 27-28 for the boys.

"It was pretty intense for a season opener, in a good way," Shrine coach Wright Wilson said. "This is the time of the season where most athletes are just learning to complete the 5-kilometer run, but these kids were racing all out the whole way."

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“I was expecting a close race,” Berkley coach Jared Purcell said. “After we saw Shrine the previous week at the Center Line scrimmage, I knew that our boys and girls teams were in for a challenge. They competed well which was good to see.”

Although the Lady Knights had eight of the first 12 finishers, Berkley was strong enough up front to take the win.

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The Bears' Gabrielle Simeck (21:24), Erin Desmond and Nicole Johns finished first, third and fourth, respectively. Anna Ricci was the difference-maker with her eighth-place finish, and Megan Kossak was 12th to complete Berkley's scoring.

Shrine's top five were Madelyne Luddy (second), Grace Nagle (fifth), Maddie Mehall (sixth), Clare Romano (seventh) and Gen Schmidt (ninth).

Shrine had the top two runners in the boys' race with Ben Kendell (17:06) and Matt Sutton, but Berkley's Sebastian Betzer, Jonathan Sollish, Gunnar Holmes and Tommy Porter followed in sequence to offset any early advantage the Knights had. Although Shrine had three of the next four finishers with Matt Arce, Scott Proschek and Mike Guirey, Berkley's Peter Hoch was able to hold off Guirey's late charge, and that proved crucial to the slim win.

“I was really proud that our boys pulled out the victory,” Purcell said. “Our top four boys consist of two sophomores and two juniors so it's nice to see they've really taken it upon themselves to lead our team. Sebastian is our top runner and only a sophomore. He doesn't have that extra gear near the end of races yet but he is showing flashes of greatness.”

Although both schools are within easy running distance of each other, Berkley and Shrine had never staged a dual meet before. The contest was intended as a warm-up before the first league jamboree meets today and came about because each team had an open date on its schedule.

The Shrine boys won the Catholic League Intersectional Division title last year, and Wilson says his squads should compete with Allen Park Cabrini and Riverview Gabriel Richard for top honors this season. Purcell's Bears will be in the hunt among the Oakland Activities Association's Blue Division teams.

“We're going to be strong but it's just a matter of staying consistent and focusing on training,” Purcell said.

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