Sports
Royal Oak Boys Cross Country Team Captures League Title
Ravens varsity boys win OAA Blue Division Championship while the varsity girls take third place.
The Ravens varsity boys battled the rainy, cold weather to take first place at the Oakland Activities Association Blue Division Cross Country Championship on Thursday in Royal Oak.
Water and mud dominatedthe Royal Oak course, but both Royal Oak girls and boys teams finished strong. The girls team took third place with 76 points, behind second place Birmingham Groves and first place Farmington Harrison High School. The boys snagged first place with 34 points in front of third place Harrison High School and second place
"I think our team did very well; I'm very proud of them," said Christina Villerot, Royal Oak senior varsity cross country member. "It was unpleasant with the conditions, but when everything's so numb you can't really feel anything."
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Royal Oak junior Max Benoit also had thoughts about the weather's effects. "We ran really good given the conditions weren't as good as they could be. It was really muddy," Benoit said. "We accomplished a great team goal of winning the league championship this year."
Royal Oak boys cross country coach, Ryan Piippo, who coaches along with David Barnett, was proud of his team's accomplishment.
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"It's been a bumpy road. We knew we were going to have a very solid team, but we've had some injuries," Piippo said. "It feels good to win. The guys have worked really hard all season."
ROHS - OAA Blue Division Championship Results:
Varsity Girls 2 Lauren Bos 20:51 14 Emma Eising 23:08 15 Erica Lee 23:11 20 Morgan Kempf 23:33 26 Madeline Bolton 23:59 Varsity Boys 2 Max Benoit 17:20 3 Ben Hill 17:34 5 Adam Quinn 17:42 7 Leonard Jackson 17:58 17 Willie Davids 18:57 27 Dan Dobras 19:49