Zambo Wins Freshman Race, Brumo Places Fourth in Boys Varsity for Stevenson

High School Cross Country

Stevenson boys and girls ran in five races, with a freshman-race win, a fourth-place boys varsity team and a girls JV squad that posted nine personal records.

Stevenson ran in five races at the Rambling Rock Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Willow Metropark in New Boston: boys freshman, varsity and JV, and girls varsity and JV. Freshman Julien Zambo won the boys freshman race, the boys varsity placed fourth in a close team race, and the girls JV team finished sixth with nine runners setting personal records.

Boys freshman race

Team: 2nd of 3 scoring teams, 36 points

Julien Zambo won the boys freshman race, running a personal-record 18:47.7 on the 5,000-meter course. He finished 13.4 seconds ahead of Salem's Erik Mercado, who was second in 19:01.1.

Zambo led the Spartans to a second-place team finish with 36 points, behind South Lyon (23) and ahead of Belleville (69). Brady Schleif placed 10th overall in 21:34.8, followed by Ben Goch in 16th (22:39.4), Matthew Hakim in 20th (23:32.9) and Duncan Kopp in 21st (23:35.4). Four of Stevenson's five freshmen ran personal records.

Boys varsity

Team: 4th of 22 scoring teams, 118 points

Junior Lucas Brumo led Stevenson in the boys varsity race, placing fourth of 150 finishers in 16:31.5. Sophomore Colt Ludlam placed ninth in a personal-record 16:48.7, giving the Spartans two top-10 finishers. South Lyon East's Nikhil Ball won the race in 16:10.2.

Stevenson finished fourth in the team standings with 118 points. Plymouth won with 109 points, Detroit U-D Jesuit was second with 111 and Livonia Churchill was third with 113, leaving nine points between the top four teams. The average time of Stevenson's five scoring runners, 17:19.9, was within three-tenths of a second of Churchill's.

Junior Shree Patel placed 18th in a personal-record 17:11.8. Junior Charlie O'Loughlin followed in 37th with a personal-record 17:55.4, and junior Landon Seidel completed the scoring five in 50th (18:11.9). Sophomore Foster Spurlock ran a personal-record 18:32.6 to place 66th. Four of the six Stevenson varsity runners set personal records.

Boys JV

Team: 6th of 15 scoring teams, 159 points

Stevenson ran 15 athletes in the boys JV race, which had 194 finishers. The Spartans placed sixth as a team with 159 points. Plymouth won the team title with 49 points.

Sophomore Drake Buday led the Spartans, placing 22nd in a personal-record 19:53.1. Sophomore Henry Bigger (28th, 20:17.9), senior Thadeus Price (30th, 20:20.6) and junior Colin Goralski (31st, personal-record 20:21.0) ran within 3.1 seconds of one another. Sophomore Jonah Baldwin was Stevenson's fifth scorer, placing 54th in a personal-record 21:07.5. Sophomore Tom Rowe also set a personal record, running 23:30.1.

Table shows Stevenson's top seven finishers. Full results are posted on Athletic.net.

Girls varsity

Team: 11th of 15 scoring teams, 234 points

Sophomore Khaya Pierson led the Stevenson girls in the varsity race, placing 19th of 125 finishers in a season-best 21:17.9. Farmington Hills Mercy's Elizabeth Gerzema won the race in 19:37.4, and Hartland won the team title with 82 points.

Seniors Kerrington Fields-McCurdy (39th, 22:38.1) and Julia Rowe (41st, 22:45.9) finished 7.8 seconds apart as Stevenson's second and third runners. Sophomore Alexis “Lexi” Jolly ran a season-best 24:10.1 to place 71st, and junior Lyla Garcia completed the scoring five in 80th (24:35.3). Senior Claire Suderman set a personal record of 24:51.5 in 85th, and sophomore Grace Sharp placed 88th in 24:57.8.

The Spartans placed 11th with 234 points, nine points behind 10th-place Livonia Churchill.

Girls JV

Team: 6th of 9 scoring teams, 144 points

Stevenson ran 13 athletes in the girls JV race, which had 119 finishers. The Spartans placed sixth with 144 points. Hartland won the team title with 32 points, and Hartland's Morgan Mahoney won the race in 22:47.4.

Sophomore Ayuka Yamaguchi led the Spartans in 20th place in 25:24.0, with senior Lauren Austin close behind in 21st (25:34.3). Sophomore Olivia Haddad placed 31st in a personal-record 26:29.1, sophomore Mackenzie Hughes was 43rd in a personal-record 27:06.9, and sophomore Meilee Woodland completed the scoring five in 50th with a personal-record 27:25.5.

Nine of Stevenson's 13 JV runners set personal records: Haddad, Hughes and Woodland, along with Rebecca Lithgow, Allison Gillen, Salomea Corsatea, Serena Konja, Grace Suderman and Sofia Vitti.

Table shows Stevenson's top seven finishers. Full results are posted on Athletic.net.

PR indicates a personal record and SB a season best, as marked in the official results. All races were 5,000 meters.