NILES — You could take a look at Brandywine cross country runner Michael Robbins and tell that it wasn’t an easy day to run Saturday at the Brandywine Cross Country Invitational.
Robbins was covered in mud after finishing fourth with a time of 18:38 in the boys’ race.
“In some spots the water was three inches deep,” said Robbins. “This is probably the worst that I can remember the swamps being.”
Robbins had a plan when it came to navigating around the tough conditions.
“Sometimes, if you run around the sides (the water) isn’t as deep because the edges are up more,” Robbins said.
Robbins wasn’t satisfied with his time.
“It was a little slow,” Robbins said. “I did OK.”
Brandywine’s Collin Mattiford placed fifth with a time of 18:47.
“You just got to give it everything you got and I did the best that I could,” said Mattiford. “It’s usually just that finish that gets me the most. You just have to push hard until the end. My time was better (12 seconds) than the last time (Monday against Edwardsburg) that I ran here. Any improvement is a good improvement.”
Mattiford agreed with Robbins that it wasn’t an easy day to run the Brandywine High School course.
“It was hard to run, especially with the swamp and all the rain,” Mattiford said. “It really made it muddy.”
Bronson won the boys race with 28 points. Constantine finished third with 60 and Brandywine totaled 70. Bronson’s Caleb McGuire won the boys race with a clocking of 17:43.
Good health has benefited the Brandywine boys cross country team. Robbins (back) and Ryan Probst (hip, 19th on Saturday with a time of 20:26) are getting into good shape going into the regionals.
“We’re getting everybody back so were where I thought we would be all season,” said Brandywine cross country coach Jim Murray.
In the girls’ race, Brandywine had only one girls participate. Allison Zacharski, who was wearing a black wrap on her left knee because of an injury, placed 17th with a time of 28:51.
“I got hurt (Oct. 15) and twisted my knee at Sturgis,” said Zacharski, who didn’t run last Monday against Edwardsburg. ���It was colder today so it pretty much numbed the pain so I didn’t feel it. I feel good about finishing 17th.”
Zacharski was asked how it feels to be the lone girl competing for a school.
“It actually gives me an advantage,” Zacharski said. “This gives me a chance to run with the guys. Practice is a lot harder.”
Constantine won the girls race with 29 points. The Falcons were led by Amanda Giles, who finished third with a time of 24:16. Bronson’s Corissa Ross finished first after ending up with a time of 23:12.
“I think I did OK,” said Giles. “It wasn’t my best time. I got lost with the other Constantine girls. We took the wrong way and we had to turn around.”
Constantine had seven girls finish in the top 15.
“All the girls ran a good race,” said Constantine coach Tim McGlothlen. “Amanda ran a real nice race.”

Brandywine Cross Country Invitational
Boys’ results
Team scores
Bronson 28, Constantine 60, Brandywine 70, Marcellus 76, New Buffalo 114, Concord 163, River Valley 170

Top 15
1. Caleb McGuire (Bronson) 17:43; 2. Matt Cosby (Bronson) 18:03; 3. Hunter Machus (Bronson) 18:07; 4. Michael Robbins (Brandywine) 18:38; 5. Collin Mattiford (Brandywine) 18:47; 6. David Jones (Constantine) 18:49; 7. Wesley Disboro (Bronson) 19:18.6; 8. Shane Hill (New Buffalo) 19:18.9; 9. Isaac Hartley (Constantine) 19:47; 10. Nathan Swartz (Marcellus) 19:56; 11. Spencer Day (Marcellus) 20:02; 12. Hunter Cline (Constantine) 20:05; 13. Caleb Foura (Constantine) 20:10; 14. Cole Szeszulski (Marcellus) 20:13; 15. Lane Houtz (Bronson) 20:20

Girls’ results
Team scores
Constantine 29, Bronson 56, New Buffalo 73, Marcellus 91, River Valley 100, Brandywine 110, Concord 120

Top 15
1. Corissa Ross (Bronson) 23:12; 2. Mariah Roberts (Bronson) 23:58; 3. Amanda Giles (Constantine) 24:16; 4. Jordan Schrock (Constantine) 24:33; 5. Emily Schrock (Constantine) 24:35; 6. Elise Campbell (New Buffalo) 24:57; 7. Brittney Carpenter (Marcellus) 25:12; 8. Lorren Springer (Constantine) 25:39; 9. Kayla Fulks (Constantine) 25:45; 10. Kristia Krueger (Constantine) 26:00; 11. Samantha Shimp (Bronson) 26:34; 12. Brittney DeLauries (River Valley) 26:42; 13. Diana Fortini (New Buffalo) 27:31.4; 14. Veronica Reiff (Constantine) 27:31.9; 15. Malia Bradbury (New Buffalo) 28:01

Big 16 championship
THREE RIVERS — Newest Big 16 Conference member Gull Lake made quite a splash at the league’s cross country championships Saturday.
The Blue Devils easily captured the girls’ championship and finished second in the boys’ race.
Gull Lake four of its runners in the top 15 to scored 48 points in the girls’ race to outdistance runner-up St. Joseph, which finished with 99 points. Sturgis was third with 100 points.
Niles placed 14th.
Peyton Boughton of Sturgis was the overall winner with a time of 19:13. Becca Schott of Coldwater was second with her time of 19:14.
The Vikings’ top placer was Bridgett Carpenter, who was 67th with a time of 23:05. Anne Tyler was 75th, Abigail Gaines 80th, Allison Grant 82nd and Ava McKeel 88th.
Just as it has done all year, the St. Joseph boys’ team was the class of the field at Three Rivers.
The Bears scored 22 points to blow away runner-up Gull Lake, which finished with 77 points. Sturgis was third with 98 points. Niles placed 12th.
St. Joseph was so dominating that it placed all five of its runners in the top 10, including taking four of the first five spots.
Thomas Meeker of Mattawan was the lone runner to break up the Bears as he captured the individual championship with a time of 16:24.
Niles’ Sam VandenHeede finished 18th with a time of 17:23. Michael Geiger was 58th, Daniel Sierra 79th, Nicholas Borkowski 80th and Ryan Roberts 84.
The Vikings will now set their sights on the Division 2 regional Saturday in Portage.

Southwest Michigan Athletic Conference
Cross Country Championships
At Three Rivers
Girls’ results
Team scores
Gull Lake 48, St. Joseph 99, Sturgis 100, Mattawan 130, Battle Creek Lakeview 167, Marshall 168, Portage Northern 178, Portage Central 181, Battle Creek Harper Creek 237, Coldwater 262, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 276, Lakeshore 302, Niles 392

Top 15
1. Peyton Boughton (Sturgis) 19:13, 2. Becca Schott (Coldwater) 19:14, 3. Kelsey Keyser (Sturgis) 19:45, 4. Hayley Buckout (Gull Lake) 19:53, 5. Mikayla Hostetler (Gull Lake) 19:59, 6. Savina Malinverno (Portage Northern) 20:03, 7. Leah Coonrood (Gull Lake) 20:03, 8. Rachel Bendewald (St. Joseph) 20:13, 9. Brianna Kalisz (Marshall) 20:13. 10. Alaina Smith (Mattawan) 20:15. 11. Jade Hubbard (Loy Norrix) 20:20, 12. Jessie Armstrong (St. Joseph) 20:30, 13. Abbie Scheske (Sturgis) 20:30, 14. Ashley Merica (Gull Lake) 20:38, 15. Sarah Corbe (St. Joseph) 20:41

Niles placers
67. Bridgett Carpenter 23:05
75. Anne Tyler 23:55
80. Abigail Gaines 24:09
82. Allison Grant 24:31
88. Ava McKeel 26:17
92. Courtney Ankrapp 28:28

Boys’ results
Team scores
St. Joseph 22, Gull Lake 77, Sturgis 98, Mattawan 109, Battle Creek Lakeview 139, Portage Northern 168, Portage Central 206, Kalamazoo Central 227, Marshall 247, Battle Creek Harper Creek 269, Coldwater 311, Niles 319, Lakeshore 358, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 381

Top 15
1. Thomas Meeker (Mattawan) 16:24, 2. Ryan Leahy (St. Joseph) 16:38, 3. David Berry (St. Joseph) 16:42, 4. Joseph Beemer (St. Joseph) 16:45, 5. Charlie Felton (St. Joseph) 16:54, 6. Sam Butler (Gull Lake) 16:56, 7. Aaron Bell (Mattawan) 17:01, 8. Nick Whise (St. Joseph) 17:02, 9. Blake Wilson (BC Lakeview) 17:04 10. Jeremy Simon (Gull Lake) 17:05, 11. Grant Brown (Sturgis) 17:08, 12. Marten Grube (Sturgis) 17:14, 13. Scott Bradley (BC Lakeview) 17:16, 14. Stephen Pfahler (St. Joseph) 17:16, 15. Sam Sly (Gull Lake) 17:16

Niles placers
18. Sam Vandenheede 17:23
58. Michael Geiger 18:47
79. Daniel Sierra 19:42
80. Nicholas Borkowski 19:45
84. Ryan Roberts 20:02
87. Sean Morgan 20:15
95. Daulton Britton 21:23