Houghton boys and girls cross country earn top spots at home
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HOUGHTON -- There is something special about racing at home. Just ask the Jeffers Jets and Houghton Gremlins cross country teams as they have both taken top spots while running on their home turf in the first two weeks of the 2026 cross country season. While the Jeffers boys opened with a win at their Kilpela Farms meet in late August, they came in second Thursday at the Bill Fezzey Memorial Run at the Tech Trails in Houghton.
It was a meet that had more than a dozen teams participating from middle school to high school varsity runners.
The Houghton boys team won the meet with a score of 45. Jeffers was second at 54 points and Rudyard came in third with 57 points.
Houghton junior Brandon Van Karsen was the top boys’ finisher with a time of 18:11.1.
"I am happy with my time," he stated. "It was a good day to run and I kept my pace."
Van Karsen placed more than 15 seconds ahead of second-place runner Eli Folkersma, of Rudyard (18:26.7). Rounding out the podium was Cavan Mulligan, of Kingsford. The senior finished third with a time of 18:31.
The Houghton girls were also top finishers just as they were at the Jeffers meet. They posted an impressive 28 points. Coming in second was L’Anse with 57 points and the Kingsford Flivvers were third place finishers with 67 points.
While the Gremlins girls took the second through five spots at the finish line, they did not take first place. That belonged to Maria Murvich of Kingsford with a time of 20:39.7. This was the junior runner’s first time at the Houghton and she admitted that the unknown was a little intimidating.
"I was flying blind at times," she said with a smile. "All the curves kept me on my toes and I struggled to find a rhythm."
Coming in second was Houghton’s Holly Cooke with a time of 20:58.9. Fellow Gremlin Brooke Hoppe took third with a time of 21:21:2.
Houghton girls coach Traci Welch said there is a lot of competition among the runners, and that is good to see.
"We have a lot of runners and they push each other to be better," she stated. "They run well as a team. While this is our own course, they were there cheering each other on to win as a team. I am very proud of them."