Portland’s Carter Rosier Excels in CAAC-White Conference Cross Country Race at DeWitt

When Carter Rosier reached the first mile marker in 5 minutes and 37 seconds, at Tuesday’s Boys’ Varsity Cross Country CAAC White Jamboree race at the St. Francis Retreat Center, he was a little concerned that he had gotten off too fast and might not be able to finish the 5K race strong. “I never ran out that fast in a race before”, Rosier told the Beacon after the race. It had been a week since Rosier set a personal best time of 19 minutes, 14 seconds for the 5K at the Eaton Rapids Class Invitational. On Tuesday, Rosier let up a bit after that first mile, but stayed close to the leaders throughout the race. When he made the last turn, and saw the finish line 200 yards away, he knew that he was running the best race of his high school cross country career. Rosier, a Senior, finished the race in 13th place, with a time of 18 minutes, 28 seconds. An amazing forty-six seconds better than his best effort a week before. “I feel really good”, Rosier said after the race as he stood by his brother and training partner, Blaine. Blaine starred for the Raider Cross Country team two years ago. Blaine’s best time for the 5K in High School was 18minutes,13 seconds. Carter exclaimed, with a smile and nod to his older brother, that his brother’s time was probably out of his reach. First Year Head Raider Boy’s Head Coach Ariel Davids disagreed, “I’m so excited for Carter. He is doing well in practice, but he can do better. I expect him to break the 18-minute mark before the season is over”.

Bryce Dubay of Charlotte won the Boys’ Varsity race in a time of 17 minutes flat. Lansing Catholic won the overall team meet as they edged Ionia 43-44. The deciding points occurred when Lansing Catholic’s Cameron Haraburda edged out Ionia’s Heath LaPointe, for fourth place, in a sprint to the finish line. Haraburda finished 1.7 seconds in front of LaPointe.

In the Girls’ Varsity race Lansing Catholic took four of the top five spots finishing with 20 points (15 points is the lowest possible score in High School Cross Country). Ionia finished second in team standings with 56 points. Eaton Rapids came in third with 75 points, Charlotte was fourth with 90 and Portland finished with 129. Lansing Sexton, the sixth team in the conference, has cancelled all fall sports due to Covid-19, did not participate. Hannah Pricco of Lansing Catholic finished first in the Girl’s 5K with a time of 19:27. Portland Sophomore Mya Estell once again led all Raider Girls in a time of 24:43 while finishing 25th overall.

The Raiders next meet will be on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at the Pewamo-Westphalia Invitational to be held in Carson City.