The Grosse Pointe Academy hosted ten teams in its annual invitational on October 3. The teams were University Liggett School, Detroit Country Day School, Franklin Christian, Greenhills, Oakland Christian, St. Joan of Arc, Southfield Christian, Hazel Park, and the Academy of the Sacred Heart.

"What struck me most was the sheer amount of camaraderie among each team," said Coach Nayak. "Our team leader, Katarina Goitz, did a wonderful job of organizing our team workout, helping her teammates adjust, and giving an inspirational speech to kick off the invitational."  

The invitational is broken into four running categories: 7/8 boys, 5/6 boys, 7/8 girls, and 5/6 girls. The team winner for the 7/8 boys' team  was DCDS. The Grosse Pointe Academy only had one runner for the 7/8 boys' team this year and therefore could not place in this event. However, seventh grader Brion Flick came in 7th place overall.

The 7/8 girls' team trophy went to St. Joan of Arc. The Grosse Pointe Academy came in second place, with Lauren Schaller, Somers Brush, and Abigail Boll well on the heels of St. Joan.

The 5/6 boys' team trophy went to the Academy of the Sacred Heart.   The 5/6 GPA boys' team came in third place. Robbie Triano, Zachary Wood, and Will Hamer helped us secure our position in third place.

Finally, the 5/6 girls' team trophy went to ASH as well. Again, the Academy came in third place, with Samantha Perry, Sabrina Gamble, and Jennifer Vermet securing our third place victory.

Said Coach Nayak: "Our team is getting much better! They understand how to pace themselves and how to run on different types of terrain and landforms. In addition, they are getting a better understanding of their opponents and what it takes to defeat them in a race. Finally, they understand when they must accelerate to get past their opponents. On Wednesday, I saw my team use these components to their advantage. I am very happy to see that our team is growing and learning as time goes on."

Coach Nayak recognized Brion Flick, Lauren Schaller, Somers Brush, Abigail Boll, and Kate Wacker for running in the Invitational. Said Vivek: "Although these students were not on the team this year, they are veteran cross-country runners, and helped us out greatly!"

Vivek also gave special recognition to Jennifer Vermet, who has improved a great deal. Jennifer came in third place for the GPA 5/6 girls' team with a time of 15 minutes and 42 seconds. Jennifer cut about two minutes off her last time of 17 minutes and 35 seconds. "Jennifer has shown a lot of determination and it has definitely paid off," said Vivek.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS & TIMES
Top 10 places receive ribbons

Boys' 7/8 Team
Brion Flick - 1st place GPA / 7th place overall (12:17)

Girls' 7/8 Team
Lauren Schaller - 1st place GPA / 7th place overall (12:57)
Somers Brush - 2nd place GPA / 10th place overall (13:59)
Abigail Boll - 3rd place GPA (14:14)
Katarina Goitz - 4th place GPA (14:17)
Kate Wacker - 5th place GPA (15:58)

Boys' 5/6 Team
Robbie Triano - 1st place GPA / 6th place overall (14:11)
Zachary Wood - 2nd place GPA / 8th place over (14:25)
Will Hamer - 3rd place GPA / 9th place overall (14:28)
Sam Williams - 4th place GPA / 10th place overall (14:51)

Girls' 5/6 Team
Samantha Perry - 1st place GPA / 4th place overall (13:59)
Sabrina Gamble - 2nd place GPA / 8th place overall (14:47)
Jennifer Vermet - 3rd place GPA (15:42)
Libby Elliott - 4th place GPA (16:12)
Angela Perry-Hudson - 5th place GPA (18:07)