ALPENA, MI - The Alpena Boys Cross Country team, fresh off of their BNC and Regional Championships, has been recognized by the MHSAA as Academic Division 1 All-State.  The accumulative GPA from the 10th-12th-grade members of the team was an eye-popping 3.996.  Along with the team there were seven individual runners named academic all-state: Aden Smith, Josh Smith, Clay Donajkowski , Sam Tuscher, Drew Seabase, Aidan Day, and Maddy Boyd.

KETTERING, OHIO -- Josh Smith, Aden Smith, and Maddy Boyd represented Alpena on Team Michigan this weekend at the MidEast Championship in Kettering, Ohio.   The team consisted of 12 senior boys and 12 senior girls who competed for their spots last weekend in a qualifier race. Team Michigan raced against Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.  Maddy finished 13th overall; 5th for Team Michigan.  Josh finished 3rd overall; 1st for Team Michigan.  Aden finished 10th overall; 5th for Team Michigan.   Team Michigan brought home the State Combined Championship in winning both races.

SHEPHERD, MI - Three Wildcat Cross Country runners ran at the MITCA Team Michigan Qualifier Saturday at Shepherd High School.  Aden Smith (15:37), Josh Smith (15:49), and Maddy Boyd (18:26) all ran career high races.  As a result of their finishes, all three have earned a spot on Team Michigan. They will compete on Team Michigan on November 17 in Ohio.

BROOKLYN, MI - The Alpena Boys Cross Country team capped off the best season in school history as they finished 7th overall in the Division 1 Final on November 3 at the Michigan International Speedway.  Drew Seabase (14th), Aden Smith (21st), and Josh Smith (28th) all earned all-state recognition.  Maddy Boyd also received all-state honors after finishing 24th.

GAYLORD, MI - The Alpena Boys Cross Country Team got a 2-3-4 place performance to claim the Regional Championship.  Aden Smith, Drew Seabase and Josh Smith paced the Wildcat effort with Aidan Day (7th) joining them in the top-7.  This effort qualified the Wildcats for MHSAA Finals at Michigan International Speedway on November 3.  Two Girls Runners will join the Boys team at the MHSAA Finals as AMadi Szymanski and Maddy Boyd finished sixth and seventh respectively.

GAYLORD, MI - The Alpena Boys Cross Country team were crowned the Grand Champions of the Northern Michigan Championships on Saturday afternoon in Gaylord.  Josh Smith was the overall winner and broke the course record with a time of 15:41.  On the girls side, Senior Maddy Boyd set a new school record with her 6th place time of 18:30.  The Wildcats Cross Country teams will participate in the MHSAA Regionals on October 27 at Delta College.  

GAYLORD, MI - The Alpena Boys and Girls Cross Country teams wrapped up a highly successful conference season on Tuesday afternoon at the BNC Finals in Gaylord.  The Boys Cross Country team dominated the top three spots and won the school's first ever Big North Conference Championship.  Aden Smith, Drew Seabase, and Josh Smith finished 1-2-3 to give Alpena 37 points which was 9 points higher than 2nd place Traverse City Central.  Jacob Kochanski (15th) and Clay Donajkowski (16th) gave the Wildcats five finishers in the top 16.

The girls team was paced by Maddy Boyd and Madi Szymanski who earned all-conference honors after finishing second and seventh.  The Wildcats finished 5th overall behind TC Central, TC West, Petoskey, and Cadillac.  Molly Dickinson (21st), Kaylee Rondeau (30th), Alexis Reynolds (35th) and Tiffany Foster (40th) rounded out the team's effort.

SAGINAW, MI - The Wildcat Cross Country teams brought home 2 D1 Championship Trophies Saturday at the Saginaw Heritage Invitational.  Both the Boys and Girls teams earned 1st place overall, which included the likes of Midland, Midland Dow, Saginaw Heritage, Gross Pointe, and 21 total schools.

In the boys' race Josh Smith, Aden Smith and Drew Seabase finished 2-3-4, behind winner Tyler Pritchett of Midland.  Clay Donajkowski (24th) and Sam Tuscher (26th) gave Alpena five finishers in the top 26.

Maddy Boyd won the girls race with teammate Madi Szymanski behind her in 2nd.  Molly Dickinson (11th) and Kaylee Rondeau (13th) gave Alpena four finishers in the top 15.

ALPENA, MI - The Alpena Boys and Girls Cross Country teams hosted the 2nd BNC Jamboree on Tuesday afternoon at the Crittenden Soccer Fields.  The Boys team finished 2nd overall by a single point after going 1st, 3rd, and 4th.  Josh Smith placed first overall with a time of 16:33.3. Aden Smith barely finished 3rd with a time of 16:56.8, just 0.8 seconds behind TC Central’s Cole Truszkowski.  Drew Seabase finished fourth with a time of 17:01.5.  TC Central finished 1st with 48 points, which was 1 point better than Alpena's 49.  Other Alpena times: Jacob Kochanski (18th, 18:07.8); Clay Donajkowski (23rd, 18:15.0); Sam Tuscher (30th,18:34.2) and Jimmy Decker (40th, 19.16.0).

The Alpena girls placed fourth overall, behind TC Central, TC West, and Petoskey.  Senior Maddy Boyd took fourth with a time of 19:30.5 and freshman Madi Szymanski was fifth with a time of 19:34.3.  Other Alpena times: Molly Dickinson (21st, 21:08.5); Kaylee Rondeau (30th, 21:53.6); Alexis Reynolds (35th, 22:41.1) and Malley McGuire (38th, 23:15.5).

Alpena traveled to TCW Tuesday to compete is the first of three BNC Jamborees. The entire conference competes against each other three times at different locations. Alpena Men’s Cross Country Team won the race with 50 points over Traverse City Centrals 56. West finished third with 69, Cadillac 83, Petoskey 90, Gaylord 130. The men’s team worked well and were mentally prepared for the race. Josh and Aden Smith led the entire race with Josh edging out Aden for first. Drew Seabase worked hard finishing 4th overall. Varsity was rounded out by Jacob Kochanski running a season best 17:56, Sam tuscher, Clay Jacobs and Jimmy Decker. More boys running season best times: Zach Zaborney, Victor Chiuncheng, Isaac Kelley, Westen Domke, Blake Macdonald and Robert Fairchild. The women’s team finished 5th. Not where we hoped to be this season. But highlights are Maddy Boyd finishing 2nd overall with a season best 18:56 and Madi Szymanski finishing 5th overall. Madi Szymanski also ran a season best 19:19. This time gives her the fastest freshman time in Alpena history. In 1996, now Professional runner Michelle Suszek ran 19:22. Alpena women’s team has been missing some key runners. They are working hard to overcome the deficit. We are hoping to be at full strength soon. Rounding out the varsity with solid races are Kaylee Rondeau running a season best 21:30, Molly Dickerson running a season best 21:57, and Alexis Reynold running a career best 22:28. Other seasons bests times go to Malley McGuire, Grace Mitchell. Veronica Zaborney. Grace Weaver and Ava Shriner. Emeline Hanna ran a career best time! AHS XC runs next at Delta College Al Kayner Invitational in Saturday, September, 22.

Michigan State University hosted more than 8000 runners, 179 high schools at their Spartan Invitational in East Lansing Friday. After a rocky start to the day, with Alpena losing their transportation, the boys varsity runners made it to the starting line on time. No coaches to help them, they rose as leaders and were prepared. Our boys have earned the right to run in the Spartan Elite race which begins as an invite only. Why is this so important? State Champion caliber competition. College coaches. This is their opportunity to put their best out there, be seen and recognized. The boys varsity team placed 12th out of 38 teams. They beat some big name teams such as Grand Haven, Gross Pointe North, Caro, East Grand Rapids and Divine Child. AND they were able to put 2 boys on the awards stage! Aden Smith finished 19th running a season best time and Josh Smith finished 26th to earn Spartan Awards. Although Drew Seabase did not medal, he finished 39th with a season best break-through time! The boys JV race was intense. The race consisted of 642 athletes. Topping our JV runners was Zach Zaborney. He stepped up and led many underclassman through the regimen of running a race this large. The girls varsity also performed well during the heat of the day. They finished 14/38 schools. They have been running Without varsity runners Anna Young and Tiffany Foster. The future is bright for these girls to compete at this level! Varsity standout Maddy Boyd placed 4th amongst the competition. She also had college coaches there watching her! Maddy Boyd and Freshman Madi Szymanski 21st both received Spartan Awards. Girls JV ran in a race with 354 athletes. They performed well after hours of watching, cheering and waiting. Grace Mitchell, a freshman led the way for the team running a season best. Karlin Decker was also able to run a season best time! Overall, great day to be in AHS XC! Thank you for our community support! Don’t forget about us! We will NOT disappoint! We run this week our first BNC at TCW Tuesday and Saturday the 2 Mile Al Kayner at Delta College!

The AHS Cross country teams competed at the Lancer Invitational Saturday in Midland. The weather was perfect, the course was soft, and the competition strong. 

The teams competed in the Black Division consisting of large schools Saginaw Heritage, TCW, Midland, Midland Dow and more. There were 9 schools total. 

The boys placed 1st as a team with 55 points. 2nd was Saginaw Heritage with 87. Josh Smith won the race with a time of 16:14 with Aden Smith placing a close 2nd 16:25. Drew Seabase finished 5th with a season-best of 17:00. Finishing off the varsity 7 were Clay Donajkowski, Sam Tuscher and Freshman Jacob Kochanski and Jimmy Decker. They also all hit season-best times. We have a very solid group of seniors leading this team. We have high expectations. 

The girls finished 4th as a team. Winning the competition was Traverse City St Francis. We are happy with the team performance. We are still healing a couple girls legs. They did great. Lots of individual bests today.  The best teams of Midland and Midland Dow both of whom they will see at the regional. 

Maddy Boyd ran a season-best breaking 19 with an 18:59. She placed 2nd overall. Fresh,an Madi Szymanski placed 5th. There were 150 runners total in this race. The varsity 7 were rounded out by Kaylee Rondeau, Molly Dickerson, Tiffany Foster, Alexis Reynolds and Katie Foust. 

The teams compete next at MSU on Friday. 

Alpena cross country raced at the Dwayne Rau Memorial Invitational on Thursday, August 30. Ogemaw Heights hosted the event. 12 teams were in attendance. 

Alpena Boys placed 1st overall with Josh Smith winning the race. His time placed him #9 in the Top 100 All Time racers on this 30 year course. The boys competed strong in their first showing. Many of them bested their times from last year on this course. Many of them earned medals as well! Rounding out the varsity 7 were Drew Seabase 3rd place, Jacob Kochanski ( a freshman), Sam Tuscher, Clay Donajkowski, Jimmy Decker, and Zach Zaborney. A very strong and well rounded team. 

Alpena girls placed 2nd overall; first in their large school division  Mandy Boyd finished first for the lady wildcats placing 2nd overall. Madi Szymanski, a freshman, placed 3rd overall with the 2nd fastest freshman time in Alpena history.  Rounding out the varsity were Kaylee Rondeau, Tiffany Foster, Alexis Reynolds, Marley McGuire and Maggie Thayer! A very young team with only one senior in the mix!  Many great expectations as this teams challenges each other and grows.

The Wildcat runners will race next Saturday at the Lancer Invitational in Midland