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Montrose entered the meet with a 7-1 league record, one spot behind Durand, which completed its GAC dual schedule at 8-0. The Rams needed to finish ahead of the Railroaders on Tuesday in order to assure themselves of at least a tie for the overall title, and that is exactly what Montrose did, squeaking past Durand, 55-57. Byron was a distant third at 89 points.

"We've reminded our guys all year that in order to win, it's not enough to just compete for the top spots in the race," commented Ram coach Steve Medemar. "Today was a perfect example of just how important all five runners on the score sheet can be." Medemar's point is well-taken.

Ken Beck, Montrose's talented senior runner who won the GAC meet a year ago, was beaten by Durand's David Madrigal for first place. But the next four Ram runners were able to turn in good enough times to overcome the mild upset at the top of the racing chart.

After Beck (2nd at 17:28), David Leos turned in a solid sixth-place finish at 18:23. Travis Tekiele and Jesse Beardslee followed for Montrose with times of 18:53 and 18:55, good enough for 12th and 13th spots, respectively, setting up a dramatic race to the finish line between Montrose's fifth runner, Taylor Kirk, and Durand's fifth runner, Corey Monroe.

With a league championship on his shoulders, Kirk came in at 20:02, good for 24th place overall, one spot and six seconds ahead of Monroe. And good enough to give the Rams their first title since 1989.

In the girls' portion of the race, Montrose was unable to field a complete team, but Adrianna Hosea finished 15th with a clocking of 22:49. Goodrich ran away with the gals title, finishing with 16 points as they placed all five of their runners within the top six spots of the race.

Ram harriers finish 6th among 13 teams at Reese X-C invite

REESE Ken Beck finished second among 85 runners in the B division of Reese's 5K run on Saturday, October 13, to help Montrose's cross country team to a sixth place finish among 13 schools.

Beck ran the 5K in a span of 17:03, just 11 seconds behind Caro's Travis Gere.

David Leos was the next fastest Ram, coming in at 19:03, good enough for 27th spot. Jesse Beardslee was one second slower and two places behind Leos, while Travis Tekiele finished 38th with a time of 19:27. Taylor Kirk completed the scoring for Montrose, placing 62nd in a span of 20:45.

Other finishers for the Rams were Steve Yerian (74th, 22:00), Chris Bober (83rd, 24:03) and Corey Madden (22:28).

Swan Valley won the meet for the guys portion of the race.

The Rams were unable to field a complete girls team, but four runners competed for Montrose, led by Adrianna Hosea who finished 30th in a time of 22:38. Ashley Fikes was 85th in a period of 30:38, followed by Kristi Burner (87th, 31:25) and Serah Schnell (88th, 33:32).

Ram spikers rally past Durand in five-game thriller

MONTROSE Trailing two games to one, Montrose's varsity volleyball team rallied for a thrilling 25-18, 18-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-7 victory over visiting Durand last Thursday, grabbing sole possession of second place in the tough GAC-Red division.

"I can't say it enough, how much heart and desire this team has," commented elated Ram coach Lisa Conrad after watching her team improve to 9-2 in the GAC. "I can't say who our top player was tonight, because it was such a team effort and the stats are spread out so evenly." Kirsti Groulx was one of the top performers for the Rams as she orchestrated the offense with 176/177 sets and 35 assists. Groulx was also 7-for-7 on attacks with 11 digs. Caleigh Robinson also stepped forward with 18 digs and

3 aces on 23/23 serving. Robinson also logged three kills on 18/20 attacks.

Other key contributors for Montrose were Kyrie Diem (34/38 attacks with 11 kills and 4 blocks, 12 digs, 19/19 serving), Sara Pully (52/59 attacks, 14 kills, 5 blocks, 18 digs), Casey Lake (45/52 attacks, 16 kills, 19/19 serving, 23 digs) and Ashley Gifford (16/17 serves, 22 digs, 5/5 attacks), Conrad also cited Kayla Pully, Beth Hall, Kaytlin Hollowell and Kayla Peczynski for their contributions to the big win.

Montrose wins Silver division of Mt. Morris volleyball tourney

MT. MORRIS Montrose captured first place in the Silver division of Mt.

Morris' volleyball tournament, held on Saturday, October 13.

After going 2-2 in pool play, the Rams defeated Holly in the semi-finals and fought past Pontiac Lutheran in the finals to bring home the first-place Silver trophy.

On the day, Sara Pully excelled at the net, going 159/179 on attacks with 66 kills, 13 blocks and 21 digs. Casey Lake was also a force to contend with, clicking on all 75 of her serves, including 10 aces, and going 87/94 on attacks with 40 kills and 48 digs.

Other top performers for the Rams were Kirsti Groulx (230/240 assist attempts, 95 assists, 43/44 serves, 5 aces, 35 digs), Kyrie Diem (54/54 serving, 54/60 attacks, 33 kills), Caleigh Robinson (28 digs, 18/20 attacks,

6 kills), Beth Hall (6/6 attacks, 3 kills), Ashley Gifford (20/21, 4 aces,

17 digs), Kaytlin Hollowell (18 digs, 6 assists) and Kayla Pully (7 digs,

6/6 attacks, one kill).

Kayla Peczynski and Ali Groulx also helped the Ram cause with a pair of digs apiece on defense.