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The Great Journey

The 2017 season has been a great journey for the men of the Caro Cross Country program. This has been one of the best seasons
in school history; the only thing missing is that big trophy they give out at the STATE FINALS. The team has been ranked either
1st or 2nd most of the year in Division 3. The TEAM won the Tri-Valley Conference East, won the Tri-Valley Conference Overall Meet,
won the Regional, and many other meets along the way.
The TEAM is led by running phenom, Yami Albrecht. He is the Tri-Valley East, Tri-Valley Overall Conference Champion, and Two-time
Regional Champion. He is the 2 Time MHSAA Cross Country Division 3 State Champion (2016, 2017) with a season best time of 15:41.
But our TEAM success has come with the contributions from his teammates, Dylan Brown, Izak Brown, Cole Moen, Kevin Wilson,
Logan Brown, Aaron Hulburt, Caleb Cotton, Bryden Miller,
Dylan is a senior first year runner. He has a great attitude and found out cross country is a hard but gratifying sport. He ran
with us for a good portion of the summer and his hard work paid off. He ran on our varsity squad most of the season. He
has a personal best time of 18:51.
Izak Brown, freshman, is one day going to shock people. He is putting in the work and it will pay off down the road. He would
make most varsity lineups in the thumb area. He has a personal best time of 19:01.
Cole Moen, freshman, is very talented but was little behind in training compared to his teammates. He is starting to get into
shape and has worked his way into the top 7. I believe Cole sees the value of the consistent hard work and dedication and will
be found with his teammates more often in the offseason. He had a personal best time of 18:09 finishing 160 at the State Finals.
(254 runners competed at the Division 3 Boy’s State Finals)
Kevin Wilson, freshman, has had a great season and has established himself as one of the top freshman in Caro history. He earned
2nd Team Tri-Valley Conference - East honors. He has a personal best time of 17:10. At States he ran 17:40 finishing in 124t h place.
Logan Brown, freshman, has also established himself as one of Caro’s all-time best freshman. He earned 2nd Team Tri-Valley Confer-
ence - East honors and was Third Team TVC. He has a personal best time of 17:19. At States he ran 17:20 finishing in 84t h place.
Aaron Hulburt, junior, has stepped up his running this season, his consistent hard work over the years is starting to really show.
He earned 1st Team Team Tri-Valley Conference - East honors. He also finished 1st Team TVC. He has a personal best time of 16:33.
He ran a GREAT race at the Finals finishing All-State in 20t h place with a time of 16:34. This is amazing considering he only
finished in 18t h at Regional.
Caleb Cotton, junior, is consistently improving year after year. He has earned 1st Team Team Tri-Valley Conference - East honors, 1st
Team TVC, and was a regional medalist. He has a personal best time of 16:11. At States he ran 16:46 finishing in 34t h place, 7
places and only 4 seconds from All-State. He received Academic All-State for the 2n d year in a row, this is a great achievement.
Bryden Miller, junior, has worked hard for what he has achieved. He has earned 1st Team Tri-Valley Conference - East honors, 1st
Team TVC, and was a regional runner up to Yami. He has a personal best time of 16:23. At States he ran 16:52 finishing in 37t
h place, 7 places from All-State.
Bryden, Caleb, Aaron, and Yami are making their third trip to the MHSAA Cross Country State Finals with their Regional Champion-
ship win with a score of 45 points. In 2015, they finished in 14th place, 2016 they finished in 5th place, and this year was the
closest race of the day a the State Finals. The Caro men finished as 2017 MHSAA Cross Country Division 3 Runners-Up only 6 points
behind the Champions, Hanover Horton. It was a heartbreaker, but it will leave them determined with high expectations to work
for the Championship trophy next season. The Caro TEAM represented Caro well and we could not be more proud of them. The
Men’s Caro Cross Country TEAM finished with a record of 179 wins and 8 losses.
The juniors have worked very hard to get where they are now. Their hard work, dedication, and sacrifices have led them to great
success. Even better than the success they have achieved in running, they have gained many friendships and have enjoyed the jour-
ney. These juniors have been great involving the younger runners into the program. The younger runners are putting in the same
dedication and hard work that is expected to be a GREAT TEAM. Not only is this a great team of runners but they are fine young
men. We will have to wait and see if this team will be able to repeat the success of the Deep Purple Express State Champion-
ship team of 1980.

Jeff Schember
Caro Cross Country Coach

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