White Teams defeat Will Carlton

The 5/6 & 7/8 grade teams posted wins on December 1.

The 5/6 graders had an exciting game winning by one point.

The 7/8 graders won with a score of 20 to 6. Great job boys!

Fantastic Final Cross Country Meet, Hanover-Horton

The Mar Lee Cross Country team had their final meet at Hanover-Horton and as anticipated had a thrilling run through corn fields, bean fields and wooded trails. It's the best meet of the season because it always falls near Halloween, and the run really is a cross country trail. The team psyched itself up with tales of mystery that could be encountered in the fields and woods. There were three 2 mile races divided by 6th grade boys & girls, 7th & 8th grade girls and finally 7th & 8th grade boys (this is the year girls ran first, next year boys' races will proceed the girls' races.) Our runners were as dedicated and exuberant as ever. They ran hard, let off lots of MEAPing tension and just had an all around grand time. Thanks to everyone on the team for a rewarding season. Times are listed below

6th Grade Race
Jacob Zona 15:13

7th & 8th Grade Girls
Maggie Dunn 17:18
Katie Zona 18:48

7th & 8th Grade Boys
Joe MacInnes 13:04
Dontay Pearl 14:26
Josh Isham 19:36
Austin Teeters 21:20

Blue Team Wins Portage Central Tournament

Mar Lee Blue Team won the championship at Portage Central on October 17th. There were 8 teams in the tournament and Mar Lee was undefeated with wins over Mattawan B 21-14 & 21-16, Harper Creek A 21-12 & 21-16, Portage Central 21-16 & 21-14, Harper Creek A 22-20 & 21-6(semi-finals), Mattawan A 21-11 & 22-20(finals). Nice job girls!

Bellevue in the Fog and Mud

The Mar Lee cross country team headed out early on a very foggy Saturday morning for the Bellevue meet. With the Bellevue terrain still recovering from the construction of the new track and sports complex ,the race was tricky due to the deep mud. Still, our team braved it out, running a two miler. The distance was new for many of our team members, some because this is their first year in cross country and others because they have moved up to the longer distance from last year. We suffered one injury because of the deep mud in one section of the race and succeeded in finishing without misinterpreting the course directions, not an easy matter since the Bellevue course is quite complicated. Our runners' spirits were as always enthusiastic and supportive. Nice job and kudos to everyone.

Times and Places

• Joe MacInnes 14:54 9th place
• Dontay Persons 18:07 19th place
• Jacob Zona 18:21 20th place
• Maggie Dunn 21:44
• Josh Isham 21:51
• Austin Teeters 23:43

You may view more photos of the meet (and please add more of your own).

Blue Team Takes 3rd Place in Bearcat Tournament

The 1st Annual Bearcat Invitational was held October 9th & 10th. Eleven teams participated and the 7/8 Blue team won 3rd place by defeating Marshall. The team would like to thank the Mar Lee Bearcat Athletic Boosters for sponsoring this event.

White Team defeats White Pine

The 7/8 grade White Volleyball Team dominated White Pine winning 3 sets.

Set 1 25 to 14

Set 2 25 to 14

Set 3 15 to 1

Great job girls!

Bearcats stomp out the Dragons fire!

The Blue Volleyball Teams played away at Island City October 7th.

The 5/6 team won all their sets 25-10, 25-21 & 15-12.

The 7/8 team won all their sets 25-11 & 25-22.

Cross Country Coldwater Meet

The Mar Lee Cross Country team had a excellent meet on September 24th down in Coldwater. Despite the hindrance of construction blocking our route to the fairgrounds, we ran three fantastic races even with only ten minutes before the first race to figure the course out and stretch. All our team members ran hard making personal record times. Each race was 1.5 miles. In the first race were our fifth and sixth graders, Jacob Zona and Matt Dunn. In the second race was Katie Zona, and in the last race were the 7th graders, Josh Isham, Joe MacInnes, Austin Teeters and Ben Turner.
Below are the times and places:

6th Grade Boys

• Jacob Zona/ Time, 11:01 Place, 12th
• Matt Dunn/ Time, 11:45 Place 20th

7th Grade Girls

• Katie Zona/ Time: 13:47

7th Grade Boys

• Ben Turner/ Time 9:07, Place, 10th
• Joe MacInnes/ Time 9:09, Place 12th
• Josh Isham/ Time 13:05 Place 32nd
• Austin Teeters/ Time 14:09, Place 34th

Mar Lee Volleyball Blue Teams defeat Trinity

The 5th & 6th grade girls won their sets 25 to 17 and 25 to 18.

The 7th & 8th grade girls won their sets 25 to 19 and 25 to 19.

Golf outing raises $3500 for Mar Lee Athletics

Last week's annual golf outing was sponsored by the new Mar Lee Athletic Boosters. The money will be used to support athletic programs. For example, on June 4th the Boosters are subsidizing 50% of the cost of individual annual sports physicals.

Mar Lee battles huge teams at Starr Commonwealth

The Mar Lee track team flew into the face of adversity at the Starr Commonwealth track meet on Tuesday, May 5th. Although we were out numbered three to one against Marshall and the Starr boys Mar Lee competed to win with some players achieving a personal best.

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Mar Lee supporters brave the cold at Olivet Meet

Mar Lee had a wonderful turnout of parent and family support despite chilly temperatures, high winds and rain at the Olivet track meet. Athletes from Olivet and Bellevue competed against Mar Lee in what turned out to be a nasty Spring evening, but despite the weather our runners, jumpers and throwers pushed on. Thank you to all that came out and lent us your cheers.

Sarah Huffman took 1st place in the 200meter hurdles with a time of 35.46sec and 2nd place in the 100meter dash with a time of 14.72sec. Tiffany Schmidt placed 3rd in the 70meter dash with a time of 10.29sec and 4th in the shot put throwing a distance of 27'7". The girls also placed 1st in the 400meter relay with the awesome time of 1:02.17min.

Lucas Blanchard placed 1st in the 100meter Dash with a time of 12.29sec and 1st in the 200meter dash with a time of 26.02sec. Colin Quinn came in 2nd in the long jump with a distance of 14'11" and he also placed 3rd in the 400meter run with a time of 1:04.58. Tyler Gay took 2nd place in the 100meter dash coming in at 12.93sec and also 2nd in the 70meter dash with a time of 9.45sec. Dalton Earl placed 3rd in the 200meter hurdles with a time of 38.64sec while Josh Wise placed 4th with a time of 41.83sec. Finally, Michael Cole gave Mar Lee points by coming in 4th for the 55meter hurdles with a time of 10.72sec and 4th in the 70meter dash with a time of 10.09sec. The boys also place 2nd in both the 1600meter relay with a time of 5:58.23min and the 400meter relay with a time of 54.06sec.

Lucas Blanchard wins 100m dash at Olivet

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Maplevalley Track Meet, April 17

Preparing for the Meet

Mar Lee's first track meet for 2009 turned out to be a positive and rewarding experience with the boys massing an overall score of 50 points and tying for second place with Kalamazoo-Hackett while the girls took third place with a score of 32 points. With four schools competing at the meet, Maple Valley, Mar-Lee, Kalamazoo-Hackett and Bellevue, the competition was tough. All our athletes preformed their best and pushed themselves to their limits while showing respect for each other and giving their team a determined effort.

In the girls meet, Sarah Huffman took first place in the 200meter hurdles with a time of 34.5sec, and 5th place in the 200meter dash with a time of 34.59sec. Andrea O'Dell placed second in the 100meter dash with a time of 14.92sec, and second place in the 200meter dash with a time of 32.20sec. Tiffini Schmidt took third in the 70meter dash with a time of 10.8secs, she also placed third in the shot put with a distance of 26'6". Alexis Ward added to Mar Lee's total score by placing third in the long jump with a distance of 11'11" and by placing 4th in the 70meter dash with a time of 11.17sec. Little Caitlyn Quinn turned on the juice and came in fourth place in the 200meter dash with a time of 34.22sec. While Amber Yost took 5th place in the shot put by throwing the regulation 6lb ball 25'1". Finally, our girls teamed up for a second place win in the 400meter relay.

In the boys meet, Mar Lee poured it on with Lucas Blanchard winning the 100meter dash with a time of 12.32sec and the 200meter dash with a time of 25.41sec. Colin Quinn took second in the long jump with a distance of 16' and third place in the 400meter dash with a time of 1:06.07sec. Nik Bailey came in to a close third with a time of 10.75sec only missing second place by 3 seconds. Nik also placed 5th in the 400meter dash with a time of 1:19.32sec.
Austin Young popped over the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 36.74sec placing third.
Tyler Gay ran in the 100 meter dash placing 4th with a time of 14.38sec, but his glory event was the 70meter dash placing 1st with a time of 9.91sec. Michael Cole placed 4th in the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 10.98sec and 4th in the long jump leaping to a distance of 13'8". 5th place was taken by Dalton Earl in the 200 meter hurdles with a time of 38.28sec, and
Nate Vanslyke also placed 5th in both the 32oo meter run and the 1600 meter run with a time of 7:27.

There are many more athletes on our time who worked just as hard and played their best. We can not be a team without them and are proud to have them as a part of the Mar Lee track effort. Look for more winners in following articles.