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BOYNE FALLS - Moving long distance athletes from the foot-friendly surfaces of golf courses and high school lawns, the Logger Invitational returned runners to the true spirit of racing cross country Saturday morning.

In the woods behind Boyne Falls High School, 16 teams were represented in the girls race and 18 in the boys.

Among Antrim County schools, Ellsworth continued to assert its off-road dominance, placing third in the girls competition, nearly taking second from North Trails, which trailed Onaway by 56 points. The Lancers took third in the boys scoring as well, fairly close to Onaway but trailing Wolverine by a large margin.

The gun for the girls race started the day and the field quickly spread as runners disappeared into the trees after the first quarter mile.

With two miles remaining, Ellsworth's Taylor Hartley was running stride for stride with Wolverine's Bobbee Papi as the trail wound its way through a fern-covered forest. Central Lake's Danielle Haydell trailed both runners by several meters.

"She just needs to pass a few more of these girls,"Central Lake coach Joe Shay said as Haydell reached the two-mile mark, still trailing. "The Onaway girls primarily, to make sure she gets to state."

In the final mile, Haydell moved on Hartley and passed her in the last straightaway before the finishing stretch. Holding the momentum through the finish gave Haydell her first career victory over Hartley with a time of 22:06 (10th). Hartley crossed in 22:09.

"It felt good,"Haydell said after the race. "Shay told me to start out faster and I picked it up at the end. My goal this season was to beat (Hartley)."

Lancer Olivia Certa was not far off the battle between Haydell and Hartley, finishing in a respectable 22:46, placing 14th.

Returning to the Logger Invitational this season after setting the course record last year at 16:37, Ellsworth's Ashton Fisher stepped to the line with a strong race strategy in mind.

"Fast pace and tempo,"Ellsworth coach Kirk Ikens said before the start. "Get out quick, push the middle and kick at the end."

Ikens predicted Wolverine's Jeremy Egas, a familiar presence this season, would come up and challenge Fisher in the second mile but probably not manage to pass if all went according to plan.

Egas had a different plan as the race unfolded. He jumped out to an early lead on Fisher, who normally blazes the first mile, and held command of the pace. The two racers left the field of other runners, Fisher looking relaxed just behind Egas through the first mile.

"This is actually one of the worst courses to run on,"Fisher said before the race began. "It's sandy, hard to pick your legs up fast enough."

With Egas maintaining a slight lead on Fisher through the second mile, both runners seemed to be picking their legs up well enough to hold off any challengers.

Ê "He led for quite a while,"Fisher said after the race. "But I let him lead. Pictures are taken at the beginning and the end."

At the end, Fisher downshifted and passed Egas in the final 400 meters, taking first in 16:54.

Ellsworth's Jordan Muma appeared out of the trees not far behind, crossing the line in a photo finish with Mackinaw City's Chris Laninga. Muma leaned for the win at 18:41.2, taking ninth place.

Contact Chris Tredway at ctredway@michigannewspapers.com. Ê