Officials had to go to video tape to decide winner of All-City cross country championship

BATTLE CREEK - You might see a photo finish in track, maybe in the 100 meter dash.

But, if it is track's cousin you are talking about - cross country - you never get to see it.

Until now.

The All-City boys cross country meet had a literal photo finish as officials had to go to the video tape to determine a winner.

Lakeview's Karson Lewis leaned into the tape at just the right time to edge Harper Creek's Christian Ayres by the slimmest of margins and win the boys race at the 2025 All-City Championship Meet at Harper Creek High School on Tuesday, Oct. 7.

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"I never saw a finish like that before... one, one-hundredth of a second," Lakeview boys cross country coach Jake Zimmerman said. "Never seen anything that close, not in cross country. Maybe track, sometimes, but never in cross country. It was amazing.

"You don't see too many sophomores win All-City in cross country in boys. I know it was a goal of his and he has worked really hard to get it."

Lewis, a sophomore, finished in a time of 16:03.71. Ayres, a junior, had a personal best time of 16:03.72 to finish second by a .01 margin.

Lewis and Ayres didn't know who won for several minutes after the race. They actually asked each other several times and both had onlookers come up to them afterwards to congratulate them, not knowing who had won.

As each came down the final stretch, seemingly Ayres had the lead, only to see Lewis spurt in the final two steps and lean into the finish line.

"Didn't really know who won when it was over. Just wondering who won. Was hoping it was me, but didn't know," Lewis said. "This was one of my biggest goals coming into the season, winning the All-City. Just glad I got it."

Lakeview had five of the top seven finishes to win the All-City team title with 22 points. Harper Creek was second with 38.

It is the ninth straight All-City team championship for Lakeview.

Lakeview's Elijah Demlow was third overall in 16:27 with the Spartans' Bray Mentzer fifth (17:09), Jackson Duval was sixth (17:22) and Carter Hughes took seventh (17:44).

The top 10 runners earn All-City honors with Harper Creek's Cooper Gardner taking fourth (16:33), Lakeview's Henry Greene was eighth (18:09), the Beavers' Landan Jenkins placed ninth (18:11) and Lakeview's Noah Rebhan in 10th (18:12).

The girls All-City race was won by a familiar face as Lakeview's Lilamae Frank finished first for the second year in a row as the senior earned her third city championship in her four seasons.

Frank won the All-City girls race in a time of 20:36 with teammate Georgia Micklewright second at 21:10 and Pennfield's Peyton Rhoades right behind in third place at 21:12.

"Since freshman year, when I won, my biggest goal was to win four straight. Unfortunately, my sophomore year it didn't go my way with a medical thing. But fortunately, I was able to win back-to-back and it wouldn't be possible without my amazing team supporting me all the way."

Lakeview won the girls team title for the seventh straight year. The Spartans had a team total of 25 points with Harper Creek second with 38 and Pennfield third at 69.

"It is always the goal to bring this title home. It's something that is posted on our lockers from Day 1. But we have bigger goals than this and we have other things we want to accomplish as well. But this was just another good day for us," Lakeview girls cross country coach Jerry Haadsma said.

Lakeview had four top 10 finishes to lead the way with the Spartans' Gianna Burgos taking fourth (21:16) and Ayla Frantz placing seventh (21:46).

Earning All-City honors for Harper Creek were Marissa Demorest, taking fifth (21:23), Layla Silkworth in sixth (21:27), Anna Loritz in eighth (21:55), Ellie Feneley in ninth (21:58) and Rylee Zumer in 10th (22:02).

Contact Bill Broderick at [email protected]. Follow him on X/Twitter @billbroderick. 

This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Results of All-City Cross Country Championship in Battle Creek