BROOKLYN (11/2/02) -- Toe the line of any footrace and the unknown waits. When you're a teen on the brink of the biggest race of your lifetime, poised near hundreds of peers from across the state as hungry and honed as you are, and the expanse of Michigan International Speedway looms around ... you might think, as the race starter points his pistol, you are about to plunge into emptiness. The Michigan High School Athletic Association Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals confront young runners with such moments of truth each season. The day's eight races -- four enrollment-based divisions times boys and girls -- are exhausting, exuberant spectacles. Add the time of year, the Saturday between Halloween and Election Day, and setting, a shrine to Michigan-made machines whose miles of bleachers towers near-vacant for human races -- and your heart catches. There they go: heart-and-lung engines primed, muscle/bone chassis churning on mind combustion; life machines, fabulous and fallible, to be cheered, cherished and remembered. The 2002 finals, held between politicians and poltergeists, saw their requisite tears and triumphs. The Division 2 boys winner may have cut off an onrushing rival, D-1's Rockford boys resurrected themselves while Milford re-met old demons ... As the day wore down, bleachers cleared and youths packed away spikes for another season, most of them realized -- standing with coaches, teammates and family -- their plunge was not into emptiness, but fulfillment. They had dared to be great and competed against the best.

DIVISION 3 GIRLS President Bush, may be America's No. 1 runner, but he is no match for Nicole Bush, who has presided over D-3 girls the last three years. The Kelloggsville junior won the day's first race and the last of her season match-ups with Jaime Watson, jumping out early and prevailing in 18:28.75. Watson, a slight Allendale sophomore who'd beaten her close friend and league foe twice this fall, crossed in 18:45.4 and conceded conditions -- breezy and just above freezing -- chilled her. In the team race, second-ranked Hillsdale (152) topped a field that saw nine teams within 89 points of each other. Hanover-Horton, which placed three girls in the top 22, finished runnerup for the second-straight year.

DIVISION 4 GIRLS

Some of the biggest performances came in the small-school girls race. Ann Arbor Greenhills repeated last year's title in dominating fashion, with freshman Alexa Glences (fifth in 19:25.6) the first of six Gryphons in the top 35. The individual race proved hotter than the more-touted Bush-Watson showdown. Kinde-North Huron senior Caitlin Kelly took 32 seconds off her state-winning time from last year, but still fell to Rochester Hills Lutheran sophomore Laura Rolf. Rolf crossed in 18:16.4, Kelly 18:23.85. Speaking of youth, how about Kelcie Spruyt-Daniels, 12, who earned top-30 all-state honors by placing 28th in 20:10.05? The seventh-grader was allowed to run varsity because her school, Grand Rapids North Hills Classical Academy, has fewer than 50 students. Spruyt-Daniels responded to the high stakes by running a 1:14 PR.

DIVISION 3 BOYS The day's first boys race saw Hemlock prove poison to competitors. The defending champs tallied 90 points to edge top-ranked Williamston (113) and Grand Rapids West Catholic (115). Williamston junior David Bills (15:35.85) out-kicked a lead pack including Hemlock seniors Steve Czymbor (second in 15:38.05) and Nick Puchacz (third in 15:49.2). Hemlock and West Catholic saw four runners each capture all-state honors. Williamston had three.

DIVISION 4 BOYS Blood is thicker than water? Both ran deep in the last of the morning-session races, won by Harbor Springs over defending-champion Lawton and third-place Bath. Central Lake's Shay brothers, junior Stephan and senior Elliott, took it out early in the tradition of older siblings Casey and Ryan, two- and four-time state champs respectively. But Liam Boylan-Pett, whose bloodlines also a state champion, brother Will, had his own ideas. The Bath junior bided his time, then surged to victory in 16:07.45, topping Maple City Glen Lake senior Matt Kibbey (16:10.5). Stephan Shay fell to fifth, Elliott 11th.

DIVISION 2 GIRLS No deja vu here, with three-time defending queen Middleville ousted in regionals. All-underclassmen Battle Creek Lakeview, which vaulted from nowhere to first in the state rankings after winning the giant Portage Invitational Oct. 5, prevailed, but not without Halloween-scary moments. Lakeview's top three finished 6-7-11 in team scoring. Then came nail-biting waits before runners four (46th) and five (99th) came in. Lakeview's 169 team points were the most by a champ all day (in cross, low score wins), but they did the trick. The individual race evolved into a duel between Allen Park senior Jackie Gaydos (17:59) and East Grand Rapids sophomore Laura Malnor (18:09.8). Malnor fell off late, but led freshman and sophomores who captured seven of the next nine spots.

DIVISION 1 GIRLS

Clarkston and Brighton better than Rockford? Fahgeddabout it. The Rams, with defending-state-champ Nikki Bohnsack back from a left-hip stress fracture, claimed its fifth-straight title with 57 points. Clarkston (110), Brighton (116) and Milford (135) all had point totals better than D-2 girls champ Lakeview, but were no match for the national-power Rams. Bohnsack -- a long, strong, elegant-striding junior -- ran a 17:43.6 to top Rochester Adams senior Shannon Stanley (17:56.7) and Portage Northern junior Elisa Zemlick (18:03.15). The same trio finished 1-2-3 last year. Rockford does more than reload on athletes. Coach Dave Hodgkinson, who replaced Brad Prins this season, guided Caledonia's girls to four-straight titles from 1993-96. That was a state record till his Rams topped that feat this year. DIVISION 2 BOYS What's cooking in Dexter's laboratory? Runners. The state-champ Dreadnaughts' top five Bunsen burners crossed faster than 16:40, led by senior Chris Burke (fifth overall in 15:46.6) and junior Daniel Meyer (sixth in 15:53.3). Meyer is son of Greg Meyer, the last U.S. male to deliver a Boston Marathon championship in 1983. Individual-king Riley Klingel, a Fremont sophomore, drew some boos when handed his medal on the winners' stand. A few partisans claimed Klingel (15:25.1) swerved to cut off a late charge by Bay City John Glenn senior Jeff Byrne (15:25.55) in the day's closest finish. They might not have noticed the course is wide there and Byrne chose to draft off Klingel's shoulder. The runners themselves were gracious and declined to let boors spoil a bright moment both had earned.

DIVISION 1 BOYS The day's final race was its most eagerly-awaited. D-1's last three boys champs (Dathan Ritzenhein in 1999 and 2000, Tim Moore in 2001) went on to win Nationals. There were no obvious favorites this year: bad for Michigan bragging rights but fun if you like suspense. Grand Blanc senior Chris Catton, the state's No. 2-ranked harrier, took it out early with a 4:31 first mile. Brighton's Kevin Gienapp and Ann Arbor Huron's Frank Tinney went with him. Catton and Tinney matched strides through the two-mile mark (9:57) and into the racetrack infield. There Catton, a track half-miler, powered away to prevail in 15:18.85. Saline junior Dustin Voss (15:21.85) kicked past Tinney (15:24.3) in the stretch. Milford, top-ranked in each of the last two seasons, finished a close second, just like last year, after its top runner -- Dan DeRusha, a junior ranked No. 1 in Michigan -- struggled late. The surprise team winner: Rockford. The Rams, 18th last fall after winning the 2000 boys crown, edged Milford by two points thanks to Wish -- senior Matt Wish -- coming true. Wish, back from mid-season mononucleosis, blew past enough rivals late to place sixth overall in 15:45.9. Teammates Eric Graf and B.J. Meyers also broke 16 minutes. Ram tough? Rockford had no monopoly on human vehicles "taking the plunge" this vibrant day and emerging magnified, tired but true. MR