MONROE – Jacob Stanislawski was going for a five-peat.
He was almost derailed by asthma.
The Flat Rock junior won two championships in the Bork Cross Country Classic at Munson Park as a middle schooler, then claimed two more in his first two seasons at Flat Rock High School.
He was the favorite to win the junior-senior boys title again Saturday but was struggling to breathe.
“I had to,” Stanislawski said when asked about getting off to a slow start in the race. “It’s asthma season. I was having a hard time breathing.”
After about the first mile of the race, the symptoms dissipated.
“It was frustrating at first, but I had to be patient,” he said. “I have confidence in my abilities.”
Once he felt right, Stanislawski was able to pull away from the other runners.
He finished with a time of 16:14.1 to finish more than 13 seconds faster than runner-up Isaak Rubley of Dundee.
Flat Rock teammates Lucas Taraszkiewicz and Nathan Vargo claimed the next three spots, and Dane Hieronimus of Bedford rounded out the top five.