Seven local teams finish Weyerhaeuser Canoe Marathon

AND THEY'RE OFF! Front, left to right) Brandon Pollen, 17, of Ava, MO and Daniel Goss, 15, of Roscommon (boat 56) take off as the 2008 Weyerhaeuser AuSable River Canoe Marathon takes off from Grayling July 26. The young paddlers lost their light during the start of the race, but continued to paddle hard until dark, when they had to drop out of the race. (Photo by Sue Pinsoneault) Of the 75 teams that started the 2008 Weyerhaeuser Au Sable River Canoe Marathon, 66 finished the 120-mile race, including seven teams with paddlers from Roscommon County.

Top local finishers were Bill Torongo of Roscommon and Matt Rimer of Grayling, who placed fourth with a time of 14:49 behind race winners Andrew Triebold and Steve Lajoie, 14:09:06, Matt Strieb and Steve Kolonich, second place, 14:33:31 and Rodney Halstead and Ryan Halstead, third place, 14:41:58.

After Torongo and Rimer, the next local team to finish was Tim and Ryan McClure of Roscommon, 17th place, 15:34:16, Robert Smith of Roscommon and Cameron McClain of Grayling, 19th place, 15:44:20, Fred Mills of Roscommon and Joseph Seifert of Grayling, 24th place, 15:56:15, Bob Stockton of Higgins Lake and Chris Scully of Lincoln, 38th place, 16:28:26, Jeff Baerlocher and Brian Royce of Roscommon, 40th place, 16:31:08, and Heather Compton of Roscommon and Ellen Thompson of Lewiston, 59th place, 17:34:46.

Local teams that started, but had to drop out of the race included, Daniel Goss of Roscommon and Brandon Pollen of Ava, MO, Mark and Katrice Church of Roscommon and Tony Medina of Roscommon and Jay Wichert of Grayling.