Benzie Freshman, Hanover-Horton Reign

November 2, 2019

Second Half reports

BROOKLYN – It’s been 26 years since a ninth-grader from a high school in the northwest portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula made MHSAA cross country history.

Ryan Shay of Central Lake won the 1993 individual race at the Class D championships back when there were separate races for team and individual qualifiers. No freshman boy came close to duplicating Shay’s feat in the quarter century that followed.

But along came Hunter Jones.

Jones joined Shay as the only freshman boys to win a race at an MHSAA Lower Peninsula Final when he ran away with the Division 3 title in 15:45.0 on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

Since the Final was moved to MIS in 1996, the best finishes by freshman boys before Saturday were fifth-place showings by Rockford legend Dathan Ritzenhein in Class A in 1997 and Whitmore Lake’s Zach Carpenter in Division 4 in 2006.

Jones, whose school is 70 miles away from Central Lake, was aware of Shay’s running legacy. Shay went on to win the NCAA 10,000-meter championship for Notre Dame in 2001 and claim five national road race titles. He died while racing in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in New York on Nov. 3, 2007.

That would be pretty awesome to be as good as him,” Jones said.

Someday, a young runner may say the same about Jones.

He won 12 of his 13 races this season, taking fourth at the Benzie Central Pete Moss Invite on Aug. 24 behind runners from Division 1 and 2 schools.

His time Saturday ranks second at MIS for a freshman in any division, trailing only a 15:40.9 by Rockford’s Cole Johnson in Division 1 in 2014. Jones broke the Division 3 freshman mark of 16:03.8 set by eventual three-time champion Yami Albrecht of Caro.

Jones ran solo from the outset, winning by 28.9 seconds over Vandercook Lake senior Andrew Frohm. Frohm emerged from a tight battle for second place in 16:13.9. There were only 4.3 seconds between the second and fifth finishers.

“He pulled away,” Frohm said of Jones. “I was more looking at the guys who were second, third. The last 100 meters, I outsprinted the guy that was in second.”

Hanover-Horton won the team championship for the second time in three years, scoring 146 points. Grandville Calvin Christian edged Charlevoix, 183-184, for second place.

Garrett Melling was eighth overall and fifth among team runners in 16:21.3, and Dean Reynolds was 10th overall and sixth among team runners in 16:27.6 to lead Hanover-Horton.

Also scoring for Hanover-Horton were Rogan Melling (62nd, 17:17.0), Andy Swihart (72nd, 17:28.1) and Logan Shepherd (89th, 17:41.8).

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones charges toward the finish of the Division 3 boys race Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Hanover-Horton’s Dean Reynolds (451) leads a pack including Potterville’s Zach Wright. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)

Benzie's 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Champ Running Once More to Make History

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

November 4, 2022

When Benzie Central superstar Hunter Jones seeks his fourth straight MHSAA Finals cross country title Saturday, his race strategy will not change.

He plans to get the lead early, beat everybody in the first mile, pick up the pace in surges in the second mile and hang on with whatever he has left in the tank for the third mile.

And, perhaps as important, don’t get off course.

“I am kind of known as the guy that goes the wrong way,” Jones admitted with a laugh. “I’ve done it quite a few times.

“Now I have to make a conscious effort to walk the course before,” he continued. “You know I am always a little worried if there is no cart in the front to go in front of the race.”

Jones recalls almost following a cart off the course in one of his Finals. Luckily, he realized in time that the cart was leaving the course and he managed to avoid disqualification.

“The cart actually went off the trail to get out of my way, and I followed the cart,” he recalled. “I almost went off the course.

“I stayed in between the cones, and it probably cost me five seconds.”

He’ll be running the same course — Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn — that he’s dominated in winning Lower Peninsula Division 3 championships his first three years. And he’s coming off setting a course record at Remus Chippewa Hills, hosts of the Regional. That win finished a career Regional sweep for Jones, and he’ll be joined at the Finals by his entire team as the Huskies placed third.

The only year Benzie didn’t join Jones at the Finals was 2020 when the team was missing a top runner because of COVID-19. Dorian Olsen, Benzie’s number four runner, also will be appearing in his third Final as the only Huskies teammates to run with Jones all four years.

Jones crosses the finish line first during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. If Jones is successful in winning Saturday, he will become only the second Lower Peninsula runner to capture four Finals individual championships. The other was Ryan Shay of Central Lake from 1993-96. Shay went on to an All-America career at Notre Dame and ran professionally until his unexpected death in 2007 after he collapsed during the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in New York City.

Jones also has besting Jake Flynn’s three cross country Finals championships won for Benzie some 20 years ago on his mind as he seeks to become the first ever Michigan runner to win four with individual and team qualifiers competing in the same race. Shay won four championships during the era where separate Finals were run for team and individual qualifiers. Shay's championship as a freshman came in the individual qualifier race and his time would not have won the team race, but it's tough to say what might or what might not have happened had he been pushed by those he didn’t get the chance to run against.

Jones is well aware of the history, which also includes Brimley’s Austin Plotkin becoming just the second runner in state history to win four consecutive Finals titles when he finished his run at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 championship race in 2019.

“I would say it was a goal my freshman and sophomore year, and afterwards in became part of a plan,” Jones said of winning four titles. “It became a step in my bigger goals of going to nationals, getting All-American and national titles and stuff.

“I am on a good path,” he continued. “I feel like I have to keep improving and keep working hard.”

Jones will be going to Wake Forest next fall to join one of the elite Atlantic Coast Conference cross country programs. “We have a really good recruiting class for my years so all those guys will be pushing me,” Jones predicted.

Before that, he’ll also try to reach lofty goals for his senior track season including running a sub four-minute mile and going after the Benzie school record in the 400. Jones owns all of the long-distance school records at Benzie, and he’ll try to break those as well, setting the bar on those races even higher.

“Many before him set records that many thought may never be broken,” said Benzie coach Asa Kelly. “Hunter is different though.

“His current 5K PR (personal record) is 40 seconds faster than the previous record holder Jake Flynn, and he was a three-time state champion, Mr. Cross Country for the state of Michigan, and a Foot Locker All-American,” Kelly continued. “To put his legacy into perspective will take many years, and we still may never fully grasp the kind of runner Hunter Jones was.”

Benzie has a tradition of naming training groups after legendary runners, and team members fall into those based on ability level. Jones now has a group named after him. He is currently the solo member of that tier, and it may not ever change.

“Hunter has put himself in a separate class when it comes to the great Benzie runners,” Kelly said. “We have had so many tremendous runners come through this fine program.

“He is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete for a school like Benzie Central.”

Jones’ brother Rick and sister Sarah are among past standouts in Benzie’s rich track and cross country past. Hunter recalls watching his siblings compete, and also how he started running as a second grader and was winning races against fifth and sixth graders.

He hopes he’s had an impact on younger runners, especially the up-and-coming ones in Benzie’s middle school program. He’s looking forward to their futures as well.

“I feel like the people that are coming up now, like the middle schoolers and the freshman now, are going to be pretty good,” Jones said. “The younger kids definitely look up to me, and I try to do the right thing.”

Like many high school seniors, Jones has been surprised by how fast his high school days are vanishing.

“It’s gone by really fast,” Jones said. “I can’t believe it is almost four years already.

“I am sad that I am going to leave, but mostly excited that I get to go on and keep moving on to bigger things.”

Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones (241) leads the pack during a race this fall. (Middle) Jones crosses the finish line first during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Top photo courtesy of the Benzie Central boys cross country program; middle by RunMichigan.com.)