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.
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.)
Preview: Set to Launch New Contenders
November 1, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four individual cross country champions who had won a combined seven MHSAA Finals titles finished their high school careers at Michigan International Speedway last year.
That means there’s plenty of opportunities for the next wave of runners at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula boys cross country championship races, and plenty of candidates ready to take the lead both individually and in what looks on paper to be wide-open team competition in at least two divisions.
A total of 995 runners will take to the course at MIS on Saturday for the four boys races, which begin with Division 4 at 10:50 a.m. Below are some of the teams to watch and a glance at each of the individual fields. Click for all Finals qualifiers, a map of the course and links to buy tickets and watch the live broadcast on MHSAA.tv, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four meets.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Plymouth
2018 runner-up: Walled Lake Central
2019 top-ranked: 1. Brighton, 2. Dexter, 3. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Brighton is favored to win its first boys cross country championship since 1995 bringing back its top three finishers from last year’s 10th-place team. Senior Zacahry Stewart was fourth in 2018, senior Jack Spamer was 18th, and Spamer is an individual contender with the state’s second-fastest boys time (14:48.1) this season. Stewart’s 15:07.1 season-best ranks eighth statewide covering all divisions, and senior Scott Spaanstra also returns from last season and could make a run at the individual top 20. Dexter is led by senior Owen Huard, whose 15:04 season best ranks seventh statewide after he finished 16th at last year’s Final. He’s one of four Dexter runners back from the team that finished third last season, and senior Nathan Larson was another top individual coming in 22nd. Stoney Creek finished 16th as a team last year with only one senior in the lineup, its fifth finisher. The other six all are back, with senior Sam Tarling last year’s top individual placer at 52nd.
Individuals: Plymouth senior Carter Solomon has three top-18 finishes at past Finals and came in second, five seconds off the lead, a year ago. He’s undefeated this fall and at his Regional ran the state’s fastest time of the season, 14:42.7. Total, four of last season’s top eight Finals finishers are back. Stewart, Clarkston senior Brendan Favazza (fifth) and Fraser senior Joey Tavalieri (eighth) join Solomon, and nine more of the top 20 placers in 2018 also are back in the field. Hartland sophomore Riley Hough has been another of the top runners in Division 1 this fall after placing 27th a year ago.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Chelsea
2018 runner-up: Fremont
2019 top-ranked: 1. Fremont, 2. Otsego, 3. Haslett.
Chelsea has won the last two Division 2 championships and is ranked No. 4 this week, having graduated its top two from last year’s team but returning its other five runners including senior Will Scott (14th individually in 2018). Last season’s team runner-up Fremont posted nearly a perfect score at its Regional last weekend and returns its top six runners from last year’s Final, led by juniors Nathan Walker (fifth) and Ben Paige (25th); Walker’s 14:52.8 at the Regional is the state’s third-fastest boys time this season regardless of division. Otsego graduated last year’s individual champion from the team that finished fifth, but returns five runners led by senior Hunter Zartman (21st in 2018). Haslett placed now-seniors Joseph Ecklund and Danny Ezzo 38th and 40th last season, respectively, in finishing eighth as a team, and total its top six runners are back this weekend.
Individuals: With four of the top six, six of the top 10, and 9 of the top 19 back from the 2018 Final, this also should be a fast race to the finish. East Grand Rapids senior Evan Bishop was the runner-up a year ago and he’s won every race this fall but one, finishing second to a runner from Ohio at the Spartan Invitational Elite Race at Michigan State. Bishop’s personal record (PR) of 14:56.4 from last weekend’s Regional was the fourth-fastest time in the state this fall. Dearborn Divine Child senior twins Anthony and Michael Hancock have the fifth and sixth-fastest times in the state this fall at 14:59.1 and 14:59.4, respectively, and they came in fourth and sixth at last year’s Final. Linden senior Tyler Buchanan (ninth) and Zeeland West senior Ethan Senti (10th) also are back from the top 10.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Caro
2018 runner-up: Pewamo-Westphalia
2019 top-ranked: 1. Hanover-Horton, 2 Charlevoix, 3. Hart.
Hanover-Horton was the team champion in 2017 and finished fourth a year ago. Four runners from the 2018 team will be back this weekend, with senior Garrett Melling (49th) the top returning finisher. Charlevoix brings back its top two and six of its seven runners from the team that finished 10th a year ago, with Blaise Snabes (64th) the top individual placer from that bunch. Hart was sixth last year and brings back four runners including junior Alex Enns, who came in 11th individually. He and his teammates are bolstered by a trio of freshmen who all finished among the top 19 as Hart edged No. 7 Benzie Central for last week’s Regional title. Saugatuck, last season’s Division 4 champion, is running in Division 3 this weekend and ranked No. 6.
Individuals: Benzie freshman Hunter Jones has been the talk of northern Michigan as one of the state and nation’s fastest in his grade, and his PR of 15:24.8 is nearly 22 seconds better than anyone else’s best in Division 3 this season. Saugatuck junior Nik Pettinga also joins the pack after finishing third in Division 4 last fall. There’s room for new contenders as the top six placers at last season’s Final all were seniors. Pewamo-Westphalia senior Hayden Germain (seventh) is the highest returning finisher, and he was edged by senior teammate Ashton Walker (14th) at last week’s Regional. Jonesville senior Carson Laney (eighth) and Morley Stanwood senior Aiden McLaughlin (ninth) also are back from the 2018 top 10, and New Lothrop junior Carson Hersch could make a big jump. He came in 44th at last year’s Final but has the second-fastest time in Division 3 this fall at 15:46.4.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Saugatuck
2018 runner-up: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
2019 top-ranked: 1. Breckenridge, 2. East Jordan, 3. Unionville-Sebewaing.
With Saugatuck in Division 3, there will be a new champion – and Breckenridge is seeking its first title since 1976. The Huskies were fourth last season without a senior in the lineup. All seven runners are back, with sophomore Mason Sumner coming off a sixth-place individual finish and posting the fastest time (15:43.4) in Division 4 this season. East Jordan was third last year with just one senior, and five of the top seven are back including seniors Ethan Nachazel (18th) and Ben Hardy (19th). USA was fifth last season with only one senior, and junior Bentley Alderson (12th) leads six returnees back at MIS.
Individuals: Although Carson City-Crystal junior Coleman Clark is the top returning placer after coming in fifth a year ago, half the top 10 and 11 of the top 20 will race again this weekend. Walkerville senior Shane Achterhof (seventh), Johannesburg-Lewiston junior Carlos Gascho (eighth) and White Cloud senior Reginald Richmond (10th) all are back from the first group. Webberville sophomore Nathan Lott ran the fourth-fastest time (16:20) in Division 4 this fall in winning his Regional after coming in 27th at last year’s Final.
PHOTO: Breckenridge’s Mason Sumner pushes the pace during the Shepherd John Bruder Classic earlier this fall. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)