Concord's Hersha Matches Heroes
November 3, 2012
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Jesse Hersha has already done something his running role models never accomplished, but that doesn’t lessen the sense of awe he has for past Concord state champions Kyle Stacks and Spencer Nousain.
Hersha became Concord’s third individual MHSAA champion in the last four years, but the first to do so as a sophomore, as he cruised alone up front to take the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway with a personal-best time of 15:32.3. His performance led Concord to a second consecutive team title.
Stacks won the 2009 championship in 15:54.8, followed by Nousain two years later in 15:55.8. Both were seniors when they won.
“I’m always fighting to beat Spencer’s times and Kyle’s times,” said Hersha, who was a teammate of Nousain’s on last season’s championship team. “Today I was three seconds or so off Kyle’s best time.
“They are definitely a push for me. They inspire me. Even if I beat their times, I’ll never think of myself as more than them. They’ll always be a role model to me.”
Hersha ran alone up front, winning by 20.5 seconds over David Zinger of Evart. Sean Kelly of Saugatuck was third in 15:58.9.
Hersha placed 19th at last year's Final, ninth among non-seniors. It was during the summer road race season that he began to get the confidence that he could become an MHSAA champion.
“I ran a road race without much training in 17:04 or something,” Hersha said. “My coach came to me after that and told me when Spencer won his senior year, he ran like 16:50 something at that race. When Kyle won his senior year, he ran 16:50 something.”
Nousain was the only senior in Concord’s Finals lineup last year, so the Yellow Jackets were favored to repeat. They did so handily by a 61-100 margin over Evart.
Freshman Josiah Ottolini was 11th in 16:23.0, senior Parker Saenz 14th in 16:27.0, senior Tyler Neu 18th in 16:29.7 and senior Sam Comden 47th in 17:05.4 to complete Concord’s scoring.
PHOTO: Concord's Jesse Hersha became the third MHSAA individual champion from Concord. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Performance of the Week: Anchor Bay's Thomas Westphal
November 3, 2022
Thomas Westphal ♦ New Baltimore Anchor Bay
Cross Country ♦ Junior
Westphal continued his stunning rise this season, winning his team’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional at Croswell-Lexington by 27 seconds with a time of 15:12.2 – the eighth-fastest time in the Lower Peninsula this fall. Westphal has won four of his last five races and finished first or second in eight of his nice races this season. The Regional win followed up another victory at the Macomb Area Conference all-divisions championship race Oct. 22.
As a sophomore last fall, Westphal’s best finish was a seventh place, and he didn’t advance to the MHSAA Cross Country Finals either of his first two seasons. His personal record heading into this fall was 17:26.7, and he bested it by more than a minute in his 2022 season debut. He’s broken 16 minutes in six races this season, with his Regional-winning time his newest all-time best. Westphal’s elite abilities actually began to emerge on the statewide scene in the spring, when he finished eighth in the 1,600 meters and 10th in the 800 at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals.
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2022-23 Honorees
Oct. 27: Justin Wickey, Colon football - Report
Oct. 20: Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13: Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6: Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30: Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22: Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15: Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8: Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1: Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25: Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report
(Photos courtesy of Rick Leslie [action] and Anchor Bay High School [head shot].)