Davidson's Legacy: Friendship, Hard Work
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2017
Jon Davidson may be retiring, but he isn’t slowing down.
That’s just not something the longtime St. Clair cross country and track coach does.
“Even when I go on vacation,” Davidson said. “If I’m not really, really sore at the end of it, it wasn’t a vacation.”
Davidson, 51, coached his last cross country meet this past Saturday when his Saints placed fourth at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway. It ended his 20-year run leading the St. Clair boys program, which included Finals titles in 2012 and 2013, a runner-up finish in 2000, and 12 Regional titles.
He concluded his time as a teacher at St. Clair High School this past spring, and this upcoming track season will be his last.
While that’s a lot off his plate, Davidson will manage to keep his schedule full between the 11 rental homes he owns, his work remodeling homes, and following his youngest son, Ben, around the Midwest as he joins the Ferris State University basketball team in the 2018-19 season.
“If I wouldn’t have had six seniors this year, I probably would have retired from coaching (after 2016-17), too, but I told those guys I wouldn’t leave them,” Davidson said. “Actually, the plan was to retire from teaching and coaching this year, but they offered a buyout (for teachers). It was a lot of planning that all came together at the right time.
“I’m going to miss coaching a lot, but it was time. It had nothing to do with the kids. The kids are just as great as they were when I first started coaching in 1991 -- maybe better.”
Davidson – who began coaching at Clio in 1991 and spent three years at East Kentwood before moving to St. Clair in 1996 – took over the Saints cross country program in 1998. He coached both the girls and boys teams in 1998 and 1999, leading the girls to their first Finals appearance in program history before turning the reins over prior to the 2000 season.
With the boys, he turned a program that didn’t have enough runners to compete as a team in the Regional the year before he took over into one that was perennially among the state’s best.
While all of that success is a great source of pride for Davidson, it pales in comparison to his favorite part of the job.
“The thing that means the most to me is all the friends I made with my runners,” Davidson said. “There are guys who have graduated who are some of my best friends. Obviously winning the state championships were amazing memories, and going from not qualifying for state to taking second in 2000. But the best part of it is all the friends I still have that were my runners, and the opportunity to change kids’ lives.”
The feeling was mutual from his athletes. Davidson has been a member of the bridal party in weddings of his runners, and was recently the best man in the wedding of Addis Habtewold, who won an individual Finals championship under Davidson in 2007.
He often meets up with former runners, whether it be for a meal while they’re back in town, or taking trips with them to going skiing or hiking.
“Coach Davidson was the closest friend I had in high school,” said Brennan Shafer, the No. 1 runner on the 2012 Division 2 championship team. “He always knew what was best for me. He was always there when I needed him. He showed me what hard work and dedication was and where it could take me and our team.
“If it wasn’t for Coach, I would have never received a college scholarship, I wouldn’t have been included in our state championship team in 2012, and I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
To many outside the program, that may come as a surprise. Davidson could be seen at any meet constantly moving around a course barking out instructions to his runners. His workouts, which are a combination of systems used by legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi and legendary distance coach Jack Daniels, are meant to be as tough as possible – “more mileage and running faster while running that mileage,” Davidson said.
So when a former runner of his met up with someone from a rival school at a party years later, “I heard you all hated (Davidson)” was the rival’s comment.
“He said, ‘Are you kidding me? He’s one of my best friends,’” Davidson recalled with a laugh.
The hard work equaled results, and not just with runners like Habtewold, who entered with a ton of physical talent. Davidson had a track record of taking runners who were struggling to break 19 or even 20 minutes when they first came to him, and turning them into scoring runners on Regional – or even state – championship teams.
“The thing I stressed the most was running hard,” Davidson said. “It’s a training sport. I prided myself on taking below-average kids and making them great. Lars McElroy, his PR as a freshman was 19:05. He ran a 15:54 by the time he was a senior.”
There’s a large list of those runners from St. Clair, and Davidson can rattle off all of their PRs without a second of hesitation.
“I love them,” Davidson said. “I love them all. You put that much work into something, and how can you not remember? It’s not just something I did for fun – I did do it for fun – but it was what I poured my life into.”
One of those runners was Trevor Holowaty, who started running for Davidson as a sophomore in 2011 and had a personal best of 19:02 that year. He was a scorer on both of St. Clair’s Division 2 championship teams, coming in 11th at the Final in 2013, and finished his high school career with a personal-best time of 15:47. Recently, while running for Ferris State University, he qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships.
“Jon taught me what hard work truly meant,” Holowaty said. “He was an extremely passionate coach, very emotional and thoughtful when it came to interacting with his athletes. He always had a plan and a drive to see us succeed that convinced us to trust that plan, and it always came together.
“His excitement to see us succeed through effort and hard work transferred over into the classroom and daily lives of myself and many others for years to come. He created a relationship closer to a friendship rather than a job with his athletes. I cannot imagine being coached and mentored by anyone else growing up.”
Even with his retirement, Davidson’s impact is sure to live on through all those he’s encountered.
“I feel like I’ve made my mark on the world,” Davidson said. “I left a great legacy, and still will, because I’m friends with most of those people who ran for me. That’s my greatest accomplishment right there. That tells me I’ve done a good job, because they still want to see me.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Recently retired St. Clair boys cross country coach Jon Davidson runs ahead of one of his athletes during a meet. (Middle) Davidson poses with his 2013 MHSAA championship team. (Photos courtesy of Jon Davidson.)
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.)