Ellsworth On Course for More Big Finishes
September 21, 2018
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
ELLSWORTH — Running fever is running rampant in Ellsworth, and it’s got quite a grip on the small Antrim County school.
Despite having fewer than 100 students in their high school, the Lancers’ boys and girls cross country teams thrive on a statewide level, thanks to nearly two dozen runners who grace the team’s roster — a number that holds pretty steady from year to year.
“I like to believe I don’t do any recruiting,” said head coach Ruben Oviedo, in his sixth year leading Ellsworth’s program. “I simply invite kids. Honestly, I just want our kids doing something.”
Running is the avenue that many at the school elect to take. Sometimes they’re just following in the footsteps of an older sibling. Some start with other sports but become drawn in by friends who are on the cross country team. Others are persuaded into giving running a try by Oviedo, who has even sought out kids who aren’t involved in anything as they’re heading to the bus after school to see if they’re interested.
“It’s fun to try to get kids who wouldn’t be invited to a high school varsity sport,” said Oviedo. “It’s fun when they say, ‘I hate running.’ It’s fun to say, ‘You’re the kid I want’ and to challenge them.”
What all of them discover is a family atmosphere that welcomes each of them with open arms, and where they get an opportunity to develop and compete on a perennially strong squad.
“I think a lot of people just like being a part of something,” said senior Isaiah Romeyn, the top runner on the Lancers’ boys team. “Cross country is a lot different from other sports, where it’s more of a family environment. It’s a lot more like an actual family.”
That kind of vibe is what drew Oviedo to running in his own right. The 2008 Ellsworth graduate joined the cross country team his sophomore year and helped the Lancers reach the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals three straight years, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in 2007.
“That’s what kind of roped me in was so many friends and people were doing it,” remembers Oviedo. “Why not? (Former head coach) Kirk (Ikens) just made it all about being a team and making it fun.”
Oviedo has carried over that philosophy since taking over for Ikens in 2013.
“They let me punish them into running, but I like to say that running isn’t punishment,” said Oviedo. “I’ve never used running as a punishment. Most of the time I like to use it as an escape. Hey, we’re stressed out. We’re having a bad day. Let’s go run and lose our minds in the woods. That’s one of the things I’ve tried to put into place. We try to get out of Ellsworth, and we try to go somewhere else to run different places just so it’s not the same place all the time.”
The Lancers often have ended the season in the same place, however — the Division 4 Finals. The boys squad has put together a string of four straight Finals’ appearances, with last year’s fourth-place finish the school’s highest. They were the only team among the top five with an enrollment under 100 students.
The girls team has qualified for the Finals in back-to-back years, last year tying for 17th. Both teams have the capabilities to return to Michigan International Speedway — the annual site of the Finals — again this year, too. Ellsworth’s boys have six of their top seven back, while the girls return four of the top seven.
Romeyn earned all-state honors a year ago when he finished 13th at the state meet. His older brother Winter, a redshirt junior on the men’s cross country team at Michigan State, was a two-time all-stater in 2013 and 2014, finishing ninth and eighth, respectively, at the Finals. Winter also proved to be a big influence on getting Isaiah into running.
“He started me with running, and he encouraged me to join the team,” said Isaiah. “I ran because he was on the team. It was mainly because he was there. I wanted to be with him.”
Isaiah remembers watching his brother’s success, but also seeing what a tight-knit group the Lancers were and feeling connected himself.
“I could see that family aspect,” he said. “Everyone just kind of bonds and accepts one another. I really wanted to be part of that. I would watch his race, then go to the Ellsworth tent and just hang out with the kids — tried to be part of that. So, when I actually got the chance to be part of it, I definitely wanted to join.”
Romeyn is getting his biggest push within the team from junior Robbie Wise, who was Ellsworth’s fifth counter at last year’s Finals, but has seen his performance jump so far this season. A good summer of work equated to a fast start to the season and vaulted Wise into the company of Romeyn.
“I can’t believe how much effort I put into it,” said Wise, a football player who converted to cross country as a freshman. “My first year I would remember all these insane runs. Ruben would say, ‘OK we’re going out for six miles.’ Just one mile sounded insane. Now, as somebody who runs over the summer — I got over 150 miles in over the summer — six miles doesn’t sound near as bad.”
Seniors Lucas Sweet, Richard Adams, Alex Adams, and junior Caleb Godwin give Ellsworth a formidable veteran lineup that has shown it can compete with anyone in the state.
The girls team is anchored by a pair of sophomores in Christy Figueroa and Judy Veldboom. Figueroa has competed at the Finals the past two years, including with a 38th place as an eighth grader that was Ellsworth’s best individual finish in a 19th-place team performance.
“It was really stressful being in my shoes (as an eighth grader), but I enjoyed it,” said Figueroa, who started participating in the sport as a sixth grader and quickly proved to be a natural.
Veldboom burst onto the scene last season as a freshman and created a dynamic duo with Figueroa. The two were separated by six places and a total of 14 seconds at the Finals and have a healthy competitiveness between them.
“When she’s in front of me, it just pushes me to do better and pushes me to go harder,” said Figueroa.
This season Figueroa and Veldboom have seen eighth grader Maia Romeyn, the younger sister of Winter and Isaiah, enter the picture to give the Lancers even more depth at the top.
“She’s pushes me and Christy to keep going,” Veldboom said. “She’s one of my best friends, so she inspires me to run faster. She’s a great asset.”
Seniors Sarah Sitzema and Ana Oviedo provide additional Finals experience to the lineup.
Ellsworth is one of the few schools in the Northern Lakes Conference that has enough runners to earn a team score in league meets, which it’s dominated in recent years. On the Regional level the Lancers have formed a rivalry with East Jordan, a school just a few miles down the road but with more than twice as many students.
“I think we can get first place in the Regional and make it to states,” said Veldboom. “That’s my goal for this team. I think we have a really strong team.”
Ellsworth is undaunted about running against the Red Devils or any of the other larger schools it races. Those are the kinds of tests Oviedo likes to give his runners as they navigate through the season, and the Lancers have shown they’re capable of holding their own.
“It shows that we really put in the effort and want it,” said Wise, who has the bar set as high as possible for his team. “I hope this year we can win states. We got fourth place last year. I think it’s within our grasp.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. 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) The Ellsworth boys and girls cross country teams after a Northern Lakes Conference meet this season. (Middle) Judy Veldboom, right, tries to get past a St. Ignace runner near the finish line of the House on the Hill Invitational. (Below) Isaiah Romeyn runs with a pack during the Central Lake Invitational. (Top two photos by Olivia Adams; below photo by Chris Dobrowolski.)
Preview: Hart, East Grand Rapids Set to Challenge Records for All-Time Success
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 3, 2022
Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway will give hundreds of athletes a chance to build on what they’ve accomplished this fall – and allow some of the state’s top programs an opportunity to build on their impressive histories in the sport.
Start with Hart, which has won five straight LP Division 3 championships and can become the first Lower Peninsula team to reach six straight with another title this weekend.
Meanwhile East Grand Rapids, the top-ranked team in LP Division 2, can tie Jackson Lumen Christi’s record of nine Lower Peninsula Finals titles.
Contenders Ann Arbor Pioneer and Grand Rapids Christian are tied for third on that all-time Lower Peninsula championship list with six apiece, followed by Hart with its five. Pioneer has won three in a row, and with a fourth straight would tie for the sixth-longest championship streak in either peninsula.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first race begins at 9:30 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information. Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on MHSAA.tv.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2021 runner-up: Holland West Ottawa
2022 top-ranked: 1. Saline, 2. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 3. Holland West Ottawa
Pioneer has won three-straight Division 1 championships, last year ahead of West Ottawa 68-100, with Saline running fifth. But as the Pioneers seek a fourth-consecutive win, the competition could be as tough as ever. The Hornets sit in the top spot, seeking their first Finals championship since 2009, after winning last week’s Regional at Milan ahead of Pioneer 33-42. Pioneer did win the Portage Invitational on Oct. 8 with West Ottawa a close second and Saline third, and West Ottawa was the top Michigan placer (second) at the Spartan Invitational Elite race back on Sept. 16. West Ottawa is paced by the two fastest runners in the state this fall – sophomore Helen Sachs (season best 17:01.6) and senior Arianne Olson (17:11.3), who finished fifth and third, respectively, at last year’s Final. Reigning champion and now-junior Rachel Forsyth (season best 18:11.6) returns for Pioneer and is teaming with senior Emily Cooper (17:49.8), who has won three straight races including their league and Regional championship runs. Senior Mia Rogan (18:12.3) paces Saline and was the Regional runner-up last weekend at Milan. All five runners rank among the top 22 on the statewide season best list.
Individuals: Including Forsyth, Olson and Sachs, five of last season’s top seven Finals finishers will return this weekend. Rochester sophomore Lucy Cook is back after running sixth, and Macomb Dakota junior Jayden Harberts returns after running seventh, and both have season-best times among the top 18 statewide. Sachs, Cooper, Cook and Harberts won Regional titles last week, joined by Midland Dow sophomore Victoria Garces, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior Clara James-Heer, Ann Arbor Skyline senior Natalie Kessler, Northville junior Ella Christensen and Farmington sophomore Molly Baracco.
Division 2
Reigning champion: East Grand Rapids
2021 runner-up: Grand Rapids Christian
2022 top-ranked: 1. East Grand Rapids, 2. Otsego, 3. Grand Rapids Christian
East Grand Rapids has been a regular at the front of this pack the last two decades and is the reigning champion after also recently earning titles in 2018 and 2019 and the runner-up spot in 2020. Five of last season’s Finals runners are back and six Pioneers finished among the top 16 at their Regional last week at Grand Rapids South Christian, paced by junior champion Drew Muller. She was fifth at last season’s Final, while sophomore Sadey Seyferth was 12th and junior Sophia Lado finished 15th. Muller ranks fifth on the statewide season best list with a 17:25.3. Otsego is only a few years removed from back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 and finished fifth last season with four underclassmen among its top five runners. Three of those four are back this weekend led by junior Megan Germain. Grand Rapids Christian is another team always in the mix, with another runner-up finish coming in 2017 and its most recent championships in 2013 and 2014. Last season’s individual champion Madelyn Frens was a senior, but the next five Eagles runners from 2021 will return this weekend, with junior Natalie VanOtteren coming off a fourth-place Finals finish a year ago and ranking seventh on the season best statewide list this fall with a 17:37.4.
Individuals: Including the three East Grand Rapids returnees and Christian’s VanOtteren, nine of last season’s top 15 finishers will race again this weekend hoping to follow Frens as the individual champion. Mason junior Meghan Ford finished second at the Final as a freshman and third last year, and Frankenmuth junior Mary Richmond was fourth as a freshman and second last season. Richmond has the third-fastest season best time in Division 2 (and 23rd statewide) of 18:12.6. Also returning from last year’s top 15 are Grand Rapids West Michigan Aviation Academy junior Emma DeVries (10th), Zeeland East junior Allison Kuzma (11th) and Marshall junior Camille Decola (14th).
Division 3
Reigning champion: Hart
2021 runner-up: Kent City
2022 top-ranked: 1. Traverse City St. Francis, 2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 3. Hart
Hart’s championship record pursuit will be led by one of the state’s fastest runners in sophomore Jessica Jazwinski, whose 17:15.1 is the third-fastest season best time statewide this fall. Junior teammate Alyson Ens is not far behind with a 17:49.9 that is tied for 11th-fastest season best time. Ens was runner-up and Jazwinski third at last year’s Final, and three more of their top six runners from that meet also will be back this weekend. But the challenge will be mighty. St. Francis finished third last year without a senior, and six of those seven runners – including the top five – are back led by sophomore Betsy Skendzel, who placed eighth in 2021 and has the 16th-fastest season best time statewide of 18:07.5. P-W finished 10th last season and returns its top six runners from that team. Lansing Catholic was fourth last season with only one senior and brings four runners back including its top three, with senior Hannah Pricco seventh last season, junior Tessa Roe 17th and senior CC Jones 18th. Jones and Pricco’s season-best times this fall rank among the top 27 statewide.
Individuals: Division 3 graduated an impressive class after last season, including three Finals champions. But eight of last season’s top 15 will return this weekend. Joining Enns and Jazwinski, Pricco and Skendzel will be Benzie Central junior Mylie Kelly (sixth in 2021), Ypsilanti Arbor Prep sophomore Eliza Bush (ninth), Jackson Lumen Christi junior Madison Osterberg (12th) and Kent City sophomore Lila Volkers (14th). A newcomer will challenge them as well; Onsted freshman Emmry Ross is undefeated this season, and her top time of 17:47.6 ranks second in Division 3 only to Jazwinski’s season best and ninth on the statewide list. Skendzel, Jazwinski, Volkers, Ross, Pricco and Bush won Regional titles last weekend, as did Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett sophomore Kerith Short, Reese senior Ellymae McCoy and Lawton junior Kendra Koster. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian sophomore Grace VanderKooi and Kalamazoo Christian sophomore Alaina Klooster were placers in Division 4 last season, crossing the line eighth and 15th, respectively, in that race.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
2021 runner-up: Kalamazoo Christian
2022 top-ranked: 1. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 2. Whitmore Lake, 3. Harbor Springs
Western Michigan Christian became the third-straight first-time Finals champion in Division 4 last fall, and Johannesburg-Lewiston would run that streak to four if it matches its ranking. The Cardinals finished sixth a year ago with only one senior and bring back their top five runners from that meet, including senior Adelaida Gascho, who finished fourth individually last fall. Johannesburg-Lewiston finished second at last weekend’s East Jordan Regional to Harbor Springs, but sophomore Allie Novak and freshman Yolanda Gascho were the top two individual placers. Whitmore Lake is seeking its first team title since 1996 and bringing back four of its top six runners from last year’s ninth-place team – including 13th-place now-junior Natalie Meadows – plus standout freshman Carina Burchi, whose 17:42.5 is the second-fastest time on the Division 4 season best list. Harbor Springs was 12th in Division 3 a year ago and brings three of its runners back this weekend, and placed four among the top seven individuals in that Regional win over Johannesburg-Lewiston. Harbor Springs is seeking its first Finals team title since 2009.
Individuals: Four-time Finals champion Abby VanderKooi graduated this spring, but Buckley junior Aiden Harrand is another big star from a small school. She was fifth as a freshman and runner-up last season, and her season-best time of 18:11 ranks 20th on the statewide list. She’s one of 10 runners back from last season’s Division 4 top 15 (not including the two who are running in Division 3 this weekend). Joining Harrand, Gascho and Meadows are Huron Valley Lutheran senior Erika Van Loton (fifth in 2021), Mendon sophomore Presley Allen (sixth), Auburn Hills Oakland Christian sophomore Eliza Keith (ninth), Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest senior Mackenzie Lemke (10th), Allen Park Cabrini junior Ava Teed (11th), Pittsford sophomore Ava Mallar (12th) and Wyoming Potter’s House Christian junior Ivy Andreas (14th). Joining Nowak among Regional champs were Harrand, Allen, Burchi and Teed, as well as Genesee junior Isabella Yeoman, Adrian Lenawee Christian sophomore Izzy Brooks, Hudsonville Libertas Christian freshman Sadie Schout and Beal City senior Kaylee Locke.
PHOTO Hart's Alyson Enns (255) and Jessica Jazwinski kick toward the finish of last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)