Engadine Cross Country Gets Fast Start
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 18, 2015
MANISTIQUE — Twenty-eight years had passed since Engadine High School was last represented in cross country.
The year was 1987, when Deren Pershinski captured the Upper Peninsula Class D championship as the Eagles’ lone representative.
Things are different this year, as the Eagles have a full team for the first time in school history.
Engadine brought five girls to Wednesday’s Manistique Invitational, where the Eagles gained runner-up honors with 53 points. Munising won with 29.
Freshman Mickaela Deace was Engadine’s pacesetter in fifth place, covering the 3.1-mile course in 25 minutes, 49 seconds.
“Personally, I didn’t want to go out for cross country at first,” she said. “I had never been to a cross country meet in my life before this year. Some of my friends convinced me to come out, and this has been a good experience. The first practice was hard, but after that they got easier. There’s a lot of communication among us. We all get along.”
All of the team’s practices begin at 6:30 a.m. The school has 85 students, and some are pulling double duty to take part in cross country as well as another sport.
“My challenge is getting everybody to one spot at the same time,” said coach Tracy Germain. “We have volleyball and football players on the team. That’s why we run early in the morning. We want to avoid conflicts.”
Instead, adding the sport has increased an already impressive level of participation. During the 2014-15 school year, 71 percent of the student body participated in at least one varsity sport. There were seven athletes who previously did not participate in a fall sport who now run cross country (the school also added sideline cheerleading this season, and six more students who also previously didn't participate in a fall sport have joined that squad.)
"I am also the student service coordinator and believe strongly that students who are involved in something bigger than themselves fare better in school and in life," Engadine athletic director Deb DeWyse said. "Engadine is working to get as many students involved as we can responsibly and financially."
This was only the second cross country meet for the Eagles, who opened Sept. 2 in the Northwoods Invitational at Pickford.
Freshman Beth Haney placed sixth (25:59) despite feeling under the weather at the end of Wednesday’s race.
“I got lightheaded and it felt like I was going to pass out,” she said. “Except for that, the race went good. The course at Pickford is pretty hilly. Our first race was hard and challenging, but it probably helped me for today.”
Classmate Abby Germain followed in seventh (26:20), rounding out Engadine’s top 10 finishers.
“This has been hard, but it has also been a good experience,” Abby Germain said. “You want to push yourself to do your best. This meet was a lot easier because it was cooler over here. The breeze helped a lot. It was warm and humid at Pickford. I was nervous before the meet at Pickford because I didn’t know what to expect. It felt good to get the first one in.”
Junior Keegan Nance, who transferred from a small Christian school in Manistique last year, led the Engadine boys in ninth (21:43). The Eagles have nine boys on their roster.
“This is quite a learning experience,” he said. “We had one cross country meet a year at our Christian school, which hardly compares with this. There’s a lot of competition for us now, which is good. The practices were hard at first. Getting up early was probably the hardest part for me, but now I’m used to it.”
The Engadine boys finished fourth on Wednesday with 71 points. Rapid River won the meet on a sixth-runner tie-breaker.
“Many of these kids didn’t really know what cross country was before now,” said coach Germain. “Retired coach Jim Beck has been helping me. He comes to some of our practices and gives me advice when I need it. I couldn’t do this without him. I can’t say enough about the kids and their dedication and work ethic. These are brave kids. Our seniors Hannah French and Nick Price have shown great leadership.”
The Eagles resume Monday in the first leg of the Eastern U.P. Conference Jamboree at Pickford. The season concludes with the Upper Peninsula Finals on Oct. 24 at Gladstone.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Engadine girls, in jerseys with green and gold, run with a pack during the Northwoods Invitational at Pickford this season. (Middle) There are 14 runners representing the Eagles this fall, some who also play other fall sports.
Potential Realized, Otsego Runs for More
September 22, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
OTSEGO – Megan Aalberts was in middle school when she first realized the potential of her classmates and what their future running days could look like.
“Going into sixth grade and middle school, I could already see that the girls in my grade and a year behind me were really talented and super hard-working,” said Aalberts, a junior on Otsego High School’s girls cross country team. “We had a pretty good season in middle school, and then coming into high school and making it to state our first year was an incredible experience. We wanted to keep it going, and I’m hoping this year is really awesome.”
The Bulldogs have experienced unbridled success at the state level the past two seasons under coach Steve Long, a teacher at the school.
Otsego placed third in Lower Peninsula Division 2 at the MHSAA Finals in 2013 and was runner-up a year ago to Grand Rapids Christian.
Those were the top two Finals finishes in program history – and seem to have set the tone as an experienced group has begun its pursuit of the program's first MHSAA title.
The Bulldogs have shown consistency over the past decade, qualifying seven times for the LP Finals and recording five top-10 finishes. But last season’s accomplishment was built on youth, as there were no seniors among the top seven. All but one of that top seven returned this fall.
“We have a lot of experience, and most of the girls have quite a bit of state meet experience,” Long said. “It’s a huge advantage that these girls know what to expect and how to perform well on the big stage. We’re mixing in a few young runners and they’re feeding off the underclassmen. We’re excited to see what they can do.”
This year’s group remains young with Madison Secord as the lone senior.
She joins a talented collection of juniors and sophomores, spearheaded by Aalberts, a junior who placed third overall at last year’s MHSAA championship meet.
“It was a really exciting feeling to know that everyone was coming back,” Aalberts said. “We just know that every day we’re going to try our hardest and push each other. Expectations are pretty high for our team, and our goal is to compete the best we can every day.”
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 2 in LP Division 2 this week behind Grand Rapids Christian, have achieved early success and gone unbeaten in the Wolverine Conference.
They also won the 16-team St. Joseph Invitational and followed that with a victory at the Paw Paw Invitational.
The squad also features juniors Erica Drobny, Sophia Hirzel and Katie Theis. The sophomores include Maddie Marciniak and Gracie VerHage. Freshman Sydney Kubiak also is in the mix.
“I’m very happy with where we’re at, and we’re trying to stay focused on improving and getting better,” Long said. “The challenge this year is to not think we need to be perfect. We just have to focus on ourselves and what we can do.
“Go out there and try to do the best we can and run the way we always run. And that’s by having fun and loving what we do. I think they’re doing a really good job of that.”
Drobny, who was 27th at last year’s MHSAA Final, said there is some pressure to add to the program’s prior successes.
“There is a little bit of pressure, but now we can count on each other to work hard and not let each other down,” she said. “Having everyone back is helpful because we all have the same energy as last year and the same motivation and dedication. The state meet is our main focus, and that’s what we’re striving for.”
A couple key components of the Bulldogs are their competitive nature and close bond.
“How the girls get along has a huge impact on how we end up at the end of the season,” Long said. “The girls are a bunch of sisters and they love each other, but they are willing to go out and compete against each other when they are racing. It’s a good atmosphere.”
Aalberts said she and her teammates don’t go their separate ways at the end of the season. Instead, they stay connected through different events.
“We’re definitely like a family,” she said. “We’re super supportive of each other, and we’re really close. We had a Christmas party and Valentine’s Day party, so we are just in contact with each other after the season ends.”
Added Drobny: “We’re super close, and we spend so much time together at morning and afternoon practices. We run together in the offseason and in the summer, and that helps because we motivate each other to run faster and to beat each other.”
Although the Otsego is one of the smaller schools in Division 2, it still showcases depth. All 10 of the girls on the team clock times under 21 minutes.
“We’re pretty deep for a small school,” Long said. “And the goal continues to get better. We were second last year, but if we’re not better, then we’re still not going to be at the top of the podium.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Otsego's Megan Aalberts rounds the final curve at Michigan International Speedway on her way to a third-place finish at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. (Middle) Erica Drobny, middle, runs with a pack on the way to finishing 27th. (Below) The Bulldogs pose with last season's MHSAA runner-up trophy; six of the top seven runners are back this fall. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)