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Freshman Quickly Joins Benzie All-Time Elite
October 19, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
BENZONIA — At Benzie Central, the emphasis in the boys cross country program is placed upon team goals and toward achieving success as a group.
However, it’s been hard not to notice the Huskies have their next great runner coming through the system.
Freshman Hunter Jones has burst onto the scene like a comet for Benzie, leading the Huskies with first-place overall finishes in all but one meet this season and recording the fastest 5K time nationally for a freshman along the way.
“Any challenge we throw his way he rises up, whether it’s a workout or a race — anything,” said veteran Benzie Central head coach Asa Kelly. “He always wants to exceed whatever we put out there. He’s a rare individual. An exceptional talent but it’s not even the talent. It’s just his drive. His desire to win. His desire to continue and improve is just pretty amazing.”
The desire and the drive stem from Jones’ love for winning, which is much greater than any passion he holds for running. He’s done plenty of winning, too, coming in first in 11 of the 12 races he’s run this fall.
“Running is not the greatest, but when you win it’s all worth it in the end,” said Jones. “I just say, ‘Well, the harder you run, the sooner you can be done.’”
Running is a tradition for Jones and his siblings. His brother Rick was on the Huskies’ 2009 Lower Peninsula Division 3 champions. His sister, Sarah, ran for the Benzie Central girls program. As a 6-year-old, Hunter watched his brother and his Benzie Central teammates celebrate the sixth of the boys program’s eight MHSAA Finals titles. Not long after he got started running with the elementary school squad.
“I was pretty successful,” Jones says, while foreshadowing what was to come.
Jones left Benzie Central in sixth grade and spent nearly two years in Buckley before transferring back to Benzie Central so he would have access to taking more honors classes in high school. Last spring, he generated some buzz when he ran the fastest middle school time in state history in the 1,600 meters (4:32) and the 3,200 meters (9:34). The mile record snapped a mark that was set 47 years before by Paul Singer of Saginaw St. Thomas, while Jones smashed by 17 seconds the 2-mile record set in 2011 by Ben Hill of Royal Oak.
“That was when we were like, ‘This is kind of an unreal level that this kid could be,’” said Kelly, who knew Jones as an elementary schooler, coached both his brother and sister in high school and began mentoring Hunter during track season last year.
Kelly noticed immediately how receptive Jones was to coaching, and the Huskies’ head coach also noted how well Jones implemented what coaches were asking him to do.
“It’s rare if I have any kid, even a polished senior athlete, where I can say, ‘This is exactly what I want you to do in this race,’ and they do it perfected,” said Kelly. “This kid was doing it in eighth grade. I would say, ‘These are the splits that I want you to hit at this point of the race, and I want you to surge at this point,’ and he could do it to a ‘T’. I’m like, ‘Wow, this kid is pretty special.’”
By that point Kelly knew Jones would be the Huskies’ top runner in the fall. But he also had a fairly veteran group returning. Four of the Huskies’ top seven were back from a squad that finished 15th last year in LPD3. To help with the transition into this season Kelly had former Benzie Central standout Brayden Huddleston, a sophomore running for Bradley University, come and talk to the team’s captains about how to handle having an impact freshman runner. Huddleston was speaking from experience, having been in Jones’ shoes as the Huskies’ No. 1 runner his freshman season.
“Brayden came and talked to those guys and said, ‘Hey, those guys took me in with open arms, and I beat seniors who were returning all-state.’ They thought it was the greatest thing ever,” said Kelly. “It was pretty awesome we could use an alumnus and say, ‘This has been done before and it worked really, really well if it’s done the right way.’ It’s really about how the upperclassmen handle it, and they’ve embraced (Hunter) really well.”
Kelly said Jones’ abilities have not only helped the Huskies in races, but also improved the level of intensity of practices. He said that was a needed jolt for a program that two years ago failed to qualify for the Finals for the first time in 24 years, snapping a string of top-10 state team finishes that also reached 24 years. The Huskies returned to the Lower Peninsula Finals last year but ran out of steam as the season came to a close.
“Practice as a whole has seemed to ratchet up a bit because (Hunter) doesn’t really back down,” said Kelly. “He runs hard. In the past few years I felt like it was pretty relaxed, like ‘OK, we’re going to go easy today.’ All of the sudden now you’ve got this kid who’s not going really easy and other guys are going, ‘Well, I’m going to go with him.’ I think we needed that mentality shake up. It was kind of one of those blessings to have this kid come in that just pushes all the time. His mentality is win. All the time it’s win. That’s what they needed. It was a great thing to have him come along.”
Jones enjoys the focus the Huskies place on their team, where even the star runner has an opportunity to blend in as much as possible.
“We don’t put all the focus on him,” said Kelly. “I think he likes that. He’s just part of the group. Monday through Friday he’s just part of the group. He’s not the one going out winning races and people talking about him. He’s just another kid on the team during the week.”
Jones has seen dramatic improvement through the fall. At each of his last three meets he clocked under 16 minutes. Included in that was the performance at the Shepherd Invitational on Sept. 28 where Jones ran a 15:38 — the best time any freshman had posted in the nation. One meet later, at the third Northwest Conference jamboree, Jones bettered that with a time of 15:25.
“It was a good feeling,” Jones said, recalling the meet in Shepherd. “I was just so tired. It was hard. I just dropped and put my hands over my head.”
The lineage of elite runners who have come out of Benzie Central is impressive. Jake Flynn was a three-time individual Finals champion from 1997-99 and a Foot Locker All-American. The trio of Bill Huddleston (Brayden’s dad), Matt Johnson and Todd Kulawiak helped Benzie Central win three consecutive Class C championships from 1984-86. Each of those runners remains close to the Benzie Central program, and the consensus is that Jones could be just as esteemed when his career is over.
“They’re kind of shaking their heads when they see this kid,” said Kelly. “They also see what he’s got. He’s got that difference-maker that’s really hard to describe in an athlete. That next-level type of thing. His mental toughness is just off the charts. To say, ‘I race to win every single time.’ Most kids don’t think that way at all. It’s, ‘Well, I just want to run fast.’ He’s not thinking that way at all. It’s, ‘I’m going to run as hard as I can and win. Whatever it takes.’ That’s just a different mentality.”
It’s that mentality that Jones is hoping can help him achieve some of his goals. He is taking aim at Flynn’s school record of 15:12 and would like to be only the second four-time individual Finals champion in state history — Central Lake’s Ryan Shay won four straight from 1993-96. The state record time of 14:10, set by Rockford’s Dathan Ritzenhein at the 2000 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, also is an objective.
“The sky’s the limit,” said Kelly.
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.
PHOTO: Benzie Central freshman Hunter Jones breaks away on the way to winning the Charlevoix Classic by 32 seconds on Sept. 7. (Photo by Sports in Motion.)
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Performance: Coldwater's Shuaib Aljabaly
October 7, 2016
Shuaib Aljabaly
Coldwater junior - Cross Country
In a relatively short time, Aljabaly has made an incredible impression on the cross country course. He started running with Coldwater's high school team only midway through his sophomore season but finished last fall placing eighth at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. Now a junior, Aljabaly is undefeated this season and earned the Michigan National Guard "Performance of the Week" by winning Saturday's Otsego Invitational Division 2 race in a school-record 15:34, finishing just ahead of two more 2015 all-staters in Grand Rapids Christian's Justin Varineau and Otsego's Alex Comerford.
Also a starting midfielder on Coldwater's No. 7-ranked soccer team, Aljabaly has led the Cardinals' cross country team to a No. 4 ranking in LP Division 2 – they finished second as a team at Otsego only to top-ranked Grand Rapids Christian. Varineau had finished one spot ahead of Aljabaly at last season's MHSAA Final – but Aljabaly was most familiar with Comerford (13th in LPD2 in 2015) as the two already had faced off this fall in a race of undefeated runners Sept. 24 at the Jackson Invitational. Aljabaly's time at Otsego also would've won that event's Division 1 race by 40 seconds.
Aljabaly played junior varsity soccer and ran track as a freshman, qualifying for the MHSAA Finals in the 3,200-meter run. At the convincing of his cross country coaches, Aljabaly gave that sport a try last fall and should contend for the LPD2 title this season and next; his 15:34 would've finished third at last season's MHSAA Final and he also broke 16 minutes with a 15:46 at Jackson. He'll likely face his fastest challenge so far this fall at Saturday's Portage Invitational, where he finished seventh in the Division 2 race last season.
Cross Country coach Jim Bilsborrow said: “He is a real competitor who hates to lose. He also studies his opponents and knows what are their strong and weak points, which he tries to exploit. Now that he has made cross country his primary sport, he has been able and willing to do some more intense training, which of course has made him even better. He is also a real ‘team player’ who cares about his teammates and how well the team does. Of course, I must add that he is blessed with talent, as all great runners are endowed, but fortunately he is using his talent and not wasting it.”
Performance Point: “We raced the week before at Jackson and the course was pretty fast, and they said Otsego’s is even faster,” Aljabaly said. “I was 1.5 seconds away from the record at that (Jackson) race, so I had a good feeling about Otsego. … Usually I start kicking at the 2-mile mark; Coach is usually standing there telling me when to kick. But I waited until the 3-mile mark, the 2.9. I didn’t know if one of (Varineau and Comerford) would go or not. We just stayed together until I went, and I felt like they just dropped back. But (Varineau) was kicking strong; he was only four tenths of a second behind me. I was told he was six seconds behind me at the 3-mile mark. Everyone was just yelling so loud, it made me run faster.”
Doubling up: “(Playing two sports) is going better than last year. It’s pretty hard, but we’re 14-1-1 (now 15-1-1) in soccer and we just locked up the conference, so we’re doing pretty good there too. It’s really flexible, the schedule. The coaches talk it out before the season starts. Cross country is my primary so I go to cross country practice and I go to soccer practice unless there’s a meet the same day, and then I usually go to the cross country meet. I haven’t missed a soccer game, but this weekend (running) at Portage, I’m going to miss a soccer game.”
Back for more: “Last year I wasn’t going to do cross country, but Coach Bilsborrow got me to do it. I started halfway through the season and at Portage last year I broke the school record but on a short court (just less than 5K), and that’s what motivated me to keep running.”
Born to run: “I like the competition. I like being nervous before the race, the feeling of knowing who you’re up against, the competition mainly. … We didn’t really have strong competition at the first few races. At Jackson I went against (Comerford) and I kinda realized how he races and starts off at the beginning. At Otsego I thought I’d get (Comerford) but I wasn’t sure about (Varineau). ... (Competition) pushes me. It motivates me. At Jackson, Coach told me (Comerford) was undefeated too. One of us was going to lose that day.”
Now I know: “Last year at the Portage meet, I went out too fast. I didn’t know who I was going against, and it was the top 10 kids in the state. I led for a mile, but I didn’t know how to race last year; I didn’t know how to start and how to finish and how to race. I raced this summer at 5Ks and (learned) strategies and talked to Coach about it. Grand Rapids Christian, Otsego and most of the rest of the good kids are going to be there (Saturday), and it’s going to show me what I can do at state.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Coldwater's Shuaib Aljabaly cruises through a course this season. (Middle) Aljabaly is undefeated in 2016 and will next race Saturday at the Portage Invitational. (Photos courtesy of the Coldwater boys cross country program.)