Hackett's Butkiewicz Runs to Record, Hillsdale Academy Runs to Repeat

November 2, 2024

BROOKLYN — After a hard-fought race, juniors Marek Butkiewicz of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep and Abenezer Cerone of Royal Oak Shrine Catholic parked themselves on the ground at a fence near the finish line, clasped hands and exchanged congratulations with one another.

They looked like two old friends who have known each other forever but, truth is, they’ve met only a few times.

But in the Michigan high school running community, two runners from different parts of the state can form a bond that isn’t common among competitors in other sports.

Butkiewicz said he hasn’t raced against Cerone in cross country this year, but did during track & field season.

“It’s great,” Butkiewicz said after shattering the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals record with a time of 15 minutes, 9.7 seconds Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

“We all love communicating with each other and talking with each other. We’re just a super-close community. Every meet where we’re at and we’re all together, we’re all talking, we’re all having fun. It’s just a blast.”

It’s moments like the one the top two finishers shared while still exhausted after the race that make cross country special for Cerone.

“The running community is like no other,” he said after finishing second in 15:40.6. “I played a lot of sports, and there is no community like this one. We haven’t raced a lot, but for some reason I feel like we’re really good friends or we would be really good friends. That’s what I love about this sport.”

Hillsdale Academy’s Grayson Rorick (1238) and Dansville’s Theodore Davis sprint for position on the way to the finish line.Butkiewicz broke the Division 4 Finals record of 15:22.4 set by Tec Adams of Harbor Springs in 2008.

Although Butkiewicz won by a comfortable margin, he was very much uncomfortable after crossing the line, falling to the ground and needing help to get over to the fence where he would eventually connect with Cerone.

“I was just trying to put everything else I had into that finish, and I did,” Butkiewicz said. “I was on the ground at the end.”

Butkiewicz finished sixth at the Division 4 Cross Country Final last year before winning the 3,200-meter run in 9:25.52 and taking second in the 1,600 in 4:19.38 at the MHSAA Division 4 track meet.

“It means a lot, it really does,” he said. “I’ve worked so, so hard for this all season. Even from the end of track I knew I had a chance, so I wanted to do everything I could in the offseason and in season to get it done.

“It takes so much. It has to be your life. You have to dedicate every ounce of energy you have to doing this. I did that, and I made it possible and I won.”

Hillsdale Academy came into the meet ranked second in Division 4, but repeated as Finals team champion by winning for the third time in four years. The Colts scored 113 points to win by 40 over Holland Calvary.

Junior Grayson Rorick was fourth in 15:57.1 and senior Reece Poole eighth in 16:13.4 to lead Hillsdale Academy. Rorick has been in the lineup for all three of the Colts’ MHSAA championships, finishing as the fifth man as an eighth-grader in 2021.

Rounding out Hillsdale Academy’s scoring were junior James Rahe (37th in 16:55.9), junior Henry Lindley (47th in 17:05.4) and junior Luke Molenkamp (52nd in 17:12.8).

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep’s Marek Butkiewicz takes the final strides of his record-setting run Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Hillsdale Academy’s Grayson Rorick (1238) and Dansville’s Theodore Davis sprint for position on the way to the finish line. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)

Flashback 100: Fisher Races to Finals Stardom on Way to U.S. Olympic First

October 11, 2024

No American had ever won medals in both the 5,000 and 10,000-meter events at an Olympic Games until Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher did so in Paris this summer.

He claimed bronze in both races, finishing just two-hundredths of a second behind second place in the 10,000. Fisher secured his opportunities in Paris by finishing first in both events at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

During his time at Grand Blanc, Fisher won two Lower Peninsula Finals championships in cross country, taking first place in Division 1 in both 2013 and 2014, his junior and senior years, respectively. In Track & Field, he earned five MHSAA titles, including winning the 3,200 meters in 2013 and both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters in 2014 and 2015.

As a sophomore, Fisher played on the Grand Blanc soccer team that advanced to the Division 1 Final, ultimately losing to East Kentwood 1-0. He played for coach Greg Kehler, who retired from coaching boys soccer after the 2020 season with 340 wins, ninth most in MHSAA history. Kehler is the current girls coach at Grand Blanc and is fourth all-time with 402 victories.

Currently, Fisher holds the American records in the 3,000 meters, two-mile, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters. In 2015, he became the seventh American high school student-athlete to run a mile in under four minutes and holds the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals record (all divisions) in the 1,600 meters at 4:00.28. At Stanford, Fisher was a 12-time Track & Field All-American and three-time Pac-12 champion.

Previous "Flashback 100" Features

Oct. 4: Lalas Leaves High School Legacies on Ice & Pitch - Read
Sept. 27: Tamer's History-Making Run Starts in Dexter, Continues to Paris - Read
Sept. 20: 
Todd Martin’s Road to Greatness Starts at East Lansing - Read
Sept. 13: 
James Earl Jones, Dickson High Hoops to Hollywood Legend - Read
Sept. 6:
Pioneers' Unstoppable Streak Stretches 9 Seasons - Read
Aug. 30: Detroit dePorres Rushes to 1995 Class CC Football Championship - Read 

PHOTOS (Top) Grant Fisher (15) takes a photo with his Grand Blanc soccer teammates as a sophomore. (Bottom) Fisher competes in multiple Cross Country and Track & Field Finals during his high school career. (Soccer photo courtesy of Greg Kehler. Running photos by RunMichigan.com.)