Hersha Paces D4 Field for 3rd, Final Time

November 1, 2014

By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half

BROOKLYN — Jesse Hersha is the best small-school runner in Michigan, but he's got big-time talent.

Everybody else in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 cross country meet Saturday was running for second place, as exemplified by Santana Scott's reaction when he finished as runner-up to Hersha at Michigan International Speedway.

Spotting Evart teammate Josh Woods in the finish area, Scott thrust his arms in the air and ran in his direction. 

"Josh! I got second!" a delirious Scott screamed.

Hersha ran away with his third straight individual title, posting a time of 15:23.0 to narrowly miss the LP Division 4 record and win by 31.7 seconds over Scott. 

Scott shattered his personal best with a time of 15:54.7.

Asked if the field was racing for second place, Scott said: "That's what I was feeling like. I didn't think I'd be able to catch him." 

Hersha became only the third boy to win three championships since team and individual qualifiers began running in the same race in 1996, the first year for the LP Finals at MIS. Benzie Central's Jake Flynn won Class C from 1997-99 and Maverick Darling of Ovid-Elsie won Division 3 from 2005-07.

Four others who ran when there were separate team and individual races had the fastest time at the MHSAA Finals three times. 

"When I won it my sophomore year, the first thing I thought was, 'All right, I've got to go through and do it,'" Hersha said. "It really didn't feel real until now that I'm a three-time state champion."

Hersha would be a threat to win or place high in any division in the state.

He ran his personal best of 15:07 on Sept. 12 at the Spartan Invitational, taking second to Royal Oak's Ben Hill in an elite field stacked with some of the best Division 1 runners in Michigan. He finished ahead of Waterford Mott's Ryan Robinson, who was 21st in last year's Foot Locker national meet. 

"It's nice to be able to look at the state meet as low-pressure, because I feel I can win every time," said Hersha, whose next race will be the Foot Locker Midwest Regionals on Nov. 29 in Kenosha, Wis. "Obviously, if something goes wrong, I won't win. I'd honestly rather race the bigger guys, even if I don't win the race."

The only thing that didn't complete Hersha's final season at Concord was that the team didn't win its third championship in his four-year career, taking fourth with 123 points. 

Fourth-ranked Beal City pulled the upset, edging top-ranked Saugatuck by four points with 105.

Senior Nick Pung was third in 16:19.3 and junior Ethan Schafer seventh in 16:33.9 to lead Beal City, which was in the MHSAA Final for only the third time. Last year's seventh-place finish was the team's best showing in a Final before Saturday.

Click for full results. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Concord's Jesse Hersha kicks down the stretch on the way to winning his third LP Division 4 individual championship. (Below) Beal City senior Nick Pung finished third individually to lead the Aggies to their first MHSAA team cross country championship. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)

Northville Extends Team Title Streak, Jenison's Conner Joins All-Time Elite

November 2, 2024

BROOKLYN — Ethan Powell is grateful to be part of three team championships with Northville at MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Finals, but sometimes he wonders if things could’ve turned out better his freshman year.

The Mustangs finished fourth that season with 204 points in a meet won by Kensington Lakes Activities Association West rival Brighton with 141.

Powell finished 94th that year in 16 minutes, 41.28 seconds after running times of 16:19.88 and 16:24.8 in the first two meets of Northville’s championship season.

“My freshman year, we had a chance to win it, too,” Powell said. “I underperformed. I was part of the reason we didn’t win it. We took fourth that year. I was just really bummed out.”

Powell never left Michigan International Speedway feeling that way the rest of his career.

He led Northville to its third consecutive Division 1 championship Saturday by a dominant 99-169 margin over Saline.

The Mustangs are the first Division 1 boys team to win three titles in a row since Milford from 2011-13. Powell is the only runner who was in the Finals lineup for all three championships.

Northville was ranked No. 1 all season, winning the KLAA championship by a 36-68 margin over a Brighton team that finished third Saturday. The Mustangs’ league included four of the top 10 teams in the Division 1 Final.

“Last year, it was honestly a tougher year, especially after Portage (Invitational) where we took sixth or seventh or whatever,” Powell said. “We came back and were able to win it last year. It was honestly an amazing feeling doing it back to back.

Jenison’s Seth Conner sees the finish line ahead as he leads the Division 1 Final. “This year, we’ve just been grinding. Some people don’t really understand the behind-the-scenes part of it. Every day, it’s work. It’s making sure we’re doing what we’re doing, not slacking off. We have this saying: ‘Don’t bite the bait, don’t take the cheese.’ We’re making sure not to get too boastful or too ahead of ourselves, knowing anything can happen.”

Potential trouble struck for the Mustangs when senior Ishaan Kundapur fell about 200 yards from the finish line and struggled to get going again. He finished as the team’s fifth and final scoring runner in 84th place.

“I’m really happy he ended up finishing,” Powell said. “It looked like he wasn’t going to finish. He ended up pushing through and finishing. That’s a moment where, honestly, it can be a game-changer and turn the tables.”

Northville had four runners make all-state by finishing among the top 30, including three in the top 10. Powell was seventh in 15:24.8, junior Ben Hartigan was ninth in 15:27.7, sophomore Brandon Cloud was 10th in 15:29.0, senior Nick Barretto was 25th in 15:41.7 and Kundapur was 84th in 16:14.5.

The battle for the individual championship was won by Jenison senior Seth Conner, whose time of 14:54.5 ranks 11th in the 29-year history of the Finals at MIS.

The names ahead of him include three Olympians, most notably Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher. Like Fisher, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Conner played soccer and ran cross country early in his high school career.

Conner didn’t make it to MIS as a freshman as Fisher did, finishing 45th at Regionals, but he gave up soccer to focus on running after that.

He never envisioned becoming a Finals champion.

“Oh, no,” he said. “I was a soccer player, so freshman year I came in and didn’t really have any goals. Nobody probably would’ve seen this coming. Last year, I was like, ‘I’m gonna win state. Let’s see what happens.’”

Conner had a comfortable lead as he cruised down the final stretch at MIS, having made a decisive move about halfway through the race. Canton junior Aiden Pengelly charged from behind to nip Milford junior Kyle O’Rourke at the finish line to take second place by one second in 15:01.0.

“I was really nervous about it, especially after MI Speed Rating ranked me lower for the Regional race,” Conner said. “I just kind of gave it all to God. ‘Hey, listen, this is making me really nervous. I know you’re going to take that from me. I can just focus on my hard work.’ That’s what I did. Going into the race, I wasn’t really that nervous, just very confident and excited.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Northville’s Ethan Powell powers toward the finish as his team’s top placer Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Jenison’s Seth Conner sees the finish line ahead as he leads the Division 1 Final. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)