Marquette, Jeffers Repeat While Stephenson Earns 1st Title Since 2012

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

October 22, 2022

FLAT ROCK — It seemed very little, if anything was going to separate the Marquette boys from their fourth straight Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country title here Saturday.

Despite missing a couple of its top runners, Marquette placed five among the top nine and scored 29 points. They were followed by Sault Ste. Marie with 83 and Houghton at 97.

“The guys push one another and Brady Ketzenberger had a great race,” said Marquette coach Derek Marr. “This envisions the concept of being a team. It’s awesome to see how both teams support each other.”

Litzner crosses the finish line first in the D1 race. Sault Ste. Marie freshman Gabe Litzner recorded the day’s fastest time, covering the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 41.55 seconds on a sunny and mild day on the Richer farm property, home of the Farmhouse cross country course, near Gladstone. He was followed by Gladstone senior Drew Hughes (16:48.83) and Ketzenberger (16:58.61), also a senior.

“I tried to lay back for two miles, then I tried to reel people after that,” said Litzner, who made his move approximately 400 meters after the two-mile mark. “At that point I felt real good and thought to myself, ‘I have a chance to win this.’ I ran a 16:30 at Rudyard (on Oct. 15) which gave me a lot of confidence. Our team also did real well. I think this will motivate us.”

This marked the first time Hughes broke 17 minutes in a U.P. Final.

“I’m happy with the way everything went,” he said. “I’m glad I got into the 16s. It has been fun running with everybody. I’m happy with how my four years of high school cross country have gone. I set a lot of goals and achieved nearly all of them.”

Freshman Peter Argeropoulous was fourth for Marquette, with sophomore Chase Thomsen sixth, senior Colin VanderSchaaf seventh and junior Cullen Papin ninth.

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Division 2

Painesdale Jeffers grabbed the top three places and retained its Division 2 title with 27 points, followed by Ishpeming with 70 and Ironwood with 78.

“We came in with a real solid game plan and were as ready as we could be,” said Jeffers coach Sam Kilpela. “We really worked on pace in practice and came through exactly where we should be.

Painesdale Jeffers’ Tavin Larson (186) wins Division 2 with freshman brother Landon Larson (185) a close second.“Going 1-2-3 was unexpected. Brit (Heinonen) had a real bad cramp halfway through the race, but still ran a solid race. This was just a rewarding day. The guys are talented. They work together.”

Senior Tavin Larson was crowned champion for the first time in 17:43.83. He was followed by freshmen Landon Larson (17:44.4) and Cameron Anderson (17:53.34).

“This was my best race of the year,” said Tavin. “Once I got into first place (after the first mile), I tried to hold off my brother. Our top four runners always run as a pack, and we’re always within 30 seconds of each other. Our top runner from last year missed this season with a broken leg, but we have two freshmen who are fast. We have a lot of good middle school runners coming up. The future looks bright.”

Ironwood coach Ben Schmandt said he was pleased with his team’s effort.

“We kind of finished where we expected,” he added. “The guys left it all on the course. They worked hard all year long and had a nice finish. We’ll keep working at it. We’ll miss our seniors. Hopefully, we’ll keep working hard and stay in competitive mode.

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Division 3

Stephenson captured the Division 3 crown with its first Finals title since finishing a streak of three straight in Division 2 in 2012. The Eagles were Division 3 runners-up last season.

Stephenson's Griffin Brown races to a fourth-place finish in Division 3.The Eagles scored 77 points and Engadine edged Republic-Michigamme 86-89 for its first runner-up trophy.

“We ran a lot of races with Munising, and they really pushed our boys,” said Eagles coach Kate Kuntze. “I’m really proud of our boys. They performed on a day we really needed them to. In D-3 there’s so many schools without full teams. We couldn’t settle for passing just one runner. The weather was perfect and the boys came in with a good mindset.”

Dollar Bay senior Amos Norland was the top individual finisher in a school-record 16:44.18, followed by Pickford’s Hayden Hagen (18:00.14) and Munising sophomore Trevor Nolan (18:04.1).

“Getting a lot of sleep and eating healthy were keys in the last two days,” said Norland. “I did 1-K repeats in practice and tried to keep a steady pace today. I got the school record by 21 seconds, which was unexpected for sure. I knew I had a chance, but I thought I’d get it by just a couple seconds.”

Seniors Griffin Brown in fourth and Jacob Ross in ninth set the pace for Stephenson.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Gladstone's Drew Hughes (27), Marquette's Carson VanderSchaaf (78), Gladstone's Aaron Hughes (26), Sault Ste. Marie's Gabe Litzner (117) and Cody Aldridge (112), and Negaunee's Judge Anderson (98) lead the start of Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final. (2) Litzner crosses the finish line first in the D1 race. (3) Painesdale Jeffers’ Tavin Larson (186) wins Division 2 with freshman brother Landon Larson (185) a close second. (4) Stephenson's Griffin Brown races to a fourth-place finish in Division 3. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)

Sinke Family Has Bear Lake Primed to Compete for Championships Now, In Future

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

October 25, 2024

One Sinke is nearing the end of a high school running career seeking to qualify for a fourth-straight MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Cross Country Final.

Northern Lower PeninsulaA few other Sinkes are right in the middle of possible team and individual title opportunities.

Mason Sinke, who broke the Bear Lake cross country race record earlier this season, is about to finish his stellar career on 5K courses. He still has the spring track season ahead, and then he’s moving on to run for Hope College. Saturday, he hopes — or rather expects — to qualify for his fourth Final while vying for the individual Regional title at Benzie Central.

His team will not qualify for the Final due to an insufficient number of healthy runners. But the Bear Lake girls team – led by freshman Callie Sinke – has its eyes on qualifying for the Final and can’t help but think a state championship is obtainable in the near future.

A future boys title also isn’t out of the question as the Lakers have a strong middle school program as well. The middle school’s current number one runner is Johnny Sinke. 

And all the Lakers cross country teams are coached by Tony Shrum and Kim Sinke. Shrum has headed up the cross country program, which co-ops with Onekama, since 2012. Kim Sinke, a former college distance runner, joined the staff this year. She is also the mother of Mason, Callie and Johnny Sinke.

The Bear Lake girls team take a trophy photo after clinching the West Michigan D League title.Bear Lake is really hoping to start some strong winning streaks this weekend after long Regional championship streaks were common up until a decade ago. The Lakers are not unfamiliar with Finals appearances, but they’re looking for their first in a decade with the Regional trophy earned.

“For the girls, as long as we’ve got everybody healthy and racing, the goal is to win,” Shrum said of the upcoming Regional. “It would be our seventh girls Regional title in the program’s history, so they would be on a list with a pretty exclusive group.”

Shrum hopes the resting and recovering this week will allow the Lakers to put their best foot forward in the Regional. Bear Lake’s girls, the West Michigan D League champions this year, will be racing against some familiar foes.

There will be disappointment if there aren’t several Lakers listed among the top 10 finishers – and a handful in the top five are pretty much expected.

Callie Sinke, who is fighting through normal running injury challenges, and Addy Zeller are the Lakers’ top two runners and arguably the top two rated runners in the region. But injuries have slowed down the top two Lakers a bit.

“Right now Callie is about 20 seconds ahead of everybody in the field Saturday,” Shrum pointed out. “We have three of the top five girls when healthy in the region, and our fourth girl has top-15 ability and our fifth girl has been coming on.”

And these Lakers are young. Callie Sinke is a freshman and Zeller, hampered lately by a quad injury, is a sophomore. Melodie Hulinek, the number three runner who is coming back from a knee injury, is also a freshman. Natalie Brown, the current fourth runner, is a junior. Two other freshmen, Isabella Card and Peyton Buckner, may run for the fifth scoring spot, along with two other juniors, Lauren Pulido-Huber and Libby Daugherty. The co-op is without a senior on the girls side.

Mason Sinke, middle, takes a photo with Bear Lake head coach Tony Shrum and assistant and mother Kim Sinke.Shrum is excited about the opportunity this year and really the next three. He notes two current middle school runners will likely compete for varsity spots next fall.

“We’ve got a good core of girls coming back for the next four years,” Scrum said.

Zeller and Sinke attend Onekama High School. The rest of the girls team are enrolled with Bear Lake. 

Mason Sinke is a senior at Onekama. He too has sat out a few races recently to rest and prepare for his last two career high school meets.  

All season, he’s had a special partner and coach, Kaden Forward. The school record Sinke broke this year had belonged to Forward, who finished 13th in last year’s Final. Sinke was a few seconds behind Forward in the Final last year and finished 16th. He’s looking to take one of the top spots – if not first place – this Saturday and go on to a top 10, if not top five, at the Final.

The West Michigan D League features one of the top runners in the state in Alex Tyndall from Mason County Eastern. Tyndall finished 18th in last year’s Final, a few seconds behind Sinke. Tyndall and Eastern will be among many competitors Bear Lake has raced against week after week. A handful of other runners familiar to Mason Sinke will challenge him for a top-five Regional finish.

“Right now Mason would be the number two guy behind Alex coming in,” Shrum acknowledged. “We’ll see if he wants to chase Alex and push him and see if he can take Alex down. but otherwise I think silver at the Regional is a definite possibility for him.”

Callie Sinke runs a race this fall.The Bear Lake boys team has no chance of qualifying for the Finals as two of its five team members are out with injuries. But Shrum holds strong hopes senior Greyson Hoeflinger will also qualify for the Finals as an individual.

Over the 35 years of the co-op’s existence, Bear Lake’s boys teams have won 23 Regional titles and the girls have won six.

“Between Mason and Kaden, they have really changed the mindset of our program,” Shrum said. “Callie is leading the girls on the same path.”

Bear Lake is looking forward to an influx of talented young runners on the boys side too.

“Our next set of boys teams could be banner raising, winning teams of the state final,” Shrum predicted. “We’re on the comeback collectively as a program.”

The future is bright, but the current boys and girls teams members should get the credit for getting Bear Lake back to its winning ways.

“To me it is exciting to get back on that level and compete for state titles and Regional championships in the next five, six years,” Shrum noted. “A lot of it really has to do with the current group of kids that we have and their dedication, their discipline, their excitement and enthusiasm for the sport.”

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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) Mason Sinke runs to his school record-setting 5K time Sept. 7 at the Bear Country Invitational. (2) The Bear Lake girls team take a trophy photo after clinching the West Michigan D League title. (3) Mason Sinke, middle, takes a photo with Bear Lake head coach Tony Shrum and assistant and mother Kim Sinke. (4) Callie Sinke runs a race this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Sinke family.)