Negaunee Tops D1; D2-3 Champs Repeat
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 25, 2015
FLAT ROCK — Thirty-two years had passed since a Negaunee boys cross country team was last crowned Upper Peninsula champion.
The Miners, who were competing in Class C in 1983, changed that Saturday by earning their first Division 1 title in convincing fashion with 43 points.
Negaunee, which finished the season undefeated, was followed by Sault Ste. Marie at 85, Marquette at 93, Houghton at 110 and Escanaba with 115 points.
“Our guys really wanted it,” said Negaunee coach Lisa Bigalk. “They went out and attacked. This was such an incredible season. The guys didn’t have an off day all year. This is a real close team. They stayed together and helped each other through. Hopefully, this will help us attract more guys into our program. This should motivate them for next season.”
Marquette senior Lance Rambo won the individual title for the second time in three years, covering the 3.1-mile course in 16 minutes, 11 seconds at Beauchamp’s Grove in rural Delta County.
He was followed by Negaunee sophomore Colton Yesney in a personal-best 16:32.5 and Escanaba junior Joey Wolfe (16:49.4)
“I probably could have gone a little faster, but I just wanted to absorb everything in the last half-mile,” said Rambo. “Colton ran a great race. He was so happy to get second and Logan (Zueger) really stepped up for us. … Our team didn’t have its best race, but I love this course. I really appreciate Gladstone putting on this meet.”
Kingsford senior Nate Carey, who came in as defending champ, took fourth this time (16:52). He was followed by Calumet’s Mitch Delong (16:52.3), Zueger (17:06) and Negaunee’s Ethan Wallner (17:09).
“I’ve had a great four years and a great season overall,” said Carey. “Lance is the best runner in the U.P. right now. The top five runners were tough.
“I was running today for Mia Dalner (Iron Mountain seventh-grader) who had medical issues and passed away last week.”
Division 2
Ishpeming, placing five runners among the top eight, retained its title with 28 points. Gogebic edged Powers North Central 61-62 for the runner-up trophy. Fourth-place Ironwood had 81, followed by Hancock with 133.
Gogebic senior Sam Dean earned his first individual title in 17:14.8, followed by Ishpeming freshman Spencer Giroux (17:22.5), Ironwood freshman Nick Niemi (17:30.4), North Central senior Bryce Holle (17:58.3) and Ishpeming’s Derek Mahoski (18:11.9).
“I wanted to go out with the fast group to see what that was going to be like today,” said Dean. “You just have to go out hard and hang on. In the last mile, the wind picked up and the rain came down hard, which made it a challenge. I just needed to be strong and go for the win. It feels good to win this race and for our team to take runner-up. Most of the race was good, but the course was muddy in different spots and it got chewed up a little.”
Niemi had similar thoughts.
“Getting a fast start was a key,” he said. “You have to get out fast and settle into a pace. The temperature (in the mid 50s) was real nice, but it started to get windy and the rain was coming right at you. My goal was to get into the top five, and I ended up with a personal-best time.”
Ishpeming junior Daren Giuchin, who helped the Hematites beat Gwinn in football Friday night, became the first gridder to place in the Division 2 Final.
“It’s crazy and tiring,” said Guichin, who took sixth in 18:17.3. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it because I’m a little banged up from last night, but I came through.”
Division 3
Chassell became a repeat winner with 51 points, followed by Dollar Bay with 69, Cedarville 96, Munising 134 and Stephenson 141.
Munising senior Brett Hannah retained his title (16:52.3) after also winning as a freshman in 2012 and senior Michael Brown recorded the highest finish ever for a Marquette North Star Academy runner by taking second in a personal-best 17:48.5.
Chassell’s Abraham Gockenbach was third (17:54.5), followed by Dollar Bay’s Brendan LeClaire (18:10) and Jacob Iacono (18:10.7).
“Our boys and girls winning for the second straight year is absolutely great for our program,” said Chassell coach Marco Guidotti. “The kids ran for each other. We’ve been back and forth with Dollar Bay all year, our girls especially. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but the kids worked together and made it happen for themselves.”
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Brett Hannah breaks away from the Division 3 pack to claim his second individual title in four seasons. (Middle) From left, Escanaba's Joey Wolfe, Negaunee's Colton Yesney and Marquette's Lance Rambo were the top finishers in Division 1. (Below) Gogebic's Sam Dean rounds a bend on the way to winning the Division 2 title. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Benzie's Jones Caps Legendary Career with 4th Title, Hart Makes History with 1st
November 5, 2022
BROOKLYN – Runners at Hunter Jones’ level don’t get racing advice from just anybody.
In the days leading up to his bid for history at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final, the Benzie Central senior chatted with the most legendary distance runner to compete at the Michigan high school level.
Jones’ coach thought it would be a good idea for him to talk with former Rockford star Dathan Ritzenhein, a three-time Olympian whose time of 14:10.4 at Michigan International Speedway in 2000 has never been approached.
“I had a phone call with him a couple days ago,” Jones said. “He just kind of coached me through what to do. It’s pretty cool we have that connection and we are 1 and 2 in the state.
“He just told me don’t worry about time. His advice was just go out and red-line the whole time, just go hard the whole time. I did that. My legs were pretty tired in the middle. I couldn’t push as much as I wanted to.”
Jones hoped to make a run at Ritzenhein’s course record, but strong winds at MIS threw that pursuit out the window. He had to be satisfied with putting his name in the record books as the first boy to win the LP championship four times under the MHSAA Divisional format and breaking the Division 3 record of 14:52.8 set by Ovid-Elsie’s Maverick Darling in 2007. He is the third runner to win four MHSAA Finals boys titles and second in Lower Peninsula history, following only Central Lake’s Ryan Shay and his four Class D championships from 1993-96.
Jones’ time of 14:46.50 surpasses the time of 14:49.62 by Hartland’s Riley Hough in 2020 as the No. 2 performance all-time at MIS.
Jones was aware of Ritzenhein’s legend well before he began targeting some of his times.
“I’ve known about him since I was probably in seventh or eighth grade,” Jones said. “Just looking at his times, that’s crazy. To get this close, I’m extremely happy.”
Jones comes from the same part of the state as Shay.
“To have that up-north connection with Ryan Shay, it’s great because there’s not a lot of people up there compared to a metro area like Detroit and Grand Rapids,” Jones said. “It’s great that someone where maybe they don’t have as many advantages as other people is doing well.”
Jones cleared the field by more than a minute. The race for second place was considerably more dramatic, as Clayton Ackey of Hart outleaned Parks Allen of Ithaca by three hundredths of a second with a time of 15:52.14. Jones was already in the middle of an interview when they battled to the line.
Jones never lost to a Division 3 or 4 runner during his four seasons racing in a Benzie Central uniform. He won all 11 of his races this year and 51 of 54 races during his career. His only career losses were to top Division 1 and 2 runners.
“I only had two races this year that I really had any competition,” he said. “The rest of the time, it was me winning by 40 seconds-plus. It is what it is. Hopefully my time holds up as the fastest today so I can get the Mr. Cross Country award.”
Hart won the team championship with 116 points, beating runner-up Traverse City St. Francis by 31. St. Louis was third with 161. The team title was Hart’s first and came after the Pirates finished runners-up in 2020 and 2021.
Hart had three runners crack the top 12 overall and the top seven in the team race. Following Clayton Ackley were senior Wyatt Dean in eighth in 16:20.05, senior Seth Ackley in 12th in 16:27.51, senior Caleb Bitely in 44th in 17:17.71 and senior Easton Vander Zwaag in 116th in 17:58.80.
St. Francis had its five scoring runners crack the top 74 overall, with its first runner 23rd-place Josh Slocum.
PHOTOS (Top) Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones throws up the customary four fingers to symbolize his four championships as he crosses the line at MIS on Saturday. (Middle) Hart’s Clayton Ackley, right, and Ithaca’s Parks Allen run stride for stride together toward the finish. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)