Otsego Ace, Chelsea Outpace D2 Field
November 3, 2018
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — When Alex Comerford of Otsego decided it was go time, the race was over.
Nobody else in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final field could muster a response to Comerford’s 4:49.11 second-mile surge, one which turned a close race at the mile into a 2.1-mile victory lap for the champion.
Comerford made all-state for the fourth time, but for the first time as the winner, when he crossed the line Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in 15:23.6.
East Grand Rapids junior Evan Bishop was second in 15:35.2.
“It’s awesome,” Comerford said. “I couldn’t ask for any better people to do it with. All of my teammates, we’ve come so far this year from where we started. We have so many young guys.”
Comerford is the only senior on an Otsego team that finished fifth. Two freshmen and a sophomore scored for the Bulldogs.
At the mile mark, Comerford and James Gedris of Grosse Ile came through together in 4:51, five seconds up on the chase pack. It was time for a gear shift.
“I don’t always have the last half mile the other guys do,” Comerford said. “I really had to make a hard move with two miles to go. I felt like I could sustain that pace for a long time. I’m happy with the way it turned out.”
Comerford won 12 out of 13 races this fall, finishing fourth in the Spartan Elite race on Sept. 14. He finished behind Division 1 champion Nick Foster of Ann Arbor Pioneer, Division 4 champion Corey Gorgas of Saugatuck and Gedris.
In his career, Comerford finished 13th, ninth, second and first at the Division 2 meet.
Bishop was thrilled with his finish after placing 61st in Division 1 last year and 22nd in Division 2 as a freshman.
“Going into the race, I was expecting maybe best-case scenario third place today, because Gedris is very good from Grosse Ile, and Alex obviously,” Bishop said. “Those two have always had a decent size gap on me. In the second mile, I saw Gedris coming back to me. Alex was out of the picture, at that point. Gedris was kind of coming back. I was like, “I can get him.’ I put in a little tempo there over the middle mile and used that momentum to the finish.”
A year after winning its first MHSAA Finals championship, Chelsea repeated with 121 points. Fremont was second with 134.
The Bulldogs put together two distinct packs to pull out the victory. Senior Carson Rabbitt (11th, 16:15.8), senior Foster Thorburn (12th, 16:17.0) and junior Will Scott (14th, 16:18.4) finished within 2.6 seconds of each other in the first group. Juniors Zander Hartsuff (56th, 16:55.0) and Joseph Norwood (65th, 16:58.3) were 3.3 seconds apart to complete Chelsea’s scoring.
PHOTOS: (Top) Otsego’s Alex Comerford (325), Grosse Ile’s James Gedris (285) and Corunna’s Ben Jacobs (227) lead a pack of runners during an early stretch of Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Chelsea’s Carson Rabbitt sprints to lead team champ Chelsea’s finishers. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Hartland Ace Makes More History, Brighton Back to Front of Pack
November 6, 2021
BROOKLYN — Riley Hough of Hartland is flattered whenever his name is mentioned in the same breath as Dathan Ritzenhein’s.
Few runners who have come along in the last 21 years inspired any comparisons to the former Rockford great, whose time of 14:10.4 in the 2000 MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet is the fastest high school performance in history.
After breaking Ritzenhein’s course record at the Portage Invitational with a time of 14:37.1 on Oct. 9, Hough did something the three-time Olympian never accomplished at MIS by breaking 15 minutes for the second time.
Hough’s time of 14:56.47 Saturday at MIS came one year after he won in 14:49.62, a time that’s second only to Ritzenhein’s record.
Six other runners have gone under 15 minutes at MIS, but none more than once. Ritzenhein came the closest before Hough, winning the 1999 Class A meet in 15:05.4 before his awe-inspiring effort as a senior.
As far as Hough is concerned, he wants to leave his own legacy apart from anyone who came before him.
“Obviously, I have some of his records in some of the other invitationals,” Hough said. “Honestly, I feel I’m just making a name for myself instead of just trying to replace someone else.”
Hough finished the season 13-0, winning his last 24 races in a Hartland uniform.
Farmington’s Peter Baracco, like Hough a four-time all-stater, was less than a second off the pace at the mile mark, which Hough reached in 4:50.9. With a 4:44.3 second mile, Hough obliterated the field by opening up a 27.5-second lead.
Hough’s possible successor, Grand Haven sophomore Seth Norder, moved from 10th place at the two-mile mark to second by the end of the race. Norder crossed the line in 15:25.69.
Winning the team championship for the second time in three years was Brighton, which outscored runner-up Caledonia, 141-175.
The Bulldogs have five different scoring runners from their 2019 team, with only one runner back from the seven who took the course two years ago.
Senior Quinn Cullen ran a personal-best 15:37.54 to lead Brighton, placing sixth individually.
Senior Jack Campbell was 32nd in 16:06.54, senior Lucas Seng was 36th in 16:10.69, sophomore Tyler Langley was 45th in 16:16.84 and junior Dylan White was 97th in 16:42.70.
“It’s just a testament to the amount of work these kids put into it,” Brighton coach Chris Elsey said. “We’ve got a great core group of kids. Seven ran here today, but we’ve got 20, 25 guys who are part of that core group who work hard through the winter, work hard through the summer, in the spring in track. It’s hard to put into words.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Riley Hough closes in on a repeat Division 1 championship Saturday. (Middle) Brighton’s Quinn Cullen leads a pack toward the finish while setting the pace for the eventual team title winner. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)