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.)
Aljabaly, Chelsea Take Winning Steps
November 4, 2017
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — They were racing to beat each other and racing to beat the weather.
When thunder was heard with the runners about to head down the stretch in the MHSAA Division 2 boys cross country race, the leaders were oblivious to the ominous conditions.
“I was too focused on where I was and where I wanted to start picking it up,” Coldwater senior Shuaib Aljabaly said.
Aljabaly ran the fastest time of the day in any division, winning Division 2 with a time of 15:12.2. Nick Foster of Ann Arbor Pioneer won Division 1 in 15:16.1.
Otsego junior Alex Comerford was second in Division 2 in 15:24.7.
“I didn’t see (lightning) at the end,” Comerford said. “I definitely could tell it was going to come on. I don’t think anybody really noticed in the last half mile.”
Runners were urged to move quickly through the chutes following the Division 2 race. Two separate lightning sightings resulted in the final race of the day, the boys Division 1 race, to be delayed by an hour and 10 minutes.
The victory capped an undefeated season for Aljabaly, who won 12 races.
“My first year here was my sophomore year,” he said. “I surprised myself; I was eighth. Coming back, I knew there were a couple kids who were just super good. I just tried reaching for them; I ended up placing third. Both of them were seniors. I was like, ‘This is my year; let’s take it.’”
Aljabaly is the first Coldwater athlete to win an MHSAA boys title since Russ Hickey in 1991.
The key move was made on a downhill right after the two-mile mark.
“I’ve been training to get him in the last half mile,” Comerford said. “I just couldn’t do it. He’s such a good competitor. I run with him all the time. He’s the best guy you could possibly lose to.”
Chelsea, which has qualified for 16 straight MHSAA Finals, won its first championship by a 96-110 margin over defending champion Corunna.
Chelsea’s best finish before Saturday was fourth place in 2008.
The Bulldogs put their five scoring runners in the top 40 among those competing for teams. Senior Tom Oates was third in the team race in 15:39.0, junior Jensen Holm was eighth in 15:51.4, junior Carson Rabbitt was 17th in 16:12.4, senior Connor Gilbreath was 28th in 16:29.1 and junior Foster Thorburn was 40th in 16:41.5.
Corunna, led by third-place overall finisher Ben Jacobs (15:35.9), had four runners in the top 21 of the team race, but also counted a 52nd-place finish.
PHOTOS: (Top) Coldwater’s Shuaib Aljabaly (915) holds off familiar foe Alex Comerford of Otsego to win the Division 2 title. (Middle) Tom Oates charges toward the finish to lead Chelsea to its first team championship in boys cross country. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)