Performance: Brighton's Jack Spamer
October 18, 2019
Jack Spamer
Brighton senior – Cross Country
The Bulldogs distance ace posted Michigan’s fastest high school time since 2014 with a 14:48.1 to finish first at the 35th Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard Invitational on Oct. 12. He cut 14 seconds from his personal record run from a week before and cleared the field by 22 seconds, earning the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.”
Spamer was a strong competitor last season, finishing 18th at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan International Speedway after coming in 48th as a sophomore. He’s taken another significant jump this fall, finishing first or second in all but one event – when he took third in the Elite race at the Sept. 13 Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University. Running against many of the state’s best again at the Portage Invitational on Oct. 5, Spamer cut 30 seconds off his previous season-best time with a 15:02. That set the stage for last weekend’s awe-inspiring run, the fastest in the state since former Grand Blanc speedster (and eventual 12-time Stanford All-American) Grant Fisher posted a 14:43 at Portage in 2014.
Talent and hard work have delivered Spamer’s improvement, of course – but credit also should go to his competition in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, including teammate Zachary Stewart and Plymouth senior Carter Solomon, last season’s LPD1 Final runner-up. Spamer finished second to Solomon at Thursday’s KLAA finals, where five runners cleared 15:24. Brighton won the team championship at the league meet and is ranked No. 1 in LPD1 as it pursues a first MHSAA Finals championship since 1995. Spamer is hoping for a similar jump next spring on the track as he’ll look to improve on a ninth place in the 1,600 and 11th in the 3,200 from this past June’s LPD1 Finals. While he surely has a future in racing, academics will provide plenty of opportunities as well. Spamer carries a 3.95 grade-point average and is interested in studying computer science or computer engineering as he considers his next destination after high school.
Coach Chris Elsey said: “Jack has been a tremendous inspiration to his teammates. He is the perfect model to show what can be accomplished with a lot of hard work and dedication. As a freshman he couldn't crack the varsity lineup, and now he's one of the top runners in the state. Jack is extremely coachable. He responds positively to both praise and critiques, and he is always looking for ways to improve the team. Jack is an excellent teammate. The team's goals are always first, and he is most excited to see the breakthrough performances of his younger teammates. Jack is a great leader. His demeanor and work ethic at practices, meets, and in the classroom show his peers how to do things the right way every day. He has been a pleasure to coach these four years, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of this season has in store.”
Performance Point: “The first mile was really fast, and after that I was just trying to keep that same pace,” Spamer said of his Gabriel Richard race. “I knew I was definitely pushing it a lot more than usual. We didn't have splits at the second or third mile, so I was hoping that I was going at a pace where I was going to break 15. It definitely felt different than previous races. The weather was the best you could ever have for running that morning. The course was fantastic and super flat and great for PR'ing (setting a personal record). ... When you have an opportunity like that to run that fast, it's a really good opportunity to take because generally cross country weather isn't as good as you hope it (will be). Taking advantage of the conditions really helped me to break 15 minutes.”
Dropping time: “Mainly it's just training in the offseason and just working toward goals that we had set. I have such a great coach that he was able to dedicate his time not just during the season but in the offseason to continue to train us so we're the best that we can be. So just that and the fact that I've been able to have goals to work for, and setting those has helped me get to where I am now – massive improvements from last season.”
Eye on No. 1: “Going into this season my goal was low 15s. But then after Portage, and that was a really big breakout race for me, I knew I definitely had the capability to go even faster. … From aiming for top five in the state, now my goal is pretty much just state champ. Being able to have confidence going into meets in the championship season knowing that you can compete with some of the best guys that are out there, I changed my mindset and now I just know that if the better guys are racing at one pace, I know that I can probably race at the same pace. Going into races with that kind of confidence definitely helps a lot.”
Rivals get us ready: “Being able to have so much great competition in the dual meets that you do during the regular season, you just gain so much experience out of that – especially running against kids that you're going to be running against at some of the biggest meets. Being able to race (Solomon and others) now definitely helps so when you're going into the other meets you're like, ‘OK, I've raced them. I know how they race.’ It's just another confidence builder. When you're running a 5K race, it definitely helps to have a lot of confidence. … We're really cool (with each other). As much as it's fun to compete with them on the course, everyone is great people off the course. We all just kind of talk and joke to each other and stuff. We're all great friends.”
This computes: “I've always been interested in computers and stuff like that since I was little. It's something I'd love to learn more about. Probably stuff to do with coding most likely, or if I look at the computer engineering route building circuits and stuff for computers and components. I'm definitely more of a math and science kind of guy than English.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Brighton's Jack Spamer leads the pack at Kensington Metropark on the way to winning the Averill Invitational on Sept. 7. (Middle) Spamer climbs a hill during a meet against Canton and Novi. (Photos courtesy of the Brighton cross country programs.)
USA Discovering New Winning Pack
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 1, 2020
Mike Peter knew his Unionville-Sebewaing boys cross country team would have to make adjustments for the 2020 season, and deal with a different set of circumstances.
And that was before COVID-19 gripped the nation.
“We lost some team dynamic – a team isn’t all about time and place all the time,” the USA coach said. “Two of our senior boys that left the team, they really brought a lot just as teammates to our boys side. We’re trying to find that again. It takes time to rebuild that again when the team dynamic changes. We’ll have to fight a little harder this year and try to find our new normal.”
The Patriots are coming off a runner-up finish at the 2019 Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals, the best finish in program history. That followed a fifth-place finish the year before which had been the program best.
While they’re off to a slower start this season, they feel the pieces are there to continue that statewide success.
“I think we have a very good chance of coming back to state,” senior Bryce Langmaid said. “I think we have a chance to come back and be top-three again, or win a state championship.”
Three of the five runners who scored at the 2019 Finals are back, led by Langmaid who had an all-state finish at 22nd. Juniors Ty Pavlichek (38th) and Jacob VanHove (53rd) are back as well. The Patriots are without all-state finisher Bentley Alderson, who placed 16th as a junior but has decided to play soccer his senior year.
But the strength of USA’s 2019 team was its pack – all five scoring runners a year ago finished among the top 40 team scorers at the Final. That pack is something the Patriots are currently trying to establish.
“Since Day 1, we’ve been really close, really tight, and Coach has preached pack running,” Langmaid said. “That would be one of the biggest successes of how we run, and that carried over to how tight we are.”
While that pack is still looking to come together on the course this season, it was a big benefit through the spring and summer. With track season canceled because of the pandemic, and in a world of social distancing, Peter said his team did a good job of getting together to run in small groups.
“The nice thing is that there’s a brother and sisterhood with our group,” Peter said. “They are fantastic about texting each other, communicating with one another and getting out for a run. Once we knew track wasn’t going to happen, it was just about packing on miles, and I think for the mental health of a young person who is a person who competes, that was important. Our team is really good about reaching out to each other, and luckily, we didn’t have to meet to do it.”
Staying focused on running helped, but it wasn’t always easy.
“At times I wasn’t,” Pavlichek admitted. “I slowed down and didn’t run as much. When it came closer to the season I started to run more, and I was just hoping we could have a season.”
What helped them get through it, though, was each other.
“I know this put a lot of stress on families, friends and athletes in USA and Michigan,” Langmaid said. “I tried to stay close with everyone and talk with everyone to see how they’re doing. If someone wanted to meet up, I would do that to run with them and talk with them and let them get things off their mind.”
The Patriots have competed twice this season, at their own quad and the Ithaca Early Invitational. They were second in the quad (losing via tiebreaker to Mayville), and fifth at Ithaca.
“It’s hard to come out of a season where you’re second in the state and not feel that pressure again,” Peter said. “Sometimes, I think after having a year where we got first place at almost every meet, it’s hard to come back and uphold that. There’s an unspoken pressure that kids put on themselves, and they have to be OK with a second or third some of the time, and not always running your best time.”
While the results haven’t been there yet for the Patriots, just being back in competition and wearing the school colors felt like a victory.
“From my perspective, it was just wonderful to see a uniform of any of the schools,” Peter said. “It was nice to see kids from other communities at least roughly near each other, and competing. It was nice to see the joy they had to do something they loved.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) USA's Bryce Langmaid (736) races to an all-state finish at last season's LPD4 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Ty Pavlichek is another of three USA scorers back from the 2019 runner-up team. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)