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Plotkin Completes 2nd Boys Finals 4-Peat
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2019
MARQUETTE – Brimley senior Austin Plotkin said he tried to run Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final like any other race.
But, perhaps as expected, it was much more.
Plotkin crossed the finish line in 17:20.7, winning his fourth MHSAA Finals championship and becoming just the second boys cross country runner to do so, joining Central Lake’s Ryan Shay who accomplished the feat in Lower Peninsula Class D from 1993-96.
"I tried to get under 17 minutes, but going under 17 is hard to do on this course," said Plotkin. "There's a lot of rolling hills out there. It's a very deceptive course. I just tried to run this like any other race, and it paid off. I tried to focus and do what I needed to do."
Plotkin was followed at Gentz's Golf Course in Chocolay Township by Cedarville senior Thomas Bohn, who finished runner-up for the third straight season and this time in 17:31.1. Brimley junior Cameron Hoornstra was third at 18:00.5.
Rudyard was crowned Division 3 team champion for the first time in a decade with 72 points, followed by Dollar Bay with 93 and Brimley with 96.
"This was kind of a surprise for me," said Rudyard coach Mark Rice. "I thought we could be runner-up. We depended a lot on our No. 5 runner (sophomore Ross Malaska), and he came through for us. Hayden Mills (who placed fifth at 18:20.1) was working with a little bit of an injury issue a few weeks ago, which I think came from running too many races. We're going to revamp our schedule next year."
Division 2
All aboard. Here comes the Hematite train!
The Ishpeming boys, who call themselves that, chugged to their second straight Upper Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship Saturday with 27 points.
The title also was the fifth in six years for the Hematites, who were followed by Ironwood with 51 points, Gogebic (Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer) at 67 and Norway at 92.
"My wife (Christie) and I start them off in grade school," said Ishpeming coach P.J. Pruett. "When cross country season starts, they're ready to go. Our program is very solid. We have a lot of runners coming back next year. The future looks bright."
Ishpeming senior Jonah Broberg earned his first individual title, covering the 3.1-mile event in 17 minutes, 29 seconds. He was followed by Norway sophomore Adam Cavagnetto (17:33.9), Ishpeming junior Jordan Longtine (17:48.6) and Gogebic (Bessemer) senior Adam Mazurek (17:54.5) on this partly sunny, breezy and mild day.
"The wind picked up for our race, which made it very challenging," said Broberg. "But I still won, and running into the wind makes it that much more satisfying. I wanted to go out hard, and the first 800 (meters) was very fast."
Cavagnetto's time was three minutes, 20 seconds better than a year ago.
"It's fun," he said. "I get up in the morning thinking about running and go to bed thinking about running.
"I wanted to go out fast and stay with Jonah and Adam, and I think it worked out very well."
Division 1
Marquette secured its first Division 1 title in five years with 51 points, followed by 2018 champ Sault Ste. Marie with 57 and Houghton with 63.
"We've alternated No. 1 runners throughout the year and (senior) Hogan Nemetz was our top runner today," said Marquette coach Kyle Detmers. "Sault was right there. Hats off the (coach) Jim Martin. They have a great program, and Houghton has a real good team.
"I appreciate the Gentz family allowing us to use their facility. This is an excellent setting for a meet. I also appreciate the efforts by our athletic director Alex Tiseo, assistant coach Mike Leanes and the many volunteers."
Houghton junior Joe Wood won a Final for the first time in a personal-best 16:57.8, followed by Gladstone sophomore Giovanni Mathews (17:27,6) and Sault junior Jaron Wyma (17:30.8).
"I wanted to stay with the front pack in the beginning," said Wood. "I ran with Giovanni for a while, then I made my move a little after the mile mark. I felt I could break away.
“It feels good to get a PR (personal record). This is definitely a confidence boost and a good way to end the season. Our whole team did pretty well."
Mathews said he was pleased with the overall conditions.
"The weather conditions were great today," he added. "The only problem is it was real windy. We (freshman Drew Hughes and Mathews) had a pretty big gap in the beginning. Only, I think Joe could sense I was feeling it. A couple times, I almost stopped. Joe was in a little better shape today."
PHOTOS: (Top) Cedarville's Thomas Bohn (269), Brimley's Austin Plotkin (236) and Newberry's Ephram Evans (273) run in the UPD3 Final. (Middle) Ishpeming's Jonah Broberg (151), Gogebic’s Adam Murzek (180), Norway's Adam Cavagnetto (166) and Ishpeming's David Liimatta (156) lead the UPD2 race Saturday. (Below) Houghton's Joe Wood (27) runs to the Division 1 title, here followed closely by eventual second-place finisher Giovanni Mathews from Gladstone. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
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One Mora Chance To Finish On Top
November 2, 2012
Mr. Competitive got the nickname from his fourth grade teacher, and he still loves to win.
He's enjoyed that feeling more times than most over the last three years. But Connor Mora nearly made a decision that would’ve deprived the state’s cross country community of its fastest runner this season.
Soccer was a serious contender for Mora’s talents as he contemplated what fall sport to play as a freshman. Not until the end of June that summer did the now-senior decide to join Cedar Springs’ cross country team instead.
“I’ve thought about it a lot, where my life would be if I chose to play soccer. I don’t know where I’d be right now,” he said.
And the rest is history. Or can become so today.
A Second Half High 5 recipient this week, Mora will run in his fourth and final MHSAA cross country championship race at Michigan International Speedway, and is expected to lead the pack.
To answer Mora’s question, had he chosen option two, he might have just finished patrolling the Redhawks’ midfield. He was “all right” at soccer and played it through middle school. But that’s when he also decided to run cross country with some friends who were joining the team.
Great call. Fast forward to Nov. 7, 2009, when he ran a 16:23.4 at MIS. He finished 15th at the Division 2 Final and was the fastest freshman in that race. Only Lake Orion’s T.J. Carey (16:18.2) was faster among freshmen from all four divisions.
In 2010, Mora cut his Finals time to 15:39. He finished fifth in Division 2 and was the fastest sophomore in any race by five seconds.
Last season he ran a 15:33.2 at MIS, good for third in Division 2 behind two seniors. And he was again second-fastest in his grade on the day, with only Carey in Division 1 edging him by a second.
So it makes sense that Mora enters his final high school cross country race with the fastest time in the state this fall by 11 seconds after breaking the 15-minute milestone with a 14:54 at his Regional a week ago.
That time broke his personal best by 20 seconds and the Cedar Springs school record by seven.
"The exciting thing for me as a coach was being able to call off his time with maybe 200 or 300 meters to go. That’s one of my styles; I’m not at the finish line, I’m away from the finish line letting them know where they’re at,” Cedar Springs coach Ted Sabinas said. “When I called out his time, I could see he instantly knew what that meant. He had put on an amazing 800 anyway to separate himself from Clark Ruiz (of Big Rapids). When he knew he had a chance to break into the 14s, that look on his face, that effort he put in, it was something to see.”
Breaking into the 14s for a high school runner is comparable to a running back rushing for 2,000 yards or a basketball player scoring 2,000 points in a career. It’s done on occasion, but only by the very best.
Sabinas has coached cross country at the school for 28 years. He’s watched the program emerge from its beginnings to an MHSAA team title contender, and he told Mora earlier this week that he remembers vividly when his all-time top runner broke into the 16s for the first time, and then the 15s too.
But he’s become memorable for more. Mora won MHSAA track championships in the 1,600 and 800 this spring, and owns the school 1,600 record of 4:09. He’s a 3.8 student and a leader who pulled in even his youngest teammates and helped them to feel included. Mora remembers the runners who pushed him when he was a freshman, and works to supply the same influence now.
“Certainly his times stick out. But it’s his nature and his personality,” Sabinas said. “He’s a leader on the team with his actions. He leads by the way he presents himself in practice. He doesn’t take an easy day. He leads in the classroom. We’ve got a close-knit group of kids here, and he leads the way.”
That will be the goal today. Mora has finished lower than first only once this season, nearly two months ago.
“My drive to win, that’s really what drives me. I don’t want to sound full of myself or anything, but I just want to be the best,” Mora said. “I want to set an example mostly for others coming up, who are in that position, and I want to give them someone to look up to.”
PHOTO: Cedar Springs' Connor Mora (left) rounds a turn during last season's Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway.