Plymouth Wins 1st Title, Foster Wins 2nd
November 3, 2018
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — Carter Solomon doesn’t mind losing a cross country race.
For the Plymouth junior, it’s all about the competition.
He got plenty in the form of Ann Arbor Pioneer senior Nick Foster, but Solomon got the victory he really wanted by leading Plymouth to its first championship at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
The Wildcats were runners-up by three points last year, but came through in another close meet to edge surprising Walled Lake Central, 122-127.
Walled Lake Central came into the meet ranked No. 11, but this meet didn’t necessarily go according to form, with the exception of Plymouth. The Wildcats were ranked No. 1, but none of the other teams ranked in the top three finished there when it mattered most.
“I’m so proud of those guys after last year being runner-up,” Plymouth coach Jon Mikosz said. “To have the pressure on them all year and to be able to come back and pull it off is amazing.”
Solomon led the way, finishing second in 15:18.1. He battled Foster, the reigning champion, step for step until the Pioneer senior pulled away with the finish line in sight to win in 15:13.0.
“Unfortunately, this is only the second time I’ve raced him this year,” Solomon said. “The previous year, we raced three or four times. I love racing against him. I love racing against competition. It makes the race that much more fun.
“I love going out to races like this and testing myself. In a few weeks, I’m going to the Foot Locker regional. I know that’s a really stacked race. I’m super excited for that. I knew Nick was going to be there the whole race. He closed a lot harder than I did.”
Foster and Solomon were part of a five-man lead pack at the two-mile mark. Foster said he believed he could prevail if it came down to a kick at the end.
“I was pretty confident,” he said. “I knew a couple of those guys can finish pretty strong. I knew it wouldn’t come easy. With 700 meters to go, I felt good. I knew Carter was on me. I just had to keep going right through the finish. It was tough, but this is my third year doing it, so I knew it was going to be tough. But, like last year, I realized I have more left than I think.”
Walled Lake Central ran with a tight pack, its five scoring runners separated by only 16.2 seconds. The Vikings couldn’t overcome Plymouth’s strength near the front.
Following Solomon for the Wildcats were sophomore Patrick Byrnes (15th, 15:56.2), senior Brandon Boyd (33rd, 16:13.8), senior Jarrett Warner (60th, 16:31.9) and junior Tyler Mussen (63rd, 16:34.8).
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Nick Foster (11), Plymouth’s Carter Solomon (111) and Brighton’s Zachary Stewart (36) lead the pack near the midway point of the Division 1 Final. (Middle) Plymouth’s Patrick Byrnes pushes down the final stretch. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Hansen Goes Distance Again, Allendale Claims 1st Final Since 1999
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — It looked like TJ Hansen of Freeland had gotten a big head start on the rest of the field, not that he needed it.
Hansen, after all, set the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals record with his time of 14 minutes, 52.8 seconds last year.
But here he was, moments before the start of Saturday’s Division 2 race at Michigan International Speedway, nearly in a dead sprint 600 yards from the start rushing into the Freeland tent to quickly change his shorts.
The style of shorts Hansen was wearing differed from those of his teammates, a uniform violation that would have disqualified the reigning champion. After frantically rushing to get different shorts, Hansen was put in a cart and rushed to the start line.
There was no time to decompress.
“As soon as I got back, it was 10 seconds and, boom, the gun went off,” he said. “It’s just a lesson in dealing with adversity.”
For a few highly-stressful minutes, Hansen feared he would be on the sideline while someone else won a championship he was out to defend.
“It kind of flashes before your eyes,” he said. “They tell you you’re DQ’d, and all those months of hard work seem like they flash before your eyes and all go to waste.”
When the gun went off, Hansen was back in his element and repeated as champion by lowering his Division 2 record to 14:50.5, the fourth-fastest time in any division at MIS.
He needed every bit of that effort, as Marshall senior Jack Bidwell took second in 14:57.3, a time that is the third-fastest by a Division 2 runner and 14th all-time in any division.
Hansen and Bidwell reached the two-mile mark together in 9:36.2 before the defending champion pulled away in the final mile.
“It was really just try to push the pace and see how fast I could go,” Hansen said. “My legs weren’t really feeling it today, so I changed up strategy to race to win.”
Hansen won 11 of 12 races this year, losing only to a runner from Tennessee on Oct. 5 in Indiana.
In the team race, Allendale won its first MHSAA Finals championship since 1999 by placing its five scoring runners among the top 29. The top 30 made all-state. The Falcons scored 78 points to win by 102 over 2023 champion Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Sophomore Mason Hill was ninth in 15:24.0, senior Kilian Whalen 13th in 15:28.8, junior Ronnie Silveira 15th in 15:31.1, senior Ben Gross 27th in 15:47.1 and senior Parker Tiethof 29th in 15:48.3.
Allendale was fourth last year and returned its top six runners.
PHOTOS (Top) Freeland’s TJ Hansen pushes to the finish line in the Division 2 race Saturday after looking back to see Marshall’s Jack Bidwell also on the home stretch. (Middle) Allendale’s Mason Hill (403) and New Boston Huron’s Lucas Kuhn (530) race among the lead packs. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)