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Preview: 2 on Track for 3 Straight Titles
November 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The MHSAA record book begins tracking consecutive boys cross country championships beginning with three straight – and two teams have outstanding chances of joining that list Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Milford in Division 1 and Concord in Division 4 will look to make it three Lower Peninsula titles in a row while both being paced by the 2012 individual champions in their respective divisions. In fact, another title for Concord would give it 10 total in the sport – second-most all-time.
Here's a look at the competition they’ll face plus other main storylines from all four divisions. For those who can’t make the trip to Brooklyn, MHSAA.TV will provide camera views at the start and finish lines and two more points on the course, with audio from reporters stationed along the way. Cost is $9.95 for Saturday only, which also includes access to all four Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Finals, or $14.95 for a month pass that will allow fans to also watch live the Volleyball Semifinals and Finals and Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals.
Click for Saturday's race schedule and links to all qualifiers and the live streams.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Milford
2012 runner-up: Waterford Mott
2013 top three: 1. Waterford Mott, 2. Milford, 3. Northville.
Reigning individual champion: Brian Kettle, Milford.
Milford has won LP Division 1 the last two seasons and more than halved runner-up Mott’s score last season, 83-167. Although the Mavericks’ second-fourth runners from last season’s Final graduated, reigning individual champion Brian Kettle is back and won his Regional by 14 seconds (15:20.6) – while Mott’s Nathan Burnard, last season’s individual runner-up, graduated. Mott does, however, bring back five of last season’s seven runners, with juniors Ryan Robinson (15:58.10) and Sam Albaugh (15.58.5) coming off taking first and second, respectively, at their Regional. Northville, led by senior Dan Sims, also returns five of seven from last season’s 11th-place Finals finish.
Individuals: Kettle’s time of 15:07.3 at last season’s Final ranks sixth all-time for Division 1 championship races. He should get pushed most by Royal Oak junior Ben Hill, 10th last season and a Regional champ in 15:18. Ann Arbor Pioneer senior Costa Willets finished sixth at last season’s Final and won his Regional last week in 15:47.3, and Sims was eighth individually and Robinson ninth at the 2012 Final.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: St. Clair
2012 runner-up: Linden
2013 top three: 1. St. Clair, 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 3. St. Joseph.
St. Clair graduated four from last season’s championship team, but looks even faster after taking five of the top eight places at its Regional with three runners finishing in 16 minutes or faster. Senior Cody Smith, 15h at last season’s Final, won the Regional in 15:42 followed by senior teammate Trevor Holowaty in 15:47. Second-ranked Grand Rapids Christian similarly dominated its Regional with four among the top eight led by junior champion Benny Briseno – one of three sophomores on the Eagles team that finished eighth at last season’s Final. St. Joseph put six runners among the top 11 in winning its Regional by seven over No. 4 Otsego.
Individuals: All but two of the top 18 from last season’s Final graduated – Mason senior Mason VanDyke (fourth place) is back along with St. Clair’s Smith. Chelsea junior David Trimas (16:02.6) beat VanDyke at their Regional last week, and Algonac sophomore Morgan Beadlescomb (15:48) and Croswell-Lexington senior Andrew O’Connor (15:59) followed the St. Clair runners by breaking 16 minutes at the fastest Regional in the division. Otsego senior Justin Starr also broke 16 minutes to win his Regional in 15:59.7.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2012 runner-up: Marlette
2013 top three: 1. Benzie Central, 2. Stockbridge, 3. Grandville Calvin Christian.
Benzie Central has been ranked No. 1 all season on the strength of five runners who keyed the team’s fourth-place finish at last season’s Final. Stockbridge finished ninth last season with five underclassmen, and four of those runners are back this weekend including sophomore Nathaniel Baird, a Regional champ last week. Calvin Christian, Division 3 champ in 2011 and 2010, is fast again despite only two runners back from last season’s third-place team but strong ones in junior Logan Jurgens and sophomore Abe Visser. Lumen Christi finished only second at its Regional and is ranked eighth this week – but does return six of seven runners from last season’s MHSAA championship team.
Individuals: Three runners at last season’s Final posted times among the 10 fastest in Division 3 history. Third-place finisher, Mason County Central senior Chase Barnett, is one of only three from the entire top 10 who didn’t graduate in the spring. Lansing Catholic junior Keenan Rebera was in the mix last season finishing fifth and Kingsley junior Jake Keena will look to improve on his 10th-place finish in 2012. Rebera ran a speedy 15:35.5 to win his Regional, and a number of others also broke 16 minutes at theirs including Kent City senior Will Wilson, Hesperia junior Damien Halverson, Comstock junior Zack Richards and Hillsdale senior Zach Hardway.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Concord
2012 runner-up: Evart
2013 top three: 1. Saugatuck, 2. Concord, 3. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.
Reigning individual champion: Jesse Hersha, Concord.
Saugatuck is favored to unseat two-time reigning champion Concord atop the standings, but this could be the closest of the day's team finishes. The Indians finished fourth in 2012 and three of those runners are back to lead this weekend’s effort – junior Jacob Pettinga and senior Clayton Springer finished first and second, respectively, at their Regional last week. Concord did graduate three of its top five from last season, but individual champion Jesse Hersha won last year’s race by 20 seconds and should again pace the pack. Sacred Heart certainly is a team on the rise. Its top two last season were juniors, and both are back along with three sophomores who also helped the Irish finish seventh.
Individuals: Hersha’s 15:32.3 last season is the sixth-fastest time in Division 4 Finals history, and he won his Regional again ahead of sophomore teammate Josiah Ottolini – who finished 11th at the 2012 Final. Evart senior Max Hodges and Pewamo-Westphalia senior Tanner Droste also return after finishing ninth and 10th, respectively, at last season’s Final.
PHOTO: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart and Saugatuck, here running at the Carson City-Crystal Invitational in September, are expected to push two-time reigning champion Concord in Division 4 this weekend. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
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Marquette Primed to Continue Dynasty
October 21, 2015
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
MARQUETTE – Red is the dominant color when you talk about cross country in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Courtesy of one of the pre-eminent cross country programs in the state, red is worn by the Marquette High School teams that have been a scourge to the rest of the U.P. since the sport's inception.
The boys have won 22 Upper Peninsula big-school championships heading into Saturday's U.P. Finals at Beauchamp's Grove in Flat Rock, in the countryside west of Escanaba. The boys have been competing since 1966, and Marquette began its title string in 1979.
The girls have been even more dominant, claiming 29 U.P. titles since the sport began in 1980, including a string of 13 straight (1980-92).
Both teams have won the past two U.P. Division 1 titles and are expected to repeat again Saturday.
All of the championships have come with Dale Phillips as head coach. Phillips, 73, started coaching both teams in 1977. He was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 for his coaching exploits with Marquette's cross country and track and field programs.
Asked what has kept him running the program for 39 years, Phillips did not hesitate. "My love working with the program and the young men and young women and seeing the success they can achieve," he said, noting he is coaching a second generation of runners and enjoys visiting the parents of today's athletes, many of whom he coached.
"They are a great recruiting tool," he said of parents bringing their kids into the program.
Phillips traces the program's success to when it started piling up those various trophies. "Then we started drawing boys and girls into it. They like what we do," he said. "The program kept building. It is like the Menominee football program. It seems they re-load every year, just like we do.
"You are going to hit a down period. There were some lean years," said Phillips. Of course, those "lean years" meant settling for second, third or fourth place.
"Sometimes you just don't get that quality you need. You just get kids into the program and they really work."
This year's leaders are Lance Rambo for the boys and Lindsey Rudden for the girls. Rambo is looking into running at either Central Michigan University, Michigan State or Grand Valley State after graduation. Rudden, who has never won a U.P. cross country title but owns eight U.P. track championships (with MHSAA meet records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 and with the 1,600 and 3,200 relay units), has verbally committed to run for MSU.
But it is not about super individuals. Rather, it is about the overall depth of the program and the family-like atmosphere. "The varsity cheers for the jayvee group, and the jayvees cheer for their varsity teammates. They know they are a total team. It is not just the top seven we are interested in," Phillips said.
"You don't have to be the number one or two runner," Phillips tells his squads. "You can be number five, six or seven. You can help us immensely by getting ahead of the scorers of our opponents."
To illustrate, at the recent Great Northern Conference meet at Marquette's Presque Isle (complete with a water spout on Lake Superior, tornado warning, lightning, thunder and rain), the first nine girls jayvee finishers wore Marquette red. Marquette's boys and girls swept the varsity and junior varsity team titles.
"We emphasize that we are a team. The kids get so close as a team," Phillips said of the runners gathering for a variety of activities such as meals, movies and swimming. "We are a family. That word has come up for years."
Of course, a lot of that likely comes from the success they have all enjoyed together throughout their careers and from watching their predecessors do the same thing.
Agreeing that success breeds success, Phillips said, "that is a tremendous positive we have going for us. We have a large freshman class out and they learn how we do our workouts correctly and how we handle pace (of racing). We have some talent coming up."
The Redmen set such a tremendously high bar of success without piling up excessive mileage. "We try to get them to reach their peak at the end of the season," said Phillips.
While every coach tries to accomplish that goal, there is a fine line to reach in the process – no matter the sport or the level the athlete is playing.
"Leadership on a team is important," said Phillips, noting he sends groups of runners out at various distances and locations and tries to match them up with those of similar skill sets. With captains such as Rambo and Rudden setting the pace this year, Phillips knows the workouts will be fruitful. "Those kids lead by example. They keep the young runners going. They have responded well over the years," he said.
The coaching staff sets mileage limits and tries to monitor how much the athletes do on their spare time. "We are not a high mileage team," said Phillips. "We try to get a recovery day after a tough workout or a tough meet. We structure our program to keep the legs fresh and minimize injuries."
The runners do just 30-40 miles a week, much of it on an exquisite city trail system or at a grassy park close to nearby Northern Michigan University. "If we do a hard workout, we try to find a soft surface," said Phillips. "We can do hard workouts but they are not hard on the legs."
Including pre-and-post stretching sessions, the weekday workouts last two hours a day in August before classes begin and no more than 90 minutes a day once the academic season starts. "We do longer intervals before the start of the season and shorter intervals later," he said, adding runners are told not to run on one of the weekend days.
Having quality runners throughout the group prevents varsity runners from becoming complacent. "Our jayvees keep the varsity on their toes," Phillips said.
He also encourages his runners to use alternative sports in their training to keep their legs fresh. "If you don't feel like running, jump on a bike. Biking is an excellent cross-trainer. They also go cross country skiing. You shouldn't run 365 days a year," he said.
"If you're in a winter sport, you can't get in better shape than running in cross country," said Phillips, noting several of Marquette's highly successful winter athletes have been on his teams. "That has been a drawing card as well" to attract participation.
In his 39 years at the helm, Phillips said a major highlight was when the girls won the prestigious Holly Invitational and the boys were 10th out of 30 teams in 1982. It was the first time the Redettes and Redmen participated, and many of the downstate runners were surprised to learn Marquette came from the Upper Peninsula.
The girls finished second, fifth, seventh, ninth and 11th and beat Clio, ranked No. 1 in the state at the time. "They couldn't believe someone from the U.P. could come down and dominate a big meet," said Phillips.
Competing in Holly, and big meets in Wisconsin, gives his runners a chance to see "other faces and other teams" and a chance to gauge their performances. That is especially important because cross country (in addition to track and field, tennis, golf, and swimming and diving) is split into Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula Finals.
While Phillips and former U.P. cross country coaches John Prokos, Dave Lahtinen and Arne Henderson previously made a strong push to merge for an all-peninsula MHSAA Finals, they were unable to convince the majority of U.P. teams to accept the proposal, which has been rejected twice.
In the meantime, Marquette makes everyone else look at red across the Upper Peninsula.
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette’s girls cross country runners, including Lindsey Rudden, front right, prepare for the start at Marquette’s cross country relays earlier this season. (Middle) A pair of Marquette runners including Lance Rambo, right, compete during the boys race. (Below) Coach Dale Phillips has led the program for 39 years. (Photos courtesy of Marquette athletic department.)