Preview: Favorites Poised to Blaze Paths
November 2, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
If the projections are correct, two Michigan high school boys cross country teams will be celebrating MHSAA championships for the first time this weekend.
Chelsea and Hanover-Horton are the top-ranked teams in their divisions, and both are seeking to win Finals titles for the first time. Four more boys teams ranked among the top three in their respective divisions also could contend for their first championships in this sport at Saturday's championship races.
A total of 989 runners will take to the course at Michigan International Speedway, with the first boys race at 10:50 a.m. – the girls start the day with their Division 4 at 9:30. Below are some of the teams to watch and a glance at each of the individual fields. Click for all Finals qualifiers, a map of the course and links to buy tickets and watch the Finish Line camera on MHSAA.tv, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four meets.
Division 1
Reigning champion: White Lake Lakeland
2016 runner-up: Saline
2017 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Plymouth, 3. Romeo.
A yearly contender especially during the 1990s, Ann Arbor Pioneer is expected to claim its first MHSAA championship since 2008 after finishing fifth a year ago. The Pioneers have five of their top six back from last year’s Final and placed five of the top six and six of the top nine to take last week’s Regional, which also included No. 5 Saline. Neither Plymouth nor Romeo made the MHSAA Finals as teams last year; combined they sent three individual qualifiers. Senior Ethan Byrnes and sophomore Carter Solomon finished 10th and 18th, respectively, in 2016 for Plymouth, while Romeo sophomore Jack Wilson was 37th and returns to lead a team challenge. Romeo won its Regional last week ahead of honorable mention Clarkston, while Plymouth won its Regional putting six runners among the top nine as well to finish ahead of No. 11 Novi and No. 15 Salem. Neither Plymouth nor Romeo has won an MHSAA title in this sport. And don’t forget about last year’s contenders: Lakeland and Saline could figure into the mix again too, coming in ranked Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
Individuals: Last year’s champion and runner-up graduated, leaving White Lake Lakeland junior Harrison Grzymkowski the highest returning finisher after coming in third. Ann Arbor Skyline junior Tristan Williams was eighth last year, followed by Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern now-senior Abdi Ahmed and Byrnes. Pioneer’s Nick Foster, Ahmed and Rockford’s Cole Johnson have the fourth, fifth and sixth-fastest times in the state this season, respectively. Johnson finished ahead of Ahmed at their Regional and was third at the 2015 Final. Other Regional champions last week were Foster, Grzymkowski, Alpena junior Aden Smith, Holland junior Sam Martens, Ann Arbor Skyline senior Anthony Giannobile, Novi senior Gabriel Mudel (ahead of Solomon and Byrnes), Birmingham Seaholm junior George Nummer and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Harrison Steen.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Corunna
2016 runner-up: Fremont
2017 top-ranked: 1. Chelsea, 2. Corunna, 3. Lansing Catholic.
Chelsea has never won an MHSAA boys cross country championship but finished ninth last year with only one senior. Five of last year’s seven runners will return to MIS coming off a Regional title that saw five place among the top nine as the team finished ahead of No. 13 Dearborn Divine Child. Corunna graduated last season’s champion Noah Jacobs, but junior Ben Jacobs (Noah’s brother) came in eighth in 2016 and is one of four back from that winning team. The Cavaliers won their Regional last week with Jacobs the individual champion and three more teammates among the top eight against a field including No. 8 Flint Powers Catholic. Lansing Catholic was runner-up in Division 3 last season and moves into Division 2 this weekend paced by its top four from the 2016 Final and five of its top six off that team. The Cougars placed five runners between fifth and 12th in winning a Regional that included No. 11 St. Johns and honorable mention Haslett.
Individuals: Coldwater senior Shuaib Aljabaly and Otsego junior Alex Comerford have the fastest boys times in the state this season, both breaking 15 minutes at the Otsego Invitational on Sept. 30. They finished third and ninth, respectively, at last season’s Final, and Aljabaly is unbeaten this fall. The third fastest time statewide belongs to Fremont senior Ben Schmidt, who is coming off a 10th-place Finals finish a year ago. Joining those three and Jacobs from the top 10 are St. Johns senior Dillan Haviland (seventh) and Grosse Ile junior James Gedris (fifth). Schmidt, Aljabaly, Comerford, Haviland and Gedris joined Jacobs as Regional champs last week, as did St. Clair senior Brendan Parr, Linden sophomore Tyler Buchanan and Fruitport senior Cameron Oleen.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Saugatuck
2016 runner-up: Lansing Catholic
2017 top-ranked: 1. Hanover-Horton, 2. Caro, 3. Hart.
Hanover-Horton is predicted to take the jump from third last year to win its first championship in this sport with a lineup returning six of seven runners to MIS including 2016 sixth-place finisher Landon Melling. Now a senior, Melling won last week’s Regional followed by senior teammate Bo Shepherd as the Comets placed six of the top 12 individuals. Caro is paced by reigning individual champion Yami Albrecht, who led the Tigers to a fifth-place team finish at last year’s Final. He’s joined by three more returnees off that team, and he also won his Regional last week as Caro placed three of the top five while fending off No. 8 Shepherd and No. 13 Montrose. Hart didn’t make the Finals last year as a team, but now-sophomore Hunter Tubbs raced as an individual qualifier. He and his teammates put five among the top 20 to win their Regional ahead of No. 9 Clare, and they also come into this weekend seeking their program’s first MHSAA title.
Individuals: Junior Corey Gorgas is one of two returnees for reigning champion Saugatuck, which as a team is ranked No. 4. He finished fourth individually a year ago in leading the title effort, but actually finished second at last week’s Regional to freshman teammate Nik Pettinga. Holland Black River senior Joshua Fink joins Gorgas, Albrecht and Melling as returnees from the top 10 after coming in 10th in 2016. Harbor Spring junior Jeremy Kloss, the Division 4 Final runner-up last season whose team is now in Division 3, also was a Regional champion last week as were Clare junior David Good, Kent City senior Fraser Wilson, Ithaca junior Ransom Allen, Bad Axe junior David Knarian and Blissfield senior Casey Reed – Wilson in a field including Fink.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Pewamo-Westphalia
2016 runner-up: Harbor Springs
2017 top-ranked: 1. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, 2. Potterville, 3. Battle Creek St. Philip.
Pewamo-Westphalia and Harbor Springs both moved to Division 3 this school year, and Sacred Heart could join with its girls team for a Division 4 sweep after the boys finished 10th last season with only one senior. All five placers from 2016 are in the lineup again after the Irish placed six of the top 16 to win a Regional that included No. 8 Beal City and No. 13 Carson City-Crystal. Sacred Heart is running for its first MHSAA title since 1977. Potterville is seeking its first team title since claiming back-to-back in 2007 and 2008, and after placing 12th a year ago. Four of the top five are back from that team, and they placed five among the top 18 to win a Regional that included No. 5 Plymouth Christian Academy and No. 14 Dansville. St. Philip is seeking its first MHSAA title in this sport, having finished runner-up in 1969. The Tigers were 18th last year bringing three freshmen to MIS. All three are back along with two others from that lineup, and they followed senior Kenny Wojcik to a Regional win last week as he came in first and five more finished among the top 15.
Individuals: Even with Kloss running in Division 3 this weekend, four more from last year’s top 10 are back for this race led by Cass City senior and reigning champion CarLee Stimpfel. He’s joined by Ubly senior Alex Grifka (fifth), Bear Lake/Onekama senior Gary McBride (eighth) and Lansing Christian senior Davis Tebben (10th). Expect to see plenty of new names fill out the top of this year’s list. Stimpfel did win his Regional ahead of Grifka last week. But others to watch are Fairview senior Tylor Ross, Walkerville sophomore Shane Achterhof, Whittemore-Prescott senior Zane Aldrich, Bridgman senior Drew Dow, Plymouth Christian junior Luke Pohl, Sand Creek senior Travis Carson and Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest sophomore Ethan Rice. All won Regional titles last week, Achterhof ahead of McBride.
PHOTO: Coldwater’s Shuaib Aljabaly (center), holds off Novi’s Gabriel Mudel (left) and Chelsea’s Tom Oates to win the Spartan Invitational “elite” race on Sept. 15. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Benzie's 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Champ Running Once More to Make History
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 4, 2022
When Benzie Central superstar Hunter Jones seeks his fourth straight MHSAA Finals cross country title Saturday, his race strategy will not change.
He plans to get the lead early, beat everybody in the first mile, pick up the pace in surges in the second mile and hang on with whatever he has left in the tank for the third mile.
And, perhaps as important, don’t get off course.
“I am kind of known as the guy that goes the wrong way,” Jones admitted with a laugh. “I’ve done it quite a few times.
“Now I have to make a conscious effort to walk the course before,” he continued. “You know I am always a little worried if there is no cart in the front to go in front of the race.”
Jones recalls almost following a cart off the course in one of his Finals. Luckily, he realized in time that the cart was leaving the course and he managed to avoid disqualification.
“The cart actually went off the trail to get out of my way, and I followed the cart,” he recalled. “I almost went off the course.
“I stayed in between the cones, and it probably cost me five seconds.”
He’ll be running the same course — Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn — that he’s dominated in winning Lower Peninsula Division 3 championships his first three years. And he’s coming off setting a course record at Remus Chippewa Hills, hosts of the Regional. That win finished a career Regional sweep for Jones, and he’ll be joined at the Finals by his entire team as the Huskies placed third.
The only year Benzie didn’t join Jones at the Finals was 2020 when the team was missing a top runner because of COVID-19. Dorian Olsen, Benzie’s number four runner, also will be appearing in his third Final as the only Huskies teammates to run with Jones all four years.
If Jones is successful in winning Saturday, he will become only the second Lower Peninsula runner to capture four Finals individual championships. The other was Ryan Shay of Central Lake from 1993-96. Shay went on to an All-America career at Notre Dame and ran professionally until his unexpected death in 2007 after he collapsed during the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in New York City.
Jones also has besting Jake Flynn’s three cross country Finals championships won for Benzie some 20 years ago on his mind as he seeks to become the first ever Michigan runner to win four with individual and team qualifiers competing in the same race. Shay won four championships during the era where separate Finals were run for team and individual qualifiers. Shay's championship as a freshman came in the individual qualifier race and his time would not have won the team race, but it's tough to say what might or what might not have happened had he been pushed by those he didn’t get the chance to run against.
Jones is well aware of the history, which also includes Brimley’s Austin Plotkin becoming just the second runner in state history to win four consecutive Finals titles when he finished his run at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 championship race in 2019.
“I would say it was a goal my freshman and sophomore year, and afterwards in became part of a plan,” Jones said of winning four titles. “It became a step in my bigger goals of going to nationals, getting All-American and national titles and stuff.
“I am on a good path,” he continued. “I feel like I have to keep improving and keep working hard.”
Jones will be going to Wake Forest next fall to join one of the elite Atlantic Coast Conference cross country programs. “We have a really good recruiting class for my years so all those guys will be pushing me,” Jones predicted.
Before that, he’ll also try to reach lofty goals for his senior track season including running a sub four-minute mile and going after the Benzie school record in the 400. Jones owns all of the long-distance school records at Benzie, and he’ll try to break those as well, setting the bar on those races even higher.
“Many before him set records that many thought may never be broken,” said Benzie coach Asa Kelly. “Hunter is different though.
“His current 5K PR (personal record) is 40 seconds faster than the previous record holder Jake Flynn, and he was a three-time state champion, Mr. Cross Country for the state of Michigan, and a Foot Locker All-American,” Kelly continued. “To put his legacy into perspective will take many years, and we still may never fully grasp the kind of runner Hunter Jones was.”
Benzie has a tradition of naming training groups after legendary runners, and team members fall into those based on ability level. Jones now has a group named after him. He is currently the solo member of that tier, and it may not ever change.
“Hunter has put himself in a separate class when it comes to the great Benzie runners,” Kelly said. “We have had so many tremendous runners come through this fine program.
“He is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete for a school like Benzie Central.”
Jones’ brother Rick and sister Sarah are among past standouts in Benzie’s rich track and cross country past. Hunter recalls watching his siblings compete, and also how he started running as a second grader and was winning races against fifth and sixth graders.
He hopes he’s had an impact on younger runners, especially the up-and-coming ones in Benzie’s middle school program. He’s looking forward to their futures as well.
“I feel like the people that are coming up now, like the middle schoolers and the freshman now, are going to be pretty good,” Jones said. “The younger kids definitely look up to me, and I try to do the right thing.”
Like many high school seniors, Jones has been surprised by how fast his high school days are vanishing.
“It’s gone by really fast,” Jones said. “I can’t believe it is almost four years already.
“I am sad that I am going to leave, but mostly excited that I get to go on and keep moving on to bigger things.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones (241) leads the pack during a race this fall. (Middle) Jones crosses the finish line first during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Top photo courtesy of the Benzie Central boys cross country program; middle by RunMichigan.com.)