Preview: Last Run for Senior Standouts

October 29, 2014

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Cross Country frequently sees the same top programs show best when championships are decided at the annual MHSAA Finals at Michigan International Speedway.

But the return of all four individual champions from a previous season is certainly rare – and could make Saturday’s races as a set among the most noteworthy in some time as all four run for the final time at the high school level.

Click for a full list of competitors plus additional information on Saturday’s event, which will see 1,002 boys at the start line. Read on for more of the run-up to the team and individual competitions in all four races.

DIVISION 1

Reigning champion: Milford
2013 runner-up: Waterford Mott
2014 top-ranked: 1. Waterford Mott, 2. Northville, 3. Rockford.

Milford’s three-season run atop Division 1 will end after the team graduated five of its top six – only one runner qualified for this weekend. Mott, the runner-up the last two seasons, would be happy to take the next step. The Corsairs return their top three and four of their top six from last season’s runner-up team, including fourth-place senior Ryan Robinson and 14th-place senior Sam Albaugh. Northville will look to jump from fifth returning four of its top five from 2013 including 21st-place senior Nick Noles, and Rockford should make a nice move after coming in 12th last year while running five underclassmen – the Rams’ top five are back, and freshman Cole Johnson was their second-fastest and sixth overall at the Regional win last week.

Individuals: In addition to Robinson and Albaugh, eight more of last season’s top 10 are back – but they’ll have their work cut out trying to catch reigning champion Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc. He won last season’s race by 18 seconds in 15:13.7, the 10th-fastest time in LP Division 1 Finals history. Warren DeLaSalle senior Mickey Davey finished ninth last season and joined Fisher, Robinson and Portage Central senior Connor Wuori (12th in 2013) among top-20 Finals placers from last fall who won Regionals last weekend.

DIVISION 2

Reigning champion: St. Clair
2013 runner-up: St. Joseph
2014 top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Fremont, 3. St. Joseph.

Grand Rapids Christian just missed its first top-two Finals finish last season since 1978, and is favored to claim its first title with six of seven runners from 2013 back including ninth-place senior Benny Briseno. Fremont’s tradition is more storied – the Packers’ seven MHSAA titles are tied for fourth-most by Lower Peninsula programs – and despite not making the Finals as a team in 2013 are returning after placing four among the top eight in winning their Regional. St. Joseph has finished runner-up two of the last three seasons and brings back four of its top six from last fall including its top two finishers, seniors Erik Edwards (15th) and Nick Jewell (28th). Two-time reigning champion St. Clair made the Final again despite no seniors in the lineup after graduating its top six from last season’s victorious team.

Individuals: There should be some turnover among the lead packs, with 11 of last season’s top 20 graduated. But five of the top 10 return, beginning with reigning champion and Cedar Springs senior Austin Sargent. Third-place junior Blake Watson from Corunna is back to make another push, joining St. Johns senior Codey Cook (seventh), Briseno and Chelsea senior David Trimas (10th) among the top returning finishers. Sargent had the fastest Regional time last week in Division 2, 15:46.2, followed by Briseno (15:48) and Corunna sophomore Noah Jacobs (15:59.2), who beat teammate Watson by 25 seconds and finished 56th at last season’s Final.

DIVISION 3

Reigning champion: Benzonia Benzie Central
2013 runner-up: Stockbridge
2014 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2. Benzie Central, 3. Hanover-Horton.

Reigning individual champion and senior Keenan Rebera leads the favored Cougars, who bring back four of their top five from last season’s third-place team. But reigning champion Benzie Central is far from being out of the conversation – the Huskies have four of their top six back from 2013 including top-30 finishers senior Kyle Bailey (23rd) and sophomore Brayden Huddleston (27th). Hanover-Horton finished sixth last season with three sophomores and a freshman topping the lineup – four of the top five are back, and the team’s top five this season all finished among the first 13 at their Regional.

Individuals: Rebera won last season’s race by just under 30 seconds, in 15:31, and won his Regional last week by 33. But Michigan Center senior Ben Utz also was a Regional champ, by 29 seconds, after finishing third at the 2013 Final. Mason County Central junior Zac Benham (fifth) and Comstock senior Zack Richards (ninth) also are back from last season’s top 10. Grandville Calvin Christian senior Abe Visser (15th in 2013), Hesperia senior Damien Halverson (18th) and Calvin Christian senior Logan Jurgens (13th) all cleared 15:51 on Saturday in taking the top three places, respectively, at the fastest Regional in this division.

DIVISION 4

Reigning champion: Saugatuck
2013 runner-up: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
2014 top-ranked: 1. Saugatuck, 2. Concord, 3. Bear Lake/Onekama.

After breaking Concord’s two-year hold on Division 4 last season, Saugatuck is expected to extend its streak to two on the strength of four of its top six from 2013. Joe Brown is the only senior; the Indians’ other six runners are sophomores. But Concord will try to take the title back with its top six from 2013 including two-time individual champion Jesse Hersha and last season’s sixth place Jacob Hall, both seniors. Bear Lake/Onekama graduated three of its top four from last season’s fourth-place team, but junior Jordan Anderson was the team’s second-fastest runner at last season’s Final, finishing 19th overall. Freshmen Gary McBride and Kaiden Hejl finished behind Anderson and among the top five at their Regional as the team won with 27 points.

Individuals: Half of last season’s top 20 will run this race Saturday, but Hersha will be tough to chase down. He won last season’s title by 44 seconds, and his 15:32.3 winning time in 2012 is the sixth-fastest in LP Division 4 Finals history. Ellsworth senior Winter Romeyn (ninth) and Beal City senior Nick Pung (10th) join the Concord pair among returning top-10 finishers. Harbor Beach senior Luke Anderson, 13th last season, joined Hersha (15:46) in breaking 16 minutes at last week’s Regional, winning by a minute over Ubly senior Adam Grifka (17th in 2013) in 15:52.

PHOTO: Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher, running the final stretch during last season’s LP Division 1 Final, will look to repeat as champion. (Click to see more this weekend from RunMichigan.com.)

Seniors Setting Pace for East Jordan Run

August 23, 2019

By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half

EAST JORDAN — Matt Peterson says he couldn’t have asked for a better group than the one he has this year making up his boys cross country team at East Jordan.

Peterson also couldn’t have asked for more experience than the Red Devils bring into the 2019 season.

East Jordan returns its top five runners from a team that finished third at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals last year, all part of a senior class that has made a major impact for the Red Devils over the past three years.

“Not only are they hard workers and pretty talented runners,” said Peterson, “they’re all just real high-quality kids. They truly lift up everyone around them, not just on our team but in the school. They’re just positive, positive kids, every one of them. I feel super lucky to have them.”

Ethan Nachazel, Aaron Nachazel, Ben Hardy, Alex Schlueter and Caleb Carson are the quintet the Red Devils have leaned on primarily since they entered high school. They led East Jordan to a pair of top-10 finishes in 2017 and 2018 after snapping a 16-year Finals drought for a program that won titles in 1998 and 2000.

The seniors are the best of friends, spending countless hours together at sleepovers or for training runs. Their relationships have forged a bond of cohesiveness between the veteran leaders of the team and the squad in general.

“We’ve all grown up together since kindergarten, and we know each other pretty well,” said Ethan Nachazel. “We keep each other accountable. It’s just nice to know you have all these guys keeping each other together. It’s very important because not only do you work better together and improve quicker, but you also bond way quicker together than you would just by being at practice.”

By all accounts Ethan Nachazel is the Red Devils’ top runner, finishing a team-best 14th overall at last year’s Final and 28th overall to pace East Jordan in 2017. But after that, the pecking order can change from meet to meet and year to year. Hardy, for example, was East Jordan’s fourth counter at the 2017 Final, but improved his time by 1 minute, 14 seconds at last season’s meet to take 15th overall, finishing alongside Ethan Nachazel.

“Ethan has been predominately our first guy, except for one or two meets last year,” said Peterson. “I expect the top five or six to probably move around a bit.”

The Red Devils’ seniors, a collection that has a team-first mindset, have no qualms about who finishes in what order. They’ve set a standard amongst themselves to work toward the ultimate goal — team success.

“It’s fun,” said Nachazel. “We all take the lead during workouts, and we all try to share as much as we can. I think we all contribute just as much. We share the wealth equally.”

“I don’t think it would matter if someone ran well and they were normally the second guy and became the fourth guy because someone knocked them out of their place, but it helped the team,” said Peterson. “They would be OK with that.”

From serious to silly, the Red Devils’ seniors have diverse personalities, but that seems to work toward their advantage in creating good team chemistry, too.

“I think that’s a good mix to have,” said Peterson. “You need to have the serious kids on the team, and you need to have the kids who will provide a little levity and help kids relax once in a while.”

East Jordan’s coach describes Ethan Nachazel as the most serious, while Schlueter brings a humorous side to the equation.

“I think it’s very important to be light-hearted outside of practice and in practice too,” said Schlueter. “Just kind of get everyone’s spirits up. If we were too focused for too long we would just run out of that mental energy at the end of the season, and we don’t want that so I just keep everything light. But when it comes to race day, when we get on that line, it’s just focus.”

The Red Devils have depth outside of their seniors as well. Peterson sees junior Phillip Nemecek and sophomore Caleb Ziebarth as having the capabilities to contribute and perhaps even crack the top five on the team.

Ultimately, the Red Devils are hoping it all leads to another trip to the Finals. There’s no doubting East Jordan is armed with the experience and the ability.

“I think the key for this team, but I could say for any cross country team, is us having a small 1-to-5 gap,” said Peterson. “If we’re fortunate enough to get to the state meet again, I think the team that can pack it up the most and have the smallest gap is going to have the potential to be really successful.”

No matter what happens, though, the Red Devils know the friendships and connections they’ve formed over the years are, and will remain, strong.

“Cross country is one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said Schlueter. “I’ve just met so many people that I love. I’ve fallen in love with these guys. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”

Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. 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.

PHOTO: East Jordan’s Ethan Nachazel leads a pack during Saturday’s Ryan Shay Memorial Invitational. (Photo by Chris Dobrowolski.)