Preview: Powers Prepared to Surge
October 19, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Marquette and Ishpeming have combined for 40 Upper Peninsula boys cross country championships over the years.
They’re predicted to add to that total this weekend.
The Redmen and Hematites are among teams that enter Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Boys Cross Country Finals top-ranked in their respective divisions. Chassell also is a favorite, running for its eight MHSAA championship in this sport.
Races at Pictured Rocks Golf Course in Munising begin Saturday with the Division 1 boys at 11 a.m. and finish with the Division 3 girls at 1:30 p.m. Check back Saturday evening for coverage, and see below for more teams and individuals to watch.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Houghton
2017 runner-up: Marquette
2018 top-ranked: 1. Marquette, 2. Houghton, 3. Gladstone.
Marquette has won the most U.P. Finals titles, 22, and is favored to win its first since 2014. The Redmen finished 15 points behind Houghton last season as they combined to take six of the top 10 team places – although five of those runners graduated this spring and the sixth isn’t running this weekend. The Redmen did win the Great Northern Conference meet last week with five of the top 10 finishers led by senior Mathurin Gagnon, who took 22nd at last season’s Final. Houghton finished second in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference and returns senior Clayton Bulleit, who was 18th at last season’s Final, and junior Joe Wood was the individual West-PAC champ. Gladstone, led by individual favorite Adam Bruce, was second at the GNC taking the top two spots and three of the top six.
Individuals: Seven of the top 20 from last season’s Final are back this weekend, and Bruce recently won both the GNC and Mid-Peninsula Conference meet championships. Senior teammate Jake Strasler was eighth last season and should help keep the Braves in the team title hunt. Negaunee junior Eric Anderson also returns after finishing ninth, and Sault Ste. Marie brings back three top-20 finishers from a year ago – junior Kaaleb Ranta, sophomore Hunter Walther and senior Jakob Hopkins.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Gogebic (Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer)
2017 runner-up: Ishpeming
2018 top-ranked: 1. Ishpeming, 2. Gogebic, 3. Ironwood.
Last season’s Final was a two-team race with Gogebic and Ishpeming placing nine of the top 10 runners. Ishpeming’s top seven all placed among the top 17, and five of those runners return led by individual champion and now-senior Spencer Giroux, junior Jonah Broberg (fifth) and senior Devin Tasson (10th). Gogebic placed six among the top 14 a year ago, and four return including seniors Uriah Aili (third), Devon Byers (fourth) and Cade Mazzon (sixth). Ironwood is led by senior Nick Niemi, who came in eighth last season, and junior David Collins is returning after finishing 16th. Aili, Niemi and Giroux finished in that order in the top three spots and all within two seconds of each other at the Houghton Invitational on Oct. 4.
Individuals: The front pack should have a familiar look with 14 of last season’s top 20 running this weekend. In addition to the many listed above, watch for Ishpeming sophomores Jordan Longtine (12th last season) and Silas Broberg (17th), Gogebic junior Adam Mazurek (14th), Newberry sophomore Ephram Evans (15th) and senior Chase Canfield (19th) and Manistique junior Alex Misniakiewicz (20th).
Division 3
Reigning champion: Brimley
2017 runner-up: Chassell
2018 top-ranked: 1. Chassell, 2. Dollar Bay, 3. Rock Mid-Peninsula.
This was another two-team race last season – so much so that it came down to a sixth-runner tiebreaker. Chassell won three straight titles from 2014-16 and is expected to rise to the top spot again returning three of last season’s top 13 – seniors Ben Tuomi (third) and Kurtis Kytta (sixth) and freshman Daba Holmes (13th). Brimley was left out of the final rankings but returns three of the top 11 finishers – reigning individual champion and now-junior Austin Plotkin plus sophomore Cameron Hoonstra (eighth) and senior Hunter Lipponen (11th).
Individuals: Cedarville junior Thomas Bohn was the runner-up a year ago and also is back, meaning the top three from last season’s race all return as 10 of the top 16 are expected to run Saturday. Also look out for Powers North Central senior Griffin Johnson (ninth last year), Rudyard junior Payton Cheney (10th) and Rapid River junior Azariah Hernandez (16th).
PHOTO: Gladstone’s Adam Bruce, left, and Ishpeming’s Spencer Giroux lead the pack at the Mid-Peninsula Conference championship race Oct. 8. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)
Onsted's Hiatt Completes Title Climb, St. Francis Repeats as Team Champ
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — When Brody Amthor moved to Onsted from Lawrence in 2021, it gave the Wildcats a solid No. 1 runner who had experience in two MHSAA Division 4 Finals.
For then-freshman Mitchell Hiatt, the addition of Amthor provided a role model.
Hiatt’s fastest time in ninth grade was 19 minutes, 0.7 seconds. He was a long way from even getting to Michigan International Speedway, finishing 54th at Regionals in 20:02.9.
But the process that would eventually make him an MHSAA Finals champion had begun.
“When I was a freshman, I only ran 19 minutes,” Hiatt said after winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final in 15:15.5 on Saturday at MIS. “I didn’t think I’d be able to be a state champ. It took a lot of running. I had so many people that helped me get to this point. It’s good to see hard work pay off.”
One of those people was Amthor, who was a junior when Hiatt was a freshman.
“I ran in middle school, but I wasn’t that fast,” Hiatt said. “There was somebody my freshman year who moved to our school. His name was Brody Amthor. He was the person who got me into running and got me to actually start training. He helped me a lot, and so did my coaches.”
Reed City senior August Rohde came into the meet with the fastest time in Division 3, winning Regionals one week earlier in 14:58.7 on a Benzie Central course known for yielding personal bests.
Rohde liked the position he was in when he and Hiatt reached the mile mark in 4:52. Separation began in the second mile, with Hiatt hitting the two-mile mark in 9:49.3 and Rohde in 9:57.9.
“It was fine until after one mile,” Rohde said. “I got out how I wanted to. I tried to have him run my race. He dropped me. He ran a great race. Our second mile was slower than the first, so I think he was just maintaining the pace better than I did.”
As he made his way down the long straightaway at MIS, Hiatt had a large lead over Rohde, but he ran like he could be caught at any moment. He wouldn’t allow himself to make the final couple hundred yards a victory lap.
“Oh, I didn’t know where he was,” Hiatt said. “I thought he was still close to me. Whenever I have races like that, to be completely honest, I get scared to lose. It just makes me try to go faster and keep pushing the pace.”
Hiatt, who was sixth in Division 3 last year, became the first Onsted runner to win the overall championship at the Finals since Eric Ramsey ran the fastest Class C time of the day in 1987 when there were team and individual races. In 1990, Michael Vischer of Onsted won the Class C team race in 16:05, but Michael Ball of Hudson ran 15:57 to win the individual race.
“I came into this race telling myself that if I put myself in a good position in the start and I don’t get boxed in, then I think I’d be able to win it,” Hiatt said. “That’s what happened.”
Traverse City St. Francis repeated as the team champion by an 86-177 margin over Saugatuck, putting four runners on the all-state podium.
Senior Riley Pattinson was 10th in 15:51.9, sophomore William Ready 11th in 15:52.2, senior Owen Read 22nd in 16:03.7, senior Robby Myler 27th in 16:13.2 and senior Josh Slocum 39th in 16:26.3.
The Gladiators had four runners across the line before Saugatuck’s first finisher.
St. Francis returned five runners from last year’s championship lineup — Pattinson, Read, Myler, Slocum and senior sixth runner Lewis Walter.
St. Francis has finished in the top six for six consecutive seasons.
PHOTOS (Top) Onsted’s Mitchell Hiatt charges toward the finish Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Riley Pattinson (970) emerges from a pack to lead St. Francis’ finishers. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)