Preview: Set to Launch New Contenders
November 1, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four individual cross country champions who had won a combined seven MHSAA Finals titles finished their high school careers at Michigan International Speedway last year.
That means there’s plenty of opportunities for the next wave of runners at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula boys cross country championship races, and plenty of candidates ready to take the lead both individually and in what looks on paper to be wide-open team competition in at least two divisions.
A total of 995 runners will take to the course at MIS on Saturday for the four boys races, which begin with Division 4 at 10:50 a.m. 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 live broadcast on MHSAA.tv, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four meets.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Plymouth
2018 runner-up: Walled Lake Central
2019 top-ranked: 1. Brighton, 2. Dexter, 3. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Brighton is favored to win its first boys cross country championship since 1995 bringing back its top three finishers from last year’s 10th-place team. Senior Zacahry Stewart was fourth in 2018, senior Jack Spamer was 18th, and Spamer is an individual contender with the state’s second-fastest boys time (14:48.1) this season. Stewart’s 15:07.1 season-best ranks eighth statewide covering all divisions, and senior Scott Spaanstra also returns from last season and could make a run at the individual top 20. Dexter is led by senior Owen Huard, whose 15:04 season best ranks seventh statewide after he finished 16th at last year’s Final. He’s one of four Dexter runners back from the team that finished third last season, and senior Nathan Larson was another top individual coming in 22nd. Stoney Creek finished 16th as a team last year with only one senior in the lineup, its fifth finisher. The other six all are back, with senior Sam Tarling last year’s top individual placer at 52nd.
Individuals: Plymouth senior Carter Solomon has three top-18 finishes at past Finals and came in second, five seconds off the lead, a year ago. He’s undefeated this fall and at his Regional ran the state’s fastest time of the season, 14:42.7. Total, four of last season’s top eight Finals finishers are back. Stewart, Clarkston senior Brendan Favazza (fifth) and Fraser senior Joey Tavalieri (eighth) join Solomon, and nine more of the top 20 placers in 2018 also are back in the field. Hartland sophomore Riley Hough has been another of the top runners in Division 1 this fall after placing 27th a year ago.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Chelsea
2018 runner-up: Fremont
2019 top-ranked: 1. Fremont, 2. Otsego, 3. Haslett.
Chelsea has won the last two Division 2 championships and is ranked No. 4 this week, having graduated its top two from last year’s team but returning its other five runners including senior Will Scott (14th individually in 2018). Last season’s team runner-up Fremont posted nearly a perfect score at its Regional last weekend and returns its top six runners from last year’s Final, led by juniors Nathan Walker (fifth) and Ben Paige (25th); Walker’s 14:52.8 at the Regional is the state’s third-fastest boys time this season regardless of division. Otsego graduated last year’s individual champion from the team that finished fifth, but returns five runners led by senior Hunter Zartman (21st in 2018). Haslett placed now-seniors Joseph Ecklund and Danny Ezzo 38th and 40th last season, respectively, in finishing eighth as a team, and total its top six runners are back this weekend.
Individuals: With four of the top six, six of the top 10, and 9 of the top 19 back from the 2018 Final, this also should be a fast race to the finish. East Grand Rapids senior Evan Bishop was the runner-up a year ago and he’s won every race this fall but one, finishing second to a runner from Ohio at the Spartan Invitational Elite Race at Michigan State. Bishop’s personal record (PR) of 14:56.4 from last weekend’s Regional was the fourth-fastest time in the state this fall. Dearborn Divine Child senior twins Anthony and Michael Hancock have the fifth and sixth-fastest times in the state this fall at 14:59.1 and 14:59.4, respectively, and they came in fourth and sixth at last year’s Final. Linden senior Tyler Buchanan (ninth) and Zeeland West senior Ethan Senti (10th) also are back from the top 10.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Caro
2018 runner-up: Pewamo-Westphalia
2019 top-ranked: 1. Hanover-Horton, 2 Charlevoix, 3. Hart.
Hanover-Horton was the team champion in 2017 and finished fourth a year ago. Four runners from the 2018 team will be back this weekend, with senior Garrett Melling (49th) the top returning finisher. Charlevoix brings back its top two and six of its seven runners from the team that finished 10th a year ago, with Blaise Snabes (64th) the top individual placer from that bunch. Hart was sixth last year and brings back four runners including junior Alex Enns, who came in 11th individually. He and his teammates are bolstered by a trio of freshmen who all finished among the top 19 as Hart edged No. 7 Benzie Central for last week’s Regional title. Saugatuck, last season’s Division 4 champion, is running in Division 3 this weekend and ranked No. 6.
Individuals: Benzie freshman Hunter Jones has been the talk of northern Michigan as one of the state and nation’s fastest in his grade, and his PR of 15:24.8 is nearly 22 seconds better than anyone else’s best in Division 3 this season. Saugatuck junior Nik Pettinga also joins the pack after finishing third in Division 4 last fall. There’s room for new contenders as the top six placers at last season’s Final all were seniors. Pewamo-Westphalia senior Hayden Germain (seventh) is the highest returning finisher, and he was edged by senior teammate Ashton Walker (14th) at last week’s Regional. Jonesville senior Carson Laney (eighth) and Morley Stanwood senior Aiden McLaughlin (ninth) also are back from the 2018 top 10, and New Lothrop junior Carson Hersch could make a big jump. He came in 44th at last year’s Final but has the second-fastest time in Division 3 this fall at 15:46.4.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Saugatuck
2018 runner-up: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
2019 top-ranked: 1. Breckenridge, 2. East Jordan, 3. Unionville-Sebewaing.
With Saugatuck in Division 3, there will be a new champion – and Breckenridge is seeking its first title since 1976. The Huskies were fourth last season without a senior in the lineup. All seven runners are back, with sophomore Mason Sumner coming off a sixth-place individual finish and posting the fastest time (15:43.4) in Division 4 this season. East Jordan was third last year with just one senior, and five of the top seven are back including seniors Ethan Nachazel (18th) and Ben Hardy (19th). USA was fifth last season with only one senior, and junior Bentley Alderson (12th) leads six returnees back at MIS.
Individuals: Although Carson City-Crystal junior Coleman Clark is the top returning placer after coming in fifth a year ago, half the top 10 and 11 of the top 20 will race again this weekend. Walkerville senior Shane Achterhof (seventh), Johannesburg-Lewiston junior Carlos Gascho (eighth) and White Cloud senior Reginald Richmond (10th) all are back from the first group. Webberville sophomore Nathan Lott ran the fourth-fastest time (16:20) in Division 4 this fall in winning his Regional after coming in 27th at last year’s Final.
PHOTO: Breckenridge’s Mason Sumner pushes the pace during the Shepherd John Bruder Classic earlier this fall. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Livingston Pair Hough, Jarema, Primed for More Memorable Runs
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
August 23, 2021
Hartland’s Riley Hough and Pinckney’s Caleb Jarema don’t see a lot of each other during their respective seasons, despite their schools being both located in Livingston County.
Hartland is in Division 1 and Pinckney in Division 2, for starters, and they are in different conferences as well.
They might have a rare chance to compete against each other in October’s Portage Invitational, provided Pinckney coach Jim Wicker can get his team into the Division 1 portion of the meet.
Otherwise Hough, who won the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals individual race last year, and Jarema, who was second last year in Division 2, may not face each other during this fall’s MHSAA season.
“We know each other pretty well,” Hough said. “We don’t talk too much, but when we’re racing we’re always talking a little bit.”
That is, until it’s time to go.
“Yes,” Hough said. “That’s when it gets silent and pretty serious.”
Both played soccer before turning to cross country. Hough got his start running while working on conditioning before playing soccer in the fourth and fifth grades.
“Then I did some local 5Ks, like the Howell Melon Run and the (Howell) Headless Horseman runs, and I saw I did pretty well for my age,” Hough said. “So did my parents. So we decided I could try cross country in the sixth grade, and it took off from there.”
Jarema took a different route. He played soccer and ran cross country his first two years of high school before giving up soccer before his junior year in 2020.
“I just started to enjoy running a lot more than soccer,” he explained, “and it became really hard to do both.”
It certainly worked out. Jarema improved from a 38th-place finish as a sophomore to second as a junior.
Both come from running families.
Jarema also was inspired by his older siblings. Brother Aaron is a senior at Ferris State University, while sister Courtney ran for a season at Oakland University.
“My brother was running for Pinckney, and I would be at his meets and it just seemed like a really fun environment,” Jarema said. “My brother was one of my role models, and I liked watching him run. I wanted to do the same thing he did, and then I ended up really enjoying it.”
Hough’s father, Jeff, competed at Corunna in high school, then went to Central Michigan University before finishing his career at William & Mary. He is an assistant coach at Hartland, and father and son talk running while driving to and from meets, among other things.
“He’s fortunate, or unfortunate, however you look at it, that he has to live with me,” Jeff says. “So we can discuss these things one-on-one. He’s very consistent at what he does, and it’s just a matter of improving from race to race. We’re down into small detail things now. He’s got the racing portion down now, We’re into the small, nitty-gritty things that can make a difference.”
Both also know they are on everyone’s list this season. Hough's 14:49.62 last year was the second-fastest Finals time, all classes and divisions, since the championship race went to 5K in 1980. Jarema was one of only four runners to break 16 minutes in Division 2, and the other three runners graduated.
“There definitely is a mental pressure of having a target on your back,” Riley Hough said. “I’ve had it for a while and I know what it’s like. It’s hard. It helps push me along as well. It’s a little easier now that I’m used to it. Now that I’m a senior, I have these fast times and people are going to be gunning for me. It’s definitely going to be interesting.”
The times are the times, which give both confidence without veering into cockiness.
That also allows Jarema to admit, without any personal animosity, that he’s never beaten Hough.
“I feel I’m as good as anyone in the state,” Jarema said. “I mean, Riley is a phenomenal runner, and I may not be better than him. But I feel I can compete with him, for sure. So I feel there’s a target on my back, and yeah, I would say that it pushes me to be better off, for sure. I know there are kids who are working just as hard as me and are looking for the same type of breakout season.”
Both runners are part of teams that are close. Jarema talks about the importance of family, both his own and one created by his teammates. Hartland coach Matt Gutteridge, meanwhile, talks about Hough’s contributions on and off the race course.
“What I appreciate about Riley is how consistent he is,” Gutteridge said. “Whether it’s the training, or showing up and doing the little things, the leadership, I mean, he’s stepping up his game everywhere. He’s a consistent teammate and a consistent athlete. It’s fun to coach someone who’s that darn consistent.
“What he’s been able to do day in and day out still surprises me,” Gutteridge added. “He’s smart about his training. Even when he gets nicked up, he doesn’t shut it down. He pushes through it and is smart about it. That’s where I think he’s going to be successful, long-term. He really listens to his body, trusts his coaches, and the sky’s the limit for him.”
Pinckney coach Jim Wicker, a former Pirate who ran at Eastern Michigan, said he could see Jarema’s potential early.
“You could tell way back in the sixth grade he was going to be something special,” Wicker said. “He was always in the front, even if he was running against older kids. His talent and his competitive nature are just natural.
“He has high expectations and he really wants to be a Division I recruit,” Wicker continued. “He’s being recruited by some pretty good schools. I’m really proud of him. He’s doing a good job of staying grounded, keeping everything in perspective. He’s working hard, and I’m expecting big things from him.”
Hough and Jarema may have a few other chances to race each other this fall – potentially in non-MHSAA events after the Finals in November – and they’re both looking forward to possibly competing head-to-head.
“We definitely have conversations before the race, but once we get on the line it’s dead,” Jarema says of pre-race chit-chat. “He’s a super-nice kid, and I do really enjoy competing against him. You know, it’s more fun to compete against people who are friendly.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hartland's Riley Hough, left, and Pinckney's Caleb Jarema sprint to the finish during last season's MHSAA Finals at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Hough crosses the line first in Division 1. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)