Questions Answered for D1 Winner
November 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — It's been a year of "what-ifs" for Grand Blanc junior Grant Fisher.
What if the Bobcats' soccer team hadn't made the MHSAA Division 1 Final last season?
What if Fisher, a starting midfielder as a sophomore, hadn't chosen to play in the championship game instead of running in the MHSAA Cross Country Finals, which took place on the same day?
How would he have done against the best runners in the state?
"The soccer final didn't turn out the way we wanted," Fisher said. "We lost 1-0 to East Kentwood. There's always the thought that maybe I could've come here that day and not gone to the soccer game and maybe contended for state. I don't regret that decision, but it's definitely good to be back."
There will be no questions swirling in Fisher's head for the next year. He ran to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship Saturday with a time of 15:13.7, beating Kensington Lakes Activities Association West rival and defending champion Brian Kettle of Milford by 18 seconds.
The soccer issue was settled when an unbeaten Grand Blanc team was upset 1-0 in the District Final by Clarkston on Oct. 19. Fisher had already determined that he would run in the cross country finals if the Bobcats reached the soccer final.
"We definitely had a good chance to make it in soccer," Fisher said. "We were ranked fourth going in. It was really too bad of a way to go out. It's allowed me to train for cross more and focus. It's definitely helped my cross country. I haven't won a state title in cross. That's something I really wanted to do."
Fisher already had an MHSAA championship on his resume, winning the 3,200-meter run in track and field last spring after taking second in the 1,600 by the narrowest of margins. In his only cross country final before Saturday, Fisher was 44th as a freshman in 16:14.3.
He had raced Kettle one other time this season, winning by 14.6 seconds in the KLAA Lakes Conference meet on Oct. 17. As was the case in that meet, Fisher and Kettle ran together through two miles before Fisher pulled away.
"I didn't want to leave it for too late, so I made my move at two miles," Fisher said. "Brian was with me for a good amount of time. He was right on my shoulder."
Fisher became the third Bobcat to win an MHSAA championship. Mark Mesler was the Class A team champion in 1977 and Chris Catton was the 2002 Division 1 winner.
Kettle didn't come away empty-handed, as he led Milford to a third straight team championship by placing in the top two for the third year in a row.
Milford edged KLAA Lakes rival Waterford Mott, 165-170, for the title. Mott had beaten Milford in both of the teams' meetings this year, winning 88-114 at the Oakland County Championships on Oct. 5 and 63-72 in the KLAA Lakes Conference meet on Oct. 17.
Milford put it together at the right time to win a fifth championship in the last 11 years.
The difference for the Mavericks was at the No. 4 spot, where senior Kevin Black had a 24-point advantage on Mott's No. 4 runner. Three positions were relatively even between the teams, while Mott had an 18-point advantage at No. 2.
Scoring for Milford were Kettle, senior Jeffery Field (28th in the team race, 16:24.0), junior Sean Noone (31st, 16:25.2), Black (34th, 16:26.6) and senior Clinton Caddell (70th, 16:48.5).
Mott had two runners in the top 10 in the team race, third-place Ryan Robinson (15:42.6) and 10th-place Sam Albaugh (15:55.5).
Traverse City Central also was in the title hunt, taking third with 180 points. The Trojans had three runners in the top 11 in the team race, but their No. 5 runner was 118th.
PHOTO: Grand Blanc's Grant Fisher (1023), Waterford Mott's Ryan Robinson (1175), Royal Oak's Ben Hill (1254) and Milford's Brian Kettle (1047) paced the field at Saturday's LP Division 1 Final. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Changes Pay Off for D3 Boys Champ
November 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — It wasn't all putting in extra miles and running at a higher intensity.
For Lansing Catholic junior Keenan Rebera, it was going to take a lifestyle change if he was going to climb the final four places to become the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 cross country champion.
The changes paid off for Rebera, who cruised to the Division 3 title with a time of 15:31.0 on a mud-slicked Michigan International Speedway course on Saturday.
A year ago, Rebera took fifth at MIS in 15:42.5, 37.4 seconds out of first place. He made it a point to get at least eight hours of sleep and cut out anything acidic from his diet, including soda.
"I was really sick last year when I ran, so I made some changes in the way I trained, the way I slept and the way I ate," he said. "I'm a lot healthier. I have more energy. I came back here with a grudge against this course."
Chase Barnett of Mason County Central shot out to the lead before Rebera reeled him in and began to open up an insurmountable gap as he ran the first mile in 4:40. Barnett finished second in 16:00.9.
"After that first hill, I sped up," Rebera said. "I realized it was going to be a little bit slow, so I wanted to keep up the pace."
The third mile was the roughest of the race, he said. Not only was fatigue mounting, but runners went through the muddiest part of the course. The pain went away as Rebera took what was essentially a victory lap down the long straightaway at MIS.
"It hurt really bad right before that, but when people started cheering there and there was a little less mud, it felt good," he said.
Rebera is the second Lansing Catholic runner in the last three years to win the individual title. Zachary Zingsheim was the school's first MHSAA champ two years ago in 15:48.2.
Rebera was hoping his performance would lead the Cougars to a team championship, but they took third with 189 points.
The Benzie Central dynasty rolled to another championship by a 111-129 margin over runner-up Stockbridge.
It was the seventh title for Benzie Central, which has cracked the top 10 for 20 straight years.
The Huskies returned five runners from a team that took fourth last season for the second year in a row. A huge addition was freshman Brayden Huddleston, who was the team's No. 2 runner and 17th among team runners in 16:41.5. Junior Kyle Bradley led Benzie, taking 14th among team runners in 16:39.4.
Also scoring for the Huskies were senior Max Gaft (19th, 16:48.1), senior Ismael Halaweh (30th, 17:07.9) and sophomore Jake Williams (31st, 17:08.3). Williams' performance made a huge difference, as he came in 27 places ahead of Stockbridge's No. 5 runner among team finishers.
PHOTO: Lansing Catholic's Keenan Rebera rounds the bend at MIS on the way to winning the LP Division 3 championship Saturday. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)