Raymond Never Looks Back in D3 Final
November 3, 2012
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — When Nick Raymond found himself leading the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 cross country race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, he didn’t freak out.
He was right where he expected to be.
The Erie Mason senior shot to the lead with a blistering 4:39 opening mile and never looked back, winning with a personal-best time of 15:05.1 that ranks second on the Division 3/Class C all-time list for the MHSAA meet.
Only Maverick Darling, who runs for the University of Wisconsin, had a faster time in that division with his 14:52.8 performance in 2007.
It wasn’t the first time Raymond found himself in the lead in an MHSAA Final. It is the first time he felt he belonged up front, however.
“Last year I went out and was leading the race,” Raymond said. “I was a little confused, because I wasn’t expecting to do so. I kind of died and fell back. This time I was prepared to go out to the lead and just take it.”
Raymond faded to fourth last year in 15:59.0, 10.8 seconds behind winner Zachary Zingsheim of Lansing Catholic. One of the runners who beat Raymond last year was Chase Barnett of Mason County Central, the runner-up in 2011 who placed third Saturday in 15:28.7.
Raymond was undefeated this season, but said the competition at MIS helped push him to his personal best, though his goal was to break 15 minutes. Senior Bryce Stroede of Hanover-Horton was second in 15:22.4.
“I haven’t had any competition this season, except here, which I liked,” Raymond said. “It was great. I got a really fast time. I was happy with it.”
Raymond’s plan was to reach the mile mark in 4:45. Getting there six seconds faster didn’t concern him that he might’ve gone out too hard.
“The pace was a little fast,” he said. “I decided to just use it and keep going hard. In the second mile, I just surged.”
Jackson Lumen Christi won its first boys cross country team title since taking Class B in 1979, scoring 129 points to beat runner-up Marlette by eight. Defending champion Grandville Calvin Christian was third with 147.
Marlette and Calvin Christian both put two runners in the top 10 among team qualifiers, something Lumen Christi didn’t do. The Titans, however, won with superior depth.
Junior Karl Berkemeier was 12th among team qualifiers in 16:16.4, senior Charlie Ludlow was 13th in 16:17.7, sophomore Ryan Gibson was 20th in 16:24.1, junior Patrick Soltis was 30th in 16:50.7 and junior Canyon Raburn was 54th in 17:10.4.
PHOTO: Erie Mason's Nick Raymond (544) holds the lead 800 meters into Saturday's Division 3 Final, and kept it through the finish line. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
East Grand Rapids, Chelsea's Alford Take Next Steps as 1st-Time Finals Winners
November 5, 2022
BROOKLYN – The seeds that bore fruit Saturday for Chelsea junior Connell Alford were planted five years ago.
After making his first trip to watch the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway as a sixth grader, Alford began setting lofty goals for himself.
“In 2017, Chelsea won the team title,” Alford said. “That was my first state meet. Then I saw one of our runners get fifth. I thought, ‘You know what, I want to be a state champion one day.’ Since then, it’s always been a goal.”
Alford isn’t the only runner to dream of becoming a state champion, but he was able to make that dream a reality.
He dominated the field in the Lower Peninsula Division 2 meet, posting a time of 15:12.61 to outpace runner-up Carter McCalister of Monroe Jefferson by 24.93 seconds.
Running solo up front meant having to bear the full brunt of a strong wind. But Alford didn’t want to leave anything to chance after getting outkicked for fourth place last year by Dearborn Divine Child’s Michael Hegarty. Hegarty was fourth this year.
“I feel like there’s always a wind like that in the last 100 meters, like last year when I got fourth and got outkicked,” Alford said. “My game plan this year was don’t be in the final straight with anyone so I can’t be outkicked.”
Alford was the prohibitive favorite in Division 2 all season after winning eight of nine meets on his way to MIS and breaking 15 minutes twice. He didn’t see it that way.
“I still can’t totally believe it happened,” he said. “I knew with my performances there would be a shot, but after Regionals it was all open. It could have been anyone. We had super-fast Regionals. I knew there were crazy-fast people in the Regionals. It was still up for grabs in my mind.”
For the second-straight year, a runner from the Southeastern Conference White won the Division 2 title. Alford was preceded atop the podium by Pinckney’s Caleb Jarema, who now runs for the University of Michigan.
“I think last year I had Caleb Jarema in almost every race I ran,” Alford said. “That really helped. I learned stuff he did. I knew I could go off of what he did. He was such a strong runner. I used him as a model of, ‘Hey, I’m going to train so I can do that, too.’”
The SEC White flexed its collective muscles again in Division 2, with three of the top four teams hailing from that six-school division.
East Grand Rapids won the meet with 132 points, but the next three teams were from the SEC White. Chelsea was only five points out of first, Pinckney was 11 back and Adrian was 32 back.
While Chelsea, Pinckney and Adrian had runners in the top 10, East Grand Rapids won with the strength of its pack.
The Pioneers didn’t have a finisher until junior Ryan Brinker crossed in 28th place in 16:19.01, but he soon had company. Junior Alex Thole was 33rd (16:28.79), senior Elijah Robinson was 36th (16:30.52), freshman Jonah Workman was 45th (16:38.09) and junior Davis Christy was 46th (16:40.83).
The team title was the first in boys cross country for the Pioneers.
PHOTOS (Top) Chelsea’s Connell Alford travels the final paces of his LPD2 championship run Saturday. (Middle) East Grand Rapids’ Davis Christy (458) is among leaders of a pack heading toward the finish. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)