Runners Mourn St Louis Coach Mayer
January 12, 2016
By Dick Hoekstra
Reprinted from Gratiot County Herald
His former coach at St. Louis is one of the main reasons Dale Devine has been coaching cross country the past 25 years at Alma High School.
That coach, Jerry Mayer, passed away Dec. 8, at the age of 72 after battling Parkinson’s disease.
“Jerry and my friend Craig Higby got me interested in running,” Devine said. “One thing is Jerry always made it fun, although he also worked us very hard. Those times there was a lot of overtraining, but surprisingly none of us got injured. Maybe it’s because a lot of the kids ran around a lot more (than kids today).”
Higby was the individual MHSAA Finals champion on the Sharks’ 1979 team coached by Mayer, which edged Freeland 86-88 to win a Lower Peninsula Class C title at Clare.
Higby completed the three-mile course in 14:49, and was joined in the top 10 by three teammates. Armando Garza, who went on to run for Alma College, took fourth in 15:25; Paul Diaz, who later competed for Southwestern Michigan Community College, was sixth in 15:32; and Doug Border, whose son Brayden was an all-stater for the Sharks in 2007 and 2010, took 10th in 15:36.
But the Gratiot County Herald story that week said “the place that made the whole difference was Steve Crumbaugh in 65th with a time of 16:50. He gained several places near the end of the race which proved to be the winning margin over Freeland.”
Devine, who finished 83rd in 16:52, four places behind teammate Pete King in 16:51, said, “I remember personally I needed to do a lot of running the prior summer just battling to be in the top seven because we always did pretty well at the state level.”
Mayer was quoted as saying that the 1979 cross country MHSAA title was the first at St. Louis High since the boys basketball and track teams both earned one in 1953.
“I don’t remember a time, and there was never a course or a workout where I feel like we complained or made excuses about courses,” Devine said. “That had a lot to do with Jerry and his expectations. We did a lot of hills, especially at the old Edgewood Hills Golf Course in St. Louis (now Hidden Oaks Golf Course).”
When those expectations weren’t met, Mayer let his team know – sometimes by breaking clipboards.
“He was known for having a temper,” Devine said. “But he knew what potential his athletes had, and was frustrated when they decided to do things on their own instead of listening to his advice.”
Diaz still holds the 400, 800 and 1,600-meter records and Garza the 3,200 record listed on the track and field records board in the school’s gym. All were set during the 1980 season, a few months after the cross country championship.
Janell Best Vier still holds the 100, 200, 400 and 800 records in girls track and field for St. Louis and was part of an unofficial Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association state championship in 1978 won at Potterville. (The Michigan High School Athletic Association began crowning champions in 1979.)
“Coach Mayer had a way of inspiring us to reach higher and dig deeper,” she said. “Many times the goals he set for us were much higher than we would have set for ourselves. After a while, we believed we could do what he told us we could do. Winning was always the goal. He assumed that we could achieve this, so we thought that we could always come in first.
“He cared about us individually and we wanted to make him proud, and not disappoint him. So we exerted maximum effort. Really, that was all he would ask or expect.”
She said Mayer’s sense of humor was dry and constant.
“There was laughter throughout our practices, meetings and even at our meets,” Best Vier said. “We were trading jabs constantly.”
Kathy Hutfilz coached the St. Louis girls track and field team from 1973 until she became athletic director in the mid-1980s at the same time Mayer coached boys track as well as boys and girls cross country.
“Jerry worked as hard as the kids worked at getting ready to compete in meets,” she said. “He cut (results) out of the paper, and we talked about where our best chances were to get points in meets.”
Hutfilz coached the 1981 St. Louis girls to a Class C title.
“He had a phenomenal knowledge of the sports,” said Rudy Godefroidt, who coached Breckenridge to a Class C title in cross country in 1976. “He was always prepared, and made the rest of us coaches better.”
Mayer coached Godefroidt’s daughter, Lorenda, a four-time all-stater in track and field and three time all-stater in cross country.
“Jerry had the ability to bring athletes along to perform at that level,” Godefroidt said. “As a parent and co-coach, I always appreciated the way he treated athletes, brought them along and made sure they were prepared for their competition.”
Mayer taught eighth grade science classes at St. Louis for 30 years. He was voted the Michigan Coach of the Year for Class C Cross Country by MITCA after winning the 1979 title. After his retirement, he served as an assistant coach at Hemlock.
Devine says he tries to emulate in his coaching each year the light, fun and family atmosphere along with high expectations he experienced with Mayer.
Mayer was at Hemlock when Devine started as Alma’s coach.
“He told me after a while I could call him Jerry,” said Devine, who echoed Best Vier’s noting of Mayer’s humor. “One of the nicknames we had for him was Sunshine, although we didn’t tell him to his face. I had him for an eighth grade science teacher, and one of his famous statements was ‘it’s another beautiful day in the thriving metropolis of St. Louis’.”
Although serious in big track and field meets, if Mayer knew the opponent for a certain meet was weaker, he would allow middle distance and distance runners to try some different events – including sprints.
St. Louis was in the Mid-Michigan B league in the 1970s, and the boys and girls track teams often ran meets on separate days of the week. Once they joined the Central Michigan League in the early 1980s, they began competing in meets together as track teams do nearly all of the time today.
“The kids ran similar workouts, guys and girls, and they all got along really well,” Hutfilz said. “They were friends out in public and on the track. We were like a big family. The end-of-year awards were always a cookout at someone’s house, and we did that together.”
PHOTOS: The St. Louis boys cross country team, coached by Jerry Mayer, won the MHSAA's Lower Peninsula Class C championship in 1979. (Photos courtesy of Gratiot County Herald.)
Major Goal Accomplished as Three Rivers Racers Continue to Accelerate
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
October 8, 2024
THREE RIVERS – Sulley Zietlow and his teammates on the Three Rivers boys cross country team discussed their goals for the 2024 season prior to starting an early-evening workout back in June.
With several experienced returners, coach Jason Muckel and his Wildcats set the bar high for success this Fall.
One of Three Rivers' preseason goals was to end Otsego's lengthy Wolverine Conference dual-meet winning streak.
The Wildcats quickly circled Tuesday, Sept. 17, as an important date on this fall’s schedule.
"Before the season began, we knew we were going to be running Otsego on our home course. We built our training plan around that race and made sure that our kids were ready to go," Muckel said.
Competing on its hilly home course at Meyer-Broadway Park, Three Rivers edged Otsego 24-31 thus ending the Bulldogs' 68-meet winning streak dating back to 2014.
Otsego, the 2021 Lower Peninsula Division 2 champion, has long been a state power under longtime head coach Steve Long. The Bulldogs have produced several talented runners, including 2018 individual Finals champion Alex Comerford, who went on to run at Syracuse University.
"I give Otsego a lot of credit for what they've done. Steve has built an incredible program. I have a lot of respect for him and his runners,” Muckel said. “He's helped me a lot here and there over the last few years, and I've learned a great deal from him."
Three Rivers, Plainwell and Otsego are currently tied for first in the league at 4-1 with two league duals plus next week's Wolverine Conference Meet in Otsego remaining. The Wildcats will need to win the league meet to earn an outright league title.
Zietlow, a three-time Finals qualifier, holds down Three Rivers' No. 1 spot and is also the top runner in the conference. The Wildcats qualified for the Finals as a team at the end of his freshman and junior seasons. He also qualified his sophomore year as an individual. As a junior he placed 52nd in LPD2 with a time of 16:18.9.
"Sulley is the top runner in our league and is beating the field by 30 or 40 seconds. He's gritty, hardworking, does whatever I ask of him and is the most committed runner I've ever had. He crushes everything he does," Muckel said.
Zietlow, who plans to continue his education and running career at Cornerstone University, ran a lifetime personal-best time of 15:52.4 in late August at the Under the Lights Invitational at Grand Rapids South Christian. He bested the field in the home victories over Otsego and Edwardsburg with a time of 16:12, his fastest on Three Rivers' home course.
"That (Otsego) win was very exciting and memorable,” Zietlow said. “This is the best team we've had here in a while. Our depth is good, and we want our pack time to be within a minute by season's end. I think we could take Top 10 in the state if reach our potential. The commitment, drive and positivity of our team is improved over last year."
Winning a conference title and qualifying again for the Finals are both reachable goals for he and his teammates.
"I've ran for the last 493 days, and I've worked extremely hard to get where I am at this point. Our team is in good shape," Zietlow said.
Junior Charlie Brauer is Three Rivers' No. 2 runner.
"Charlie has made huge strides after fighting injuries the past couple years,” Muckel noted. “His CrossFit training and commitment to running a lot of miles over the summer have helped him make big gains. He's solidified himself as our number two runner and has a shot to finish among the top five or six in our conference."
Brauer clocked a personal-best of 16:35.03 at the Otsego Invitational, where Three Rivers took fourth.
"I'm kind of surprised to be our No. 2 runner,” Brauer said. “I do CrossFit training and that's helped me improve my kick along with my overall fitness. The last mile is the best part of my race."
Juniors Reece Howes (17:12) and Jonah Zietlow (17:18), Sulley's younger brother, have alternated as the Wildcats' Nos. 3 and 4 runners. Classmates Trey Hall (18:26) and Dontrel Taylor (18:26), along with freshman David Kore (17:48) round out Three Rivers' top seven.
"David is starting to race well against the older guys and can hold his own,” Muckel said. “If we're able to do some special things down the stretch here, a lot of that will depend on the performances of David, Reece and Jonah. Our sixth, seventh and eighth guys are working hard so they can step up if we incur an injury at some point."
Jonah Zietlow outlined his goals for the Wildcats the remainder of the season.
"It just depends what day it is and who steps up for us. We push one another to go faster,” he said. “If one of us isn't having the best race, we all work harder to make up for it.
“I'd like to solidify that No. 3 spot and get my time down under 17 minutes by the end of this season. I have a pretty strong kick, so that's a big key for me."
In the dual against Otsego, Zietlow played a key role by earning fourth overall while outpacing the Bulldogs' No. 2 and No. 3 runners after catching them with about 600 meters remaining.
He noted the team’s level of dedication is the highest he's seen since joining the program as a freshman. The top five runners for Three Rivers all logged more than 500 miles during the summer.
Muckel is pleased with the times his runners are posting, especially now since the Wildcats have started competing on some different kinds of courses and terrain.
"Up until the last week or two our times weren't quite as good on paper as we wanted them,” Muckel said. “That's because we were running some more difficult courses. Now as we get into running some flatter courses, our guys are excited to be able to show off their speed a little.
"In practice we do a workout called core sections, which is designed to split our course into sections and attack one of them at a time. We've done some very intentional workouts to prepare for races like our home course. I always talk to our kids about getting a good mileage base in the summer. Then we enter racing mode as the season starts. Now we're in championship gear, where we try to perfect our craft."
Three Rivers won its own Hill Climb Invitational followed by runner-up finishes at the Under The Lights and Battle Creek Lakeview invitationals, a third place at the Southwest Michigan Robuster Invite and a fourth-place finish at the Otsego Invite.
"My philosophy as a coach is to take our team to those difficult meets. We might take our licks early in the season, but it prepares us for the races that matter the most later on and builds character," Muckel said.
Three Rivers frequently splits its boys practices up into two sessions.
"Each of our kids are committed,” said Muckel, who is in his third season coaching both the boys and girls Three Rivers teams. “As a coach I don't like to do an eight or nine-mile workout. Instead, we have our boys come in for a morning run and return in the afternoon for a five or six-mile practice. By breaking up those workouts, it’s easier on the body and keeps us healthier throughout the season.
"When I took over the program, there were some bad habits we had to break out of that first year. I basically have the boys run seven days a week now, which is something they weren't willing to do in the beginning.”
An individual goal-setting strategy has become a fun motivator.
“I ordered little mini records, and each kid is required to set goal-times and write them down. When they break that time during the season they get to break that record in half,” Muckel said. “These kinds of things have really helped the kids buy into our program and take ownership of it.”
***
After graduating nine seniors last year, Muckel is rebuilding his girls squad. His top two runners Brynn Copenhaver and Lillie Kerr are only sophomores.
"We have a young core of runners in our top of the pack who are learning to race. It's a talented group, and I believe we'll see a lot of cool things out of them in the next few seasons," Muckel said.
He noted several activities his boys and girls teams enjoy together as part of building a memorable all-around experience in the sport. Among those is the program’s summer camp involving both teams, which included four days this past offseason at Warner Camp in South Haven.
“Bringing our boys and girls teams together has also been really beneficial,” Muckel said. “While we are (at camp) we participate in a high ropes course, water ball and other activities and we get our workouts in as well. We use that time to solidify the team culture and do team-building tasks.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Three Rivers and Vicksburg runners take off at the start of the boys race last week at Indian Lake Nazarene Camp. (Middle) Pictured from left are Three Rivers juniors Jonah Zietlow and Charlie Brauer, senior Sulley Zietlow and Three Rivers head cross country coach Jason Muckel. (Below) Lillie Kerr, right, and teammate Gabby Kilbourn lead Three Rivers in the girls race against Vicksburg last week. (Photos by Scott Hassinger.)