Sargent Carries Torch to Another First
November 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Cedar Springs junior Austin Sargent knew what it took to become an MHSAA champion before he ever earned the title.
He trained every day last season with Connor Mora, who ran to the Division 2 championship a year ago.
When Mora graduated, he passed the torch to Sargent.
"He gave me a lot of tapes and told me to keep my form in check and to believe you can do it," Sargent said.
Sargent kept the individual championship in Cedar Springs, outdueling Mason senior Mason VanDyke to win with a time of 15:42.7. VanDyke was second in 15:48.5.
Sargent has made considerable improvement every year he's run for Cedar Springs. He was the top freshman in the 2011 meet, placing 52nd in 16:40.5 as his team's No. 3 runner. He moved into all-state range last year, placing 27th in 15:59.0. He was Cedar Springs' No. 2 runner behind Mora.
"Without Connor being here, I felt I had to take my turn as the top runner," Sargent said. "At the beginning of the year, I thought this was my year to work hard and prove I'm one of the best runners in the state."
Sargent ran with a four-man pack until about a half-mile to go. That's when he made a move, taking a lead that he wouldn't relinquish. He ran slowly in the final 100 yards, but didn't have to worry about being caught.
"There was nothing left," he said.
Sargent was an individual qualifier this year after Cedar Springs qualified as a team his first two years.
St. Clair, which hadn't won an MHSAA title until last year, made it two in a row by a 106-127 margin over St. Joseph despite having only three runners back from last year's MHSAA Finals.
St. Clair put three in the top 13 among team runners, with its top six all being seniors. Cody Smith was sixth overall and fourth among team runners in 16:06.6 to lead the Saints. Also scoring for St. Clair were Trevor Holowaty (eighth in team race, 16:12.4), Adam Gizowski (13th, 16:19.3), Paul Schneider (16:38.6) and Austin Kromroy (52nd, 17:00.6).
St. Joseph had five runners finish before St. Clair did, but didn't have the Saints' strength at the front of the field. St. Joseph has made the top three the last three years.
Grand Rapids Christian was third with 180 points.
PHOTO: Cedar Springs' Austin Sargent (red uniform) leads a pack into the mid stages of the LP Division 2 Final on Saturday at MIS. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Hansen Goes Distance Again, Allendale Claims 1st Final Since 1999
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — It looked like TJ Hansen of Freeland had gotten a big head start on the rest of the field, not that he needed it.
Hansen, after all, set the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals record with his time of 14 minutes, 52.8 seconds last year.
But here he was, moments before the start of Saturday’s Division 2 race at Michigan International Speedway, nearly in a dead sprint 600 yards from the start rushing into the Freeland tent to quickly change his shorts.
The style of shorts Hansen was wearing differed from those of his teammates, a uniform violation that would have disqualified the reigning champion. After frantically rushing to get different shorts, Hansen was put in a cart and rushed to the start line.
There was no time to decompress.
“As soon as I got back, it was 10 seconds and, boom, the gun went off,” he said. “It’s just a lesson in dealing with adversity.”
For a few highly-stressful minutes, Hansen feared he would be on the sideline while someone else won a championship he was out to defend.
“It kind of flashes before your eyes,” he said. “They tell you you’re DQ’d, and all those months of hard work seem like they flash before your eyes and all go to waste.”
When the gun went off, Hansen was back in his element and repeated as champion by lowering his Division 2 record to 14:50.5, the fourth-fastest time in any division at MIS.
He needed every bit of that effort, as Marshall senior Jack Bidwell took second in 14:57.3, a time that is the third-fastest by a Division 2 runner and 14th all-time in any division.
Hansen and Bidwell reached the two-mile mark together in 9:36.2 before the defending champion pulled away in the final mile.
“It was really just try to push the pace and see how fast I could go,” Hansen said. “My legs weren’t really feeling it today, so I changed up strategy to race to win.”
Hansen won 11 of 12 races this year, losing only to a runner from Tennessee on Oct. 5 in Indiana.
In the team race, Allendale won its first MHSAA Finals championship since 1999 by placing its five scoring runners among the top 29. The top 30 made all-state. The Falcons scored 78 points to win by 102 over 2023 champion Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Sophomore Mason Hill was ninth in 15:24.0, senior Kilian Whalen 13th in 15:28.8, junior Ronnie Silveira 15th in 15:31.1, senior Ben Gross 27th in 15:47.1 and senior Parker Tiethof 29th in 15:48.3.
Allendale was fourth last year and returned its top six runners.
PHOTOS (Top) Freeland’s TJ Hansen pushes to the finish line in the Division 2 race Saturday after looking back to see Marshall’s Jack Bidwell also on the home stretch. (Middle) Allendale’s Mason Hill (403) and New Boston Huron’s Lucas Kuhn (530) race among the lead packs. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)