Saugatuck Racing Toward New Challenge
October 18, 2016
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
SAUGATUCK – It’s tough enough for a team to defend an MHSAA Finals championship.
It might be even more difficult to do it in an unfamiliar division.
The Saugatuck boys cross country team will be presented with that challenge after a slight change in enrollment bumped the Indians up to Division 3 this fall.
The Indians had solidified themselves as a state powerhouse in Division 4 the past three years, with two MHSAA Lower Peninsula championships and a Finals runner-up finish.
However, Saugatuck’s enrollment increased, and this season the team will compete in Division 3, beginning with its Regional on Oct. 29 at Redbud MX in Buchanan.
“My guys were actually excited about it, and they were pumped when they heard,” Indians coach Rick Bauer said. “Not that they thought they were going to win (again), but they knew they would get a chance to run faster and against better competition and that’s really what they wanted.”
Saugatuck breezed to its second MHSAA title in three seasons last year at Michigan International Speedway, putting five runners in the top 15.
Senior Zachary Pettinga, who placed runner-up as an individual last year, said the team is thrilled to see how it stacks up against a new crop of competitors.
“I was very excited because I knew it was a new challenge for the team,” he said. “There wasn’t a lot of competition for us last year with the guys in Division 4, and so this is an exciting change. Our team likes challenges, and we wanted to move up.”
The Indians didn’t graduate anyone from last year, returning their entire top seven. They would’ve been the heavy favorite to repeat this season in Division 4, but now have their sights set on reigning Division 3 champion Lansing Catholic and perennial power Benzonia Benzie Central.
“Coming into this season, I didn’t look at it as we were defending state champs because we’re in a new division,” Bauer said. “It’s really Lansing Catholic, which is the team to beat. That’s been our thing. Lansing Catholic is the champs, and if we want to win we have to beat them and a host of other really good teams. That has been our main focus since we found out we were going up.”
Saugatuck certainly has the talent and depth to challenge for the top spot in Division 3.
It boasts a bevy of experience with 13 seniors. Sophomore Corey Gorgas also is back, and has vastly improved his times from a year ago.
Other key returnees include seniors Nick Butch, Orlando Carrion, Eldon Garvelink, Jacob VanderRoest, Evan Hotary, Sam Putzke and junior Keegan Seifert.
“It’s a whole different level for us, but we’ve put in the work and hopefully we’ll be ready for it,” Gorgas said. “There are so many different teams and individuals so the competition is a lot better. I was hoping for this because I wanted the extra competition. We’re looking forward to the state finals and having them all at the same meet.”
The Indians got a taste of Division 3 when they competed in the recent Portage Invitational.
Bauer said there are differences between Division 3 and Division 4, and his team was forced to adapt to running conditions to which they were unaccustomed.
Still, Saugatuck won the Division 3 race at Portage with 81 points, 59 fewer than runner-up Lansing Catholic. Gorgas was third (15:50) individually, with Pettinga seventh (16:11) and Butch 13th (16:38).
“Division 3 is a different world, and the kids had to adjust accordingly at Portage,” he said. “They’ve been able to run pretty clear in Division 4 and there isn’t a lot of bumping and pushing. You go up to Division 3 and there’s a lot more physical racing going on, so that’s been the biggest difference.
“There are also many more guys who can run the same kind of time that we are running.”
The Indians dominated its most recent race, the Southwestern Athletic Conference meet on Oct. 11, placing the top four and 10 of the events top 12 runners.
Obviously all can’t be in the starting lineup as the team moves deeper into the postseason. But Bauer said the unselfishness of his squad has been impressive to witness.
“We go pretty deep, and the thing about our team that is great is no one gets mad about it,” he said. “They all have the same goal in mind, and all of them want to be one of those seven, but also want the best seven out there. That’s refreshing to have kids who can think about the big picture and what’s best for the team.”
The Indians have experienced success this season in preparation for the Nov. 5 Finals. Despite a few injuries, they’ve set themselves up to make their mark in a new setting.
“We’ve been able to stay healthy for the most part,” Bauer said. “We’ve won some meets where I thought we ran terrible, and we’ve had other meets where I thought we’ve run really well. We’re trending in the right direction.”
Added Pettinga: “We’ve competed well, but I still think we can do better. We’re working hard every day, and we still have that main goal. We want a state championship ring with Division 3 on it, and we want to maintain the success we’ve built up here."
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Saugatuck's Corey Gorgas (right) stays just ahead of Whitmore Lake's Trey Cucuro to finish third at the Portage Invitational on Oct. 8. (Middle) Nick Butch (918), Orlando Carrion (919) and Keegan Seifert (behind) run in a pack on the way to finishing 13th, 14th and 15th, respectively, at last season's LP Division 4 Final. (Below) Saugatuck's Zach Pettinga runs toward a seventh-place finish at Portage; he was the LPD4 runner-up a year ago. (Photos by John Brabbs & Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)
Performance: Brighton's Jack Spamer
October 18, 2019
Jack Spamer
Brighton senior – Cross Country
The Bulldogs distance ace posted Michigan’s fastest high school time since 2014 with a 14:48.1 to finish first at the 35th Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard Invitational on Oct. 12. He cut 14 seconds from his personal record run from a week before and cleared the field by 22 seconds, earning the MHSAA “Performance of the Week.”
Spamer was a strong competitor last season, finishing 18th at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan International Speedway after coming in 48th as a sophomore. He’s taken another significant jump this fall, finishing first or second in all but one event – when he took third in the Elite race at the Sept. 13 Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University. Running against many of the state’s best again at the Portage Invitational on Oct. 5, Spamer cut 30 seconds off his previous season-best time with a 15:02. That set the stage for last weekend’s awe-inspiring run, the fastest in the state since former Grand Blanc speedster (and eventual 12-time Stanford All-American) Grant Fisher posted a 14:43 at Portage in 2014.
Talent and hard work have delivered Spamer’s improvement, of course – but credit also should go to his competition in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association, including teammate Zachary Stewart and Plymouth senior Carter Solomon, last season’s LPD1 Final runner-up. Spamer finished second to Solomon at Thursday’s KLAA finals, where five runners cleared 15:24. Brighton won the team championship at the league meet and is ranked No. 1 in LPD1 as it pursues a first MHSAA Finals championship since 1995. Spamer is hoping for a similar jump next spring on the track as he’ll look to improve on a ninth place in the 1,600 and 11th in the 3,200 from this past June’s LPD1 Finals. While he surely has a future in racing, academics will provide plenty of opportunities as well. Spamer carries a 3.95 grade-point average and is interested in studying computer science or computer engineering as he considers his next destination after high school.
Coach Chris Elsey said: “Jack has been a tremendous inspiration to his teammates. He is the perfect model to show what can be accomplished with a lot of hard work and dedication. As a freshman he couldn't crack the varsity lineup, and now he's one of the top runners in the state. Jack is extremely coachable. He responds positively to both praise and critiques, and he is always looking for ways to improve the team. Jack is an excellent teammate. The team's goals are always first, and he is most excited to see the breakthrough performances of his younger teammates. Jack is a great leader. His demeanor and work ethic at practices, meets, and in the classroom show his peers how to do things the right way every day. He has been a pleasure to coach these four years, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of this season has in store.”
Performance Point: “The first mile was really fast, and after that I was just trying to keep that same pace,” Spamer said of his Gabriel Richard race. “I knew I was definitely pushing it a lot more than usual. We didn't have splits at the second or third mile, so I was hoping that I was going at a pace where I was going to break 15. It definitely felt different than previous races. The weather was the best you could ever have for running that morning. The course was fantastic and super flat and great for PR'ing (setting a personal record). ... When you have an opportunity like that to run that fast, it's a really good opportunity to take because generally cross country weather isn't as good as you hope it (will be). Taking advantage of the conditions really helped me to break 15 minutes.”
Dropping time: “Mainly it's just training in the offseason and just working toward goals that we had set. I have such a great coach that he was able to dedicate his time not just during the season but in the offseason to continue to train us so we're the best that we can be. So just that and the fact that I've been able to have goals to work for, and setting those has helped me get to where I am now – massive improvements from last season.”
Eye on No. 1: “Going into this season my goal was low 15s. But then after Portage, and that was a really big breakout race for me, I knew I definitely had the capability to go even faster. … From aiming for top five in the state, now my goal is pretty much just state champ. Being able to have confidence going into meets in the championship season knowing that you can compete with some of the best guys that are out there, I changed my mindset and now I just know that if the better guys are racing at one pace, I know that I can probably race at the same pace. Going into races with that kind of confidence definitely helps a lot.”
Rivals get us ready: “Being able to have so much great competition in the dual meets that you do during the regular season, you just gain so much experience out of that – especially running against kids that you're going to be running against at some of the biggest meets. Being able to race (Solomon and others) now definitely helps so when you're going into the other meets you're like, ‘OK, I've raced them. I know how they race.’ It's just another confidence builder. When you're running a 5K race, it definitely helps to have a lot of confidence. … We're really cool (with each other). As much as it's fun to compete with them on the course, everyone is great people off the course. We all just kind of talk and joke to each other and stuff. We're all great friends.”
This computes: “I've always been interested in computers and stuff like that since I was little. It's something I'd love to learn more about. Probably stuff to do with coding most likely, or if I look at the computer engineering route building circuits and stuff for computers and components. I'm definitely more of a math and science kind of guy than English.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Past honorees
Oct. 10: Kaylee Maat, Hudsonville volleyball - Report
Oct. 3: Emily Paupore, Negaunee cross country - Report
Sept. 26: Josh Mason, South Lyon soccer - Report
Sept. 19: Ariel Chang, Utica Eisenhower golf - Report
Sept. 12: Jordyn Shipps, DeWitt swimming - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Brighton's Jack Spamer leads the pack at Kensington Metropark on the way to winning the Averill Invitational on Sept. 7. (Middle) Spamer climbs a hill during a meet against Canton and Novi. (Photos courtesy of the Brighton cross country programs.)