Sault, Ishpeming, Chassell Boys Set Pace
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2018
MUNISING — The Sault Ste. Marie boys made a statement in the wind and cold Saturday, earning their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country championship in six years with 42 points.
Sault, which placed five in the top 14, was followed by reigning champ Houghton with 65, Gladstone 70 and Marquette with 71 points.
“This is the first time all seven of our boys ran together all year,” said Sault coach Jim Martin. “We’ve been banged up all year, but the kids never stopped believing. The parents were very supportive, and the kids were great to work with. They never complained. We knew Marquette would be tough, and Houghton really came on late in the season.”
Gladstone senior Adam Bruce won the 3.1-mile race in 17 minutes, 5.6 seconds at Pictured Rocks Golf Club. He was followed by Houghton junior Joe Wood (17:35.1), Gladstone senior Jake Strasler (17:40.1), Sault junior Kaaleb Ranta (17:47.8) and Gladstone freshman Giovanni Mathews (17:48).
“My time wasn’t the greatest, but I’m happy with it,” said Bruce. “I’m proud of the way our team ran. If Marquette hadn’t pushed us all year, this wouldn’t have happened. We have a lot of work to do, but we’re pleased. I think this will give us awesome motivation for track.”
Division 2
Ishpeming completed its first perfect season in school history, taking its fourth title in five years with 32 points. The Hematites were followed by defending champ Gogebic at 47 and Newberry with 70.
“The guys were pretty motivated,” said Ishpeming coach P.J. Pruett. “When one made a mistake, another picked it up. We’ve been doing two meets a week for six weeks. The kids were pretty tired, but they still picked it up.
“We never had any injuries this year. We’re 10 deep and went back and forth all week about who would run today.”
Gogebic senior Uriah Aili earned his first Finals title with the day’s fastest time (17:02.5). He was followed by classmate Devon Byers (17:16) during a snow squall off Lake Superior.
“Devon and I were going to run together and see what happened, and we started pulling away at about 1 1/2 miles,” said Aili. “(Ishpeming) really did good. We had the numbers, but they were just a little better overall.
“It’s awesome to go out this way (as a U.P. champion), and running with my teammates was even better.”
Ishpeming grabbed the next three spots, with senior and last year’s champion Spencer Giroux taking third (17:33.9). He was followed by junior Jonah Broberg (18:00.4) and sophomore Jordan Longtine (18:06.4).
Division 3
Chassell took five of the top 13 places and claimed the D-3 title for the fourth time in five years with 41 points, followed by 2017 champion Brimley with 54 and Rudyard with 72.
“We anticipated a close race, and our guys wanted to regain the title,” said Chassell coach Marco Guidotti. “All our guys did their best to take the places we needed, and we had some youth really step up.”
Brimley senior Austin Plotkin retained his title in 17:23.5, followed by Cedarville junior Thomas Bohn (17:29.5), Brimley sophomore Cameron Hoornstra (17:46.2), Chassell senior Ben Tuomi (17:55.4) and Dollar Bay’s Davin Hill (18:04.3).
“It was quite windy and cold,” said Plotkin. “After the first loop we could feel a lot of heat from the sun (during its brief appearance), but my kneecaps went numb.
“Thomas ran with me most of the way. I was waiting for the wind to be on our back, and that momentum carried me into the home stretch.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Gogebic's Uriah Aili (217) leads the Division 2 pack Saturday with Ishpeming's Spencer Giroux (161) and their teammates Devon Byers (219) and Jonah Broberg (159) following close behind. (Middle) Gladstone's Adam Bruce heads down the home stretch on the way to finishing first in Division 1. (Below) Chassell placed five of the top 13 in Division 3; here Ben Tuomi (258), Kurtis Kytta (255), Gabe Torola (257), Kolson Kytta (254), Abraham Gockenbach (252) and Elijah Soumis (256) break out of the start together. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more at RunMichigan.com.)
Caro, Albrecht Celebrate D3 Sweep
November 3, 2018
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — Caro senior Yami Albrecht has secured a special place in Michigan high school cross country history.
Albrecht won a kick to the finish with Jeremy Kloss of Harbor Springs for the second straight year to win his third MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 individual championship with a time of 15:40.8 on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Albrecht tied a record by becoming only the seventh boy in MHSAA history to post the fastest time in a Finals meet three times.
The others are Vicksburg’s Stephan Bishop (1962-64, Class B), Cadillac’s Mark Smith (1978-80, Class B), Central Lake’s Ryan Shay (1994-96, Class D), Benzie Central’s Jake Flynn (1997-99, Class C), Ovid-Elsie’s Maverick Darling (2005-07, Division 3) and Concord’s Jesse Hersha (2012-14, Division 4). Shay won the 1993 Class D individual race as well, but didn’t have the fastest overall time of the meet when there were separate team and individual races.
“It definitely is an accomplishment to have three state titles in a row,” Albrecht said. “I’m definitely going to remember that for the rest of my life, for sure.”
All three championships required a strong finishing kick to overcome a tough challenger.
Albrecht won by three seconds over Brian Njuguna of Bridgman in 2016 and by 2.4 seconds over Kloss last year. Kloss was side by side with Albrecht coming down to the finish before coming up 4.6 seconds short this time.
“We were coming into the stadium, we were next to each other the whole way around,” Albrecht said. “At the three-mile mark, Jeremy stepped in the mud and he got stuck. I saw his leg got stuck in there. I went for it at that point.”
Albrecht wasn’t at all disappointed to see somewhat muddy conditions when he arrived at MIS.
“Honestly, the last two years before this was all sloppy and muddy, so I was kind of happy that’s how it was today, so I could run the same way I did the past two years,” Albrecht said.
A new experience for Albrecht was having the opportunity to celebrate two championships at MIS. Caro finally completed its four-year march to the top of Division 3 by winning its first MHSAA team title since 1980 by a 61-100 margin over Pewamo-Westphalia.
The Tigers were 14th in 2015, fifth in 2016 and second to Hanover-Horton last year.
Backing up Albrecht’s performance for Caro were senior Caleb Cotton (12th,16:38.3), sophomore Logan Brown (15th, 16:42.5), senior Bryden Miller (28th, 16:54.5) and senior Aaron Hulburt (33rd, 17:00.4). It was the fourth Finals meet for Albrecht, Cotton, Hulburt and Miller.
Pewamo-Westphalia was led by seventh-place Hayden Germain (16:21.3), 14th-place Ashton Walker (16:40.6) and 20th-place Mitch Nurenberg (16:45.9).
PHOTO: Caro’s Yami Albrecht stays a step ahead of Harbor Springs’ Jeremy Kloss at the 2-mile mark of Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Bryden Miller (426) leads another pack on the way to helping the Tigers to the team title. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)