Seniors Setting Pace for East Jordan Run
August 23, 2019
By Chris Dobrowolski
Special for Second Half
EAST JORDAN — Matt Peterson says he couldn’t have asked for a better group than the one he has this year making up his boys cross country team at East Jordan.
Peterson also couldn’t have asked for more experience than the Red Devils bring into the 2019 season.
East Jordan returns its top five runners from a team that finished third at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals last year, all part of a senior class that has made a major impact for the Red Devils over the past three years.
“Not only are they hard workers and pretty talented runners,” said Peterson, “they’re all just real high-quality kids. They truly lift up everyone around them, not just on our team but in the school. They’re just positive, positive kids, every one of them. I feel super lucky to have them.”
Ethan Nachazel, Aaron Nachazel, Ben Hardy, Alex Schlueter and Caleb Carson are the quintet the Red Devils have leaned on primarily since they entered high school. They led East Jordan to a pair of top-10 finishes in 2017 and 2018 after snapping a 16-year Finals drought for a program that won titles in 1998 and 2000.
The seniors are the best of friends, spending countless hours together at sleepovers or for training runs. Their relationships have forged a bond of cohesiveness between the veteran leaders of the team and the squad in general.
“We’ve all grown up together since kindergarten, and we know each other pretty well,” said Ethan Nachazel. “We keep each other accountable. It’s just nice to know you have all these guys keeping each other together. It’s very important because not only do you work better together and improve quicker, but you also bond way quicker together than you would just by being at practice.”
By all accounts Ethan Nachazel is the Red Devils’ top runner, finishing a team-best 14th overall at last year’s Final and 28th overall to pace East Jordan in 2017. But after that, the pecking order can change from meet to meet and year to year. Hardy, for example, was East Jordan’s fourth counter at the 2017 Final, but improved his time by 1 minute, 14 seconds at last season’s meet to take 15th overall, finishing alongside Ethan Nachazel.
“Ethan has been predominately our first guy, except for one or two meets last year,” said Peterson. “I expect the top five or six to probably move around a bit.”
The Red Devils’ seniors, a collection that has a team-first mindset, have no qualms about who finishes in what order. They’ve set a standard amongst themselves to work toward the ultimate goal — team success.
“It’s fun,” said Nachazel. “We all take the lead during workouts, and we all try to share as much as we can. I think we all contribute just as much. We share the wealth equally.”
“I don’t think it would matter if someone ran well and they were normally the second guy and became the fourth guy because someone knocked them out of their place, but it helped the team,” said Peterson. “They would be OK with that.”
From serious to silly, the Red Devils’ seniors have diverse personalities, but that seems to work toward their advantage in creating good team chemistry, too.
“I think that’s a good mix to have,” said Peterson. “You need to have the serious kids on the team, and you need to have the kids who will provide a little levity and help kids relax once in a while.”
East Jordan’s coach describes Ethan Nachazel as the most serious, while Schlueter brings a humorous side to the equation.
“I think it’s very important to be light-hearted outside of practice and in practice too,” said Schlueter. “Just kind of get everyone’s spirits up. If we were too focused for too long we would just run out of that mental energy at the end of the season, and we don’t want that so I just keep everything light. But when it comes to race day, when we get on that line, it’s just focus.”
The Red Devils have depth outside of their seniors as well. Peterson sees junior Phillip Nemecek and sophomore Caleb Ziebarth as having the capabilities to contribute and perhaps even crack the top five on the team.
Ultimately, the Red Devils are hoping it all leads to another trip to the Finals. There’s no doubting East Jordan is armed with the experience and the ability.
“I think the key for this team, but I could say for any cross country team, is us having a small 1-to-5 gap,” said Peterson. “If we’re fortunate enough to get to the state meet again, I think the team that can pack it up the most and have the smallest gap is going to have the potential to be really successful.”
No matter what happens, though, the Red Devils know the friendships and connections they’ve formed over the years are, and will remain, strong.
“Cross country is one of the best things I’ve ever done,” said Schlueter. “I’ve just met so many people that I love. I’ve fallen in love with these guys. I couldn’t ask for anyone better.”
Chris Dobrowolski has covered northern Lower Peninsula sports since 1999 at the Ogemaw County Herald, Alpena News, Traverse City Record-Eagle and currently as sports editor at the Antrim Kalkaska Review since 2016. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTO: East Jordan’s Ethan Nachazel leads a pack during Saturday’s Ryan Shay Memorial Invitational. (Photo by Chris Dobrowolski.)
Two-Sporter Chavez Enjoys Double Success
February 8, 2021
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CLINTON – Nathan Chavez took a job at a farm because he wanted to learn more about biology and chemistry. He developed a green thumb.
He joined the Clinton soccer team and helped it to the program’s first District title.
And Chavez was on the cross country team that this fall finished 10th at the MHSAA Finals.
Whatever Chavez touches, he seems to turn to gold.
“I don’t think I have a competitive nature,” Chavez said. “I just enjoy it.”
As calm and collected as Chavez is, he seems to excel at everything he does. In the classroom he takes mainly AP classes and had an adjusted GPA of 4.3 as the first semester of his senior year concluded
He takes everything in stride. But don’t let that fool you, says his father, Clinton varsity boys basketball coach Jeremy Chavez.
“He’s got a lot going on and works really hard,” Jeremy Chavez said. “I’m very proud of him.”
Chavez lives in Tecumseh but started attending Clinton in the second grade. He started running cross country in high school and has been a steady performer for the team, which has been on the cusp of a big Finals finish the last couple of seasons.
He placed just outside the top 10 at the Lenawee County Athletic Association meet and 17th at the Lenawee County meet. At Michigan International Speedway, Chavez finished 117th overall with a time of 17:39.14, which helped Clinton place in the top 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 3.
“Our team has been developing for four years,” he said. “It was great to see it all come together.”
Chavez never could decide which sport he liked better – cross country or soccer. Instead of choosing between the two, he decided to be a dual-sport athlete in the fall. The soccer team lost several seniors from a year ago, and Chavez was unsure what to expect. Clinton, however, won 10 matches and turned some heads with that first District championship.
The District Final was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and two overtimes, but Clinton won it in a dramatic shootout, sending the team to the Regional for the first time.
“It definitely went better than I expected from last year,” Chavez said. “We did really well this year, all season. We lost a ton of seniors, so I really didn’t know how it was going to go.”
Chavez is grateful his parents – Jeremy and Leslie – allowed him to compete in both sports.
“I have a great support system at home,” he said. “They are very supportive of me in whatever I do.”
Dual-sport athletes typically have to choose which will have priority in the event of a conflict. Chavez said that was never an issue.
“When it came to the more important events, it seems like I could always do both,” he said. “Every year that I did it, it went smoothly.”
He’s glad he didn’t have to choose between the two.
“I started out by running cross country, but over the years I ended up playing soccer. I don’t really have a favorite,” he said. “I just like both sports equally. I feel like I was able to show my talents at both.”
Besides helping those two fall teams bring home hardware, Chavez was celebrated a bit on his own by earning academic all-state honors in both sports, which is no small fete. Not only was he practicing or participating in two sports every night and just about every Saturday, he also had to maintain his high GPA.
“During the season it always seems more hectic,” he said. “I always try to get as much homework done in my free time at school. I always studied on the bus, and there were a few all-nighters too. … My teachers are all very understanding, especially during the season that I dual-sport. They understand.
“When I’m in the moment, I don’t notice how much I really put into it.”
While he won’t be playing a winter sport, Chavez is already gearing up for track season, which is just around the corner. He’ll try to help earn more hardware for a school district that has seen a ton of sports success in recent years.
Chavez was recently accepted into the University of Michigan, something that has been a goal of his for some time. He’s pretty sure he wants to go into chemistry or biology, which is one of the reasons he began working at a Britton farm a few years ago.
“I just enjoy everything,” he said.
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clinton’s Nathan Chavez charges through a stretch in a cross country race. (Middle) Chavez (5) runs down the ball during a soccer match this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Chavez family.