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High 5s: 5/29/12

May 31, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to athletes and a team based on their accomplishments the previous week or throughout the season. 

This week's individual recipients will finish their MHSAA careers Saturday hoping to add to championship resumes -- while our team honoree is hoping to take the first step this weekend toward a first Finals title in program history.

Latipha Cross
Southfield senior
Track and Field

Cross won both the 200 (25.56) and 400 meters (55.98) at the Oakland County Invitational, setting a meet record in the latter. Her 400 win avenged a Regional loss to Birmingham Seaholm's Aubrey Wilberding the week before. Cross also finished second in the 200 at the Regional and is qualified to run both at Saturday's MHSAA Division 1 Final at East Kentwood. She's hoping to improve on the all-Finals record she set last season in the 400 of 54.29 seconds -- and believes she can break 54 this weekend. She's signed to run next season at Eastern Michigan University -- and has beaten two forms of cancer the last two years, plus spent a short time homeless.

My favorite runner: "All-time, it's Sanya Richards (Olympic medalist and World Champion sprinter). I just love how she runs, the fact that she's always looking forward to getting better. She'll run a 50 that day (in the 400), and say 'I can do better than that.' I love that about her. She's never satisfied."

Hoop dreams: "Basketball was my first love, but track is the sport that gets me my money," Cross said with a laugh. "I love track with a passion though. When I'm on the track, nobody can hurt me -- they can't catch me. ... My favorite basketball player right now is Swin Cash. I love her. I like her tenacity. She always went out there and gave 110 percent."

I learned the most about running from: "My former coach Calvin Johnson (now at Southfield Lathrup). He's been there for me. ... Because of him, I fell back into track, got that same passion (as for hoops)."

Up next: Cross will major in social work and hopes to someday work with children. "It's important to me because I know how it is to not have anybody to fight for you. I know what feels like for kids to need somebody. I want to be an advocate for them."

(Click to read more.)

Zack Zingsheim
Lansing Catholic senior
Track and Field

Zingsheim will attempt to finish his record-setting career with a few more MHSAA championships at Saturday's Division 3 Final after winning the MHSAA Division 3 cross country title in the fall. He also earned an MHSAA track championship as part of the Cougars' 800-meter relay in 2011, and will run that relay, plus the 1,600 and 3,200 relays and the open 800 at Comstock. He won the 800 at his Regional by nearly five seconds with a time of 1:55.63. Zingsheim will continue to run this fall at Georgetown University.

Track man, track fan: "There's a certain thing about running. You've gotta love it. We're all Flotrack junkies. I was watching the Illinois state meet yesterday, the Texas state meet last week."

I learned the most about running from: "Probably my brother (Brandon, a 2001 Lansing Catholic grad). That's how I was introduced to the sport. He'd say, 'Zack, I'm going to run,' and it seemed like he was gone for two hours. I was just astounded, so shocked. He'd race me in sprints. I was pretty quick, and he was more of a distance guy. I never beat him, but he knew I loved the challenge. I've also been blessed with great coaches like Tim (Simpson, Lansing Catholic's head coach), our assistant coach Tim O'Hara, and guys like (teammates) Jimmy (Hicks) and Austin (Winter). The passion they have for the sport, they inspire you to want to be good."

I run like: "I can relate distance-wise to Robby Andrews. He ran for the University of Virginia. ... He's a late-kick guy. I used to be, but not as much this year. But growing up, as a runner, I knew I had foot speed waiting. I'd just wait and see what happened."

Up next: Zingsheim will run both cross country and track at Georgetown, and will major in accounting or finance. "I took an 'Intro to Business' class at LCC, and I really enjoyed it. I love the math side of business."

(Click to read more.)

Richland Gull Lake baseball

The Blue Devils are 34-2 and won the Greater Kalamazoo Tournament on Saturday with a 9-7 victory over Portage Central, formerly ranked in Division 1. Gull Lake is No. 1 in Division 2, and the Greater Kalamazoo title was its first since 2005. The Blue Devils are 72-4 over the last two seasons, which last spring included a run to the MHSAA Semifinals. They've continued to surge the last three weeks despite the loss of senior pitcher Nate Stegman -- and all-state selection in 2011 -- to an injury. (Click to read more.)

This spring's previous honorees

Marysville’s Janae Hudson unwinds while putting the shot during a meet.

Marysville Thrower Hudson Dancing Into Record Books, Finals Contention

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

April 12, 2023

If you see Janae Hudson doing the “Cotton Eye Joe” dance near a shot put or discus pit this spring, don’t be surprised.

Bay & ThumbBut do pay attention, because a Marysville school record may be about to fall.

“I used to get really stressed out before meets, and it would definitely impact my throws,” the Marysville junior said. “I thought that maybe I need a specific routine to not freak me out or anything, and I kind of have it with volleyball, as well. I like to just go off in my own space. When I’m in the hole, I like to kind of just dance around and get all the jitters out before I throw. It’s kind of like a line dance, something I can do in a single space and not bump into other people. I did it last year, and it started to work.”

Hudson, who placed third at the 2022 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals in the discus, has already danced and thrown her way into the Marysville record books. She holds the school record in the discus with a throw of 135 feet, 7 inches. Her sights are now set on the shot put record of 40-10, which is about a foot and a half better than her personal best of 39-2¼.

“She’s such a competitor,” Marysville coach Brian Gwisdala said. “She’s already set high expectations for herself. Track is one of those sports where she’s got distances she wants to hit this year. And I think it’s the sign of a mature kid, even though she wants to finish first at states, her big thing right now is she wants that shot put record at the school. She threw 29-2¼ at Saginaw this year. She’s getting there.”

While Hudson showed potential as a freshman, qualifying for the Division 2 Finals and finishing 10th in the shot put, breaking school records certainly wasn’t the expectation at that point.

In fact, when she entered high school, she figured volleyball would be her main focus. While she still plays and is a major contributor for the Vikings volleyball program, throwing has emerged as the sport she wants to pursue collegiately.

Hudson prepares to let the discus fly.“I was really nervous and timid to actually go to my first track practice,” she said. “But that’s when I fell in love with it. I wasn’t expecting to get this serious with it at the beginning of my freshman year.”

During her freshman year, Hudson began working with throwing coach Michael Hale of Kaizen Throws, and saw immediate results.

She continued to work with Hale through the offseason, and that combined with adding some strength – and a dance routine – helped her take off as a sophomore. In her second season, she added more than two feet to her shot put personal record, and nearly 30 in the discus.

“I think a huge part of it was that she kind of grew into her body,” Gwisdala said. “She’s always been a tall kid, and that coordination and everything caught up to her. I saw it with her in volleyball, too, how much she improved athletically. She really worked hard and put in the time. She throws during the indoor season in the winter. She’s got her private throwing coach that she goes to. All of those factors, and she had the determination and drive to go and do it.”

All of that has put Hudson in a strong position heading into her junior season, not only to further one school record and chase down another, but to improve upon her places at the Division 2 Finals.

Her personal-best discus throw would have tied for first at the 2022 Finals, while her personal best in the shot put would have placed fourth.

“I would love to go to states in both events, and to place first in both would be an ideal situation,” she said. “But if I could finish top three in both, I would walk out happy.”

Helping Hudson chase that ideal situation of winning a Finals title is having watched a teammate do it just two years ago, as Reese Powers won the 400 meters as a junior at the 2021 Division 2 Finals.

“That’s huge,” Gwisdala said. “Just the fact that it was somebody from our school. And it wasn’t someone that necessarily just did one thing, either. Reese and (all-state runner Hannah Fisher) both were multi-sport athletes. The other huge part, and I would say this about Janae right now, too, with Reese was just her work ethic. You would see it every day in practice.”

All of that resonated with Hudson.

“It was a wild moment,” she said. “She’s a junior in high school and can do that; I can do that, too. It would probably mean the world to me.”

Paul CostanzoPaul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Marysville’s Janae Hudson unwinds while putting the shot during a meet. (Middle) Hudson prepares to let the discus fly. (Photos by Rodney Thomas/Thomas Sports Photography.)