2 New Champions Rise at UP Girls Finals
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2016
FLAT ROCK — It was a history-making day for the Sault Ste. Marie High School girls Saturday as they were crowned Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country champions for the first time with 34 points.
Sault, which placed six runners among the top 13, was followed by three-time reigning champion Marquette with 53 points, Houghton at 114, Menominee at 124 and Gladstone with 137.
“This is huge for our program,” said Sault coach Jim Martin. “We’re still pretty young. Both of our teams work so hard, and they enjoy each other’s company.
“We have a lot of respect for Marquette’s program. Their coaches and kids have a lot of class. Our depth made the difference today. We have 11 girls running under 22 minutes right now.”
Marquette senior Becci McNamee won the 3.1-mile race at Beauchamp’s Grove in 19 minutes, 6.4 seconds on a sunny and seasonably cool day. She was followed by Sault senior Courtney Arbic (19:33.9), Negaunee freshman Emily Paupore (19:45.4) and junior Clara Johnson (19:46.2) and Kingsford sophomore Peyton Johnson (19:51.2).
“I don’t think anybody outside of Marquette expected me to win this race, especially by that much,” McNamee said shortly after running a personal-best time. “My tonsils got infected a couple weeks ago, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do this race. I was about 30 seconds better here than I was last year. The best I had done this year was a 19:57 (in the Marquette County meet Sept. 8). I tried to go with the same strategy as I did in the county meet, and it worked.”
The team title was a dream come true for the Blue Devils, especially for seniors Courtney Arbic and Josie Roos, who was eighth in a personal-best 20:04.3.
“This feels awesome,” said Arbic. “We’ve been training real hard all year. This is the best team we’ve had. We’re all good friends, and we definitely have a strong core. We tried to stay together as a pack. I started a little slower than some of the runners and tried to work my way up, then tried to pick it up after Mile 2. The last mile is usually my fastest.”
Roos, who’s leaning toward attending Northern Michigan University next year, said the Blue Devils have been working toward this for five years.
“We’ve been talking about this since we were in seventh grade,” she added. “I’m so glad we finally won it. We’ve been waiting for this so long. I was excited for this meet when I woke up this morning. I was real happy to get a PB.”
The Blue Devils had to overcome some adversity during the meet as their lead runner McKenzie Kalchik developed breathing issues and was forced to drop out.
“When the girls saw McKenzie go down, they stepped up their game,” said Martin. “I couldn’t be happier and more proud of them, especially our seniors.”
Division 2
Ishpeming was crowned champion for the third straight time with 62 points, followed by Munising with 70, Hancock 101, St. Ignace 124 and Newberry with 134.
Ishpeming also had adversity to overcome as some of its runners were feeling well under the weather last week.
“We had four girls on antibiotics,” said Ishpeming coach P.J. Pruett. “Some of them had bronchitis and pneumonia. Fortunately, they felt better today.”
Munising junior Alyssa Webber earned top individual honors in 19:59, followed by teammate Maddy Peramaki (20:32.8); Gogebic (Bessemer) senior Lily Wieringa (20:44.8), Iron River West Iron County senior Emmy Kinner (21:11.1) and Ironwood sophomore Emily Carey (21:15.7).
“It was a fast race,” said Webber. “The girl from Gogebic was ahead of us for 1½ miles. We knew she was good competition. Maddy ran a PR (personal record) today. I’m excited for her. Coach (Fran DesArmo) is happy, and we’re all happy.
“It was a little cold at first, but I warmed up during the race. This is definitely better weather than we had for last year’s Finals (wind and rain).”
Division 3
The Cedarville girls won for the first time in five years with 34 points, followed by two-time reigning champion Chassell with 46, Dollar Bay 81, Rock Mid Peninsula 88 and Stephenson 90.
“We grew all year long and got better,” said Cedarville coach Ryan Wilson. “We had good senior leadership this year. The kids are going to go home and talk about being U.P. champions. They ran some of their fastest times today.”
Chassell’s Lela Rautiola won at 20:12.2, followed by Cedarville senior Emma Bohn (20:27.2), Painesdale-Jeffers’ Gracia Asiala (20:46.7), Eben Junction Superior Central freshman Danika Walters (21:09) and Dollar Bay’s Cami Daavettila (21:14.8).
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Courtney Arbic (155) paces Sault Ste. Marie’s runners on the way to the Division 1 title. (Middle) Ishpeming’s Kayla Kaukola finished ninth in leading the Hematites to the Division 2 championship. (Below) Cedarville’s Emma Bohn (343) stays just ahead of Chassell’s Lela Rautiola in Division 3; Rautiola won the race but Cedarville won the team title. (Photos by Jamie Tasson and Cara Kamps.)
Sachs Surges from Start to Lead Holland West Ottawa to LPD1 Finals Sweep
November 5, 2022
BROOKLYN – Helen Sachs of Holland West Ottawa doesn’t run alone in many cross country meets, which is unusual for an elite runner.
The best runners have to learn to race solo, because there will be meets in which they can simply overwhelm the competition.
But there is always at least one worthy competitor nearby when Sachs races. She runs on the same team as senior Arianne Olson, herself one of the top contenders at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
So, Sachs was surprised to find herself already alone at the front just 200 meters into the race. She never allowed the pack to catch up, winning by 24.73 seconds with a time of 17:18.74.
“I saw nobody in front of me except for the start when they all went off,” said Sachs, a sophomore. “I was just in front. I was like someone is gonna be coming up behind me, because I know the state meet is when people just go for it. No one came up with me.
“It was kind of weird. I was looking forward to some competition or people to run with. It was still fun to run in such a big race, though. It was cool.”
Sachs won eight of her 10 races this season, placing second in the other two to Olson. Olson, who was third in Division 1 last season, placed ninth this time in 18:27.13.
That powerful 1-2 punch up front allowed West Ottawa to win the team championship in dominant fashion, 97-172 over runner-up Romeo.
The Panthers placed their five scoring runners in the top 50, while every other contending team had at least one scoring runner place in the 100s.
Training daily with such a powerful team helped Sachs become an MHSAA champion.
“I just picked up on the dedication, getting everything in,” she said. “Our coaches this year focused more on recovery, like running easy, focusing on recovery, which has helped the mindset of everyone on the team.”
Sachs was a ready-made contributor to the West Ottawa program, finishing fifth in Division 1 last season. But even after finishing among the state’s elite a year ago, she didn’t believe she could win an MHSAA individual championship until she started winning big races early this year.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “Last year I was fifth. This year, winning the state championship was crazy. It doesn’t feel real.”
Rounding out the West Ottawa scorers were 38th-place senior Megan Postma, 49th-place sophomore Jane Olney and 50th-place freshman Ava Porras. Grandville senior Allison Arnsman was the individual runner-up in 17:43.47.
PHOTOS (Top) Holland West Ottawa’s Helen Sachs closes in on the finish and her first MHSAA Finals championship. (Middle) West Ottawa’s Arianne Olson and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Clara James-Heer lead another pack down the stretch. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)