Ackley, St. Francis Hold off Charging Cougars

November 5, 2016

Second Half reports

BROOKLYN – The finish line couldn’t arrive soon enough for Hart sophomore Adelyn Ackley.

There was no one in front of her at Michigan International Speedway as she sprinted down the final stretch Saturday in the MHSAA Division 3 cross country meet.

It’s what was behind her that had Ackley running scared.

Hot on her heels was Lansing Catholic junior Olivia Theis, the only Division 3 runner to beat her this season.

“It was a terrible feeling,” Ackley said. “I thought she was right there. At first, I thought the finish line was closer, so I dug. Then I realized it’s a lot farther.”

Ackley was able to hold off Theis, winning with a time of 17:40.6. Theis was a close second in 17:41.3, as the top two runners cleared the rest of the field by 42.9 seconds.

“I was getting there,” Theis said. “I just couldn’t pick it up any more. I was ahead, then she pulled ahead and I couldn’t catch her.”

Ackley and Theis raced head-to-head in the two biggest regular-season invitationals of the season. Ackley was third behind two Division 1 top-seven finishers in the Spartan Elite Race at Michigan State, with Theis taking fourth. In the Portage Invitational, Theis was first in 17:21, with Ackley taking second by 12 seconds.

Ackley was a distant second at last year’s Final to Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough, who now runs for Michigan State University.

Ackley went through the mile in 5:46, backing off about 700 meters into the race after a blistering start.

“I had a really fast start,” she said. “Then I realized I was going like a 4:41 pace for a mile, so I slowed down and followed Olivia.”

Ackley ran negative splits, running the second mile in 5:41 and the third in 5:39. Theis also ran a well-paced race, going 5:47, 5:40 and 5:42 for the first three miles.

Despite Theis’ performance, Lansing Catholic couldn’t keep St. Francis from repeating as Division 3 team champion.

St. Francis, which lost only two runners from its top seven of 2015, put five runners in the top 24 in the team race. Junior Joyana Tarsa was seventh in 19:13.6, sophomore Katelyn Duffing ninth in 19:23.1, senior Emmalyne Tarsa 14th in 19:37.2, freshman Libby Gorman 23rd in 20:13.5 and sophomore Christine Scerbak 24th in 20:18.0.

Lansing Catholic put three runners in the top five in the team race, but had to count 31st and 47th places. Olivia Theis was second among team runners, Lauren Cleary was third and Jaden Theis was fifth.

Benzie Central was third with 125 points.

Click for full results.

The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.

PHOTOS: (Top) Hart’s Adelyn Ackley (right) charges toward the finish in Division 3 just ahead of Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis. (Middle) St. Francis’ Joyana Tarsa (1680) leads a pack including Benzie Central’s Lucy Karpukhno (1526). (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)

Maples Win First Title, Finn Wins Second

November 3, 2012

By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half

BROOKLYN — The level of competition made its first MHSAA cross country championship even sweeter for Birmingham Seaholm.

Seaholm, Grosse Pointe South and Saline took turns beating each other this season, setting up a three-way showdown for the Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls cross country title Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

In the end, it wasn’t as close as expected. Even with a sub-par day by its No. 1 runner, top-ranked Seaholm won by a 69-88 margin over third-ranked Grosse Pointe South, the defending champion. No. 2-ranked Saline was third with 101.

Seaholm was fourth in Division 1 last year, its best finish before Saturday. The Maples had been in the top 10 only twice before posting top-nine finishes three of the last four years.

“It’s indescribable,” Seaholm coach Jeff Devantier said. “It’s fantastic. It’s just a lot of hard work that’s finally paid off.

“That’s what makes it even better, knowing the competition around you is as tough as it is. But that was our focus all year. We knew this team and this team — Saline and Grosse Pointe South — were the teams we had to compare ourselves to and had to continually improve to beat. It came together today.”

Seniors Aubrey and Tess Wilberding — two of three triplets — led Seaholm. Aubrey was fourth overall in 17:55.9, while Tess took 12th in 18:16.4.

Rounding out Seaholm’s scoring were freshman Marissa Dobry (15th, 18:23.9), sophomore Rachel Dadamio (20th, 18:27.9) and sophomore Audrey Belf (33rd, 18:32.8).

“The scary thing about this lineup is that we haven’t had the same girls finish in the same order all year,” Devantier said. “My top girl actually did not have the kind of day she wanted to. We wanted to have as many girls in the top 30 to 35 as we could.”

Individually, West Bloomfield senior Erin Finn repeated as champion with the fastest time in all four divisions, a personal-best 17:07.9. Grosse Pointe South senior Hannah Meier set a fast early pace before taking second in 17:34.5.

Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever in an MHSAA meet. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.

“I’m definitely getting back there,” Finn said. “God has blessed me. I don’t think I ever prayed so much before a race.”

Less than a month ago, Finn wasn’t sure if she would be able to defend her championship, let alone run that fast.

She trained harder than ever over the summer, had a good race in the season opener, but then saw her times get slower and slower. Finn was eventually diagnosed with an iron deficiency, which she’s been able to correct primarily with supplements.

Once the problem was identified, Finn set her sights on being strong at the end of the season.

“I told myself the Spartan Invitational doesn’t matter, the Regional doesn’t matter as long as I qualify,” Finn said. “All that matters is state, regionals and nationals. Hey, I think I’m back for those. That’s all that counts.”

Meier, the MHSAA Finals record holder in the 800 and 1,600, held the lead until about one kilometer into the five-kilometer race.

“She just really bolted the first two miles,” Meier said of Finn. “I saw her slowing down the last mile. I wasn’t thinking about individually; I was thinking about team. I just wasn’t feeling it today. I think I could’ve done better but, oh, well.”

Click for full results.

PHOTO: Birmingham Seaholm senior Aubrey Wilberding crosses the finish line first for her team, in 17:55.9, as the Maples went on to win the Division 1 team championship at MIS. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).