![Buckley runners joke with coach Jolie King, far right, before a training run earlier this month.](/sites/default/files/2023-08/230825_Buckley_2H.jpg)
BEWARE of Bears: Finals Champ Harrand Pacing Buckley's Team Title Pursuit
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
August 25, 2023
Over the years at Buckley, Aiden Harrand got pretty used to running alone.
It is unknown how often she thought about encountering a bear. It is also uncertain how much she dreamed about running with Bears — the Buckley Bears.
Harrand, now a senior, is surrounded by Bears – teammates. She had only one teammate as a freshman. There were no other girls on the team her sophomore year. Buckley fielded an entire team her junior year last fall, and the Bears placed eighth at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final. Harrand won the individual championship that day to lead them to that best-ever girls cross country finish.
She also won the three LPD4 track individual distance championships last spring in helping the Buckley claim the first team Finals title in any sport in the school’s history.
Harrand is starting this fall campaign Saturday at the Benzie Invitational. They’ll hit the Benzie course with their two team themes in mind – “We’re on Fire” and “Watch out for Bears.” If the competition doesn’t heed the theme warning posted on their T-shirts, they likely note them in the results.
And with individual and team state championships on their mind, the Bears are also looking for another possible first. They have high hopes of picking up the school’s first Northwest Conference championship. The league has been dominated by Benzie Central and Kingsley, schools with rich cross country histories.
“Watch out for Bears” just may have been set with the conference in mind. The recent track and cross country success won’t allow the Bears and Harrand to sneak up on anybody, pointed out second-year coach Jolie King.
“We didn’t ever have a chance because we’re competing against Benzie and Kingsley,” admitted King, who also has coached track and cross country for Bay City Western, Traverse City St. Francis and Kingsley. “They draw from 300 kids, and we have 118.
“We have a chance this year,” she continued. “(But) Benzie is going to be tough. You know Mylie (Kelly) is going to be amazing.”
The Regional and Final is really where the Bears have their sights. Kelly – who finished eighth in LP Division 3 last fall as a junior – and Benzie, along with Kingsley, will compete in Division 3. The Bears will see other conference teams, Frankfort and Glen Lake, in the Division 4 Regional the Bears are hosting Oct. 28.
By then, Buckley hopes to be on fire as demonstrated by its preseason team picture taken on a fire truck. The training plans are set with the Regional and Final meets in mind.
King said September’s plan is learning to run as team and focus on pacing as the Bears take on some pretty tough competition, including Hart and Traverse City St. Francis, two more top Division 3 teams in Northern Michigan. October will include speed work and seeing what the Bears are made of at the Portage Invitational, the coach revealed.
Harrand, the most decorated runner in Buckley’s history, has 11 teammates this fall. All the Bears are back from last year’s eighth-place finisher, plus they’ve added freshmen. They have been training all summer, meeting – and in many cases – exceeding King’s expectations.
Needless to say there is lots of excitement in Bear country. The season kicked off with a Glow Run, a team training experience commencing 12:01 AM on the first day MHSAA allowed practice for this season.
“I am giving myself goosebumps,” King noted as she talked about her 2023 team tapping its potential. “The girls have a goal to make the (Finals) podium this year.
“After (Harrand) winning the state title last spring, they know it is in their wheelhouse,” she continued. “They know they are capable of doing it.”
Harrand, of course, is expected to be the top runner again this fall. King is looking for sophomores Kayla Milarch, Brooklynn Frazee and Kinsey Peer to battle for the team’s 2-4 spots every meet. Addison Harrand, Aiden’s younger sister — also a sophomore— is projected to round out the team’s scoring regularly in the fifth spot.
Senior Natalie Halloway, junior Autumn Kelsey, sophomores Maddie Chilson and Allie Brimmer, along with incoming freshmen Kaylee Swanson and Mykayla Kulawiak, are also expected to figure in the Bears’ championship drive.
The Bears only boys team runner, sophomore Matthew Bentley, will train with the girls, giving the senior sensation the most cross country teammates she’s ever had.
“I used to say I guess I’ll go run by myself,” Aiden Harrand recalled. “Now I have 11 others to go run with me – this is kind of awesome.”
Harrand is expected to be challenged at Michigan International Speedway this fall, and she will welcome the competition as she focuses on a bigger personal goal – leading the Bears to the team championship.
“I have my work cut out for me, but I want it so bad,” the senior said. “I want to continue this trend.
“I want to do it for my girls and my team,” she continued. “I am going to be putting my best foot forward.”
If she had to accept either an individual or team Finals championship, she knows which one she’d take.
“I want the team one,” she said. “I think it is a bigger deal to be a part of a team to accomplish so much than to just do it individually.”
Harrand is very special to her coach.
“Every coach deserves an Aiden Harrand on their team,” King said. “She is bubbly … she makes everybody come together as a team … she demonstrates hard work … she’s really been such a leader … she encourages everybody.”
Harrand took fifth in the Division 4 Final as a freshman and was the runner-up as a sophomore. Across her 11 victories last season, Harrand had an average margin of victory of 34.5 seconds. She took the Division 4 top spot by nearly 15 seconds after winning her Regional by 49 seconds.
Last spring she finished first in every track event she entered, with Finals, Regional and Northwest Conference championships in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs.
Not surprisingly, Harrand owns an endless list of course and Buckley school track and cross country records.
But again, to her, team matters most.
“Her job for the team is to win meets,” King said. “But when she is done, she is on the line. She is coaching constantly. … She rubs off.”
And the sophomore Harrand really looks for her older sister to lead the team to success.
“It is really cool watching my sister do this and being able to support her at what she does,” Addisen pointed out. “Knowing she is going to be in the top five, and just having her do that goal and us follow, pushes us to be so much better as a team.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. 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.
PHOTOS (Top) Buckley runners joke with coach Jolie King, far right, before a training run earlier this month. From left: Kinsey Peer, Brooklynn Frazee, Kayla Milarch, Aiden Harrand, and Addisen Harrand, with Allie Brimmer behind King. (Middle) The Bears’ team photo with a fire engine this fall is symbolic of the team’s “We’re on Fire” theme. From left: Coach Jolie King, Aiden Harrand, Natalie Halloway, Kinsey Peer (standing) Allie Brimmer (kneeling), Maddie Chilson (standing), Addisen Harrand (inside fire truck), Kayla Milarch (sitting), Matthew Bentley (standing) Autumn Kelsey (sitting), Kaylee Swanson (on truck), Mikayla Kulawiak (seated leaning forward) and Brooklynn Frazee (standing). (Below) The team takes a photo in front of a new course marker. From left: Kinsey Peer, Addisen Harrand, Brooklynn Frazee, Mikayla Kulawiak, Allie Brimmer, Kayla Milarch, Aiden Harrand, Kaylee Lown and Autumn Kelsey. Missing: Maddie Chilson, Natalie Halloway and Matthew Bentley. (Top photo by Tom Spencer. Fire engine photo by Amanda Patterson/Pattersnap. Course marker photo by Jolie King.)
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/171104_D1girls_2H.jpg)
Troy, Rockford Leader Make Title Jumps
November 4, 2017
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — Finally, a pleasant memory at Michigan International Speedway for Rockford junior Ericka VanderLende.
Her first two trips around the cross country course at MIS were OK, but weren’t indications of the greatness that awaited her.
VanderLende was pretty much a middle-of-the-pack finisher, placing 81st in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final in 19:13.1 as a freshman and 99th in 19:57.1 as a sophomore.
“It’s a lot different than all the other courses,” VanderLende said. “It’s a lot more intimidating going into it.”
Everything — both mentally and physically — came together for VanderLende on Saturday in her latest trip to Brooklyn.
After splitting two regular-season meetings with Traverse City Central senior Sielle Kearney, it was all VanderLende as she cruised to victory in 17:16.8. Kearney was second in 17:30.2.
“It’s been a really good season,” VanderLende said. “I stayed a lot more consistent with my races. Last year, I was kind of all over the place.”
VanderLende won eight of her 10 races this year.
She was fourth behind two Division 2 runners and a Division 3 runner in the Spartan Invitational, with Kearney taking fifth and Waterford Mott’s Rylee Robinson placing sixth. That turned out to be the finish order for the top Division 1 runners Saturday, with Robinson taking third behind VanderLende and Kearney in 17:34.8.
At the Portage Invitational, Kearney took first and VanderLende was third.
VanderLende and Kearney ran together until about the midway mark of the 3.1-mile race Saturday.
“I just let her get away, and she was going really strong,” Kearney said. “She had an awesome race. It was really cool to be in the same race and have that kind of competition.”
VanderLende’s victory led Rockford to a third-place finish with 153 points.
Troy won its first MHSAA championship since capturing Class A in 1993, edging Northville by a 127-132 score. Troy hadn’t made the top five since taking third in 2000, while Northville and Rockford are perennial title contenders.
Northville has six straight top-five finishes, while Rockford has been a top-10 finisher 21 times in the last 22 years.
While Troy didn’t have a runner break 18 minutes like Northville and Rockford, the Colts had their five scoring runners in the top 32 in the team race, with their second through fifth runners separated by only 3.7 seconds.
Senior Megan Worrel was 10th among team runners in 18:07.8, senior Hannah Palomino was 26th in 18:42.5, freshman Paige Anderson was 29th in 18:44.5, senior Meghan Monaghan was 30th in 18:44.8 and junior Katie Scoles was 32nd in 18:46.2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Ericka VanderLende (1240) and Traverse City Central’s Sielle Kearney quickly moved to the front of the pack Saturday. (Middle) Troy’s Paige Anderson (1276), Meghan Monaghan (1279) and Katie Scoles (1281) all placed between 41st and 44th to help the Colts to the team title. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)