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Calumet's Kiilunen Wins 4th U.P. Final
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 20, 2012
MUNISING — Tara Kiilunen was nearly overcome with emotion shortly after the conclusion of the Division 1 race at Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Cross Country Finals at Pictured Rocks Golf & Country Club.
The Calumet High School senior became the first girl to be crowned U.P. champion for the fourth consecutive year, covering the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes, 44.7 seconds.
“This is an amazing feeling for me,” she said. “Each year you win it, there’s more pressure. This was probably the most nervous I was for a race. I just appreciate the efforts of our coaches and my family. They’ve always been supporting me. I’m grateful for everything.”
Calumet, which placed four among the top eight, was crowned team champion for the third time in four years with 41 points, followed by Escanaba with 62, Sault Ste. Marie with 84 and defending champion Marquette with 96.
For more than 2.5 miles, however, it looked as though Kiilunen would be forced to settle for the runner-up spot.
Marquette freshman Lindsey Rudden, the pre-meet favorite, appeared to be well on her way to victory.
Then, the unthinkable happened to the Great Northern Conference champion.
Rudden, who was undefeated before Saturday, passed out and needed to be helped off the course.
“People kept telling me you’re gaining on her, then I passed her in the last 800 meters,” said Kiilunen. “That’s very unfortunate for the Marquette girl. She’s a tough runner. There will be so many more races for her to win and break records. She has a real bright future.”
Kiilunen also earned her fourth West-Pac Conference title at Atlantic Mine on Oct. 11 and was named U.P. Female Runner of the Year the past three seasons.
“This just goes to show it’s never over,” Calumet coach Arne Kinnunen said. “Everything happens for a reason. Although, what happened to Lindsey is unfortunate. But how often does anybody win the U.P. Finals four years in a row. Tara is just an incredible runner and she showed that by winning 44-of-46 races through her high school career.”
Her sister, freshman Leah Kiilunen, was runner-up on Saturday at 19:50, with Menominee junior Kameron Burmeister third (19:53.3).
“The Menominee girl was pushing me the whole way,” Leah Kiilunen said. “Her coaches were giving her advice, and I was listening to them. I knew what she was going to do. Although, I can’t help but feel sorry for Lindsey because she had such a great season.”
Division 2
Newberry edged Ironwood 50-52 for its first U.P. Division 2 title on this sunny and seasonably mild day. Hancock placed third with 79 points.
Ironwood junior Jessica Gering, crowned Indianhead Conference champion last week, captured her first U.P. title in 20:40.9. Gering, who took slightly more than a week off mid season due to shin pain, was followed by senior teammate Hannah Palmeter (21:27.9) and West Iron County’s Rebekah Serbinski (21:31.6).
“The shins felt better when I came back, and I got a little stronger toward the end of the season,” Gering said. “I’m just happy to win one. Overall, our team did well. Newberry has a great team. We just have to keep working together and helping each other out. Everybody was happy with how they did.”
Division 3
St. Ignace senior Sarah Cullip, who earned the Division 2 title the past two seasons, added a Division 3 crown to her collection in 19:36. She was followed by teammate Lily Calcaterra (20:47.4) and Rudyard senior Leah Jarvie (20:53.3).
The Saints also were crowned U.P. champions for the first time in school history with 40 points, followed by Dollar Bay with 74 and Rudyard with 81.
“This feels awesome,” said Cullip, who also captured the Straits Area Conference title on Oct. 9. “This proves that hard work pays off. Lily was right there to push me. The competition was a little different for us this year. I just kept my eye on the competition and incoming freshmen. I was extremely nervous before the race. I just wanted to keep up the pace I’ve been working on.”
Cullip, expected to be a key player on the Saints’ basketball team, is looking forward to this season. St. Ignace captured the Class C state title in 2011 and reached the semifinals last year.
“I’m real excited for basketball,” said Cullip. “Teammates who aren’t out for fall sports are in the gym practicing hard everyday. We’ll have to prepare for little different competition (in Class D) this year.”
PHOTO: Eventual runner-up Leah Kiilunen of Calumet (9) leads a pack at the Division 1 race at Saturday's Upper Peninsula Finals at Munising (Photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com/Paul Gerard).
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Freyhof, Otsego Celebrate Finals Wins
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Erika Freyhof didn't say a whole lot when talking about herself, even on the day she won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship.
What really got her to light up and open up was when the topic shifted to her team.
Hamilton's girls, who had three straight top-four finishes from 2009-11, were back in the Finals after missing out the last three years. Ending an even longer drought — like forever — was the Hamilton boys, who had never qualified for the Finals.
Even the modest finishes by those teams — 17th for the boys, 19th for the girls — couldn't dampen Freyhof's enthusiasm on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"Our team made it, which was awesome," Freyhof said. "We had only six girls at our Regional, because one of them is injured, and we made it as a team. That's amazing. And the boys made it, which is like the first time in school history. So our whole cross country team was so excited. It was awesome."
And what about her championship performance?
"I really wanted to just go out and win," she said.
Freyhof has moved up the Division 2 ranks during her three trips to MIS. She was 15th in 19:07.6 as a freshman in 2013 and seventh in 18:45.4 as a sophomore last year.
"All of the ones in front of me last year were seniors," Freyhof said. "That was exciting when they graduated, so I could get a chance."
Her only loss in 12 meets this season was a second-place finish to Division 1 champion Madison Troy of Grandville in the Otsego Bulldog Invitational on Oct. 3.
There was only one senior in the top 11 of this Final, so there will be plenty of runners looking to build on their experience at MIS to take a shot at Freyhof's title next year.
Finishing second was Holland Christian sophomore Kayla Windemuller in 18:22.5. Linden junior Alia Frederick was third in 18:30.6.
"Last year I became the fastest freshman at my school," said Windemuller, who was 47th last season. "I just wanted to keep on improving. I figured out I love running. I just wanted to keep pushing myself to see what I could do. I started running in Girls on the Run in sixth grade. I ran in seventh grade, but I hated it so much I didn't want to do it again. Then someone convinced me to do it my freshman year."
Otsego won its first team championship by a comfortable margin, scoring 97 points. East Grand Rapids was second with 180, while two-time defending champion Grand Rapids Christian was third with 199. Linden was fourth with 205.
Otsego has moved up in the top three the last three seasons, placing third in 2013 and second in 2014. The Bulldogs returned six of their seven runners from last year's finals squad, while adding freshman Sydney Kubiak, who was the team's No. 4 runner on Saturday.
Leading Otsego from near the front of the pack were juniors Megan Aalberts (fifth, 18:38.8) and Sophia Hirzel (sixth, 18:42.1). Also scoring for the Bulldogs were sophomore Maddie Marciniak (27th, 19:02.8), Kubiak (39th, 19:19.4) and sophomore Gracie VerHage (45th, 19:26.5).
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof cruises the final stretch on the way to her first MHSAA individual title (Middle) Otsego’s Sophia Hirzel finishing sixth overall, just behind teammate Megan Aalberts, as they led the Bulldogs to their first MHSAA team championship. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)