Challenging Courses, Modified Scoring & Evening Start Highlight UP Race Debuts
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 17, 2024
CRYSTAL FALLS — A pair of high school cross country meets made their debuts earlier this month in the Upper Peninsula, with the Gwinn Invitational on Sept. 3 in Sawyer followed a day later by Crystal Falls Forest Park’s first meet at Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp.
According to Forest Park coach D.J. Rasner, it took three months of planning to make the Trojans’ first home meet possible.
“We’re glad to get this in,” he said. “We’re hoping to find out where we need to improve. It’s exciting, and hosting this meet has generated excitement in the community. We were without a program for about 20 years. This is our third year back, and our program has been growing slowly. I’m grateful for the school and administration for taking this risk.”
Bark River-Harris senior Wes Knauf, who runs for Powers North Central as part of a cooperative program, found the course to be challenging.
“It’s a nice course with a lot of shade,” he said. “There was a large sand hill about a mile into the race, and I shortened my stride. Many guys slowed down on that hill. There were a lot of roots out there. You had to watch your footing. There was also a downhill that was nearly as long, which helped me get my second wind.”
Knauf, who won the 3.1-mile race in 19:52.2, was followed by Forest Park junior Joey Mainville (20:47.5) and senior brother Max Mainville (20:47.7) on a sunny and warm afternoon. The Trojans won their home debut with nine points in a meet featuring modified scoring with the top three finishers contributing toward their respective team scores.
“It feels great to win our first home meet,” Joey Mainville said. “Running on our home course for the first time provided us with special motivation. We just didn’t want to start out too fast.”
“Getting to practice on this course really helps,” Max Mainville added. “It’s a big boost for me to finish in the top three, and the victory is a big boost for our team. We had very good conditions for this race, and low humidity helped.”
The North Central girls were crowned champions with seven points, followed by Rock Mid Peninsula with 22 and Rapid River at 24.
BR-H senior Hope Varoni, who also runs for the Jets, won individually at 23:44.9.
“I usually try to follow people and stay with them,” she said. “Today, I decided to run at my own pace. It was a little uneven on parts of the course, although it was a nice course. I’d say my season is starting the way I want.”
At Sawyer, Munising senior Dan Goss took the Gwinn Invitational boys title at 18:32.3 in a meet which started at 6:15 p.m.
“The course was pretty sandy and there were a lot of roots,” said Goss, who trains 40 miles a week. “You had to watch your footing. My goal was to get in front of the pack, and I took my first mile out at 5:30.
“I think it’s pretty cool to run in the evening. It was a great atmosphere. I don’t think I ever started a race after 6 p.m. Lot of times the wind goes down in the evening.”
He was followed by classmate Trevor Nolan (19:13.8), Manistique senior Ben Gilroy (20:00.1) and Gladstone junior Tyler Soderman (20:02.3).
“I’ve twisted my ankle about five times and was trying to be cautious,” Gilroy said. “I tried to take it at a comfortable pace. I started walking on the uphill and several people passed me, but I caught them after the hill anyway. I was just trying not to get injured before our home meet (Sept. 11). I think it was a fun meet. It was an adventure and something new. I told my teammates to take it easy. I don’t want them to be injured for the U.P. (Division 2) Finals.”
Gladstone junior Payton Takkunen recorded her first varsity victory on the challenging 3.1-mile course in 25:56.6
“This feels really good,” she said. “I’m glad everyone was there to support me. I wanted to stride it out in the first mile and continue from there. I thought the race was well-organized, but it was really hard. Although, I think this will give me confidence for the bigger meets.”
Takkunen was followed by senior teammate Kristy Karl (26:34.2) and Ishpeming seniors Peyton Kakkuri (26:39.9) and Laynie Korpi (26:51.8).
“Payton and I were on pace for 8-minute miles, but once we got into the sand we slowed down a lot,” Korpi said. “I was doing pretty good until we got to the hill in the last mile. We had beach sand after the first mile. I enjoyed the race, though. It’s good when you have somebody to run it.”
The Gladstone girls won with 20 points, followed by Superior Central at 47 and Manistique with 57.
“That was a challenging course, but it was a good first meet for us,” Superior Central coach Holly McDonnald said. “It was nice because it was close for us. I hope they’ll do it again.”
The Gladstone boys also won with 32 points, followed by Munising at 57 and Gwinn at 76.
The invite featured varsity, junior varsity and middle school races, with seven varsities competing for boys and girls championships.
“It was a tough course,” Gladstone’ coach Gary Whitmer said. “Although, it was pretty exciting to see the kids get their medals. This is a boost for the kids.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Max Mainville crosses a road during his school’s inaugural invitational Sept. 4. (Middle) The Trojans’ Ellie Zaupa crosses the finish line. (Below) Gwinn’s Eloi Lopez (194), Manistique’s Ben Gilroy (464) and Gladstone’s Teagan Reynolds (422) run a stretch of the Gwinn Invitational on Sept. 3. (Forest Park Invitational photos courtesy of the Forest Park cross country programs; Gwinn Invitational photo by Laura Spade.)
Performance: LCN's Karenna Duffey
November 3, 2017
Karenna Duffey
Macomb L’Anse Creuse senior – Cross Country
Duffey, coming off her fourth Macomb County championship and a repeat Macomb Area Conference Red title as well, ran the state’s fifth-fastest time of last weekend to win her third Regional title and earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
The standout senior has won all of her races this fall except one, finishing second at the prestigious Portage Invitational last month to Traverse City Central standout Sielle Kearney. But Duffey is surging heading into Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan International Speedway, with her Regional time of 17:48 at Algonac her fastest this season and another sign of her return to form. Despite having plenty of success as a sophomore and junior – Duffey still won 15 of 18 races in which she competed – she accomplished it fighting multiple stress fractures, shin splints and last year an iron deficiency. Her Regional time last week was her fastest since setting her personal record while taking third at the MHSAA Finals as a freshman. She also finished third at the Finals last year and 14th as a sophomore.
Duffey likewise has been an ambassador of the running program at her school, helping the team to grow again this fall under first-year coach Bryan Stewart. She’s also a track star with school records in the 800 (2:14.83), 1,600 (4:50.36) and 3,200 meters (10:38.04) to go with her program-best cross country time – that 1,600 time placed her second at this spring’s MHSAA LP Division 1 Final. Meanwhile, Duffey carries a 4.0 grade-point average and will continue academically and athletically next year at Michigan State University, where she’s considering studying something in the sciences.
Coach Bryan Stewart said: “Karenna is a very hard-working and dedicated individual. She shows this in all aspects of her life. She works just as hard at school as she does at running. Karenna has been great to work with since I started coaching her last spring. It's pretty special when an athlete has a lot of talent and has a work ethic to really develop that talent like Karenna has over her high school career. Her mom (Debbie) and dad (Chris) also are extremely supportive of her running and really go out of their way to help her. … Karenna really sets a good example for the team on how important school is along with working hard during practice and making sure she gets her weekend runs done. Over her career, she has battled through some tough injuries as well and came out an even stronger athlete.”
Performance Point: “Where our start line was, the first 200 meters we were going straight into the wind,” Duffey said. “So I went behind the girl who went out first. And then once we turned, that was right about when I took the lead, and from there I just steadily kept on going. The course itself was pretty nice. It was flat so it wasn’t that challenging. Some parts of the grass were a little soggy, and back in the woods where it was just a dirt trail, there were a lot of spots – I kinda stopped running. I had to walk around one mud puddle, actually. I slipped a few times, but I didn’t fall. I think the girls race I was in was maybe the third or fourth race of the day, so the other kids got the course a little dirtier than it was, but the finish was fun because we finished on the track the last 300 meters. Overall, I think it was a good effort, and I think I’m well-prepared for the state finals on Saturday.”
Fast start, then stumbles along the way: “I think my freshman year I was a lot more naïve. I didn’t know much about running. I think my ego was pretty big because I went into the state meet thinking, ‘OK, I have a chance to win. Winning as a freshman would be so cool.’ But I actually didn’t win. … My parents were never runners; my school isn’t very big into running. We don’t have a huge team or anything, so it isn’t like I’ve been training for cross country my entire life. I finally just walked into it and was – not in an arrogant way – but good at it. (But) after my freshman year I battled through two stress fractures, and I also last year had an iron deficiency. My sophomore year at the state meet in the 2-mile for track, I thought everything was going great … (and) the last 40 meters I was in seventh place and a girl accidentally clipped my heal, so I got scraped up and I got a concussion from that. Obviously, I’m a lot more experienced now. I think my mentality toward racing now is a lot different. I know all of the things that could go wrong, versus, ‘OK, I’m going to go out and kill it today. I could beat anybody.’ I think I’m a little bit more timid I guess, but also a little more cautious. But I think that’s a good thing.”
Back to the beginning, but better: “I also think I’m a lot stronger. My freshman year, I wasn’t as strong. I got out-kicked in the final 300 meters in cross country. Now that’s kinda what I do to everybody else, is I (out-kick) them. That’s how I’ve won a few races. I think that’s definitely my specialty, and that helps me a lot. … I really wasn’t sure if I would ever be back to where I was freshman year, which was obviously scary because basically for two years I wasn’t racing at the same level as I was as a freshman. I’m definitely happy to be back to where I was, and in my eyes, a lot stronger.”
Leaving a legacy: “I’ve tried to help create an environment where people aren’t afraid to try things, especially at our school with the 15 kids that we have, boys and girls, that do cross country. A lot of them, it will be their first sport or something they try out and they never expect to like it, and then they end up liking it. So I try to encourage people to join, but it’s very difficult because a lot of them are like, ‘Running is really hard work. I hated running the mile in gym class; why would I like doing it with a team and at races?’ I’d really like people to join because they’d be able to start something too. Maybe at first you might not be (great), but you’re never going to know how good you can be, unless you try it. Because especially in running, it takes years and years and years to turn into what you really could be. A lot of people have great potential, but they never really start it so they don’t see where they could get. I would say try out for a season or maybe a month or two and see where you get from there. The couple of people I have tried to get to do it, they usually stick with it.”
Final stretch: “There’s a chance my grandfather will be there at the race, and he’s never seen me race before, so I’d like to show him what I’m capable of because he’s heard stories about me but he’s never gotten to witness it. So I’d like to make him proud. … I do think I’m capable of winning, so if I don’t win I think it would be more of a disappointment than if I took second just because I think I’m capable of winning almost any race – obviously not winning against an NCAA champion or anything – but it all depends on how the race rolls out. What sort of moves I make, that sort of thing. I think I have to be there mentally for me to win, so I’m just preparing myself for anything that could possibly happen.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City Central golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Macomb L'Anse Creuse North's Karenna Duffey pushes out in front of the pack during a race this season. (Middle) Duffey is hoping to improve from third last year to first Saturday at the LP Division 1 Final. (Photos courtesy of the L'Anse Creuse North girls cross country program.