Dow's Garces Runs with Legends, Romeo Makes Run at Legendary Team Score

November 2, 2024

BROOKLYN — When the name of Dathan Ritzenhein is brought up around current Michigan high school cross country runners, it’s a legendary name from the past whose exploits at Rockford took place before they were born.

The female equivalent is Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth, who shattered the girls course record at Michigan International Speedway only last year.

To Midland Dow senior Victoria Garces, Forsyth is not just a legendary name, but a contemporary. Garces was in the same race last year — albeit from a distance, like everyone else — when Forsyth posted her epic time of 16 minutes, 28.5 seconds to lower the MIS girls record by a jaw-dropping 23.6 seconds.

Forsyth seemed like she was on a different planet to Garces and anyone else who attempted to challenge her last fall.

Fast forward one year and Garces established herself as one of the all-time greats in Michigan cross country history by winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final in 16:37.1.

Garces’ time is the second-fastest ever at MIS and still a healthy 15 seconds lower than the mark Forsyth broke last year.

Romeo’s Natalia Guaresimo (355) and Kalamazoo Central’s Annie Alkema surge toward the finish line. “Honestly, I’m in shock,” said Garces, who was fifth at both of the last two Division 1 Finals. “I’m just so grateful I’m here healthy. Last year states was a little bit of a challenge for me. I dealt with a little bit of an injury going in. Being here healthy, I just changed my outlook and I’m trying to focus on different things this season. I’m just so grateful to be anywhere near Rachel Forsyth’s time, because she’s just incredible.”

Garces knew she had a special race going when her and 2022 Division 1 champion Helen Sachs of Holland West Ottawa reached the mile mark in 5:24. At the two-mile mark, Sachs was first in 10:43.5, with Garces hot on her heels in 10:44.7.

“Helen started turning it on after the first mile,” Garces said. “I’m like, ‘I’ve never done this before,’ but I still felt pretty good, so I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll try it.’”

Garces broke away on a downhill before entering the stadium, hitting the three-mile mark in 16:04.1. She wound up lowering her personal record by 18.3 seconds.

“I was like, ‘Oh, wow, if I really bring this in, I can maybe get under 16:40,’” she said. “That was insane. I was not expecting to get a PR today, but it was super cool.”

Garces raced only six times all season, winning each time. She broke 17 minutes in all of her final three races.

Finishing third in 17:04.1 was Pioneer freshman Natasza Dudek, who shattered the MIS freshman record of 17:28.7 set by Romeo’s Annie Hrabovsky last year.

Romeo repeated as team champion with a dominant performance, putting six of its seven runners on the all-state podium with top-30 finishes.

The Bulldogs scored 61 points to best runner-up Saline by 82. Romeo had six runners across the line before Saline’s second runner finished.

Junior Natalia Guaresimo was sixth in 17:40.8, sophomore Annie Hrabovsky was 11th in 17:46.8, senior Lillian Deskins was 17th in 17:57.4, senior Violet Hrabovsky was 20th in 18:03.9 and senior Olivia Purdy was 22nd in 18:08.4 for Romeo. Even though her score didn’t count, junior Emmerson Clor made all-state by placing 30th in 18:21.1.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Midland Dow’s Victoria Garces eyes the finish as she pushes for what ended up the second-fastest girls time in Finals history at MIS. (Middle) Romeo’s Natalia Guaresimo (355) and Kalamazoo Central’s Annie Alkema surge toward the finish line. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)

Cook Running to Complete Historic Rochester Career with Top Finals Finish

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

November 1, 2024

When it came to making something good out of an overall terrible situation five years ago, Rochester senior cross country runner Lucy Cook certainly excelled.

Greater DetroitWhen the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 as Cook started her eighth grade year, she said she was splitting her time between basketball and cross country. 

But with gyms shut down and the safest form of exercise being anything outside, Cook got really busy running. 

“I had time to stay consistent and do a lot more running. I’ve always been a multi-sport person, so I didn’t start focusing solely on cross country until I quit basketball in the eighth grade,” she recalled.

So, why was that so important?

“I kind of had a breakout year in eighth grade (in cross country),” Cook said. “That’s when I knew I could do something with this.”

Indeed she has.

Earlier this year, Cook became just the second runner to win four straight Oakland County titles.

She has finished in the top six in all three Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals she has competed in, taking sixth as a freshman in 2021 and third both of the last two years. 

Cook enters as one of the top LPD1 contenders again Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. And while there are other worthy challengers, Cook likely will be among a few favorites the rest of the field is watching most during the race.

Cook races toward the finish during last season’s LPD1 Final. “The last couple of times, I feel like I’ve been really nervous and it’s impacted by performances,” Cook said. “This time, I want to go into it a lot more calm and experienced.”

Cook certainly is used to running big races, and not simply for the fact she has done so well at the last three Finals meets. 

Cook recalls starting to run in events at the age of 4.

“I was doing the Teddy Bear Trot toddler race,” Cook said, referring to a race that’s part of the annual Crim Festival of Races every August. 

Cook has grown up to become the best Rochester racer since the legendary Megan Goethals, who won the Foot Locker national championship in 2009 and individual Division 1 titles in 2008 and 2009. 

“She was definitely a name I heard around a lot, and I definitely aim to be as good as her,” Cook said.

Rochester cross country head coach Amy Oppat said one thing that has separated Cook from other runners is her determination to master new tasks.

“She just takes all of her experiences and builds on those,” Oppat said. “Every time she puts a new challenge in front of her and meets that challenge, she realizes she can continue to do that. She is open to being challenged and meeting demands.”

The main challenge so far this year has been to make sure she isn’t overdoing it with everything building toward Saturday.

“My coaches have doing a really good job of keeping me under control while practicing and racing,” Cook said. “Just try not to peak before states. The goal is to be at my best at states.”

Cook hopes to have a professional future in running, but first will be a college career at Michigan State after she recently committed to the Spartans. 

Rochester obviously feels Cook will have a bright future at MSU, but the team and Cook hope she ends her high school career with one more major accomplishment missing from an otherwise full resume – that individual Finals championship.

“She’s strong, and she’s ready for big things,” Oppat said. “We’re glad she has been so successful here at Rochester.”

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Rochester’s Lucy Cook runs to her fourth Oakland County championship this season. (Middle) Cook races toward the finish during last season’s LPD1 Final. (Oakland County photo by John Brabbs, Finals photo by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)