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Eagles Senior Shows She's the Bos
September 27, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
At first, Julia Bos competed against herself.
She started in sixth grade, running the mile in gym class, and she finished in seven minutes. Bos wanted to go faster, so she started running a half-mile, on her own, every day.
Then the competition became her sister, Anna, two years older, who was having success in eighth grade cross country. Julia wanted to win too. So the sisters started running together, Julia struggling to keep Anna within sight -- until one day when Julia was a freshman, decided their pace was too slow, and took off on her own.
Julia's still running away from the pack. Bos finished 18th at the Division 2 Cross Country Final as a freshman, in 19:15. She cut her time to 17:48 a year later, finishing fourth. Last fall, she beat out two previous MHSAA champions to claim her first title in 17:24.
Now what? She's back to competing against herself, but now as arguably the top runner in the state this fall.
"My freshman year, I never dreamed I’d be into the 17s,” Bos said. “Every season I have the thought that this is it. I can't get faster.
"Then I prove myself wrong."
She gets a Second Half High 5 this week after proving herself as perhaps the runner to catch statewide on Sept. 14, when she finished first in the elite race at the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State. She crossed the line in 17:20 – 15 seconds ahead of a field that included West Bloomfield’s Erin Finn, the reigning MHSAA Division 1 champion and a national meet record setter during the offseason, and one of the nation’s top middle distance track runners in Grosse Pointe South’s Hannah Meier.
Last season's MHSAA Final win was huge, but Grand Rapids Christian coach Doug Jager said he’d never seen Bos as happy as when she stood on the medal stand at MSU.
Bos said it took a mix of factors for her to finish first that day. She said Finn remains ahead of her, and respects her greatly because of how she’s handled stardom and the expectation that she’ll always win.
But Bos is in that class now too. She hasn’t finished lower than first in a race since the 2011 Spartan Invite, when she took third behind Finn and Meier.
She just gets faster
"She's very gifted as a runner. She also works harder than anyone I've ever had," said Jager, who coached the Eagles to Division 2 team championships in 2005, 2006 and 2010. "In fact, I usually have to tell her to do less."
Late last season, that meant training only four days a week. This fall it has been five, and Bos spends many of those running with the Eagles boys team, especially on longer runs. She and Anna don't really run together anymore, although Anna did finish for Rockford's third-place team at the 2010 Division 1 Final.
Julia has another theory for the jump she took between sophomore and junior year. She grew three inches, to 5-foot-5, and longer legs turned into faster ones.
Indeed, Jager said, Bos has improved her leg speed. But also her strategy.
At the Spartan Invite her freshman year, Bos was about 80th after a mile, and despite working hard to get back among the front packs, finished 10th.
At last season’s Final at Michigan International Speedway, Bos at first planned to go out behind the other favorites, drafting off them before coming on late. But figuring they expect that strategy, she charged out hard – and just kept going.
Jager said Bos’ best trait might be that she does keep going. Often, her third mile is faster than her first, which “grinds people down.” Bos isn’t so sure her third mile is her fastest. But it’s at least faster than the final third of her opponents.
Flying like an eagle
At MSU this month, Jager and Bos accidentally got separated from the rest of the Eagles before the start of the elite race. That did allow for some final one-on-one coaching, or, rather, convincing.
“Everyone was looking at Finn and Hannah Meier, and she goes, ‘What do you think? Can I get second?’” Jager said. “I said, 'Are you conceding first already?'
“She said, ‘No, but Erin is so good.’ I said, 'Look, just put yourself in position. Don’t put expectations on yourself. Just put yourself in position where you never know. … Just keep your head up and watch.”
"I'm going into it thinking to myself, there's only a 10 percent chance I can win this," Bos recalled.
Teams generally run similar schedules every season, and the Spartan was only event the Eagles run that Bos hadn’t won during her career.
Cross that off the list. Bring on the higher expectations.
"I had a really good day. I did all the right things with eating and drinking and resting, and I was ready to peak for that day," Bos said.
"(God's) the one who gave me the talent. ... I've just gotta take each race one at a time, with His help, and deal with all the pressure."
PHOTO: Grand Rapids Christian's Julia Bos broke away from the pack during last season's Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
![Holland West Ottawa’s Helen Sachs closes in on the finish and her first MHSAA Finals championship.](/sites/default/files/2022-11/221105_D1g_2H.jpg)
Sachs Surges from Start to Lead Holland West Ottawa to LPD1 Finals Sweep
November 5, 2022
BROOKLYN – Helen Sachs of Holland West Ottawa doesn’t run alone in many cross country meets, which is unusual for an elite runner.
The best runners have to learn to race solo, because there will be meets in which they can simply overwhelm the competition.
But there is always at least one worthy competitor nearby when Sachs races. She runs on the same team as senior Arianne Olson, herself one of the top contenders at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
So, Sachs was surprised to find herself already alone at the front just 200 meters into the race. She never allowed the pack to catch up, winning by 24.73 seconds with a time of 17:18.74.
“I saw nobody in front of me except for the start when they all went off,” said Sachs, a sophomore. “I was just in front. I was like someone is gonna be coming up behind me, because I know the state meet is when people just go for it. No one came up with me.
“It was kind of weird. I was looking forward to some competition or people to run with. It was still fun to run in such a big race, though. It was cool.”
Sachs won eight of her 10 races this season, placing second in the other two to Olson. Olson, who was third in Division 1 last season, placed ninth this time in 18:27.13.
That powerful 1-2 punch up front allowed West Ottawa to win the team championship in dominant fashion, 97-172 over runner-up Romeo.
The Panthers placed their five scoring runners in the top 50, while every other contending team had at least one scoring runner place in the 100s.
Training daily with such a powerful team helped Sachs become an MHSAA champion.
“I just picked up on the dedication, getting everything in,” she said. “Our coaches this year focused more on recovery, like running easy, focusing on recovery, which has helped the mindset of everyone on the team.”
Sachs was a ready-made contributor to the West Ottawa program, finishing fifth in Division 1 last season. But even after finishing among the state’s elite a year ago, she didn’t believe she could win an MHSAA individual championship until she started winning big races early this year.
“It’s surreal,” she said. “Last year I was fifth. This year, winning the state championship was crazy. It doesn’t feel real.”
Rounding out the West Ottawa scorers were 38th-place senior Megan Postma, 49th-place sophomore Jane Olney and 50th-place freshman Ava Porras. Grandville senior Allison Arnsman was the individual runner-up in 17:43.47.
PHOTOS (Top) Holland West Ottawa’s Helen Sachs closes in on the finish and her first MHSAA Finals championship. (Middle) West Ottawa’s Arianne Olson and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Clara James-Heer lead another pack down the stretch. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)