Fornari, Sacred Heart Join Finals Greats
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — The feeling of elation had yet to replace the feeling a runner gets after laying it all on the line.
Walking away from the finish line, Tessa Fornari of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes was breathing heavily, even though she finished with plenty of breathing room to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 individual cross country championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Fornari said as she continued to walk.
After a couple of heavy breaths and a pause, it had apparently sunk in.
"I'm gonna cry," she said.
Fornari, a senior, led last year's Division 4 Final through the mile, but faded to eighth in a race won by Ava Strenge of Battle Creek St. Philip. This year, Fornari let Strenge lead most of the way before overtaking her to win in 18:14.5. Strenge, a junior, was second in 18:23.5.
"Oh, my gosh," Fornari said. "There's so much time leading up to this one moment. All the pace work, all the pain. Finally, right here, is where it all gets paid back."
It was a wiser and more confident Fornari who stood on the start line for the first of eight races on Saturday at MIS.
She had two MHSAA championships on her resume from last spring, winning the 1,600-meter run in 5:06.39 and coming back to take the 3,200 in 11:33.70 at the LP Division 4 Track and Field Final. Last fall had represented a step backward in cross country for Fornari, who was third in the cross country finals in 2012 and second in 2013. She is a four-time regional champion.
"The 1,600 and 3,200 in track really prepared me for this," Fornari said. "A state title was kind of intimidating to me at first, but then I did it and realized it's really just a title. It's about running the best you can that day. Today I wanted to do the best I could. I know I did my best, because I can't feel my legs or my arms."
Scrapping her front-running tactics from last year, Fornari didn't make her move until shortly after the leaders entered the track. Once Fornari committed to a move, it was decisive.
"I didn't want to pass her at first, because I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep it," said Fornari, the first Our Lady of the Lakes boy or girl to win an MHSAA title in cross country. "I decided I had to do it at some point, so I did it at that turn back there. I just sprinted the last 800 meters, 1,000 meters, because I did not want to lose it. I said, 'I'm here now, I want to stay here,' so I sprinted the whole thing."
In the team race, Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart staked a claim to being the best Division 4 girls team of all-time.
The Irish set an LP Division 4 record with 52 points, breaking the record of 66 set by Harbor Springs in 2009. Sacred Heart also became the first Division 4 girls team to have five runners break the 20-minute mark at MIS.
Ann Arbor Greenhills had four runners break 20 minutes in 2005, but finished third that year because its fifth runner crossed in 23:10.9.
Junior Alexis McConnell was fourth in 18:55.6, sophomore Bailley McConnell was fifth in 19:11.4, freshman Scout Nelson was 10th in 19:19.4, freshman Cammie McConnell was 17th in 19:31.2 and freshman Lauren MacDonald was 26th in 19:59.2.
The Irish could've still won by including No. 6 runner Megan Nowak (36th, 20:26.8) or No. 7 runner Rowan Fitzpatrick (20:45.0), both sophomores. All seven Sacred Heart runners broke 20 minutes in the Regional.
Sacred Heart's only other MHSAA title came in Class D in 1999. The Irish was third last season, the second-best finish in school history.
Harbor Springs was second Saturday with 119 points, while Saugatuck was third with 124. Two-time reigning champion Beal City was fourth with 156 points.
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Waterford Our Lady’s Tessa Fornari races down the stretch on the way to the LP Division 4 individual title. (Middle) Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s Bailley McConnell, left, works to stay ahead of Concord’s Samantha Saenz. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Schafer Finishes Undefeated Season, Goodrich Claims 1st Title Since 2005
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — It took Ava Schafer of St. Johns a year to make a significant dent in her cross country personal record.
She wouldn’t have wanted to make her breakthrough anywhere else than on the biggest stage in Michigan high school cross country.
Schafer completed an undefeated sophomore season by winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final with a time of 17 minutes, 20.7 seconds Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
She was fourth in Division 2 as a freshman in 17:53.8, then ran 17:32.6 in the postseason Michigan Meet of Champions. Schafer eclipsed her best time by 0.2 seconds when she won the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships on Oct. 12 before taking an even greater chunk off her PR Saturday.
“This season hasn’t been all PRs,” Schafer said. “It’s been about the same times as last year. I’m really proud of this one. It will boost my confidence in my performance and my times.”
Schafer had a solo run down the final stretch at MIS, winning by 10.3 seconds ahead of Otsego junior Emma Hoffman. Hoffman led at the mile in 5:28.7 and two mile in 11:10.8, with Schafer sticking close to her before Schafer’s move with about a mile remaining.
It was a clash between two runners who hadn’t lost a race all year. Schafer won all 10 of her races, while Hoffman won all 13 before Saturday.
“I was really excited and nervous coming out to this, because based on time I was ranked third,” Schafer said. “I was hoping to get first, which I did. It’s just really exciting to PR here at such a big meet, and we’re at states. Everybody is racing each other, so the times really mean something.”
In the team race, Goodrich returned to the top for the first time since winning three straight Division 3 championships from 2003-05.
The top-ranked Martians scored 134 points to win by 16 over second-ranked Zeeland East.
For Goodrich, it’s been a steady climb in recent years to return to supremacy. The Martians missed the Finals in 2019, placed 22nd in 2020, 10th in 2021, seventh in 2022 and third in 2023.
Seniors Kamryn Lauinger and Avery Byrne were the building blocks of Goodrich’s championship team, running in four MHSAA Finals.
Lauinger was 19th in 18:36.7, sophomore Alivia Ottinger was 22nd in 18:37.8, Byrne was 42nd in 19:06.6, senior Layla Jordan was 44th in 19:08.4 and freshman Kayla Shellenbarger was 47th in 19:10.6.
How deep was Goodrich? The Martians didn’t need to include Claire Brown’s 50th-place 19:12.1 or Baylor Lauinger’s 66th-place 19:34.3 in their score.
PHOTOS (Top) St. Johns’ Ava Schafer finishes an undefeated season during the final stretch of Saturday’s Division 2 race. (Middle) Goodrich’s Avery Byrne (661) and Layla Jordan (662) run in a pack that also included Pinckney’s Madalynn Karsies (719). (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)