Freshman Setting Pace as St. Joseph Finds Footing Among State's Best
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
October 12, 2021
If this fall marked the starting line for St. Joseph freshman Elena Figueroa, it’s sure to be an exciting finish for the budding talent as she progresses over the next three cross country seasons.
Having already claimed titles at a pair of Southwestern Michigan Athletic Conference West division meets, a victory at the Berrien County Invitational, wins in the underclassmen races at the Harper Creek Optimist Club Invitational and St. Joseph Invitational — which included times that would have placed her first and second, respectively, among the upperclassmen — and a runner-up performance at the Lakeview Invite, Figueroa leads a Bears program looking to have a strong kick as the year winds down.
“I started getting more serious last track season and started training more,” Figueroa explained. “I’ve been training since the summer, and I’ve been doing more weights and working on my strength.”
“She’s having a really solid and strong season,” veteran St. Joseph coach Mike Mahler added. “Coming into this season I knew she’d be on our varsity along with a lot of other strong runners this year, but I had no idea she’d end up being our No. 1 runner. That was a little surprising for me.”
St. Joseph competes at the Rock ‘N Run Invitational on Thursday in Dowagiac before closing out the schedule with the SMAC Championship on Oct. 23 and Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional meet on Oct. 29 with a chance to earn spots in the Nov. 6 Finals at Michigan International Speedway. The Bears are ranked No. 14 this week in LPD1.
Along with Figueroa, seniors Riley Mullen and Jillian Tunnicliff, sophomores Grace Kelley and Cecilia Ruchti, and junior Olivia Ippel have helped fuel St. Joseph’s success this season. And though she isn’t officially part of the team, sophomore Gail Vaikutis, a transfer from Illinois who will be eligible next season, has played a critical role this year.
“She probably would be our No. 1 runner,” Mahler said of Vaikutis. “Gail is full of energy and very team-oriented and really pushing the girls in workouts. Gail and Elena have been able to train together every day. I have six girls that could be our No. 1 runner at any given point.”
But someone had to claim that spot, and Figueroa emerged as the pace setter for the Bears, setting up what will be an exciting partnership on the course with Vaikutis in years to come.
“She’s probably faster than me, and she’s been pushing me a lot at practice,” Figueroa said of Vaikutis. “Next year you will see her. We have so much talent on this team.”
Shy and humble, Figueroa is learning to deal with the newfound attention she’s getting, as well as how to navigate larger races like the ones rapidly approaching.
“Probably the only thing we need to work on is she gets really nervous when we go to a course she hasn’t run before,” Mahler said. “We just have to make sure we have plenty of time before the race to go over the course, and just keeping those nerves under control.”
At the ultra-competitive Ottawa Hills Invite, the freshman finished fifth overall in 18 minutes, 52.34 seconds. At the prestigious Portage Invitational, and while not feeling up to par, Figueroa was 34th overall in the Division 1 race. But with multiple sub-19-minute finishes already under her belt, she’s hoping to keep up with the top half of the field come Finals time.
“It was a lot of good competition (at Portage),” Figueroa said. “It was really big. I really got to see the competition and talent that is around me and the faces that I need to try to keep up with next time.”
“It’s just a great group of kids, and I’m thrilled for Elena having a super solid season,” Mahler said. “She’s coachable, she works hard, asks a lot of questions about workouts and it is exciting. I’m just so happy for the season she’s having so far, and hopefully we’ll see more improvement over the next few weeks.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) St. Joseph’s Elena Figueroa has won five of her nine races this season. (Middle) Figueroa (1160) leads the field during the Oct. 2 Berrien County Invitational. (Photos courtesy of the St. Joseph cross country program.)
Performance: Pioneer's Anne Forsyth
October 17, 2016
Anne Forsyth
Ann Arbor Pioneer junior – Cross Country
Forsyth has been one of the state’s fastest distance runners since starting her high school cross country career three seasons ago. But she’s made a jump to MHSAA championship contender this fall, showing it again by running a career record 17:21 to finish ahead of a loaded field at the Oct. 8 Portage Invitational and earn Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week” for Oct. 3-9.
The junior standout won the Portage Division 1 race by six seconds as her team – ranked No. 3 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 – edged No. 2 Northville by three points to claim the team title as well. Forsyth’s time tied for fastest of the day with that of Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis, who won the Division 3 race. That 17:21 also set Pioneer’s 5K record, and Forsyth has seven others in either indoor or outdoor track & field, including the outdoor 3,200 record of 10:30.97 and as part of outdoor 3,200 (8:53.86), 4-mile (20:39.13) and distance medley (12:37.57) relays.
Forsyth finished seventh at the MHSAA LP Division 1 Cross Country Final as a freshman and 13th last season, and her 17:21 was more than five seconds faster than her best time of 2015. She also finished seventh in the 3,200 at the MHSAA Track & Field Division 1 Final this spring and ran the first leg of the Finals-champion 3,200 relay. Her school records are especially impressive considering the high regard for Pioneer’s program, which won three cross country and 16 girls track & field MHSAA titles under late coach Bryan Westfield, who died during the summer of 2015 after a fight with cancer. Forsyth is now coached by Nancy Boudreau, who took over last fall after serving as Westfield’s assistant for five years and also coached for a decade in Bowling Green’s running programs.
Coach Nancy Boudreau said: “Anne is just now starting to believe in herself. She is super motivated and is always striving to do her best. In the last year she has taken all aspects of training more seriously, especially the weight training and core training. She is also a tremendous team leader and keeps things very light in practice and at meets. She is well known for her inspirational pep talks before races, which get the girls psyched for the races.”
Performance Point: “We all got out really hard in the beginning, and I was kinda worried I wasn’t going to be able to hang with them,” Forsyth said of the Portage win. “Partway through I felt really good, and I started trying to push up the hills – trying to push the whole way. I was really surprised; throughout the season I’ve been staying with (the top runners) for about a mile, and they’ve been pulling away. It boosted my confidence that I stuck with them longer.”
This year’s jump: “Partly it’s an attitude change, just knowing that I can do it. When it hurts in the middle (of a race), if you don’t think you can do it, you just slow down and not really care. … We’ve (also) been doing slightly different training, going on slightly longer runs. Our workouts are more intense, and we’ve been doing a little weight training. It just makes me feel more consistent, like I don’t have as many really bad days.”
Full team ahead: “We’ve done really well. We’re trying to get everybody to get more consistent, all of us running well the same day. A lot of us know we can run faster, and it’s motivating to know we haven’t hit our peak yet.”
Pep talker: “It’s really random. I just pick something – it’s kinda dumb – but it gets everybody hyped up and excited. Just acting kinda crazy can shake out some of the nerves. I was always like that. I try to keep everybody loose (because) we tend to get nervous.”
Westfield wisdom: “He really taught us how to care about it. If we have a bad day, that it’s not the end of the world. He really showed … athletics can help you in every part of your life. He just showed a lot of compassion.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan 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 2016-17 honorees:
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer's Anne Forsyth runs a cross country race last fall. (Middle) Forsyth placed individually and as part of a relay at this spring's Track & Field Finals. (Photos courtesy of Ann Arbor Pioneer Cross Country/Peter Draugalis.)