UP Girls Finals Stacked with Champions
October 23, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
All three individual champions from 2014 will run at Saturday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Cross Country Finals, sponsored by Michigan National Guard, and two team champions from last season are favored to repeat.
Marquette in Division 1 and Chassell in Division 3 are ranked No. 1 in the final coaches association Upper Peninsula polls after also winning last season. But this time, Marquette will have to compete as well with Ishpeming Westwood, which moved up from Division 2 and features the reigning individual champion from that race. And Chassell won’t get the push from last season’s runner-up St. Ignace, which moved up into Division 2.
Here's a look at some of the teams and individuals expected to contend in all three races at Beauchamp Grove in Gladstone. Click for Saturday's race schedule and a list of all qualifiers.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Marquette
2014 runner-up: Sault Ste. Marie
2015 top three: 1. Marquette, 2. Sault Ste. Marie, 3. Negaunee.
The Redettes are running for their third straight championship and fourth in five seasons with a lineup led by Michigan State University recruit Lindsey Rudden. She’s seeking her first cross country championship to go with five MHSAA Finals records in track and field, and finished runner-up as a sophomore. Even with Rudden missing a flag and finishing well back in 2014, Marquette still placed five among the top 10 – including runner-up Amber Huebner and eighth-place Becci McNamee, both juniors – while senior Holly Blowers has the second-fastest time in UPD1 this season. Three of Sault Ste. Marie’s top six from last season’s runner-up finish also are back, led by fourth-place junior Courtney Arbic and fifth-place sophomore Mackenzie Kalchik. Negaunee sophomore Clara Johnson finished sixth last season as her team came in ninth; the Miners are expected to follow her up the standings.
Individuals: Eight of the top 15 from last season will run again Saturday, led by reigning champion Leigha Woelfer of Gladstone, a junior. She finished fifth at the Great Northern Conference meet behind four Marquette runners. Calumet seniors Alexa Anderson and Leah Kiilunen also should be in the hunt again after finishing 13th and 12th, respectively, in 2014. There will be another reigning champion in the field as well – Ishpeming Westwood senior Kathryn Etelamaki finished first in Division 2 last year but her team is in Division 1 this weekend. She’ll be joined by teammate Amber Gransinger, also a senior, who was 15th in Division 2 in 2014.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Ishpeming
2014 runner-up: Hancock
2015 top three: 1. Gogebic, 2. Ishpeming, 3. Hancock.
Only four full teams ran in the Division 2 Final last season, and one of them wasn’t the Bessemer/Wakefield-Marenisco co-op commonly known in the U.P. as Gogebic – those schools ran solo in Division 3. However, the top finishers from both schools are back for the new team this fall, 10th-place junior Lily Wieringa and 30th-place sophomore Melissa Wanink. They hope to finish ahead of an Ishpeming team that brings back its top five from last season – third-place junior Khora Swanson, fourth-place sophomore Kayla Kaukola, sixth-place sophomore Desirae Fernandes, eighth-place sophomore Chloe Sjoholm and 11th-place sophomore Mariah Bertucci. Hancock senior Madisyn Wright finished fifth last season, and senior Ashley Aho was 12th as the team attempted to defend its 2013 title.
Individuals: In addition to the numerous Ishpeming and Hancock runners back from last season’s top 15, senior Kyra Johnson finished fourth for Norway and is the highest returning finisher to this division. Junior Callie Kammers and sophomore Mia Singleton were 12th and 15th last season in Division 3 for St. Ignace, which was team runner-up in that race.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Chassell
2014 runner-up: St. Ignace
2015 top three: 1. Chassell, 2. Dollar Bay, 3. Munising.
Reigning champion Chassell is the favorite with all six runners from last season’s team back in the lineup, including three who finished back-to-back-to-back among the top 10 – fifth-place freshman Lela Rautiola, sixth-place senior Shitaye Sam and seventh-place senior Shumete Sam. Junior Cami and senior Carli Daavettila are back for Dollar Bay after finishing eighth and 14th, respectively, last season as the team placed third behind St. Ignace, now in Division 2. Munising was seventh in 2014, but sophomore Alyssa Webber was individual runner-up and leads a team made up almost entirely of underclassmen.
Individuals: Three of the top five from last season are back, led by champion Natalie Beaulieu of Newberry, now a senior, and third-place junior Emma Bohn of Cedarville. Rounding out the total of 10 top-15 finishers returning are ninth-place senior Bridget Stoetzer, also of Newberry, and 13th-place Caitlyn Havelka, a senior at Stephenson.
PHOTO: A pack of Ishpeming runners, plus Norway’s Kyra Johnson (white long-sleeve shirt) emerge from the start during last season’s U.P. Division 2 Final.
Freyhof, Otsego Celebrate Finals Wins
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Erika Freyhof didn't say a whole lot when talking about herself, even on the day she won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship.
What really got her to light up and open up was when the topic shifted to her team.
Hamilton's girls, who had three straight top-four finishes from 2009-11, were back in the Finals after missing out the last three years. Ending an even longer drought — like forever — was the Hamilton boys, who had never qualified for the Finals.
Even the modest finishes by those teams — 17th for the boys, 19th for the girls — couldn't dampen Freyhof's enthusiasm on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"Our team made it, which was awesome," Freyhof said. "We had only six girls at our Regional, because one of them is injured, and we made it as a team. That's amazing. And the boys made it, which is like the first time in school history. So our whole cross country team was so excited. It was awesome."
And what about her championship performance?
"I really wanted to just go out and win," she said.
Freyhof has moved up the Division 2 ranks during her three trips to MIS. She was 15th in 19:07.6 as a freshman in 2013 and seventh in 18:45.4 as a sophomore last year.
"All of the ones in front of me last year were seniors," Freyhof said. "That was exciting when they graduated, so I could get a chance."
Her only loss in 12 meets this season was a second-place finish to Division 1 champion Madison Troy of Grandville in the Otsego Bulldog Invitational on Oct. 3.
There was only one senior in the top 11 of this Final, so there will be plenty of runners looking to build on their experience at MIS to take a shot at Freyhof's title next year.
Finishing second was Holland Christian sophomore Kayla Windemuller in 18:22.5. Linden junior Alia Frederick was third in 18:30.6.
"Last year I became the fastest freshman at my school," said Windemuller, who was 47th last season. "I just wanted to keep on improving. I figured out I love running. I just wanted to keep pushing myself to see what I could do. I started running in Girls on the Run in sixth grade. I ran in seventh grade, but I hated it so much I didn't want to do it again. Then someone convinced me to do it my freshman year."
Otsego won its first team championship by a comfortable margin, scoring 97 points. East Grand Rapids was second with 180, while two-time defending champion Grand Rapids Christian was third with 199. Linden was fourth with 205.
Otsego has moved up in the top three the last three seasons, placing third in 2013 and second in 2014. The Bulldogs returned six of their seven runners from last year's finals squad, while adding freshman Sydney Kubiak, who was the team's No. 4 runner on Saturday.
Leading Otsego from near the front of the pack were juniors Megan Aalberts (fifth, 18:38.8) and Sophia Hirzel (sixth, 18:42.1). Also scoring for the Bulldogs were sophomore Maddie Marciniak (27th, 19:02.8), Kubiak (39th, 19:19.4) and sophomore Gracie VerHage (45th, 19:26.5).
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof cruises the final stretch on the way to her first MHSAA individual title (Middle) Otsego’s Sophia Hirzel finishing sixth overall, just behind teammate Megan Aalberts, as they led the Bulldogs to their first MHSAA team championship. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)