![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/1_151023_Ishpeming_2H.jpg)
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.
![](/sites/default/files/imported/Photos/1_150826_tcxc_2H.jpg)
Traverse City's Best Pace State's Elite
August 26, 2015
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY - Two decisions, no regrets.
Holly Bullough made the switch from soccer, Anthony Berry from football.
Today, the two Traverse City seniors are among the best high school runners in the state.
Bullough, a four-time MHSAA champion in track at St. Francis, enters the cross country season as the defending Lower Peninsula Division 3 champion. The Michigan State University commit rallied from nearly 75 yards back to edge Charlevoix's Amber Way by two-tenths of a second in a spectacular finish in last year's Final.
Traverse City Central's Berry finished third in the LP Division 1 boys race. His time of 15:21 was the fastest among all the underclassmen in the state.
Now the two will try to build on their past success, starting Saturday in a season-opening invitational at Benzie Central.
"Anthony Berry and Holly Bullough are the two best distance runners to ever come out of here," Central Hall of Fame coach John Lober said matter-of-factly.
That's a strong statement, considering the area has produced some talented runners, including Central Lake's Ryan Shay, a former All-American at Notre Dame and the NCAA 10,000-meter champion in 2001. Shay was a four-time high school MHSAA champion in cross country. His best time in an MHSAA Final was 15:30.
"Ryan had a great career," Lober said. "But as far as high school runners, Anthony is running faster times than anybody ever has in this part of the state. It's really cool as a coach to see a kid apply himself like that."
Bullough's 2014 Finals time of 17:51.3 was the second fastest among area girls, trailing only Gaylord's Sloan Secord's 17:49.7 in 2007.
And it doesn't end there. A third Traverse City runner, Central sophomore Sielle Kearney, is taking her place among the elite. Kearney finished fifth in last year's Division 1 meet in a 17:57.7. That was the second fastest time by a freshman and it earned her a spot - along with Berry and Bullough - on the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association all-state Dream Team. In the spring, Kearney broke Central's school record in the 3,200 by five seconds.
"She had an incredible year," Central coach Lisa Taylor said.
Kearney and Bullough, who like to train together, have similar race philosophies – run as hard as you can for as long as you can. It's paid off for Bullough, who used her track speed down the stretch to catch Way in one of the more memorable MHSAA Finals finishes.
"It was crazy," Bullough said. "I didn't think I could catch her, but then at the last second somehow I did. I was in shock. It went by so fast I didn't really feel like it happened."
It did, much to the delight of her coach, Ben LaBelle.
"I think I've worn that video clip out," he said.
Bullough's been involved in a number of close races. Not all have gone her way. She finished second by less than a second to Manistee's Annie Fuller in the 1,600 and 800 at the LP Division 3 Track and Field Finals in June. Facing that type of competition has sharpened her edge.
"Running is a totally mental sport, and I feel I have a stronger mental personality now," she said.
Bullough also has a calming disposition that enables her to stay focused and level-headed. No moment seems too big.
"She is as she presents herself," LaBelle said. "She's a happy person. She's well balanced. She can make herself go when she needs to and she doesn't get flustered."
Bullough is hoping to run in the 17:40s this season, although she realizes it will be a process over the next several weeks. She trained hard – running and lifting – over the summer. She worked out with teammates, Kearney and Way, who will be her future teammate at Michigan State and is a good friend. No shortcuts were taken.
“(Bullough’s) a gifted athlete," LaBelle said. "That's the foundation. But she also works extremely hard to get the best from her God-given gifts."
This could be a special year for the Gladiators. "I expect to contend for the state championship," LaBelle said.
The 17-year-old Bullough, of course, will lead the way. Can she repeat?
"That would be so cool to win again," she said.
Berry has a Finals championship among his goals, too. In fact, he's hoping to win every race he enters this season.
"That's a big thing to say, but I really don't plan on not winning," he said. "I'm going to hold myself to that, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to make that happen."
Lober likes that attitude.
"That's a great goal," he said. "My wish for him is that he does the best he can do every time out. Winning every race, that's the way he operates."
Berry has been on a steady climb since he dedicated himself to running in the ninth grade. In cross country, over the last three years at the MHSAA Finals, he's posted the top freshman, sophomore and junior times in Division 1.
"That's tough to do," Lober said. "What this year holds, well, that's why we're having the season, to find out."
Berry – who plans to take official visits to the University of Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State this fall – seems primed for a banner year. He runs almost every day, averaging about 60 miles a week. Sunday is the exception. He bikes on that day.
"We have all these great biking paths here, so I try to get 30 to 40 miles in to take some of the pressure off my legs and keep my aerobic system up," he said.
His goal is to drop his time under 15 minutes. Berry ran a 14:16.56 to win the Cherry Festival 5K in July, although the course was actually short of that distance.
"It was still a full three miles," Berry said. "And that (time) was with a week off before the race. If I continue training hard, and stay healthy, I can do it (under 15). I don't have a doubt in my mind.”
Like Bullough, Berry is a hard worker with a strong mental makeup and good foot speed. Lober expects him to run under 50 seconds in the 400 next spring.
Berry, 17, is well aware that, on paper, he is the state's top returnee this season. He acknowledged that adds pressure, but at the same time helps motivate him.
And he's not overlooking the competition.
"I'm not taking anything for granted," he said. "I know there are some really good runners in this state."
Lober feels fortunate that he might have the best.
"You're not going to see an Anthony Berry come along very often," he said. "If you haven't seen him run, you better go watch him. He's the real deal. I feel lucky to be part of it."
Taylor feels the same coaching the up-and-coming Kearney.
The 15-year-old was a star in middle school, and she continued to excel in her first year on varsity.
"She loves to run," Taylor said. "I've always felt the kids who are really going to go far, beyond the high school level, always have that as their starting point."
Kearney became the first Central girl to run under 18 minutes at the MHSAA Finals. Her teammate, Ashley Ko, was right behind (17:57.7 and 17:58.5, respectively) as the Trojans placed second as a team. Kearney and Ko, who is now running at Northwestern University, worked together throughout the season, pushing each other, to reach their goal of running under 18.
Kearney is looking to improve upon that this season. She’s shooting for a top-two finish and a time in the 17:30s. But that's not her first goal.
"I really want our team to make the podium again at states," she said. “I think that would be super cool.”
Kearney ran two half marathons in July as part of her off-season training.
“I upped my mileage, and I'm a lot more confident in my running,” she said.
Kearney followed a half-marathon training schedule for most of her summer workouts. That was fine with Taylor.
“I'm not the kind of coach who says you have to follow my schedule to be successful,” Taylor said. “For me, it’s always been, ‘What can I do to keep you happy as a runner in our program?’
“I think every coach knows deep in their heart that when you have a runner like Sielle, it's not your training that makes them fast. Any coach who is being honest knows these type of kids have something special about them that really has nothing to do with you. Our job as coaches for kids like Sielle is to keep them happy and recognize how much fun the whole team part can be and the friendships that can develop. Sielle’s really good at that.”
For her part, Kearney tries to keep running in perspective. When Taylor recently handed out questionnaires to her team, she asked them what their dream goal will be in three to six years.
Kearney responded: “My biggest goal is to continue to love running. It would be cool to run in college, and maybe even in some big races, but the ultimate goal in my running career is to never stop loving it, even if that means giving up competitive running.”
That answer impressed Taylor.
“That’s what every really great runner can say about their feelings for the sport – that the love was always there, the desire, the motivation,” Taylor said. “That was part of why they were successful because they have those roots for the love of the way it feels, mentally and physically.”
With Bullough, Berry and Kearney, it’s a special time right now in Traverse City, Lober said.
“It's going to be pretty cool to watch these runners,” Lober said. “We're lucky. People have to go watch these kids run to understand what we've got.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Holly Bullough (1740) pulls away at the end of last season's LP Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Anthony Berry (157) leads a pack around the final turn of the LP Division 1 boys race. (Below) Sielle Kearney (1172) runs toward a fifth-place finish at her first MHSAA Final. (Photos by RunMichigan.com.)