Hart, Ackley Complete Another Title Charge
November 3, 2018
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — Shepherd’s Amber Gall set the bar for Hart’s Adelyn Ackley back in middle school.
It was the desire to beat Gall, whose times caught her attention, that drove Ackley to start training seriously back then.
“I raced her in eighth grade once at the MEGASTAR meet,” Ackley said. “When we were both in eighth grade, we raced the 3,200. My dad and I trained over the winter so we could race her, because we saw her time and she was really good. That’s how I got into running, too. She got me into running.”
Ackley and Gall put on a show that day as eighth-graders in the 2015 Mid Michigan MEGASTAR Meet at Shepherd, running times that would’ve been phenomenal for most high school athletes. Ackley edged Gall by half a second with a time of 11:02.37.
They’ve continued to race in close proximity to one another through high school. In their final cross country meets in their school uniforms, Ackley held off a strong challenge from Gall to win her third MHSAA Division 3 individual championship in 17:42.8 on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Gall was second in 17:53.6. The rest of the field was 47 seconds back.
“Amber Gall was right on my tail right up until the two-and-a-quarter-mile mark,” Ackley said. “I slowly pulled away once we got on the track. I was hoping to make a move after the mile or after the mile-and-a-half. I tried to make a move there. I did, and she hung on. I made another move once we got on the track, and I broke her there.”
Gall has finished second to Ackley the last two years, though her time Saturday brought her considerably closer than in 2017, when the gap was 26.8 seconds. In 2016, Ackley was first and Gall took fifth. In 2015, Ackley was second and Gall was third.
With two Ackley sisters and a cousin in its top four, Hart repeated as team champion with 43 points, beating Grandville Calvin Christian by 100. Hart had its five scoring runners across the line before Calvin Christian’s top runner finished.
Sophomore Savannah Ackley was seventh in 19:15.1, freshman Audrianna Enns was 10th in 19:26.8, sophomore Lynae Ackley was 13th in 19:31.8 and sophomore MacKenzie Stitt was 14th in 19:34.2 for Hart.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hart’s Adelyn Ackley stays a few paces ahead of Shepherd’s Amber Gall during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Hart’s Savannah Ackley approaches the finish line on the way to placing seventh. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Forsyth Sisters Pace Pioneer in Division 1 Championship Sweep
November 6, 2021
BROOKLYN — If there is an expectation to maintain a family legacy, Rachel Forsyth doesn’t feel it at home.
“My dad makes it very known there’s no pressure put on any of us, but it does feel really good to follow in my sisters’ footsteps,” Forsyth said.
Forsyth is carving out her own legacy at Pioneer, becoming the first of three talented sisters to win an MHSAA cross country championship after crossing the Lower Peninsula Division 1 finish line first Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in 17:09.32.
Her time was the fastest by a sophomore girl in 26 MHSAA Finals at MIS, breaking the mark of 17:17.5 set by Waterford Mott’s Shannon Osika in 2008.
The Forsyth parents, Ian and Jessica, were standout runners for the University of Michigan.
Anne Forsyth was the 2016 Division 1 runner-up and placed fifth at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships. Sarah Forsyth, a senior on this year’s team, placed eighth in 18:02.86 Saturday for her third all-state finish.
The sisters led Pioneer to a third straight Division 1 team championship by a 68-100 margin over Holland West Ottawa.
Senior Cookie Baugh was 12th in 18:16.55, junior Emily Cooper 35th in 18:44.39 and sophomore Natalie Mello 45th in 18:54.67 to complete the Pioneers’ scoring.
“My teammates are really fast,” Rachel Forsyth said. “They definitely push me in workouts. We all work together. I love all of them, so it’s a nice atmosphere.”
It was the second time that Forsyth had crossed the finish line first at MIS, but she places an asterisk on last year’s first-place performance.
The MHSAA Finals were split into two sections last year to reduce the size of fields as a COVID-19 precaution. Forsyth won the heat for runners whose teams finished first or second at Regionals, but Birmingham Seaholm senior Audrey DaDamio had the fastest time of the day in the other heat.
“I like ‘won’ the race, but there were two,” Forsyth said. “I feel accomplished right now.”
Forsyth ran fearlessly, going to the lead right away to provide a target for some strong runners. Forsyth reached the mile mark in 5:27.9, with Arianne Olson of Holland West Ottawa (5:28.1) and Julia Flynn of Traverse City Central (5:29.6) the only runners within 10 seconds.
By the two-mile mark, which Forsyth hit in 11:00.3, she had an 8.6-second lead over Olson and a 12.1-second cushion over Flynn.
Flynn finished second in 17:20.49, while Olson was third in 17:36.81. The top seven runners broke 18 minutes.
“It’s really special,” Forsyth said. “I watched my sisters run here. It’s just so exciting to be doing it myself.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth pulls away during the closing stretch of Saturday’s Division 1 race at MIS. (Middle) Sarah Forsythe makes her final sprint to finish second for Pioneer. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)