Munising Goes from No Team to Best
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 25, 2020
MUNISING — Hattie Cota was the lone runner on the Munising girls cross country team last year.
She became part of an Upper Peninsula championship team here Saturday as the Mustangs earned the Division 3 title with 54 points.
“We’re just so happy,” said Cota, who was individual runner-up on this partly sunny and chilly afternoon at Pictured Rocks Golf & Country Club. “I’m not used to being on a team, especially a good team.”
This marked the first title in seven years for the Mustangs, who were followed by three-time reigning champion Chassell with 73 points and Stephenson with 106.
“I’m just so excited,” said Munising coach Mark Kinnunen. “I thought it’d be many, many years before I’d have a championship team. We came in blind, not knowing who’d come out on top. We didn’t really know what to expect from Chassell. We told the girls to ‘run like you want to win.’ The only reason why we had a full team is because Hattie went out and recruited some girls.”
Rock Mid Peninsula senior Daisy Englund won the individual title for the first time since her freshman year by covering the 3.1-mile course in 21 minutes, 16.4 seconds. Cota, who led much of the third mile, was clocked at 21:27. They were followed by Ewen-Trout Creek senior Elise Besonen (21:41).
"That was so scary,” said Englund, who ran a 6:17 split for her first mile. “I could hear Hattie after the second mile, and I kind of lost my focus for a little while. I knew everybody was going to be targeting me today and told myself I had to hang on. I finished strong, but I don’t know where that came from. I didn’t feel strong the whole race. I was cruising for sure in the first mile. This was my last high school cross country race. I just wanted to win so bad.”
Englund was trailing until the last turn when she used a strong surge to regain the lead.
“I was behind a bunch of girls.” said Cota. “I didn’t think I’d be able to catch her. Daisy ran a great race herself. Once she started pulling away (after the last turn), I knew I couldn’t catch her. I just didn’t have enough left.”
Mid Pen junior and last year’s champion Landry Koski took fourth this time at 21:46.7, and Stephenson senior Kylee Kuntze was fifth (21:47.5).
“This was one of my better races,” said Koski. “I actually felt pretty strong until the last mile. This was also the last race of the year. I had to leave it all on the course.
“I’m just so happy for Daisy. I’m also happy with the weather. This was better than I was expecting. The course was a little wet, but I just went through the puddles. I was going to get wet anyway.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Monique Brisson (143) and Hattie Cota (144) run in the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final held at Pictured Rocks Golf Course in Munising. (Middle) Rock Mid Peninsula's Daisy Englund approaches the finish line on the way to winning the individual title. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Ithaca's Bloom Gets Her Title, Hart Ties LP Finals Team Record
November 6, 2021
BROOKLYN — A year ago, Lani Bloom of Ithaca was in first place with a decisive lead, less than 100 meters from the finish line at Michigan International Speedway.
But then she fell and was reduced to a slow crawl.
As she desperately tried to reach the line on her hands and knees, three runners passed her. It was the second year in a row that Bloom led coming down the stretch at MIS, only to experience a catastrophe. She was 18th in 2019 after leading with 800 yards remaining, collapsing after crossing the line.
So, that fist pump she gave when she crossed the line at MIS on Saturday was almost as much for the fact she finished upright as it was for winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 individual championship.
There would be no drama awaiting Bloom on the home stretch this year, as she cruised through the finish line in 17:29.69, winning by 30 seconds ahead of Hart sophomore Alyson Enns.
“I was in the same position last year,” Bloom said. “I was ahead by quite a bit. I just fell. This year, I made a conscious effort, I got to that point and I said, ‘You have never run this part of the course. You have crawled it for the past three years. It’s time to run it. It’s time to finish it.’”
Perhaps because of her past issues at MIS, Bloom showed empathy for fellow runners who were struggling after crossing the line.
She helped sixth-place Mylie Kelly of Benzie Central get back to her feet and moving, then helped hold up two teammates who were completely spent after racing 3.1 miles.
“Usually if I’m feeling good enough to stand up on my own, I’m feeling good enough to help people,” Bloom said. “The girls I went back for are girls I’ve competed against, ran with forever now. It seems they’ve given me so much respect that the least I could do is hold them up at the end.”
Bloom went through the mile mark in 5:38.1, holding a 7.8-second lead over Hart freshman Jessica Jazwinski. The lead stretched to 19.2 seconds when Bloom reached two miles in 11:17.3.
“I was expecting them to hang on to me for a little longer,” Bloom said. “I was reading these Michigan Speed Ratings. He said these girls get out hard and dare the field to hang on. I said, ‘I’m going to do that. I’m going to see who is ready to race today.’”
Following Bloom across the line were three Hart runners who took places two through four. Alyson Enns was second in 17:59.67, Jazwinski was third in 18:00.59 and senior Audrianna Enns was fourth in 18:32.27.
Hart’s strength up front was able to offset more consistent top-five finishes by the other contenders. Hart scored 143 points to win its fifth consecutive Division 3 championship by 36 points over Kent City.
The fifth-straight Finals title tied Rockford’s run in Class A/Division 1 from 1998-2002 for longest championship streak in Lower Peninsula girls cross country history.
Kent City’s top five runners were in the top 72 overall and top 53 among team runners, while Hart counted a runner who was 159th overall and 111th in the team race.
Lexie Beth Nienhuis was 31st in 19:36.65 for Hart, while Abigail Pretty completed the team score by taking 159th in 21:47.49.
PHOTOS (Top) Ithaca’s Lani Bloom approaches the finish line on the way to winning the LPD3 individual championship. (Middle) Hart’s Alyson Enns (255) and Jessica Jazwinski (257) lead the way as their team wins a record-tying fifth-straight title. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)