Ottawa Hills Strides into Title Contention
November 12, 2020
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Ottawa Hills girls cross country team was hoping for a lofty finish at last Friday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
The Bengals, however, suffered a bump in the road.
Ottawa Hills recorded a program-best 10th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway, but was hampered by a late arrival to the race due to an unfortunate situation.
“Things went a little sideways for us on the way there,” Bengals coach Dan Ebright said. “On I-96, right before the Lowell exit, there was a humongous accident and they were stuck in traffic for over an hour.
“Instead of arriving an hour and 45 minutes prior to the meet, they arrived 40 minutes prior to the meet and we had to scramble like crazy to get them to the starting line on time.”
The accident shut down the highway, and Ebright said the team was forced to sit in the car for nearly three hours.
It made their preparation for the biggest race of the season chaotic and hurried.
“We warmed up in the parking lot, and their warm-up run was to jog through the field to quickly change their spikes and get on the starting line,” Ebright said. “That’s how rushed it was, and the warm-up was not an ideal warm-up for us.”
The delay affected several of the Bengals’ runners, including senior Madison Ebright.
Ebright, coach Dan’s daughter and an all-stater last year with a 12th-place finish, ended up taking 50th (19:26.54) and was bothered by cramping two miles in.
“We got there late, and it was kind of stressful,” Madison Ebright said. “And then my stomach didn’t feel well and I thought I might be in trouble. I was going good through two miles, but then I cramped up and it was hard to breathe so it was a tough finish.
“It was disappointing, but once I thought about it, it was a great season leading up to that point and I was consistent all year.”
Ebright ran a personal-best time at the Pre-Regional, which Ottawa Hills won, and helped lead the team to a school-best runner-up finish at Regionals. The Bengals finished runner-up to top-ranked Traverse City Central.
“While our 10th-place finish was our best finish as a team, we really didn't run like we had the three meets prior simply for the fact that we didn't get the chance to warm up properly,” Dan Ebright said. “And my daughter had cramps getting out of the car and could not work it out in the short time we had to warm up.”
The Bengals’ top-10 Finals finish was led by freshman Selma Anderson, who garnered all-state honors crossing the line 27th individually. She clocked a time of 19:00.59.
Junior Adit Dau, who battled through a knee injury most of the season, was 37th (19:16.42), while senior Naomi Dykstra was 89th (20:02.54).
The remainder of the team included senior Ella Posthumus, sophomore Kira Smith and freshman Campbell Hudson.
“Selma had a PR and was all-state and Adit had a solid race for us coming back from injury,” Dan Ebright said. “We really looked at the results and felt like we could’ve finished as high as sixth if everything had gone like the prior weeks at the conference meet, Pre-Regionals and Regionals.
“Sometimes that stuff happens and there was nothing we could really do about it. We were excited because we thought it might be worse than that.”
It was the full team’s second appearance at the Finals in the last three years, as Ottawa Hills took 23rd in 2018 in its first trip ever and also won the school’s first conference crown that same year.
Last season, the Bengals didn’t have a full team.
Ebright, Dau and Dykstra competed as individuals at the Finals.
“We had three girls lined up, and they didn’t run,” Dan Ebright said. “If they would've run, we would’ve had a good chance of winning the state finals. If the season goes perfectly smoothly those three girls make all-state, but sometimes things don’t go perfectly. You take the good with the bad.”
The success of the program has been a work in progress. The groundwork was laid years ago with the implementation of an elementary program in 2010.
Ebright took over the program at Ottawa Hills after previously coaching at Creston High School before it closed.
“It was something that started way back when, and it’s been building since that point,” Dan Ebright said. “It hasn’t been an overnight thing, and it’s something we’ve worked very hard at and developed our runners. We lost a few good ones along the way who didn’t care to run, but it was the kids showing up every day and not only during the season, but the offseason, too. Putting in the miles to get ready.”
The improvement and dedication of a solid core helped the Bengals become competitive on a statewide level.
“We felt like we had a real talented bunch come through, and this year’s team was the most talented group we’ve had,” Dan Ebright said.
Madison Ebright, who will run at Grand Valley State next season, was thrilled with her high school experience.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and we had a great coach who knows what he’s doing,” she said. “Great friendships were made with the girls on the team, and we did a lot of team building. It’s the most important part of my life, and the girls I did it with made it fun.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Selma Anderson (240) leads the way for Ottawa Hills at Friday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at MIS. (Middle) Adit Dau (241) and Madison Ebright (243) crossed next for the Bengals with top-50 finishes to contribute to the team overall 10th place. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Marlette Racer Heats Up with Cold Weather
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 23, 2019
Temperatures near the Lake Huron shore will hover around 40 degrees Saturday morning when the girls Division 4 Regional cross country meet begins at Wagener Park.
Riley Ford wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’m more of a summer person, but in regard to running, I like the cooler weather,” the Marlette senior said. “I perform a lot better in the cold. I don’t get as overheated. I love the cold – when your legs are almost numb because it’s so cold – I love that feeling.”
Ford will compete for a second straight Regional championship, the next step toward what could be a third straight all-state honor. More importantly, however, she wants to get back down to the times she was running a year ago, and the cold weather could play a major role in that. Not just because of her preference, but because of her health.
During the 2019 track season, Ford was diagnosed with asthma, which was brought on by a tree pollen allergy – something that flares up during the warmer months. While she’s dealt with it admirably, setting school records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters in track, and winning five of her 10 cross country races this season, she knows she hasn’t been at her best.
“I’ve tried to stay positive,” Ford said. “I went on a college visit and was talking to one of the girls who also had asthma, and she said, ‘It’s OK. Sometimes you’re not going to be able to finish every workout.’ I’ve been realizing that some of it is beyond my control. It’s been very frustrating. Super, super frustrating. But I keep going back every Monday after a race and trying to get better.”
Initially, Ford thought she was dealing with a cold, but it wouldn’t go away. She began audibly wheezing during races, something Marlette coach Chris Titus – who is also Ford’s uncle – noticed as strange, as his star runner was known for her incredible endurance.
She ran her best 1,600 (5 minutes, 16.59 seconds) and 3,200 (11:28.77) times in early May. She qualified for the MHSAA Finals in both events, as well as in the 800, and finished eighth in the 1,600. But her times in the longer distances weren’t challenging her own personal bests.
“She had set the school record in the mile, two mile and half mile, and everything was going really good,” Titus said. “We got to late May, and we started to notice this wheezing problem. By the time we got to June, she was in trouble.”
Ford also was very aware that something was off.
“I kind of noticed that my lungs were starting to feel heavy,” she said. “I knew I was in good shape in the track season, because it was the first year I had upped my training. I knew it was something else. It was not really an out-of-shape feeling.”
She cut back some of her training during the summer as she dealt with her new condition, and now runs with an inhaler.
Despite all of that, her season-best time of 19:03.3 ranks fourth in Division 4. She finished fifth in the division a year ago at the MHSAA Finals, and was 22nd in Division 3 as a sophomore.
Ford, who has a personal best of 18:49 and broke the 19-minute mark three times as a junior, knows there are better times ahead of her, and she’s hoping to start posting them Saturday.
“I’m not really just looking to win,” she said. “I’m hoping to run under 19 – I did it last year. Not only do I want to win it and get points for my team, but I want to drop my time to go into states with some momentum.”
Her season goal is very much the same, as she said she hopes to finish strong and giver herself some confidence and momentum heading into the preparation for her senior track season and beyond. Ford plans to run collegiately and has narrowed her choices to two schools: Huntington University in Indiana and Dalton State College in Georgia.
No matter how things finish, Ford already has taken her place as the top female distance runner in Marlette history, as not only does she hold the three track records, but also has the school’s best cross country time.
“She’s had a great career,” Titus said. “Every single year, she has excelled and improved. I’ve had some very good girls runners, and she’s darn close to a minute faster than anybody I’ve ever had. A lot of those (records) are going to be there for a while. She’s drove them down to the point that she’s likely going to keep those for a while.”
That praise isn’t lost on Ford.
“It makes me feel really good knowing how much time, effort, blood, sweat and tears I put into this,” she said. “It means a lot to me. There are tons of runners that he’s coached. To stack up with (the best) is just insane.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTO: Marlette’s Riley Ford charges ahead during a race this fall. (Photo courtesy of the Marlette girls cross country program.)