Petr's Kick Highlights EGR D2 Dominance
November 2, 2019
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN – As Anna Petr charged toward the finish line at Michigan International Speedway, trying to overtake the reigning champion, her mind began to think of all the people who helped her get to this position.
One special memory was that of her mother, Angela, who died from breast cancer Jan. 4, 2018.
“She was my coach until then,” said Petr, a senior at East Grand Rapids. “It was just really cool. I could just kind of feel her with me. I knew this was more than just about me. It was about my team and my family.”
Petr’s years of hard work came together in a duel with Lansing Catholic senior Jaden Theis in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship Saturday. Petr ran down Theis to win in 17:59.6. Theis, who won last year and finished sixth at the Foot Locker National Cross Country Championships, was second in 18:02.7.
Petr moved to Michigan from North Carolina, where she was 38th in the state meet as a sophomore. In her first year at East Grand Rapids, she placed 20th in the Division 2 meet in 19:02.8, finishing behind 15 runners who returned this weekend.
“I wrote out all my goals at the beginning of the season and the steps I was going to take to get there,” Petr said. “It’s a little bit of a weird thing, but I found it really helps. I wrote like ‘top five.’ So, even that was a stretch. My coach looked at it and was like, ‘OK.’ I really wanted to make it happen.”
Petr first saw herself as a potential Finals champion eight days earlier when she beat Theis in the Regional at Uncle John’s Cider Mill in St. Johns. Petr posted a time of 17:52.5 that day to edge Theis by 3.4 seconds.
On Saturday, she didn’t believe she actually had a chance to win until about midway through the race.
“I got to the front of the pack I was running with,” she said. “I saw one and two not that far off. I was like, ‘OK, I have to go win now.’”
Even though she was the winner in 2018, Theis wasn’t disappointed in her finish this time. She has battled hip injuries since track & field season, greatly limiting her running. Taking that into account, she was content with her performance.
“I’ve run like five times in the past month, so not my best training ever,” Theis said. “But I’m really happy with the result from this, because I’ve been doing so little running.”
Petr led another dominant performance by East Grand Rapids, which repeated as Division 2 champion by scoring 36 points. Petoskey was second with 91.
The Pioneers put all five of their scoring runners in the top 13 in the team race. Hannah Bodine was seventh overall in 18:32.0, Katie Hessler was eighth in 18:32.9, Abigail Petr was 14th in 18:52.0 and Margaret Coney was 38th in 19:19.6.
“It’s such a cool experience to have my best friends racing and training with me all the time,” Anna Petr said. “It’s truly unique, so I’m very thankful for it.”
PHOTOS: (Top) East Grand Rapids’ Anna Petr (1351) pulls away from Lansing Catholic’s Jaden Theis (2052) and Plainwell’s Makenna Veen during the final stretch at MIS. (Middle) The Pioneers’ Katie Hessler (1349) and Hannah Bodine pace each other to top-10 finishes. (Photos by Matt Yacoub/RunMichigan.com.)
Marquette Carrying Confidence Into Finals After Downstate, Out-of-State Successes
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 20, 2023
MARQUETTE — Marquette’s cross country teams are both seeking to continue championship runs at Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Finals at Farmhouse Cross Country Course in Gladstone – the girls for the second-straight season and the boys attempting a fifth-straight title.
Their travels far and wide this fall have the teams confident that success will continue.
The Marquette girls did something Sept. 15 no other Upper Peninsula team had been able to do, winning the Green division race at the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State University by edging Novi 142-143.
That was the first of multiple successful trips downstate, and Marquette also ran exceptionally closer to home and in Wisconsin against some of that state’s elite.
“I think we’re just really excited,” junior Monet Argeropoulos said. “We’re really looking forward to pushing each other as a team. That’s what keeps us strong. We just need to go down there and take care of business.”
Sophomore Ella Fure was seventh individually at MSU, and senor Abby Harma ran ninth against a field of Lower Peninsula Division 1 schools.
“That’s probably the highlight of the season from a team standpoint,” Fure said during Tuesday’s practice at the Marquette High School track. “We were all crying. At first they announced Novi had won from the unofficial results. We were a little disappointed, although we gave our best effort. Then they found a scoring error and discovered we had won. I think a lot of people were really excited. The car ride home was very good. It kind of flew by.”
After dominating the El Harger Invite at Munising on Sept. 26, Marquette traveled downstate and ran in the Shepherd Bluejay Invitational four days later where the boys placed fifth and the girls were 16th in the Elite division.
“It’s real different running downstate. We needed to get used to that situation and become more comfortable. I think our athletes know what to expect down there now,” Marquette coach Derek Marr said. “(The girls’) confidence really grew after winning at MSU, and a lot of that carried over into Shepherd.
“Many coaches believed the U.P. teams couldn’t compete downstate, and that upset me. I think we can compete with anybody if we believe in ourselves. We’ve trying to break that limitation.”
Marquette opened this season with two victories at home, dominating the Queen City Invitational on Aug. 18 and edging Macomb Dakota for the title in the Wildcat Invite on Aug. 26.
“I think that set the tone,” Harma said. “Downstate runners come up here for camps. They’re very fast. It’s easier to run fast with faster people. Winning the Spartan Invitational was very exciting, and three of us going under 20 minutes at Shepherd was a highlight. It has been a long time since a team from Marquette has done that.”
“I would say we had an exceptional season,” added junior Seppi Camilli, who covered the 3.1-mile course at Shepherd in a personal-best 16 minutes, two seconds. “Derek and Paige (assistant coach DuBois) did a great job preparing us. The girls winning by one point at Spartan was definitely the highlight. Competing downstate allowed us to exemplify our depth and talent. I think it makes us execute to show our skills.”
Senior Cullen Papin had similar thoughts about the early-season meets.
“Everybody showed up and really worked hard in our first meet,” Papin said. “In the Wildcat meet it was good to get pushed by the biggest school in the state, and it came down to a sixth-runner tie-breaker. That’s what it’s all about. It shows every runner is important.”
The Marquette boys were runners-up to nationally-ranked Stevens Point, Wis., at Neenah, and the girls placed fourth.
“That was definitely a confidence builder going down to Neenah,” Papin said. “It was exciting to see all the hard work the girls put in really pay off against some of the D-1 powers in the state at Spartan, and all seven of us going under 16:50 at Shepherd was cool. There’s lots of good teams down there.
“The atmosphere in practice is pretty good.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Ella Fure (526), Monet Argeropoulos (514) and Abby Harma (527) make up part of an early pack during the Wildcat Invitational. (Middle) Marquette's Seppi Camilli (497) runs to first place in the boys Wildcat race held on the campus of Northern Michigan University. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)