Preview: UP Contenders Back for Firsts
October 18, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The first MHSAA Finals of cross country season will be run Saturday at Gentz Homestead Golf Course in Munising, and there will be more than a few familiar faces in the field.
Of 30 runners who posted top-10 finishes during last season’s three championship races, 20 are back this weekend – even as none of the reigning champion teams are picked by Upper Peninsula rankers to repeat Saturday.
Here's a look at some of the teams and individuals expected to cross the finish line first. Click for Saturday's race schedule and links to all qualifiers.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Calumet
2012 runner-up: Escanaba
2013 top three: 1. Marquette, 2. Calumet, 3. Houghton.
Calumet has won the Division 1 title three of the last four seasons (following Marquette’s string of nine straight; Marquette also won in 2011), and those two stand to battle at the front again. Calumet sophomore Leah Kiilunen finished second to her now-graduated sister Tara last season, and is joined in this weekend’s lineup by last season’s sixth-place finisher, sophomore Abbey Helppi. Marquette has one top-10 finisher from last season returning, junior Calla Martysz, who placed fifth. But sophomore Lindsey Rudden was a major star during the spring’s Track & Field Finals and led the Cross Country Final until late in the race. She is considered the top runner in the entire Upper Peninsula.
Individuals: Three more top-10 finishers from last season will run again this weekend. Menominee senior Kameron Burmeister finished third, just three seconds out of second place, and Escanaba junior Aimee Giese will try to improve on last fall’s fourth place. Negaunee senior Wyleen Kniola will finish her career hoping to add to last season’s seventh place.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Newberry
2012 runner-up: Ironwood
2013 top three: 1. Hancock, 2. St. Ignace, 3. Ishpeming Westwood.
Favorite Hancock is led by a pair of seniors who finished among the top 10 last season when the team finished third overall: Erin McKenzie, who ran seventh, and Anna Meese, who placed eighth. St. Ignace is back in Division 2 after winning the Division 3 Final last season, with junior Lilly Calcaterra leading the pack after she finished second individually in that division. Westwood returns senior Gabrielle French and sophomore Anastasia Bjork, top-16 finishers. Newberry isn’t ranked this week but brings to Munising its top three finishers from last season’s championship team: sophomore Natalie Beaulieu, (fourth in 2012), sophomore Bridget Stoetzer (fifth) and junior Gabrielle Young (ninth).
Individuals: Ironwood's reigning individual champion Jessica Gering won as a junior with a time of 20:40.9, 47 seconds ahead of the pack. Iron River West Iron County junior Tori Harris-Hoogenboom is back after finishing sixth, and Manistique sophomore Holly Blowers also returns to the Finals after placing 10th.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: St. Ignace
2012 runner-up: Dollar Bay
2013 top three: 1. Munising, T-2. Cedarville, T-2. Pickford.
With St. Ignace back in Division 2, the field appears a little more open as four Saints finished among the top 15 in 2012. Munising is seeking its first MHSAA championship and enters Saturday ranked No. 1 in Division 3. Senior Alyssa St. Amour is the team’s top returning finisher from last season’s Final, when she placed 17th but only 20 seconds outside the top 10. Seniors Taylor Perkins and Alexis Barr both finished among the top 18 for Cedarville last season, and Pickford is led by sophomore Heidi Hagen, who was sixth at the 2012 Final.
Individuals: Dollar Bay, last season’s runner-up, is led by sophomore Carli and freshman Cami Daavettila, who finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in 2012. Rudyard junior Kaylee Hoolsema could be the overall favorite – she finished fourth last season behind two St. Ignace runners and a graduated teammate. Brimley junior Emily Chartrand finished only six seconds back of Hoolsema, in fifth.
PHOTO: Ironwood’s Jessica Gering surges ahead of the field at last season’s Division 2 Final, which she won by 47 seconds in 20:40.9. (Photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com/Paul Gerard.)
Kilpela Farm Provides 'Perfect' Setting for 20 years of Jeffers Invitationals
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 9, 2022
ATLANTIC MINE — Imagine being able to host a cross country invitational on your own property.
That’s what Painesdale Jeffers High School head coach Sam Kilpela does every year in late August.
The Jeffers Invitational has been held annually on the Kilpela farm property since 2003.
“My grandparents lived here,” he said. “This farm has been part of the Kilpela family for many years (since the 1890s) and many of their daughters were part of the program. We moved here in 2015, and now it’s up to us to keep the tradition going.
“People ask, ‘You mean you have a cross country course at your farm?’ We have a lot of property, about 40 acres. The starting line is in our front yard, and the finish line is in our back yard. It’s real convenient. We don’t have to drive anywhere to get what we need. We have everything we need right here.”
The course also has received many rave reviews, including a few after the most recent Jeffers Invite which drew 11 schools Aug. 31.
“It’s a beautiful course,” Hancock coach Jen Smith said after the Dale Phillips Invitational in Marquette the next day. “It has that old country feel to it, which makes you feel right at home. It makes you feel real comfortable. We decided to do races back-to-back days because the kids enjoy running on both courses. We didn’t want to miss either meet.”
Dollar Bay junior Amos Norlin, who won the 3.1-mile race at Atlantic Mine in 17 minutes, 50 seconds, had similar thoughts.
“This is one of my favorite courses,” he said. “This is better than running on a golf course. I find I need to look back when we race on a golf course. You’re more hidden here. Only, the downhills and sharp turns tend to bother my ankles.”
Watersmeet senior William Snow, who placed third (18:28), also enjoyed the course.
“I love the tall grass and the ground is nice and soft,” he added. “There’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s perfect for running. I wish I could train on this course. I’m going to miss it.”
The Jeffers boys put a little icing on the cake by winning their invitational for the first time in 13 years with 44 points. Ironwood was runner-up at 58.
“It has been many years,” said Kilpela, who has been coaching for seven. “The kids have been working hard. It’s really good to see their hard work pay off. I’m especially happy for our senior Tavin Larson because he finally got his first win on his home course. We have only five guys on varsity, but they’ve been strong.”
Calumet edged Hancock 55-61 for the girls championship.
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.
PHOTO The Painesdale Jeffers boys cross country team shows off its hardware after winning its invitational at the Kilpela farm Aug. 31. (Photo courtesy of Adams Township schools.)