Preview: Familiar Racers Ready to Return to Leaderboards
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 22, 2021
There is plenty of potential for new champions to emerge Saturday at the Upper Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Gentz’s Homestead Golf Course in Marquette – and also opportunities for past champions to find their ways back to the front.
Returning individual champions are back in all three divisions. But whereas 2020 winner Paige Sleeman is returning for Houghton in Division 1, the past champions in Divisions 2 and 3 are from two seasons ago – Hancock junior Maylie Kilpela and Rock Mid-Peninsula senior Landy Koski, respectively. All three will have to outrun speedy contenders to cross the line first again – Sleeman from teammate Paige Seagren, and Kilpela and Koski from last season’s runners-up Lola Korpi from Ishpeming in Division 2 and Hattie Cota from Munising in Division 3.
The team competition for the most part features a number of teams used to being at the front of the pack. But watch in Division 1 for Negaunee, running to earn its first team title in nearly 40 years.
Saturday’s races begin with the Division 1 girls at 11 a.m. and conclude with the Division 3 boys at 1:30 p.m. Check back Saturday evening for coverage, and see below for more teams and individuals to watch. (Click for race information and competitors.)
Division 1
Reigning champion: Houghton
2020 runner-up: Marquette
Top-ranked: 1. Negaunee, 2. Houghton, 3. Ishpeming Westwood.
Negaunee is seeking its first Finals championship in this sport since winning three straight in the former Class C-D from 1981-83. The Miners did not run at the 2020 Finals and did not have enough participants to place as a team in 2018 or 2019, but they return this weekend with seven runners including junior Endla Harris – who ran at the 2019 Finals as a freshman. Houghton is another favorite after edging Marquette by two points last season to claim its first Finals championship. The Gremlins return three of their seven runners from 2020 led by reigning individual champion Paige Sleeman and third-place Ingrid Seagren; both are seniors. Westwood finished fourth last season and returns three runners as well including sophomore Retta Boburka, who finished 15th a year ago.
Individuals: Houghton is bringing the star power with Sleeman winning last season’s Final by five seconds and Seagren seeking her first championship after running sixth as a freshman and third as both a sophomore and junior. Menominee similarly is led by a speedy duo as senior Hayden Buck was sixth and junior Attica Brandt finished seventh in 2020. Total 11 of last season’s top 20 finishers will be running this weekend. Escanaba senior Ciara Ostrenga also returns after finishing 10th, and Calumet junior Kiira Berg was 11th.
Division 2
Reigning champion: St. Ignace
2020 runner-up: Hancock
Top ranked: 1. Wakefield-Marenisco, 2. Ironwood, 3. West Iron County.
St. Ignace has finished among the top two the last four seasons with championships last year and in 2017, and five of last season’s top six Finals runners are back this weekend – including four who placed among the top 16 overall – led by sophomore Brady Wisteria (fourth) and senior Mariana Zaragoza (ninth). Three from Ironwood’s third-place team last fall also are back, led by junior Lilley Smith (sixth in 2020), and Hancock returns three of last season’s top nine and four of the top 20 placers including junior Maylie Kilpela (third), senior Sierrah Driscoll (fifth) and senior Adia Keranen (eighth). Kilpela was the individual champion in 2019. Neither Wakefield-Marenisco nor West Iron County will run enough participants to accrue a team score.
Individuals: Last season’s top 10 included only one senior, meaning a fast and experienced field will be back in contention. Leading the way is Ishpeming sophomore Lola Korpi, who finished second as a freshman and only 14 seconds off the lead, but 28 seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. Senior teammate Taylor Longtine also is back after finishing seventh last season.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Munising
2020 runner-up: Chassell
Top ranked: 1. Dollar Bay, 2. Newberry, 3. Munising.
Munising broke Chassell’s three-year hold on the title in 2020, and four of the top 19 individual placers will run for the Mustangs this weekend including junior Hattie Cota – last season’s runner-up – and junior Monique Brisson, who finished ninth. Dollar Bay, seeking its first team title since 2010, was fifth last season but returns all five of its runners led by senior Kaylee Cavis, who finished 15th individually. Newberry brings back three from its third-place 2020 team led by sophomore Kaylen Clark, who finished 10th overall. Chassell does bring back four of its top seven from a runner-up team Finals finisher.
Individuals: Total, 11 from last season’s top 20 also return in Division 3. Cota finished 11 seconds off the lead last season and will match up again with Rock Mid-Peninsula senior Landry Koski, who was fourth last season and won the individual championship as a sophomore. Eben Junction Superior Central junior Madisen Begovac also should be in the mix after finishing seventh last season.
PHOTO Ishpeming’s Lola Korpi sets the pace at the WIN Meet earlier this fall at the Negaunee Township Field. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)
Preview: 3 Racing for Individual Repeats
October 29, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second straight season, many eyes at this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals will be focused on a girls race of the best from some of Michigan’s smaller schools.
Last season, the buzz was over Breckenridge’s Kirsten Olling and her pursuit of a fourth individual title. On Saturday, Macomb Lutheran North’s Gina Patterson will run for her third straight Division 3 title – but against her top rival, reigning runner-up Amber Way of Charlevoix. Patterson owns the fastest and sixth-fastest times in LP Division 3 history, but Way finished only 1.5 seconds behind in 2013 and owns the seventh-fastest finish on that all-time list.
Birmingham Seaholm’s Audrey Belf also is attempting to repeat, in Division 1, as her team tries to claim its second title in three seasons. Grand Rapids Christian, the reigning Division 2 champ, is favored again, while Cedar Springs’ Kenzie Weiler will attempt to finish her career with a second straight individual victory in that face. And Division 4 – as noted above – will have its first new individual champ since 2010.
See below for more of the stories behind the team and individual races for all four divisions, and click for a full list of qualifiers for each and information on Saturday’s event – which this fall includes 976 girls.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Northville
2013 runner-up: Saline
2014 top-ranked: 1. Traverse City Central, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Northville.
Seaholm, the 2012 champion, should push to reclaim the top trophy led by last season’s individual champion, now-senior Belf. She’s joined in this season’s lineup by juniors Mary Sanders and Patty Girardot, the fourth and fifth runners for the Maples in 2013. But Traverse City Central returns four of its top seven from last season’s sixth-place finish and three of its top four – seniors Ashley Ko and Graceanne Tarsa and sophomore Emmalyne Tarsa. Ko finished 12th in the individual standings and finished second at her Regional to freshman teammate Sielle Kearney. Junior Lexa Barrott finished 13th last season for team champion Northville, which returns two more of its 2013 lineup including 22nd-place Cayla Eckenroth, now a sophomore.
Individuals: Four more top-20 finishers from 2013 join Belf, Ko and Barrot in this weekend’s lineup. Grandville junior Valerie Wierenga improved from 16th as a freshman to third last fall and should remain among the lead pack, and Oak Park senior Ersula Farrow finished 21st, eighth and then seventh her first three seasons while running for Grosse Pointe North. Saline juniors Gillian Walter and Hannah Cummings also are seeking repeat top-20 finishes. Hudsonville senior Kelli Jackson ran a Division 1-best 17:48.3 to win her Regional and finished 21st at last season’s Final. Macomb L’Anse Creuse North freshman Karenna Duffey also cleared 18 minutes last week, winning her Regional in 17:58, while Grandville freshman Madison Troy was second to Jackson at Portage in 18:14.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Grand Rapids Christian
2013 runner-up: Spring Lake
2014 top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. St. Joseph, 3. Otsego.
Grand Rapids Christian has won two of the last four titles and is lined up well for a repeat with four of last season’s top six running again. Senior Rachel Warners paced the Eagles and finished 12th individually last season, and the lineup has added standout freshmen Jenna Bishop and Sarah VanDyke and junior top-10 Regional finisher Michelle Koetje. St. Joseph didn’t make the Final as a team last season – sophomore Vanessa Veersma ran as an individual qualifier – but the Bears placed five among the top 20 at their Regional and four among the top 11 paced by freshman and fifth-place finisher Kaitlin Newton. Otsego finished only four points behind St. Joseph at the Portage Regional with two freshmen, four sophomores and a junior. But those sophomores were the team’s top four placers as it finished third at last season’s Final; Megan Aalberts finished 11th individually in 2013.
Individuals: Only three of last season’s top 20 graduated – so this field should be incredibly competitive. Weiler is the reigning champion and also finished runner-up as both a freshman and sophomore, but finished less than a second ahead last season of Detroit Country Day senior Jackie Bredenberg – and she’s also back. St. Johns senior Karrigan Smith is a track champion and returns after finishing third in this race a year ago, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior Morgan Posthuma (fourth), Grand Rapids South Christian senior Alexis Miller (fifth), Gaylord junior Alexis Smith (ninth) and Owosso senior Dillon McClintock (10th) also are among top finishers back in the field.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Shepherd
2013 runner-up: Benzonia Benzie Central
2014 top-ranked: 1. Ithaca, 2. Manistee, 3. Lansing Catholic.
Ithaca finished only 10th a year ago, but with five underclassmen in the line-up – and all seven runners are back this weekend. Sophomore Courtney Allen finished 11th in 2013, and the Yellowjackets placed four among the top 10 in its Regional win last weekend. Manistee returns its top five from last season’s eighth-place team, including senior Annie Fuller (sixth) and junior Ashley Lindeman (ninth) from the individual top 10. Lansing Catholic was 13th last fall with a similar story; the Cougars have five runners back from the 2013 Final including sophomore Abigail Gilmore (14th individually) and finished runner-up to Ithaca at St. Johns over the weekend.. Reigning champ Shepherd is ranked No. 4 and does return five of its top seven including three sophomores who placed among the top 50 individuals.
Individuals: Only three of the top 14 from 2013 graduated, and much of the focus will be on the rematch of Patterson and Way. In addition to those two and the Manistee pair, four more of the top 10 also will run again: Holland Black River senior Allison Vroon (third), Ida senior Ashley Sorge (fourth), Hopkins senior Rachael Weber (eighth) and Clare sophomore Jasmine Harper (10th). Five of those returning eight won their Regionals. Traverse City St. Francis junior Holly Bullough was the Division 4 runner-up in 2012 and third last fall, and should be in the mix. East Jordan senior Kayla Keane finished fifth in Division 4 last season.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Beal City
2013 runner-up: Breckenridge
2014 top-ranked: 1. Kalamazoo Hackett, 2. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, 3. Beal City.
Six of Beal City’s top seven are back from last season’s championship run including top finisher Hannah Steffke, 10th individually as a junior, and senior Hayley Neyer, who was 19th. Hackett finished 14th in Division 3 but returns its top four – and senior Lucy Ankenbauer, 25th individually in Division 3, would’ve finished 13th with her time in Division 4. Hackett had the top four and five of the top seven finishers at its Regional. Sacred Heart didn’t make the Final as a team last season, but sophomore Alexis McConnell finished 15th individually. The Irish put three among the top five – with McConnell the individual champion – in scoring 35 points to beat Beal City and win their Regional over the weekend.
Individuals: There will be a new champion – Breckenridge’s Kirsten Olling graduated after becoming the seventh to win four MHSAA individual titles. Bullough and Keane running in Division 3 leaves only two others and Steffke back from last season’s top 10 – reigning runner-up Tessa Fornari, a junior for Waterford Our Lady, and seventh-place Jenna Wisner, a junior at Lutheran Westland. Fornari won her Regional in 18:19. Hackett freshman Mary Ankenbauer was 41 seconds faster than sister Lucy in winning their Regional in 18:53.3.
PHOTO: Macomb Lutheran North's Gina Patterson finished just ahead of Charlevoix's Amber Way to claim last season's LP Division 3 individual title; both will run again Saturday. Click for more this weekend from RunMichigan.com.)