Preview: History Awaits Finals Field
November 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Breckenridge High School has a mere 244 students. But one could finish this weekend's MHSAA Finals among an elite few in state girls cross country history.
Three-time champion Kirsten Olling already is one of the all-time greats. But if she can win one more title, she’ll become just the seventh to claim four – and first in the Lower Peninsula since Rochester Adams’ Katie Boyles finished her surge in 2000.
Here's a look at the contenders to watch from all four divisions. For those who can’t make the trip to Brooklyn, MHSAA.TV will provide camera views at the start and finish lines and two more points on the course, with audio from reporters stationed along the way. Cost is $9.95 for Saturday only, which also includes access to all four Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Finals, or $14.95 for a month pass that will allow fans to also watch live the Volleyball Semifinals and Finals and Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals.
Click for Saturday's race schedule and links to all qualifiers and the live streams.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Birmingham Seaholm
2012 runner-up: Grosse Pointe South
2013 top three: 1. Northville, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3 Saline.
Reigning champ Seaholm and 2011 champ Grosse Pointe South both graduated star sets of sisters who played big parts in the programs’ successes over the last few seasons – although South does return eighth-place individual finisher Ersula Farrow. Northville, meanwhile, is the favorite returning five from last season’s fifth-place team, and Saline brings back five from the team that finished third including sixth-place Elianna Shwayder. All four of these teams won their Regionals in dominating fashion.
Individuals: Gone are graduated stars Erin Finn of West Bloomfield and Hannah Meier of Grosse Pointe South, along with the rest of the top five from last season. Three more of the top 11 also are back, however: Rochester senior Jessica Goethals, Hudsonville senior Alex Berends and Salem senior Kayla Kavulich. Add into the mix Seaholm junior Audrey Belf, who won her Regional by more than a minute in 17:41, plus Grandville sophomore Valerie Wierenga (17:55.7) and Jenison senior Ellie Leonard (17:58.5) – first and second, respectively, at their Regional.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Ada Forest Hills Eastern
2012 runner-up: Spring Lake
2013 top three: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Spring Lake, 3. Warren Regina.
Rarely does a team lose one of the top runners in MHSAA history (graduate Julia Bos) and come back the next season expected to improve from third place to first. But the Eagles return their second-fourth and sixth-fastest runners from last season’s Final and have been ranked No. 1 all fall. Spring Lake, with five of its top six back from last season’s runner-up team including 15th-place Carlyn Arteaga, has been figuratively only a step behind. Warren Regina finished ninth last season without a senior scoring, and its top five all are back this weekend including Regional champ and senior Cassie Bloch.
Individuals: Twelve of last season’s top 20 were juniors or younger, and this year’s group is incredibly strong. Cedar Springs junior Kenzie Weiler – last season’s runner-up and one of the top runners regardless of division throughout her three-year career – won her Regional in 18:51.56 ahead of Remus Chippewa Hills senior Megan O’Neil, who finished seventh at the 2012 Final. Hudsonville Unity Christian junior Kelli Nesky finished fifth last season and won her Regional in 18:47.62 – just a second ahead of Hamilton freshman Erika Freyhof. Mason sophomore Meg Darmofal is coming off an eighth-place finish last season and won her Regional in 18:16.9, and Charlotte sophomore Lindsey Carlson was 10th last season. Detroit Country Day junior Jackie Bredenberg won her Regional by a minute in 17:51. Others to watch include Battle Creek Pennfield senior Audrianna Bornamann, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern junior Morgan Posthuma, St. Johns junior Karrigan Smith, Grand Rapids South Christian junior Alexis Miller, Otsego freshman Megan Aalberts and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood junior Claire Ford. All cleared 19 minutes at their Regionals. Essexville-Garber junior Julia Jeczmionka finished sixth in Division 3 last season.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2012 runner-up: Grandville Calvin Christian
2013 top three: 1. Shepherd, 2. Macomb Lutheran North, 3. Benzie Central.
Reigning individual champion: Gina Patterson, Macomb Lutheran North.
Shepherd often is in the conversation but is the favorite this time as it pursues its first MHSAA team title since 1994. Three of the Bluejays’ top four are back from last season’s ninth-place team including individual seventh-place finisher Kaylie Rhynard, a senior who won her Regional in 18:57.7. She and her teammates could be chasing Macomb Lutheran North junior Gina Patterson, last season’s individual champion as the team finished seventh; total, the top four from that lineup are back this weekend. Benzie Central, the 2011 team champ, also returns its top four from last season’s third-place team including last season’s 10th-place finisher, senior Alyssa Bennett.
Individuals: Only four of last season’s top 25 graduated. Three more sophomores joined Patterson in rounding out the top five last season, and Manistee’s Annie Fuller, Charlevoix’s Amber Way and Holland Black River’s Allison Vroon are all back after placing third-fifth, respectively, as is Ida junior Ashley Sorge, who finished eighth. Way (19:06.4) won her Regional ahead of Fuller and Bennett, and Sorge (18:23.6) and Patterson (18:11) also were Regional champions. Others of note are Clare Freshman Jasmine Harper, a Regional champion in 18:47.4; Kent City senior Ashley Russo, who finished ahead of Vroon in 18:18.62 at their Regional; and Frankenmuth senior Emily Sievert, who also broke 19 minutes in winning hers.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Homer
2012 runner-up: Bear Lake
2013 top three: 1. Homer, 2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 3. Breckenridge.
Reigning individual champion: Kirsten Olling, Breckenridge.
Homer returns its top four and five of last season’s championship seven this weekend. Senior Amanda Reagle was the individual Regional champ in 19:20 and she and now-juniors Jessica Reagle and Bailey Manis all finished among the top 23 at the 2012 Final (when Jessica Reagle placed ninth). Pewamo-Westphalia finished 15th last season, but did so without a senior and brings back five of its top six. Breckenridge didn’t make the Finals as a team when Kirsten Olling was a freshman and have finished seventh and then 10th the last two seasons, respectively. But she leads a team that could push the favorites with its top four and seventh runners from 2012 all back.
Individuals: Only one senior placed among the top 10 last season, and only two placed among the top 20. Olling won her Regional by nearly two minutes in 17:39.8, but 2012 runner-up Holly Bullough also is back and won her Regional title, as did 2012 third-place Tenna Fornari of Waterford Our Lady and sixth-place Lauren Jenkins of Saugatuck. Last season placers Taylor Smith of Blanchard Montabella (fourth), Kendra Colesa of Deckerville (fifth) and Hannah Steffke of Beal City (eighth) also return to the mix.
PHOTO: Breckenridge’s Kirsten Olling runs the final paces on the way to her third MHSAA Lower Peninsula cross country title last season at Michigan International Speedway. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
Preview: Seniors to Shine 1 More Time
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 18, 2019
We always can count on high school sports to be cyclical in the way athletes move through their four seasons and are replaced by the next wave.
But some groups certainly are more memorable than others. And Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals will provide an opportunity to wave good-bye to an accomplished group of seniors who have combined to win five MHSAA individual cross country championships.
Races begin Saturday at Gentz’s Golf Course in Marquette with the Division 1 girls at 11 a.m. and finish 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: Sault Ste. Marie
2018 runner-up: Marquette
Top-ranked: 1. Marquette, 2. Sault Ste. Marie, 3. Houghton.
Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie have finished first or second together the last five seasons and alternated claiming the championship over the last four. The Blue Devils won last season despite their highest placer coming in eighth, and three of the top four from that lineup are back this weekend – junior Haleigh Knowles (eighth in 2018), sophomore Anna Hildebrand (10th) and senior Shelby Eavou (16th). Marquette senior Ericka Asmus has finished Division 1 runner-up the last two seasons after coming in 10th as a freshman, and she’s joined by three more of the team’s top five from the 2018 Final including senior Reegan Ketzenberger (13th).
Individuals: Negaunee senior Emily Paupore hopes to finish her high school cross country career with a third straight Division 1 championship and won last year’s Final by 32 seconds. She’s been surging not only against Upper Peninsula competition this fall but also against many of the best from downstate. Ishpeming Westwood senior Tessa Leece also should be in the mix again after finishing fourth last season coming off her Division 2 championship in 2017. Paupore teammate Talon Prusi also will run her final high school race after coming in seventh a year ago, and Houghton sophomore Ingrid Seagren could be on the way to becoming the favorite in 2020 after finishing sixth at her first Finals a year ago.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Hancock
2018 runner-up: St. Ignace
Top-ranked: 1. Ishpeming, 2. Ironwood, 3. Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer.
Ishpeming didn’t finish enough runners to place last season, but the Hematites are back to full strength. After winning three straight titles from 2014-16, they are expected to add another with their top three runners returning from last year’s Final: sophomore Abby Racine (fourth place), sophomore Taylor Longtine (seventh) and junior Chyanne Gardner (14th). Reigning champ Hancock isn’t ranked but is going to be in the mix. The Bulldogs had six of the top 12 finishers in winning that team title, and sophomores Jacie Anderson (eighth), Adia Keranen (11th) and Sierrah Driscoll (12th) all are back for a team that will run one senior and six underclassmen.
Individuals: The top three finishers from last season graduated, making Racine the highest-placing returnee. Joining her, Longtine and Anderson back from the top 10 is St. Ignace junior Hallie Marshall (10th), and West Iron County junior Avery Bociek (15th) also is a strong candidate to climb in the standings.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Chassell
2018 runner-up: Cedarville
Top-ranked: 1. Chassell, 2. Brimley, 3. Cedarville.
Chassell will be chasing its third straight championship and fifth in six seasons with four of last season’s top 20 individual placers leading the way. Sophomore Paige Sleeman (fifth), junior Gwen Kangas (seventh), sophomore Kamryn Sohlden (ninth) and freshman Trisha Pietila (20th) make the Panthers the team to beat again. Cedarville is an intriguing contender though with five of last year’s top seven back including freshman Lilianna Cason (eighth) sophomore Meredith Emigh (10th) and junior Cassidy Barr (14th). Rock Mid Peninsula isn’t ranked but brings back all six of last year’s runners who combined to finish third, led by senior Daisy Englund (second) and sophomore Landry Koski (fourth).
Individuals: Eben Junction Superior Central now-senior Danika Walters outpaced 2017 champion Englund by nearly 20 seconds to win last season’s title, and they should provide an excellent individual competition at the front. Total, eight of last year’s top 10 return – the others are mentioned above – and Pickford senior Natalie Miller (11th) and Ewen-Trout Creek junior Elise Besonen also bolster the returning field. Newberry sophomore Jorja Suriano finished 13th in Division 2 last season.
PHOTO: Eben Junction Superior Central’s Danika Walters broke away from the Division 3 field at last season’s Upper Peninsula Finals and will run for a repeat Saturday. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)