Preview: History in the Racing
October 17, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Gentz Homestead Golf Course in Harvey will host MHSAA Finals on Saturday that could showcase a few extremes in Upper Peninsula girls cross country.
In Division 1, Marquette is seeking its 29th MHSAA team title – owning the most by far of any school in either peninsula. Ishpeming in Division 2, meanwhile, is piling up accomplishments it hadn’t achieved in 35 years – and can add the crowning achievement with its first Finals win since 1980.
Somewhere in the middle, rivals Cedarville and St. Ignace should battle in Division 3 in what could be the most exciting race of the day.
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 a list of all qualifiers.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Marquette
2013 runner-up: Calumet
2014 top three: 1. Marquette, 2. Calumet, 3. Sault Ste. Marie.
Marquette has won more than twice as many Upper Peninsula Finals as any other school – Calumet happens to be second on that list with 11. The Redettes are heavy favorites again with four of the top nine individual finishers from last season back after the team scored 62 points fewer than the field. Junior Lindsey Rudden and sophomore Amber Huebner finished second and third, respectively, last season, while seniors Calla Martysz and Shayla Huebner came in eighth and ninth. But Calumet returns three of its top five, led by sixth-place Leah Kiilunen and 15th-place Corey Miller; both are juniors and Kiilunen finished second in 2012.
Individuals: Three more of last season’s top 15 will run this weekend. Escanaba senior Aimee Giese will race for her third top-10 finish after coming in fourth as a sophomore and 10th as a junior. Gladstone sophomore Leigha Woelfer was fourth last season in her first MHSAA Final, and Sault Ste. Marie senior Michaela Rushford improved from 17th in 2012 to 13th last season. Menominee senior Lilly Johnson also will try to finish on a fast note – she came in eighth as a freshman.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Hancock
2013 runner-up: St. Ignace
2014 top three: 1. Ishpeming, 2. Ishpeming Westwood, 3. Hancock.
Ishpeming is favored to win its first MHSAA title since 1980 – but it’s been that kind of season for the Hematites, who also won their Mid-Peninsula Conference title for the first time since 1980. Ishpeming is shining with a lineup featuring five freshmen and two sophomores including Khora Swanson, who finished eighth a year ago. Westwood, second in the M-PC, is led by league individual champion Kathryn Etelamaki, a junior, and junior Anastasia Bjork, who finished ninth at last season’s Final. Hancock is keyed by two top-15 finishers from 2013 – 10th-place Kaylor Holmstrom, a senior, and junior Ashley Aho, who came in 14th.
Individuals: Iron River West Iron County senior Tori Harris-Hogaboom finished eighth as a freshman, sixth as a sophomore and seventh as a junior. She’s the second-highest returning finisher to this race, behind Norway junior Kyra Johnson, who finished fourth in 2013. Ironwood senior Katie Piispanen finished 14th as a sophomore.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Munising
2013 runner-up: Cedarville
2014 top three: 1. Cedarville, 2. St. Ignace, 3. Dollar Bay.
Cedarville was champion in 2011 and runner-up last season and 2010, and returns a pair of top sophomores that lead a team with six underclassmen total. Emma Bohn is back after finishing third, and Leila Schlosser came in 12th as a freshman in 2013. But St. Ignace should provide an incredible challenge with its top five finishers back from last season’s runner-up in Division 2. Junior Lily Calcaterra was the individual runner-up in that race and in Division 3 as a sophomore, and sophomore Rosy Shimkovitz and junior Katie O’Rourke finished 11th and 12th, respectively, last season.
Individuals: Rudyard senior Kaylee Hoolsema will attempt to repeat as champion after winning last season's race by 44 seconds. Dollar Bay's Cami Daavettila was eighth last season as a freshman, and Chassell juniors Julia Pietila and Sam Shitaye finished 13th and 15th, respectively.
PHOTO: Cedarville's Emma Bohn (127) finished third in the Division 3 race a year ago and leads this season's favorite. (Photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com/Paul Gerard.)
DaDamio Follows Sister as Elite Pacesetter
October 10, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
While the best part of a cross country or track race is the sprint to the finish line, it was actually having the race be over that excited Audrey DaDamio the most.
Growing up, DaDamio loved watching older sister Rachel, who finished second at the 2014 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Final and won the 1,600 meters at the LPD1 Track & Field Finals the following spring. But Audrey enjoyed a postrace ritual with Rachel even more.
Once a race was over, Audrey DaDamio would join her older sister on the track or at the end of the cross country course and do a cool-down run with her, the only time the two could run together at meets since they were six years apart.
“I was such in awe watching her race,” DaDamio said.
Fast forward a few years, and more and more race fans are finding themselves in awe of watching Audrey DaDamio run.
Now a junior in high school and member of Birmingham Seaholm’s cross country team, DaDamio should be on the short list of contenders at this year’s Division 1 meet Nov. 2 at Michigan International Speedway.
DaDamio is off to a terrific start to this season. She won the first Oakland Activities Association Red jamboree in September in a time of 18:02.16. This past Saturday, she was the individual champion at the Oakland County meet held at Kensington Metro Park, besting a competitive field in a time of 18:09.3.
DaDamio also finished fifth in the “elite” race at the prestigious Spartan Invite at Michigan State University and has built on a performance that exceeded her expectations at last year’s LPD1 Final at MIS, where she finished 11th.
“My goal was to be top 20, so coming away 11th, I was really excited about that,” DaDamio said. “It definitely made my goals for this season a lot higher.”
DaDamio said she started running track in fifth grade, mainly because she was inspired by Rachel’s accomplishments.
“My goal was to be how she is,” DaDamio said of Rachel, who went on to run cross country and track at Notre Dame.
Before the MHSAA spring track season in March, DaDamio competed at an indoor national track event in New York, where she finished 15th.
She then finished fifth at the Division 1 Track Finals in the 3,200-meter run and placed seventh in the 1,600-meter run to set the stage for this cross country season.
Seaholm head coach Craig McCardell said a big reason for DaDamio’s success is how well she knows her body and how to train.
“She intuitively knows when she can train hard and when she knows her body needs to recover,” McCardell said. “From this, she has avoided interruption in her training caused by injuries.”
DaDamio didn’t run in the second OAA Red jamboree because of soreness after running in a meet a couple of days prior. Instead, she rested up for her winning performance at the county meet and has her eyes set on the third league Jamboree, the Regional meet, and of course, the Finals.
DaDamio said she has a goal of finishing among the top three in Division 1, and hopes learning some technical aspects of the course the last two years will pay dividends in November.
“Last year was kind of my first taste of being in a lead pack and being with girls who I know are very fast,” she said. “You have to put yourself into a position to be successful. Last year at states, by the two-mile mark, I wanted to be in the chase pack. That’s what I did, and it worked out. Hopefully this year, it will be kind of the same thing. That second mile, it’s going to be really hard. But I just have to stay mentally in the race.”
PHOTO: Birmingham Seaholm’s Audrey DaDamio races to an 11th-place finish during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo courtesy of Seaholm cross country.)