Seaholm Star Tunes Out Hype, Fulfills It
November 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Audrey Belf tuned out all of the noise.
The Birmingham Seaholm junior didn't want to get caught up in all of the chatter surrounding her quest to win the MHSAA Division 1 cross country championship. She didn't want to read the comparisons between her and former Rochester runner Megan Goethals, who holds the MHSAA finals record and is now an All-American at the University of Washington.
Belf wanted to relax her mind all week, then do what she does best — race hard.
"I never had that much pressure in my life," Belf said. "I kind of stopped using the Internet for a week. I didn't want to see anything or have any reason to psyche myself out. I wanted to go into the race with a clear head."
The nationally ranked Belf fulfilled expectations on Saturday by winning the Division 1 championship in a time of 17:31.1. Rockford senior Lauren Brasure stayed close enough to keep the issue in doubt, finishing second in 17:40.8.
"She's a great runner and definitely pushes me," Belf said. "I knew it would be a close race. We both ran great."
Belf admitted that she had her sights on the MHSAA finals record of 16:54.8 set by Goethals in 2009. Achieving that time became more difficult when rains soaked the MIS course right up until race morning, creating a sloppy mess in some spots.
"It was a little muddy," Belf said. "Coming into the stadium, I was on pace for my goal time. When I got into the stadium, it slowed me up a little bit. You can't do anything about it. It's OK. I'm happy about it."
Belf made a huge jump from 33rd place last year in 18:32.8 to MHSAA champion.
"I was a little bit sick and had a bad day (in 2012)," Belf said. "This summer and last spring, I worked on raising my confidence going into races. It really helped me this year."
Brasure lost only three races all season — all to Belf.
The only downer for Belf was that her Seaholm team didn't repeat as champion. Northville won its first MHSAA finals championship by scoring 107 points. Saline was second with 139, Hudsonville third with 164 and Seaholm fourth with 165. Rockford was fifth with 169 points, cracking the top 10 for the 20th straight year.
Northville had a strong front pack, with its top four runners finishing 10.8 seconds apart in the top 21 among team finishers. Senior Rachel Coleman was 10th in the team race in 18:23.3, sophomore Lexa Barrott was 13th in 18:27.0, senior Taleen Shahrigian was 14th in 18:30.2, freshman Cayla Eckenroth was 21st in 18:34.1 and senior Nicole Mosteller was 49th in 19:10.2.
PHOTO: Birmingham Seaholm’s Audrey Belf takes the final strides toward her first MHSAA cross country championship. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com).
Ackley, St. Francis Hold off Charging Cougars
November 5, 2016
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN – The finish line couldn’t arrive soon enough for Hart sophomore Adelyn Ackley.
There was no one in front of her at Michigan International Speedway as she sprinted down the final stretch Saturday in the MHSAA Division 3 cross country meet.
It’s what was behind her that had Ackley running scared.
Hot on her heels was Lansing Catholic junior Olivia Theis, the only Division 3 runner to beat her this season.
“It was a terrible feeling,” Ackley said. “I thought she was right there. At first, I thought the finish line was closer, so I dug. Then I realized it’s a lot farther.”
Ackley was able to hold off Theis, winning with a time of 17:40.6. Theis was a close second in 17:41.3, as the top two runners cleared the rest of the field by 42.9 seconds.
“I was getting there,” Theis said. “I just couldn’t pick it up any more. I was ahead, then she pulled ahead and I couldn’t catch her.”
Ackley and Theis raced head-to-head in the two biggest regular-season invitationals of the season. Ackley was third behind two Division 1 top-seven finishers in the Spartan Elite Race at Michigan State, with Theis taking fourth. In the Portage Invitational, Theis was first in 17:21, with Ackley taking second by 12 seconds.
Ackley was a distant second at last year’s Final to Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough, who now runs for Michigan State University.
Ackley went through the mile in 5:46, backing off about 700 meters into the race after a blistering start.
“I had a really fast start,” she said. “Then I realized I was going like a 4:41 pace for a mile, so I slowed down and followed Olivia.”
Ackley ran negative splits, running the second mile in 5:41 and the third in 5:39. Theis also ran a well-paced race, going 5:47, 5:40 and 5:42 for the first three miles.
Despite Theis’ performance, Lansing Catholic couldn’t keep St. Francis from repeating as Division 3 team champion.
St. Francis, which lost only two runners from its top seven of 2015, put five runners in the top 24 in the team race. Junior Joyana Tarsa was seventh in 19:13.6, sophomore Katelyn Duffing ninth in 19:23.1, senior Emmalyne Tarsa 14th in 19:37.2, freshman Libby Gorman 23rd in 20:13.5 and sophomore Christine Scerbak 24th in 20:18.0.
Lansing Catholic put three runners in the top five in the team race, but had to count 31st and 47th places. Olivia Theis was second among team runners, Lauren Cleary was third and Jaden Theis was fifth.
Benzie Central was third with 125 points.
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hart’s Adelyn Ackley (right) charges toward the finish in Division 3 just ahead of Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis. (Middle) St. Francis’ Joyana Tarsa (1680) leads a pack including Benzie Central’s Lucy Karpukhno (1526). (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)