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).
Schafer Finishes Undefeated Season, Goodrich Claims 1st Title Since 2005
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — It took Ava Schafer of St. Johns a year to make a significant dent in her cross country personal record.
She wouldn’t have wanted to make her breakthrough anywhere else than on the biggest stage in Michigan high school cross country.
Schafer completed an undefeated sophomore season by winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final with a time of 17 minutes, 20.7 seconds Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
She was fourth in Division 2 as a freshman in 17:53.8, then ran 17:32.6 in the postseason Michigan Meet of Champions. Schafer eclipsed her best time by 0.2 seconds when she won the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships on Oct. 12 before taking an even greater chunk off her PR Saturday.
“This season hasn’t been all PRs,” Schafer said. “It’s been about the same times as last year. I’m really proud of this one. It will boost my confidence in my performance and my times.”
Schafer had a solo run down the final stretch at MIS, winning by 10.3 seconds ahead of Otsego junior Emma Hoffman. Hoffman led at the mile in 5:28.7 and two mile in 11:10.8, with Schafer sticking close to her before Schafer’s move with about a mile remaining.
It was a clash between two runners who hadn’t lost a race all year. Schafer won all 10 of her races, while Hoffman won all 13 before Saturday.
“I was really excited and nervous coming out to this, because based on time I was ranked third,” Schafer said. “I was hoping to get first, which I did. It’s just really exciting to PR here at such a big meet, and we’re at states. Everybody is racing each other, so the times really mean something.”
In the team race, Goodrich returned to the top for the first time since winning three straight Division 3 championships from 2003-05.
The top-ranked Martians scored 134 points to win by 16 over second-ranked Zeeland East.
For Goodrich, it’s been a steady climb in recent years to return to supremacy. The Martians missed the Finals in 2019, placed 22nd in 2020, 10th in 2021, seventh in 2022 and third in 2023.
Seniors Kamryn Lauinger and Avery Byrne were the building blocks of Goodrich’s championship team, running in four MHSAA Finals.
Lauinger was 19th in 18:36.7, sophomore Alivia Ottinger was 22nd in 18:37.8, Byrne was 42nd in 19:06.6, senior Layla Jordan was 44th in 19:08.4 and freshman Kayla Shellenbarger was 47th in 19:10.6.
How deep was Goodrich? The Martians didn’t need to include Claire Brown’s 50th-place 19:12.1 or Baylor Lauinger’s 66th-place 19:34.3 in their score.
PHOTOS (Top) St. Johns’ Ava Schafer finishes an undefeated season during the final stretch of Saturday’s Division 2 race. (Middle) Goodrich’s Avery Byrne (661) and Layla Jordan (662) run in a pack that also included Pinckney’s Madalynn Karsies (719). (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)