Sophomore Pair Clinch 1st Finals Titles, Korpi Wins 3rd to Cap Ishpeming Career
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2023
FLAT ROCK — Pickford’s Talya Schreiber is a first-year high school cross country runner.
The Pickford sophomore placed an exclamation point at the end of her season, setting the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals record by covering the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 49.2 seconds here Saturday.
“That’s nine seconds off my PR (personal record),” she said. “I wanted to go out hard because it gave me a cushion to work with.
“This has definitely been a real good learning experience. I dealt with some illness last summer (2022). I needed a lot of rest and had to get back into running very slowly. It’s disappointing I didn’t get to do anything in my freshman year, but I’m definitely happy to be back.”
Chassell was crowned champion for the first time in four years by edging Newberry 52-54. Third-place Stephenson scored 58 points.
“The girls are really excited,” Chassell coach Marco Guidotti said. “I’m so happy for them. Stephenson beat us at Munising (Sept. 26) and kept an eye on the times Newberry was running. We knew it’d be tough. I’m so proud of the girls for believing in themselves. When you see a team running times like that, every place counts.
“The girls really started to find their groove late in the season. Winning the Copper Mountain Conference really motivated us, and Ironwood put on a great meet over there. We have a real strong community that supports the school and runners.”
Newberry grabbed the next three places, led by sophomore and runner-up Samantha Taylor (19:28.6), freshman Abby Taylor (19:48.6) and senior Kaylen Clark in a season-best 20:19.1, Dollar Bay senior Taryn Maki (21:06.3) and Chassell junior Lily Etelamaki (22:04.9).
“We put in lot of hard work during the week,” Etelamaki said. “We were definitely on a mission. Our area teams did real well. There’s a lot of trophies going back home. We were kind of in shock when we found out we won. We thought we’d be runner-up. We tried to run in a pack, and I think our depth helped us.”
Division 2
Ishpeming senior Lola Korpi ran the fourth-best time in U.P. Division 2 Finals history at a personal-best 19:04.8, clinching her third individual championship in her final race for the Hematites.
“I ran about 20:18 here last year and was trying to beat that,” she said. “That was amazing. It feels like I’m on top of the world right now.
“I’m also proud of my sister. Laynie ran real well. I was thinking to myself ‘leave it all here.’ I’m not as sad as others because I know I’ll be running in college. Plus, I still have track to look forward to next spring.”
Hancock gained its third straight team title with 38 points, followed by Munising with 71 and Ironwood with 93.
The Bulldogs were led by juniors Ella Keranen in a personal-best 20:56.9 and Rayna Towles (21:06.3), who placed second and third, respectively.
“I never broke 21 minutes before,” Keranen said. “It’s hard to run against the clock at the Finals. It can be a little nerve-wracking, but I was excited when I saw my time. Rayna and I ran together. It’s good to have someone to run with. We definitely ran as hard as we could. We wanted to win it for the third time for our senior Jolene Larson.”
Division 1
Marquette, as expected, retained its D1 title by tying the UPD1 Finals scoring record with 23 points, followed by Houghton with 53 and Sault Ste. Marie with 92.
Led by sophomore individual champion Ella Fure, the team placed five in the top 11.
Fure was clocked at 19:24.6, followed by junior teammate Monet Argeropoulos in 19:30.2.
“I’m definitely happy. I was faster than in the GNC (Great Northern Conference) meet,” Fure said. “I was a little nervous about my time. I was running with Monet, and she told me to take off with a quarter-mile to go. I was about 17 seconds off my PR. The weather was nice. It was about the perfect temperature (near 50).
Argeropoulos was followed by Houghton junior Roman Peterlin (19:55.3) and sophomore Tessa Rautiola (19:55.5), and Marquette senior Abby Harma (19:58.5).
“Ella and I helped each other out,” Argeropoulos said. “I’m happy about my time and our team winning. Houghton did really well. We were really close last year. It’s really fun to see our whole team do well. It’s kind of a reward for the hard work we did.”
PHOTOS (Top) Pickford's Talya Schreiber runs during the Division 3 U.P. Final at Farmhouse B & B in Gladstone on Saturday. She won the race. (Middle) Ishpeming's Lola Korpi runs to her third straight U.P. Division 2 championship. (Below) Marquette’s Ella Fure runs with Houghton's Tessa Rautiola in Division 1. (Photos by Jason Juno. Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Running Set Life's Stage for Grosse Pointe South's Record-Setting Meier Sisters
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
July 28, 2022
A decade ago the Meier twins, Haley and Hannah, were instrumental in changing the dynamics of the track & field and cross country programs at Grosse Pointe South.
South had never won an MHSAA Finals team title in either sport before their arrival at the school in 2009. Under longtime coach Steve Zaranek, the Meiers led South to three consecutive MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 track titles (2011-13) and another championship in cross country (2011), while forming half of a national record-setting 3,200-meter relay in the former.
“I've never seen anything like it,” said Zaranek, who will lead the program for a 44th season next spring and recently retired from teaching. “We had all of those athletes. The highlight was the distance (events) with the Meier twins. It was the perfect storm.”
The Meiers attended Duke University for their first two years of college before they transferred to University of Michigan. Their career paths have taken them in different directions, but they remain as close as ever.
Two years ago Haley moved to Adelaide, Australia, with her fiancé Jordy Hewitt, who she met at U-M. Hannah soon will leave Ann Arbor for Charlottesville, Va., where she will begin work as a dietitian within the medical school at the University of Virginia.
Two weeks ago, Haley and Hannah were together in Nashville, Tenn., along with four friends, for Haley's bachelorette celebration. The wedding is scheduled for Oct. 8 on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
Haley, who received her bachelor’s degree in education, is in her second year as a middle school teacher in Adelaide, and Hewitt works as a consultant at Price Waterhouse just blocks from St. Mary's College, the all-girls private school where Haley teaches.
“I always loved spending time with kids,” Haley said when asked why she chose the teaching profession. “When they figure things out, it's so rewarding. It comes with its challenges. I've been practicing my patience daily.”
This past spring Hannah completed her master's degrees in both sports management and public health from U-M, to go with her bachelor’s in kinesiology. Her longterm goal is to work with athletes in their efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Hannah Meier began researching various types of food and how they affects athletes and their eating habits. For instance, Hannah is a firm believer in a person eating breakfast 30-to-60 minutes after rising to allow for metabolism to kick in properly.
“I was getting injured (so often) between lifting and cross training that I decided to go into public health,” Hannah said. “That's one of the reasons I left Duke. They didn't offer a public health (curriculum).”
The Meiers were highly competitive at both Duke and U-M. At Duke, Haley won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in the 1,500, and for U-M she won the Big Ten Conference title in the indoor mile. In her last season (2019), Hannah won the Big Ten title in the mile with a school-record time of 4:32.46. Both qualified for the NCAA Championships on multiple occasions.
Their college accomplishments stacked on top of significant achievements that helped Grosse Pointe South to those three Finals teams championships.
Hannah continues to own the all-Class/Division Finals records in the 800-meter run (2:06.35, 2013) and 1,600 run (4:39.23, 2013 – also ninth-best all-time nationally at the high school level). She and Haley, along with Kelsie Schwartz and Ersula Farrow, set that national high school record in the 3,200 relay of 8:48.29 in 2012. (Of note, the second-best 3,200 relay time in MHSAA LPD1 Finals history was recorded by Oak Park in 2015, 8:54.29, as Farrow teamed with Jayla Fleming, Lashae Bowens and Dorriann Coleman.)
To show how competitive and talented the twins were, when Hannah set the all-Finals record in the 1,600 in 2013, the previous all-Finals record was the 4:42.60 she had run in 2011. Haley's time of 4:42.43 in 2013 was good enough to top her sister's 2011 record, but not the time Hannah posted that June afternoon – as Haley finished in that race to her sister.
For Zaranek, the post-Meier era has included a team that placed sixth in LP Division 1 in 2014 and another top-15 finisher since, with at least a few Finals qualifiers almost every season.
“For me and our program,” Zaranek said, “to get to the Regional level and compete, that's the sign of a really good program. I really think the best programs are the ones that allow the students to try different events. We talk about opportunities. We talk about contributing to the team.”
For the Meiers, they cherish the memories and continue to run but at a much slower pace. In addition to the memories and accomplishments, they say the sport made them better people, more appreciative for what they have and who they are.
“Haley and I ... we have a better perspective on life,” Hannah said. “We are able to handle situations much more calmly.
“And it's all because of Coach Z. We weren't fans of running in middle school. Without running we wouldn't have gone to U-M and graduated. If we hadn't gone to U-M, we wouldn’t have met our significant others.”
(Hewitt, from Australia, was a middle distance runner for U-M when he and Haley met. Hannah's boyfriend, Kevin Haughn, was competing in the pole vault for the Wolverines when they first crossed paths.)
Haley said her life, and Hannah's, are so busy that finding time to run requires a few less hours of sleep at times.
“I enjoy it, but the hardest part is getting up in the morning to do it,” she said. “It's a transition.
“After all these years, it's still practicing good habits. Running has taught us to be resilient, to persevere.”
2021-22 Made in Michigan
July 25: 2005 Miss Basketball DeHaan Cherishing Newest Title: 1st-Time Mom - Read
July 21: Championship Memories Still Resonate with St. Thomas Star Lillard - Read
July 14: Portage Central Champ Rolls to Vanderbilt, Writing Next Chapter in Alabama - Read
July 12: Coaching Couple Passing On Knowledge, Providing Opportunities for Frankfort Wrestlers - Read
June 30: Hrynewich's Star Continuing to Rise with Olympic, Pro Sports Arrivals - Read
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Hannah and Hailey Meier enjoy the moment after helping set a national high school record for Grosse Pointe South in the 3,200 relay in 2012. At top right, Haley and fiancé Jordy Hewitt. At bottom right, Hannah and boyfriend Kevin Haughn. (Middle) The Meier sisters, center, bring their family together in Australia. (Below) Haley, left, and Hannah Meier top the LPD1 1,600 medalist podium in 2013. (MHSAA Finals photos from RunMichigan.com; recent photos courtesy of Hannah and Haley Meier.)