St. Johns' Smith Finishes Final Pursuit
November 1, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Karrigan Smith of St. Johns had been closing the gap on Kenzie Weiler of Cedar Springs the past three years.
Smith finally caught her and passed her Saturday to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship at Michigan International Speedway.
Smith won a kick to the finish to edge Weiler by 2.5 seconds, posting a time of 18:11.0. Weiler, the defending champion, took second for the third time in her career in 18:13.5.
"Kenzie is a really great competitor," Smith said. "I wasn't confident I would win until I crossed the pads at the end. I can't even describe it. It's so unreal right now. I know this state title means so much to me, my team and my community. They've been behind me the whole time through this whole process. I can't think of a better way to end my senior season."
It was a process that began Smith's freshman year when she placed seventh in the MHSAA Final in 18:23.0, 48.9 seconds behind second-place Weiler.
Smith dropped to 17th place in 18:30.0 the following year, but cut the margin between her and Weiler to 40.9 seconds.
The big jump came last year when Smith took third in 18:04.0, just 8.9 seconds behind Weiler.
Smith came to MIS on Saturday believing it could be her day.
"I definitely trained my mind to think that," Smith said. "Running is such a mental sport. You have to believe what you can truly do. Today it happened for me. You really have to believe it."
Smith ran second behind Weiler for most of the race, using her rival to block some of the heavy wind.
"Going into the race and seeing the conditions, I knew I was going to need some help from the lead pack to get me through the race," Smith said.
Morgan Posthuma of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern was third in 18:24.4.
Grand Rapids Christian added to its dynasty status, winning its fifth championship in the last 10 years by outscoring runner-up Otsego by an 87-145 margin. The Eagles have finished in the top five the last 13 years.
Christian's only graduation loss from 2013 was its No. 7 runner. Although the top six returned, three newcomers cracked the lineup Saturday. The Eagles had three runners in the top 10 among team runners, with Claire Brouwer taking sixth (18:52.6), Lindsey Fox ninth (18:59.1) and Rachel Warners 10th (19:00.8). Completing the scoring were Michelle Koetje (26th, 19:27.0) and Megan Schenkel (36th, 19:39.6).
Otsego's Megan Aalberts was third among team runners in 18:34.5, but her team’s No. 2 runner didn't cross until 27th place. Second place is the best finish in school history, eclipsing last year's third-place showing.
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Johns’ Karrigan Smith holds off Cedar Springs’ Kenzie Weiler during the final stretch of Saturday’s Division 2 race. (Below) Otsego’s Megan Aalberts works to stay ahead of Spring Lake’s Erin O’Keefe as they race for fourth place; Aalberts held on to help her team to its best Finals finish. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Freyhof, Otsego Celebrate Finals Wins
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Erika Freyhof didn't say a whole lot when talking about herself, even on the day she won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship.
What really got her to light up and open up was when the topic shifted to her team.
Hamilton's girls, who had three straight top-four finishes from 2009-11, were back in the Finals after missing out the last three years. Ending an even longer drought — like forever — was the Hamilton boys, who had never qualified for the Finals.
Even the modest finishes by those teams — 17th for the boys, 19th for the girls — couldn't dampen Freyhof's enthusiasm on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
"Our team made it, which was awesome," Freyhof said. "We had only six girls at our Regional, because one of them is injured, and we made it as a team. That's amazing. And the boys made it, which is like the first time in school history. So our whole cross country team was so excited. It was awesome."
And what about her championship performance?
"I really wanted to just go out and win," she said.
Freyhof has moved up the Division 2 ranks during her three trips to MIS. She was 15th in 19:07.6 as a freshman in 2013 and seventh in 18:45.4 as a sophomore last year.
"All of the ones in front of me last year were seniors," Freyhof said. "That was exciting when they graduated, so I could get a chance."
Her only loss in 12 meets this season was a second-place finish to Division 1 champion Madison Troy of Grandville in the Otsego Bulldog Invitational on Oct. 3.
There was only one senior in the top 11 of this Final, so there will be plenty of runners looking to build on their experience at MIS to take a shot at Freyhof's title next year.
Finishing second was Holland Christian sophomore Kayla Windemuller in 18:22.5. Linden junior Alia Frederick was third in 18:30.6.
"Last year I became the fastest freshman at my school," said Windemuller, who was 47th last season. "I just wanted to keep on improving. I figured out I love running. I just wanted to keep pushing myself to see what I could do. I started running in Girls on the Run in sixth grade. I ran in seventh grade, but I hated it so much I didn't want to do it again. Then someone convinced me to do it my freshman year."
Otsego won its first team championship by a comfortable margin, scoring 97 points. East Grand Rapids was second with 180, while two-time defending champion Grand Rapids Christian was third with 199. Linden was fourth with 205.
Otsego has moved up in the top three the last three seasons, placing third in 2013 and second in 2014. The Bulldogs returned six of their seven runners from last year's finals squad, while adding freshman Sydney Kubiak, who was the team's No. 4 runner on Saturday.
Leading Otsego from near the front of the pack were juniors Megan Aalberts (fifth, 18:38.8) and Sophia Hirzel (sixth, 18:42.1). Also scoring for the Bulldogs were sophomore Maddie Marciniak (27th, 19:02.8), Kubiak (39th, 19:19.4) and sophomore Gracie VerHage (45th, 19:26.5).
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Hamilton’s Erika Freyhof cruises the final stretch on the way to her first MHSAA individual title (Middle) Otsego’s Sophia Hirzel finishing sixth overall, just behind teammate Megan Aalberts, as they led the Bulldogs to their first MHSAA team championship. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)