#TBT: MHSAA Cross Country Goes 5K
September 3, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Oxford Hills Country Club hosted the 1980 Lower Peninsula Class B Cross Country Finals on what had to be a chilly day, considering the heavy coats and winter gloves worn by spectators in the photos above and below taken during the races that day.
A little cool in the air isn’t unusual for this annual championship event. But there was a little change in the air as well on this day, as it was the first MHSAA Finals ran at the current race length of five kilometers (3.1 miles).
Brighton’s Pat Hamparian ran the fastest girls time of the 1980 Finals, 17:54.2 – which remained the fourth-fastest 5K time in LP Class A Finals history when those records were retired with the move from classes to divisions in 2000. Mount Clemens’ Bill Brady ran the fastest boys time of 15:07, also in Class A. His time remained the third-fastest 5K time in LP Class A Finals history when the records were retired.
There were plenty of differences too from the meets that will take place this season Oct. 24 in the Upper Peninsula and Nov. 7 in the Lower Peninsula.
From 1961-96 for the boys and 1979-96 for the girls (girls cross country at the MHSAA tournament level began with just one open class Final in 1978), MHSAA individual championships were awarded separately to the first-place finishers among both team and individual qualifiers. Also, while all three 1980 Upper Peninsula Finals were run at Gladstone, the four Lower Peninsula Finals were run at multiple sites, one class at each.
Flint Kearsley, Caro, Concord, Kingsley, Marquette, Ishpeming Westwood and Norway won MHSAA boys team championships in 1980. Brighton, Livonia Ladywood, Williamston, Ann Arbor Greenhills, Marquette and Ishpeming won girls titles (there was one fewer girls race, with Class C-D U.P. teams in one class rather than two for that sport).
PHOTOS: (Top) Livonia Ladywood’s Kelly Champagne crosses the finish line to finish first among team racers at the LP Class B Final in 1980; her time was 18:37.1. (Middle) Cadillac’s Mark Smith finished first among team racers in the boys race with a time of 15:25.5.
Title IX at 50: Rockford Girls Set Pace, Hundreds After Have Continued to Chase
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 19, 2021
Michigan’s high school cross country teams have entered the home stretch of the 2021 season, with the championship races in both peninsulas to be run over the next three weekends.
For more than two decades, the best girls teams of the Lower Peninsula’s biggest schools have been chasing the 2000 Rockford Rams.
That season was the first of the MHSAA classifying its championship groupings using four equal divisions, and Rockford set a standard that few have approached as we near the completion of the first quarter of the 21st century.
Rockford won the Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship Nov. 4, 2000, at Michigan International Speedway with 35 points – 77 fewer than runner-up Milford and 197 fewer than third-place Troy. Five Rams finished among the top 15 individuals – senior Lindsey Blaisdell third, senior Kalin Toedebusch fourth, sophomore Nicole Bohnsack fifth, sophomore Kelsey Toedebusch ninth and senior Aimee Keenan 15th, which was actually 14th among runners involved in team scoring.
The next lowest Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals score was achieved two seasons later, again by Rockford, with a 57. Four more Lower Peninsula teams have scored in the 30s since the dawn of the divisions era – East Grand Rapids won Division 2 in 2019 with 36 points, while Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart broke Rockford’s LP record winning Division 4 with 34 points in 2016 before coming back to win again with 39 in 2017.
Rockford’s 2000 championship was its third of five straight, which remains the longest Finals title streak in Lower Peninsula history. Bohnsack went on to win the LPD1 individual championships as well in 2001 and 2002 and run collegiately at Penn State. Kalin Toedebusch ran at Colorado, Blaisdell ran at Wisconsin and Keenan ran at Michigan State. The first four of those five straight championship teams were coached by Brad Prins.
Second Half's weekly Title IX Celebration posts are sponsored by Michigan Army National Guard.
Previous Title IX at 50 Spotlights
Oct. 12: Bedford Volleyball Pioneer Continues Blazing Record-Setting Trail - Read
Oct. 5: Warner Paved Way to Legend Status with Record Rounds - Read
Sept. 28: Taylor Kennedy Gymnasts Earn Fame as 1st Champions - Read
Sept. 21: Portage Northern Star Byington Becomes Play-by-Play Pioneer - Read
Sept. 14: Guerra/Groat Legacy Continues to Serve St. Philip Well - Read
Sept. 7: Best-Ever Conversation Must Include Leland's Glass - Read
Aug. 31: We Will Celebrate Many Who Paved the Way - Read