Troy, Rockford Leader Make Title Jumps
November 4, 2017
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — Finally, a pleasant memory at Michigan International Speedway for Rockford junior Ericka VanderLende.
Her first two trips around the cross country course at MIS were OK, but weren’t indications of the greatness that awaited her.
VanderLende was pretty much a middle-of-the-pack finisher, placing 81st in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final in 19:13.1 as a freshman and 99th in 19:57.1 as a sophomore.
“It’s a lot different than all the other courses,” VanderLende said. “It’s a lot more intimidating going into it.”
Everything — both mentally and physically — came together for VanderLende on Saturday in her latest trip to Brooklyn.
After splitting two regular-season meetings with Traverse City Central senior Sielle Kearney, it was all VanderLende as she cruised to victory in 17:16.8. Kearney was second in 17:30.2.
“It’s been a really good season,” VanderLende said. “I stayed a lot more consistent with my races. Last year, I was kind of all over the place.”
VanderLende won eight of her 10 races this year.
She was fourth behind two Division 2 runners and a Division 3 runner in the Spartan Invitational, with Kearney taking fifth and Waterford Mott’s Rylee Robinson placing sixth. That turned out to be the finish order for the top Division 1 runners Saturday, with Robinson taking third behind VanderLende and Kearney in 17:34.8.
At the Portage Invitational, Kearney took first and VanderLende was third.
VanderLende and Kearney ran together until about the midway mark of the 3.1-mile race Saturday.
“I just let her get away, and she was going really strong,” Kearney said. “She had an awesome race. It was really cool to be in the same race and have that kind of competition.”
VanderLende’s victory led Rockford to a third-place finish with 153 points.
Troy won its first MHSAA championship since capturing Class A in 1993, edging Northville by a 127-132 score. Troy hadn’t made the top five since taking third in 2000, while Northville and Rockford are perennial title contenders.
Northville has six straight top-five finishes, while Rockford has been a top-10 finisher 21 times in the last 22 years.
While Troy didn’t have a runner break 18 minutes like Northville and Rockford, the Colts had their five scoring runners in the top 32 in the team race, with their second through fifth runners separated by only 3.7 seconds.
Senior Megan Worrel was 10th among team runners in 18:07.8, senior Hannah Palomino was 26th in 18:42.5, freshman Paige Anderson was 29th in 18:44.5, senior Meghan Monaghan was 30th in 18:44.8 and junior Katie Scoles was 32nd in 18:46.2.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rockford’s Ericka VanderLende (1240) and Traverse City Central’s Sielle Kearney quickly moved to the front of the pack Saturday. (Middle) Troy’s Paige Anderson (1276), Meghan Monaghan (1279) and Katie Scoles (1281) all placed between 41st and 44th to help the Colts to the team title. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Houghton Girls Overcome Obstacles to Reign Again
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
November 4, 2021
HOUGHTON — Nearly two weeks have passed since the Houghton girls captured their second-straight Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country title.
The memories, however, could last a lifetime.
Houghton scored 52 points in the U.P. Final on Oct. 23 at Gentz’s Homestead Golf Course in Chocolay Township (near Marquette), followed by Marquette’s 69, Negaunee’s 83 and Sault Ste. Marie’s 94.
“Overall, it was a pretty good season,” said senior Ingrid Seagren, who was crowned U.P. individual champion for the first time. “I’m grateful I had the opportunity to run. We really wanted to win, and it was exciting to do that.
“This has been a great experience. My teammates and coaches were so amazing.”
Junior Claire Filpus, who missed last year’s U.P. Finals due to COVID-19, placed third in her first championship meet try. “This season was exciting,” she said. “Winning as a team makes you so happy. This was a learning experience. I was a little nervous at first, but I just wanted to see what I could do. I couldn’t run in last year’s Finals, and I know my mom (coach Traci Welch) was upset she couldn’t be there.”
Senior Paige Sleeman went to the Finals as the reigning individual champion. Although she missed time this fall due to illness, she still took eighth.
“I was out three weeks with COVID, but tried to work out on my own,” she said. “I just wanted to try to help our team win its second U.P. title in a row. I knew we could do it.
“I think beating Negaunee the last couple times was a confidence boost. We’re fortunate to have a lot of kids come out. Some schools couldn’t field a full team. We knew it was going to be tough to defend our title, but we all knew we could win it. Coach Erik (Johnson) told us to run our hardest for 25 minutes.”
This marked the fifth consecutive year Sleeman was part of a U.P. championship team, including three seasons at Chassell and two at Houghton.
Although Welch was unable to attend last year’s Finals, she said COVID had an even greater effect on this year’s team.
“That’s why we lost the (Western Peninsula Athletic) Conference,” she added. “We were a couple runners short. Some of the girls didn’t have the same kind of season as last year, but they all ran their hardest. They handled their nerves well.”
Junior Jewel Laux, who overcame her bout with COVID, ran a personal-best time (22 minutes, 46.1 seconds) at the Finals.
“I hadn’t done a lot of conditioning during the summer, but I like the encouragement I got,” she said. “I didn’t start running until school started. The improvement I made was a highlight. That kind of helped me get better.”
Senior Jaden Serafin said she also enjoyed this season.
“I did okay,” she added. “I enjoyed the camaraderie. Everybody on jayvees and varsity is close knit. It’s fun being on the team. I know a lot of people on the team from the past few years.”
“It was really fun,” freshman Katie Sarau added. “I got a lot of encouragement, and that really helps me a lot. It was really exciting being on varsity, although there were more schools than I’m used to seeing at the Finals.”
The Finals were naturally a learning experience for freshman Kiira Niska as they were for Sarau.
“I was nervous, but it was fun,” she said.
Welch was happy with the way the girls overcame adversity.
“We lost Myah Campioni to a fractured ankle,” she said. “Kiira also had some injury issues, but kind of took Myah’s place and really stepped up. I don’t think Erik and I knew what our Finals lineup would be until after the conference meet.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Houghton's Paige Sleeman (97) and Ingrid Seagren (95) lead the UPD1 Girls Final at Gentz's Golf Course on Oct. 23 in Marquette. (Middle) Houghton's Claire Filpus takes third place in the Division 1 race. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)