Ubly Ace Striding for More after Breakout Sophomore Season
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 18, 2021
Maze Gusa’s Athletic.net cross country profile looks like it belongs to two different runners.
During her freshman season at Ubly, a stress fracture caused Gusa to get off to a slow start. While she improved steadily throughout the fall, her season ended at the Regional, one place away from qualifying for the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final.
Her best finish that year was 12th at the Greater Thumb Conference league meet, and she broke 22 minutes just once, running 21:32.6 in the Regional.
As a sophomore, that all changed. Gusa burst onto the scene, winning 11 of 15 events she competed in, and never finishing outside the top three – including at the Division 4 Final, where she finished third.
“Maze, she was not the runner she was last year her freshman year,” Ubly coach Garrett Jurges said. “Her freshman year she had a little bit of an injury, so she had a later start to the season, and she was dual-sporting, playing volleyball. She came back over the summer, and she put some serious training in and miles in.”
Gusa hopes to build on that with another strong performance as a junior, as she’ll lead an Ubly lineup which returns six of its top seven runners after placing sixth at the Division 4 meet as a team. She’s set a new goal for herself – lowering her current personal best of 19:38.7 down to 18:30 – and while she’s aware and ready for it, she knows there will be some added pressure this season as she won’t be allowed to come out of nowhere again.
“I feel like last season, every time I grew it would be like, ‘Look at her, she’s getting so much faster,’” Gusa said. “Now, all of the sudden, there’s all these expectations. If I’m not where I was last year, it’s like I’m not doing what I should be.”
While the expectations are going to be different, it’s not as though Gusa isn’t somewhat used to them. Simply carrying her last name at a cross country meet in the Thumb comes with a certain amount of expectation.
Maze is the third of four Gusas to come through Jurges’ program, following her sisters Haili (2019 graduate) and Josie (2021 graduate). Younger brother Utah is entering his sophomore season after qualifying for the Division 4 Final as Ubly’s No. 1 runner a year ago.
Haili was a four-time all-state finisher and sits third on Ubly’s all-time fastest times list. Josie had three all-state finishes and is eighth all-time at the school. Maze is currently fifth on the all-time list, and her goal of 18:30 doesn’t come out of nowhere, as that matches the school record set in 2004 by Jackie Rivard.
“It’s not super often (we discuss competition within the family), but it’s really fun when we do talk about it,” Maze Gusa said. “My brother is just crazy because he’s gotten so fast, so he’s the hardest to compare. Haili is saying that, ‘It’s OK if you beat my time, but you’re going to have to earn it.’ When I passed Josie, she was happy that I had worked for it. They’re all very supportive, so it really helps to push me.”
The disappointment of Regionals her freshman season pushed Maze as much as anything a year ago. She said she ran more than 500 miles in the spring and summer leading up to her sophomore year, transforming from a solid runner to one of Division 4’s best.
“It was really a big motivation for me – I was just always thinking about that one spot,” she said. “The biggest difference I actually had, and it was really a blessing in disguise, was COVID-19. It took out my track season, so I had all that extra free time. Instead of sitting around, I got out and ran. I started building a base for myself – running more miles, faster miles. On my 16th birthday, I ran 16 miles. It was a really intense summer.”
It paid off with a Regional title and the third-place finish at the Finals, something she was able to share with Utah and Josie, who were also competing there.
“It was really awesome, because she really wanted to do good,” Utah said. “It was super hot, and I didn’t know if she would be one of those people that it would slow them down a lot. She was crushed the year before.”
Maze played soccer at Ubly this past spring, which cut down her offseason miles. She said she was still able to get in about 250, but trying to squeeze them into a shorter timeframe did result in a hip injury, one she’s nearly fully recovered from now.
She does hope, though, that increased competition and being able to run again in bigger meets this season will help push her to reach her goals.
“I’m a very competitive person,” she said. “Whether it’s a board game or a race.”
Jurges agreed.
“She’s a competitor and a hard worker,” he said. “She’s one of those that when push comes to shove, at the end of the race, this girl is not going to beat me. She will pull everything out of her guts and sprint her down.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTO: Ubly’s Maze Gusa (369) races toward the finish line during last season’s Division 4 girls team championship race at Michigan International Speedway. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Preview: History Awaits Finals Field
November 1, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Breckenridge High School has a mere 244 students. But one could finish this weekend's MHSAA Finals among an elite few in state girls cross country history.
Three-time champion Kirsten Olling already is one of the all-time greats. But if she can win one more title, she’ll become just the seventh to claim four – and first in the Lower Peninsula since Rochester Adams’ Katie Boyles finished her surge in 2000.
Here's a look at the contenders to watch from all four divisions. For those who can’t make the trip to Brooklyn, MHSAA.TV will provide camera views at the start and finish lines and two more points on the course, with audio from reporters stationed along the way. Cost is $9.95 for Saturday only, which also includes access to all four Lower Peninsula Boys Soccer Finals, or $14.95 for a month pass that will allow fans to also watch live the Volleyball Semifinals and Finals and Lower Peninsula Girls Swimming & Diving Finals.
Click for Saturday's race schedule and links to all qualifiers and the live streams.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Birmingham Seaholm
2012 runner-up: Grosse Pointe South
2013 top three: 1. Northville, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3 Saline.
Reigning champ Seaholm and 2011 champ Grosse Pointe South both graduated star sets of sisters who played big parts in the programs’ successes over the last few seasons – although South does return eighth-place individual finisher Ersula Farrow. Northville, meanwhile, is the favorite returning five from last season’s fifth-place team, and Saline brings back five from the team that finished third including sixth-place Elianna Shwayder. All four of these teams won their Regionals in dominating fashion.
Individuals: Gone are graduated stars Erin Finn of West Bloomfield and Hannah Meier of Grosse Pointe South, along with the rest of the top five from last season. Three more of the top 11 also are back, however: Rochester senior Jessica Goethals, Hudsonville senior Alex Berends and Salem senior Kayla Kavulich. Add into the mix Seaholm junior Audrey Belf, who won her Regional by more than a minute in 17:41, plus Grandville sophomore Valerie Wierenga (17:55.7) and Jenison senior Ellie Leonard (17:58.5) – first and second, respectively, at their Regional.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Ada Forest Hills Eastern
2012 runner-up: Spring Lake
2013 top three: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Spring Lake, 3. Warren Regina.
Rarely does a team lose one of the top runners in MHSAA history (graduate Julia Bos) and come back the next season expected to improve from third place to first. But the Eagles return their second-fourth and sixth-fastest runners from last season’s Final and have been ranked No. 1 all fall. Spring Lake, with five of its top six back from last season’s runner-up team including 15th-place Carlyn Arteaga, has been figuratively only a step behind. Warren Regina finished ninth last season without a senior scoring, and its top five all are back this weekend including Regional champ and senior Cassie Bloch.
Individuals: Twelve of last season’s top 20 were juniors or younger, and this year’s group is incredibly strong. Cedar Springs junior Kenzie Weiler – last season’s runner-up and one of the top runners regardless of division throughout her three-year career – won her Regional in 18:51.56 ahead of Remus Chippewa Hills senior Megan O’Neil, who finished seventh at the 2012 Final. Hudsonville Unity Christian junior Kelli Nesky finished fifth last season and won her Regional in 18:47.62 – just a second ahead of Hamilton freshman Erika Freyhof. Mason sophomore Meg Darmofal is coming off an eighth-place finish last season and won her Regional in 18:16.9, and Charlotte sophomore Lindsey Carlson was 10th last season. Detroit Country Day junior Jackie Bredenberg won her Regional by a minute in 17:51. Others to watch include Battle Creek Pennfield senior Audrianna Bornamann, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern junior Morgan Posthuma, St. Johns junior Karrigan Smith, Grand Rapids South Christian junior Alexis Miller, Otsego freshman Megan Aalberts and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood junior Claire Ford. All cleared 19 minutes at their Regionals. Essexville-Garber junior Julia Jeczmionka finished sixth in Division 3 last season.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2012 runner-up: Grandville Calvin Christian
2013 top three: 1. Shepherd, 2. Macomb Lutheran North, 3. Benzie Central.
Reigning individual champion: Gina Patterson, Macomb Lutheran North.
Shepherd often is in the conversation but is the favorite this time as it pursues its first MHSAA team title since 1994. Three of the Bluejays’ top four are back from last season’s ninth-place team including individual seventh-place finisher Kaylie Rhynard, a senior who won her Regional in 18:57.7. She and her teammates could be chasing Macomb Lutheran North junior Gina Patterson, last season’s individual champion as the team finished seventh; total, the top four from that lineup are back this weekend. Benzie Central, the 2011 team champ, also returns its top four from last season’s third-place team including last season’s 10th-place finisher, senior Alyssa Bennett.
Individuals: Only four of last season’s top 25 graduated. Three more sophomores joined Patterson in rounding out the top five last season, and Manistee’s Annie Fuller, Charlevoix’s Amber Way and Holland Black River’s Allison Vroon are all back after placing third-fifth, respectively, as is Ida junior Ashley Sorge, who finished eighth. Way (19:06.4) won her Regional ahead of Fuller and Bennett, and Sorge (18:23.6) and Patterson (18:11) also were Regional champions. Others of note are Clare Freshman Jasmine Harper, a Regional champion in 18:47.4; Kent City senior Ashley Russo, who finished ahead of Vroon in 18:18.62 at their Regional; and Frankenmuth senior Emily Sievert, who also broke 19 minutes in winning hers.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Homer
2012 runner-up: Bear Lake
2013 top three: 1. Homer, 2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 3. Breckenridge.
Reigning individual champion: Kirsten Olling, Breckenridge.
Homer returns its top four and five of last season’s championship seven this weekend. Senior Amanda Reagle was the individual Regional champ in 19:20 and she and now-juniors Jessica Reagle and Bailey Manis all finished among the top 23 at the 2012 Final (when Jessica Reagle placed ninth). Pewamo-Westphalia finished 15th last season, but did so without a senior and brings back five of its top six. Breckenridge didn’t make the Finals as a team when Kirsten Olling was a freshman and have finished seventh and then 10th the last two seasons, respectively. But she leads a team that could push the favorites with its top four and seventh runners from 2012 all back.
Individuals: Only one senior placed among the top 10 last season, and only two placed among the top 20. Olling won her Regional by nearly two minutes in 17:39.8, but 2012 runner-up Holly Bullough also is back and won her Regional title, as did 2012 third-place Tenna Fornari of Waterford Our Lady and sixth-place Lauren Jenkins of Saugatuck. Last season placers Taylor Smith of Blanchard Montabella (fourth), Kendra Colesa of Deckerville (fifth) and Hannah Steffke of Beal City (eighth) also return to the mix.
PHOTO: Breckenridge’s Kirsten Olling runs the final paces on the way to her third MHSAA Lower Peninsula cross country title last season at Michigan International Speedway. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)