Upper Peninsula's Speediest Contenders Becoming Fast Friends As Well
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 23, 2021
CALUMET — They’re becoming close friends off the trails, but they’re fierce competitors on the cross country course.
Houghton senior Ingrid Seagren and Ishpeming sophomore Lola Korpi have emerged as the Upper Peninsula’s top two runners at this point in the season.
Seagren has won 2-of-3 meetings this year, but it was Korpi’s turn to win Monday at the Calumet Invitational.
Korpi covered the hilly 3.1-mile course in 21 minutes, 18.3 seconds at the Swedetown Trails on a hot, sunny and breezy day. Seagren was clocked at 21:39.3.
“I think it all depends on who’s feeling better on that day and the course,” said Korpi. “Ingrid is a very good downhill runner, and I wanted to make sure I pushed myself on those. I think the uphills worked to my advantage, and I was glad to see that last one before the finish.
“There was a pack of us for a while. It was pretty hot out there and I couldn’t feel the wind in the woods.”
Seagren won the Queen City Invitational (Aug. 27) and Dale Phillips Invite (Sept. 3), both at Presque Isle Park in Marquette. Korpi was runner-up both times.
“She’s definitely good competition, and I enjoy running against her,” said Seagren. “It’s hard to take her on the uphills. I didn’t feel the best today (Monday). I’ve had kind of a cold, but did the best I could. Lola ran a great race. I’m happy for her. It just wasn’t my day. That was a tough course and the heat was a factor for everybody. I didn’t feel the breeze, although I think it helped. There were quite (a few) of us up there (near the front) in the beginning.”
They were followed by Gogebic (Bessemer) junior Natalie Stone (22:08.8), and Negaunee junior Endla Harris (22:12.7) and freshman Marlee Plaxco (22:30.55).
“I was pleased with my time because it’s a harder course,” said Korpi. “Ingrid and I are becoming good friends, and I think I’m getting closer with her and other girls. I’ve been dealing with some calf issues, but it seems to be getting better.”
Korpi and Seagren will meet at least four more times this season, but won’t be running in the same race at the Upper Peninsula Finals.
Ishpeming is entered in Division 2, and Houghton will try to repeat in Division 1.
“I’m expecting a tough race in the D1 Finals,” said Seagren. “I think we just need to keep pushing each other in practice. We would like to do it again. Paige (Sleeman) and I are seniors this year. We’re a real close team.”
The U.P. Finals take place Oct. 23 at Gentz’s Golf Course in Chocolay Township (near Marquette).
Sleeman is reigning U.P. Division 1 champion, and Seagren placed third at Gentz’s a year ago. Sleeman, who was feeling under the weather, didn’t run at Calumet on Monday.
Korpi was Division 2 runner-up to Ironwood’s Aundrea Stengard on a snowy course at the George Young Golf Course at Gaastra (near Crystal Falls) last year.
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) Ishpeming's Lola Korpi (823) and Houghton's Ingrid Seagren (785) lead the Queen City Invitational. (Middle) Seagren and Paige Sleeman (787) race through the opening stretch with their teammates at the start of the Queen City race. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Breckenridge Star Finishes Historic Run
November 2, 2013
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Kirsten Olling's greatest competition wasn't on the course at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.
The names she was chasing were names from the past, some of the greatest runners in the history of Michigan cross country.
Olling put her name among the elite by winning her fourth MHSAA Finals championship, doing so in a Lower Peninsula Division 4-record time of 17:44.9.
She became only the third girl to win four outright MHSAA championships and fifth to win four races at the LP Finals. Carrie Gould of Burton Bendle and Flint Powers Catholic won four in a row from 1992-95 and Katie Boyles of Rochester Adams did so from 1997-2000. Theresa Padilla of Camden-Frontier (1984-87) and Valarie Ambrose of Riverview Gabriel Richard (1981-84) won four races in an era in which there were team and individual races, but didn't always have the best overall time in their classes.
"It's amazing," Olling said. "Today was my last high school race, so it's the best thing ever to know I'm out there now."
Barring a disaster — and they happened to two other runners in the past who were going for their fourth titles — Olling was going to join Gould and Boyles. Her focus on Saturday was to take down the Division 4 course record of 17:54.9 set by Marissa Treece of Maple City Glen Lake in 2006. Treece and Olling are the only Division 4 girls to break 18 minutes at the MHSAA Finals, both doing so twice.
"My main goal for today's race was time," Olling said. "With me, that's mostly my own competition — how fast can I do this? That was my main goal for this season, to get the course record."
The Division 4 girls race was the first of eight on a course that was soaked by rain overnight and early in the morning. It didn't seem to slow up Olling, who wouldn't let the conditions become an excuse.
"I was so nervous, but I was saying to myself, 'OK, no matter what the conditions are, I have to do this,'" she said. "It doesn't matter if I have to kill myself to do it; I've got to do it."
Olling hasn't had a close finish in any of her four championship races. This one was the largest gap, as Tessa Fornari of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes took second trailing by 57.8 seconds. It was the largest margin ever in a LP Division 4 race, eclipsing Treece's 57.4-second victory in 2006.
Olling would've loved to add a team championship to her resume, but Breckenridge came up just short. Beal City won with 120 points, followed by Breckenridge with 136 and Bear Lake with 158.
Beal City flew under the radar all season, not even receiving honorable mention in either of the two state rankings. It was a puzzling slight, considering Beal City finished fourth last season, 10th the previous year and had made the top 10 four of the last seven years. The Aggies returned their top three runners and four of the top five from a team that was 42 points out of first place last season.
Sophomore Hannah Steffke led Beal City, placing 10th overall in 19:27.0. Also scoring for the Aggies were senior Hannah Neyer (19:57.0), junior Emily Steffke (20:12.5), freshman Ariel Salter (20:52.6) and freshman Brenda Faber (21:04.2). Faber's finish was a huge key for the Aggies, as she took 44th among team runners. Last year, the Aggies' No. 5 runner was 76th among team runners. The top four Aggies pretty much fell in line with last year's lineup.
PHOTO: Breckenridge's Kirsten Olling sprints down the stretch Saturday on the way to her fourth MHSAA individual cross country championship (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com)