VanderKooi Repeats, Bridgman Wins 1st Title
November 2, 2019
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN – Abby VanderKooi wasn’t being cocky.
She was merely stating the obvious.
“I don’t normally have competition anywhere, so it’s really tough,” the Muskegon Western Michigan Christian sophomore said.
Being one of the nation’s top runners and competing in the smallest division at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula cross country championships only accentuates the gap between VanderKooi and her competition.
The Division 4 girls race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway was a battle for second place as VanderKooi ran solo up front to repeat as champion by 1 minute, 11.7 seconds with a time of 18:11.0.
Last year, she won by a margin of 1:15.6 in 17:47.3.
So, how does VanderKooi maintain her focus in races when there is nobody else around to push her?
“I try to recite Bible verses, and that helps sometimes,” she said.
Her favorite, she said, is Philippians 4:13.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” she said. “I like that one a lot.”
VanderKooi followed up her Division 4 championship last year by placing third in the Foot Locker National Championship in San Diego. She plans to run the Midwest Regional on Nov. 30 in Kenosha, Wis., to qualify for the national meet Dec. 14.
VanderKooi had a gap on the pack by the end of the 700-meter opening straightaway. Riley Ford of Marlette was in second place, but had no delusions of trying to catch VanderKooi.
“I just ignore that she’s there,” Ford said. “I know she’s at a way higher level than I am. I try to do what I can do. My goal was to get second, and it happened.”
Ford held second place the entire race, holding off a brief challenge from 2018 runner-up Madison Volz of Lansing Christian at the two-mile mark. Ford finished in 19:22.7. Volz was third in 19:30.2.
“Last year I got fifth,” Ford said. “I was holding second, then I got passed at the two mile and kept getting passed and couldn’t hold it. The last two weeks, I’ve been doing a lot of kilometer repeats at race pace. My pace was ingrained in my head, and it really helped. I just wanted it really bad. I haven’t had the best season.”
In the team competition, Bridgman ended Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart’s four-year run as champion by scoring 132 points. Sacred Heart was second with 148, and Kalamazoo Christian was third with 174.
Karsyn Stewart was sixth overall and third among team runners in 19:38.8, while Arie Hackett was 11th overall and sixth among team runners in 19:58.2 to lead Bridgman. The Bees’ previous best finish at an MHSAA Final was fifth in Class D in 1985. They didn’t qualify again until 2015, but have since made it four of the last five years.
Summer Fast was 39th (20:59.3), Jane Kaspar 68th (21:43.1) and Mikaela Owen 81st (21:55.8) to complete Bridgman’s scoring.
PHOTOS: (Top) WMC’s Abby VanderKooi builds a big lead during Saturday’s Division 4 Final. (Middle) Bridgman’s Karsyn Stewart (1702) follows Maple City Glen Lake’s Makenna Scott through a curve. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
Past Races Pay Off for EGR's Muller, While Otsego Rises Again as Top Team
November 5, 2022
BROOKLYN – How strong of a cross country conference is the Ottawa-Kent Conference White?
So good that Drew Muller of East Grand Rapids didn’t even win the two conference jamborees she raced this season.
Yet, she was first when it mattered the most, winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Muller crossed the finish line in 18:18.47 to win by 9.36 seconds over Otsego freshman Emma Hoffman.
The winner of all three O-K White jamborees was Grand Rapids Christian junior Natalie VanOtteren, who was fourth in 17:55.3. Six of the top 10 runners were from the Grand Rapids area.
“It’s been like this a lot during the season,” Muller said. “All the teams we race against in our conference are so stacked. Everyone who runs there is so amazing, so it makes it fun.
“It helps so much. Everyone we race against are such good friends. It makes it even more fun. It makes you love the sport even more.”
Muller ran with some familiar faces much of the race before making a break entering the track with one kilometer remaining.
“I was feeling pretty fatigued, but I found my group I run with a lot and we stuck with it together and kind of powered through,” she said. “In the back stretch, I took a chance and went at the 1K, which I’ve been doing in a couple meets before this. It’s worked pretty well. I was pretty fatigued, but it’s good, good to be done.”
Muller’s first words with reporters after the race were, “That hurt a lot.”
Muller became an MHSAA champion after finishing fifth in Division 2 both of the last two years. She applied lessons learned from her first two trips around the MIS course to put it all together Saturday.
“My past races were pretty rough,” she said. “It was definitely a learning experience.
“Definitely in the past, I’ve gone out a little bit faster as we entered the stadium. I feel there’s so much energy, it’s kind of hard not to. A lot of people I race also go out really fast, so I try to go with them. That didn’t really help in the past. This year, I feel like I have more endurance to keep up and have a good kick.”
The only title that eluded Muller was the team championship, something East Grand Rapids captured last year and three of the last four seasons.
Instead, it was Otsego that returned to the top for the first time since winning back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016.
The Bulldogs scored 87 points to beat East Grand Rapids by 11. Grand Rapids Christian was third with 153.
Otsego put four runners in the top 14. Hoffman was second in 18:27.83, junior Logan Brazee was seventh in 18:42.95, junior Megan Germain was eighth in 18:47.56 and sophomore Taylor Mitchell was 14th in 18:57.08. No. 5 runner Rebekah Stachura crossed in 86th place in 20:12.64 to complete the team score.
East Grand Rapids had three runners in the top 15, then got a 39th and a 55th from its other two scoring runners.
PHOTOS (Top) East Grand Rapids’ Drew Muller charges toward the finish line during the LPD2 Final. (Middle) Otsego’s Emma Hoffman, left, and Frankenmuth’s Mary Richmond follow Muller down the stretch to finish second and third, respectively. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)