Windemuller Surging into Final Stretch
September 20, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – Kayla Windemuller typically follows directions well on the cross country course and has rarely been beaten during an already banner high school career.
And even when the Holland Christian senior loses her way, the final outcome doesn’t change.
Windemuller, the reigning MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 individual champion, competed at the Christian Schools Invitational earlier this month and wandered off course momentarily.
She still, however, broke 18 minutes, won the race and laughed about her misdirection snafu.
“I was supposed to go straight but turned, and people turned me around,” Windemuller said. “So I was extremely surprised with my time considering I was just doing a tempo run and I went the wrong direction. I was trying to negative split each mile and then I came across the line at 17:57. I was super surprised by that.”
Windemuller, 17, in the midst of her final cross country season, is one of the elite runners in the state and is setting her sights on repeat success while preparing for college.
Last November, Windemuller put forth a dominating effort in winning the LP Division 2 title by an impressive 24.5 seconds over St. Joseph’s Anna Fischer.
She also defeated 2015 champion and friend Erika Freyhof, who took third.
Windemuller and Freyhof, who live five minutes from each other, had fierce competitions against each other the past three years, but Freyhof graduated from Hamilton and now runs for the University of Nebraska.
“It’s honestly different now,” said Windemuller, who also has won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the past two LP Division 2 track & field championships. “We had our first meets this year and it’s weird to not have her there. I trained a lot with her this summer, and she helped me with the college process.
“She’s not here, but I do have new competition with Olivia and Jaden Theis (Lansing Catholic), who moved up to Division 2. I’m excited to race against them.”
Windemuller and Freyhof built a strong relationship on and off the course while competing in the same conference.
“They made each other better runners, and Kayla loved racing against her,” Holland Christian coach David DeKruyter said. “They pushed each other, but now she doesn’t have to race against the top girl in the state at every meet.”
DeKruyter was Windemuller’s sixth-grade teacher at Pine Ridge Elementary. He has seen first-hand her development into a talented runner over the course of the last six years.
“She was a pretty good runner back then, and we knew right away that she was going to be a standout runner,” DeKruyter said. “She’s just very motivated. She loves running, she loves the challenge of it and she thrives on competition. Those ingredients put it together for her to excel as a runner.
“She’s been given a God-given talent of running and she’s using it and developing it as best she can right now.”
A strong work ethic has factored into Windemuller’s success. And it carries over to her studies as well.
“I really want to see how fast I can get, and my hard work shows in school, too,” she said. “My grades don’t come naturally to me, and I have to work hard to get good grades.
“My whole work ethic shows in the classroom, and then I try to show that when I run. I try to be the best version of myself that I can be. My parents work hard, and they taught me to work hard.”
DeKruyter has seen a different side of Windemuller as a senior. She’s shown leadership and served as a role model on a strong squad that is currently ranked No. 5 in LP Division 2.
“She seems to be a much more mature athlete,” he said, “as far as understanding the training at the level she is racing to be more of a team leader. She’s taken and developed her role as a team leader to a completely different level than she ever has before.
“She has pulled the other girls along with her, and it’s nice to have a team back her up and make this is a special year for her.”
Windemuller has seen a change in herself, too.
While still focused and driven, she’s trying to relax and not be as serious as in the past.
“Last year I got up-tight, and I wanted everything to be perfect,” Windemuller said. “I wanted to see myself grow as a runner, and I was too focused and I worked too hard.
“This year on the easy workout days I run with my teammates. I’m more relaxed this year and it’s fun to do easy days with my teammates and bond with them more. They support me a lot and like me to reach my goals, but I like to see them reach their goals.”
Windemuller loves the talent and dedication of this year’s group.
“Being my senior year, it’s exciting that we have a chance of winning Regionals and we have a chance of being top 10 in the state,” she said. “They work so hard, and I love seeing it.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM and WOODTV. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTO: (Top) Holland Christian's Kayla Windemuller approaches the finish at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Windemuller is surrounded by her teammates after their 17th-place team finish. (Top photo by RunMichigan.com, middle photo courtesy of Holland Christian's athletic department.)
Frederick Sticks with XC, Stays in Lead
September 14, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
LINDEN — One of the leading contenders to win an MHSAA cross country championship this fall nearly gave up that opportunity so she could switch gears for her senior year.
Linden's Alia Frederick, who was third in the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final last season, considered playing volleyball instead of running cross country this fall.
She wasn't totally invested in cross country, having only one season in the sport — albeit one amazing season. Frederick was looking for a different experience before completing her high school career, knowing that she would be completely dedicated to soccer once she gets to college. She found herself attracted to volleyball, a sport she played in middle school.
"I did consider (volleyball), but it's as demanding as soccer," said Frederick, who has committed to play soccer for Eastern Michigan University. "One had to give. Neither was willing to give. Soccer is my passion, so I decided to stick with cross country."
Chances are she would've excelled in volleyball.
Frederick performs at a high level in any sport she chooses, making all-state in her first season of cross country and her second season of track & field. In her primary sport, soccer, she received honorable mention all-state from the coaches' association.
It's not uncommon for an elite runner to make all-state in cross country and track, except that Frederick's all-state event on the track is the 300-meter hurdles. It's the rare athlete who can compete at the highest level in both events, which require different skill sets.
"From several coaches I've talked to, they're pretty amazed by her versatility," said Linden girls cross country coach Ben Cox, who coaches Frederick in the hurdles during track season. "I would put her up against anyone in our school in anything from the 100-meter dash, to the 100 hurdles all the way up to 5K. She's just an incredible athlete, an incredible competitor. In pretty much any running event you throw her in, she'll compete and do well there."
Frederick ran her first cross country race ever on Sept. 9 of last season, taking third in the Flint Metro League jamboree. Two months later, she trailed only Hamilton's Erika Freyhof and Holland Christian's Kayla Windemuller in Division 2 Final and Michigan International Speedway.
It took considerable prodding to get Frederick to come out for cross country in the first place, so perhaps it's not a surprise that she considered playing another sport this fall.
"There were people telling me I should join," Frederick said. "My neighbor, Jordan Holscher, who played soccer and who I grew up with, she was telling me every year I should come out. I was finally like, 'Why not?' I tried it and ended up enjoying it.
"I actually had no clue what to expect coming in, because I'd never done the sport before. I was kind of oblivious, kind of going with the motions. I saw what I could do. At the state meet, I was very happily surprised how well I did. I did not see that coming at all at the beginning of the season."
Frederick's third-place finish was the highest ever by a Linden girl in an MHSAA Final. Sydney Elmer (2012) and McKayla Guy (2013) previously had 16th-place finishes for Linden.
With her time of 18:10.0 at the Portage Invitational earlier last fall, Frederick shattered the school record of 18:29.5 set by Elmer in 2012.
Her performance in an elite field at Portage established Linden's unknown newcomer as a contender for the MHSAA title. After getting her first three career victories in the three meets prior to the MHSAA meet, Frederick understood that she was capable of big things on the sport's biggest stage.
"I was very nervous," Frederick said. "I'm not used to getting nervous, because I don't really get nervous for soccer games at all. It was definitely a different feeling to get used to. I woke up two hours before my alarm went off. I couldn't get back to sleep. The whole bus ride there, I knew what I could do. I had high expectations of myself. I knew what I could do, what I should do and I didn't want to mess that up."
Like many first-timers at MIS — and even some veterans — Frederick didn't succumb to the pressure-packed environment. She ran a smart race, getting into the top 10 by the mile, then steadily moving up until she crossed the line in third.
"I have high expectations for myself now that I know what I can do," Frederick said. "I want to do at least as good as I did last year; I would really like to do better."
Frederick will get pushed just to repeat as a league champion this fall.
In the first Metro League jamboree, she placed third in 20:00.05 behind Fenton freshman Alexa Keiser (18:47.41) and Flushing senior Jessi Lindstrom (19:38.07). Just behind Frederick was sophomore teammate Audrey Steiert (20:02.02), who made all-state as a freshman when she took 20th at the MHSAA meet in 18:59.5. Frederick, Elmer and Steiert are the only Linden girls ever to break 19 minutes.
"I was not real pleased with my result in the first league meet," said Frederick, who has won invitationals at St. Johns and Bath this season. "I can use that to get better. I can use both of those girls to train me. Like (Fenton's) Jacob Lee last year, I didn't have anybody to compete against until states. I'm glad there's at least those two girls that are pushing me and I can hang with them and try to get better than them."
Frederick had more of a hurdling background than a distance running background when she got to high school. She hurdled in middle school, but didn't come out for track as a freshman because she was on the varsity soccer team.
It wasn't until her sophomore year that she decided to be a dual-sport athlete in the spring. She made the MHSAA meet in both hurdles, taking 21st in the 100 and 10th in the 300 one day after losing in a District championship soccer game to eventual Division 2 finalist Fenton.
She had an extra day to recover from a District Semifinal soccer loss to Fenton before the 2016 MHSAA Track & Field Finals. She earned all-state in the 300 hurdles by placing sixth in a personal-best 45.68 seconds. She was 13th in the 100 hurdles in 16.15 seconds.
"My brother did track his senior year, which was my freshman year," Frederick said. "I'd go and watch him hurdle. I'd see the girls hurdle. I wanted to be out there doing it. I thought the next year I was definitely going to dual-sport. I want to live high school to the fullest that I can. I don't want to do anything but play soccer out of high school, so I might as well do it now."
Bill Khan served as a sportswriter at The Flint Journal from 1981-2011 and currently contributes to the State Champs! Sports Network. 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.
PHOTOS: (Top) Alia Frederick leads a pack toward the finish during last season's MHSAA Finals at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Frederick heads a ball forward during this spring. (Top photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com/John Brabbs; middle courtesy of the Linden athletic department.)