Blue Devils Running Down Records
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 9, 2012
Coach Steve Zaranek started a Grosse Pointe South girls track and field program in 1980 that became both sizable and successful over its first three decades.
The near-simultaneous high school arrivals of some of the school’s top athletes of all-time then paved a track last season to the Blue Devils' first MHSAA championship.
But that title might've been just the start for this week’s Second Half High 5 team honoree.
The impressive performances of last spring – including all-MHSAA Finals records in the 1,600 and 800-meter runs by now-junior Hannah Meier – have been built upon during the first month of this season.
The finish that’s made the biggest headlines was a time of 8:59.69 in the 3,200 relay two weeks ago at Michigan State’s Spartan Invitational. That time would top the all-Finals record for that race by more than five seconds, and is just the latest from the elite Blue Devils talent tearing up the track.
“Every year we average well over 100 girls on the team – this year we have 125 girls – and we’ve always been a team that had tremendous depth,” Zaranek said. “We’ve won 18 of the last 20 Regionals on depth. But at the state meet, you must have elite runners. That’s been such a fortunate thing for us.”
The line-up starts with the Meier sisters. Grosse Pointe South edged runners-up Detroit Cass Tech and Ann Arbor Huron by four points each last season thanks in large part by Hannah’s records of 4:42.60 in the 1,600 and 2:07.37 in 800. She’s considered one of the top middle distance runners in the nation – with the Universities of Oregon, Notre Dame, Stanford, Washington, Michigan and Villanova University among those paying attention. Sister Haley Meier, also a junior this season, finished second in the 1,600 and third in the 800 at the 2011 Final, and her 1,600 time of 4:45.80 was the third-fastest in Finals history.
The Blue Devils graduated hurdler Veronica Schacht, who placed in both hurdles Finals, now runs at the University of Pittsburgh and according to Zaranek was the best hurdler in program history. But also back this season is senior Caitlin Moore – the program’s top sprinter ever who also will run on a 1,600 relay that has broken four minutes without her and went 3:53.78 to take fourth in Division 1 in 2011.
And then there are the newcomers. Sophomore Kelsie Schwartz and freshman Ersula Farrow joined the Meier sisters with top-15 individual finishes as the Blue Devils won the MHSAA Division 1 Cross Country Final in the fall, and make up the other half of the time-slashing 3,200 relay. Schwartz came from Warren Regina this school year after her family moved from St. Clair Shores to Grosse Pointe. Farrow is the latest in a speedy family line – her mother Tina (Jordan) won the mile run for Detroit Mumford at the 1980 Class A Final and then ran at Western Kentucky University. Father Erskine ran at the University of Tennessee, and older sister Christina Farrow was a senior this spring at Central Michigan University.
Without Schwartz and Ersula Farrow, the Blue Devils’ 3,200 relay still finished MHSAA runner-up last season with a time of 9:11.98.
“Kelsey got a really great start at Regina. Ersula has just gone beyond what we expected her to be,” Zaranek said. “We have run the last couple of years at the state meet really quality times, 9:09, 9:10. I knew we had the potential to shoot for that 9-minute mark, but what I really thought was that would happen at the end of the season.
“To get there when we got there at MSU was pretty special. There’s definitely the potential to run (faster) and even approach that 8:50 mark.”
Zaranek also has high postseason hopes for junior Aubryn Samaroo, whose high jump of 5-foot-6 this spring would’ve tied for third at the 2011 Final, and the Moore-anchored 400 and 800 relays among possible breakout contributors.
Grosse Pointe South will host its Division 1 Regional on May 18. All MHSAA Finals are June 2, with Division 1 at East Kentwood.
PHOTO: Grosse Pointe South's Hannah (front) and Haley Meier both finished among the top three in both the 1,600 and 800 at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.
Schools Come Together to Help Coleman Trio Complete Dream Weekend
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 8, 2023
After teaming up to win a softball District title and an all-state track medal over a two-day stretch, Coleman juniors Madison Miller, Nevaeh Chaffee and Ava Gross had earned some time to relax.
“I was definitely relieved,” Chaffee said. “It felt good to be leaving the track meet with a medal, regardless of what place it was. But I definitely came home and took a fat nap.”
The trio was instrumental in leading the Comets to a Division 4 District softball title Friday, as they knocked off Farwell and Beal City.
A day later, they joined senior teammate Amber Nehrig to take fifth in the 400-meter relay at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track & Field Finals in Hudsonville.
‘It was fun just to be able to do both,” Gross said. “We worked so hard to play in both.”
All that hard work was almost for naught, and not because of anything any of the athletes had done. It took a lot of work behind the scenes from participating athletic departments and school districts to move the District softball tournament. And that wasn’t confirmed until eight days before it was played.
The tournament was originally scheduled for Saturday, and Coleman softball coach Chad Kopf had alerted his athletic director early that he would like it to be moved to avoid a conflict with the track Finals.
However, host Beal City had to work through multiple issues to make it work. Friday was the final day of exam prep for Beal City students, so administrators did not want to have them miss any of the school day. It was also field day for the elementary school, which was going to make parking at the school even more chaotic. On top of that, Beal City softball coach Jason Johnston is the elementary principal, meaning he would have to be present at the field day.
Athletic directors and superintendents were all involved to make it work, and eventually, a compromise was found. Coleman had offered to bus in all its fans to cut down on parking, and to swap the order of games, so Beal City and Marion – which also had a Finals-bound track athlete – could play the later game.
It all added up to Miller, Chaffee and Gross – Coleman’s 1, 2 and 3 hitters, as well as its pitcher, shortstop and centerfielder – not having to choose between major events.
“It makes you feel good,” Kopf said. “Coming off of COVID a couple years ago, you’re still in that mindset of, ‘Is everything that’s done right for the kids?’ (The collaborative effort to move the District) made it feel like we’re in it for the right reasons. Knowing that they made these exceptions, almost solely for us, that’s a lot of selflessness on the part of Beal City. It was great sportsmanship.”
The effort that went into moving the District wasn’t lost on the athletes, either.
“I was happy to know that people were actually trying to get us to do both, because obviously it’s an amazing experience,” Gross said. “Knowing they were putting in the work, that was really nice and thoughtful of them.”
There was, unfortunately, one more bump in the road – getting Gross and Chaffee healthy enough to compete.
Right before the decision to move the District was made, and just 10 days before it was contested, Chaffee took a thrown ball off the kneecap. A day later, Gross injured her ankle and foot long jumping. Neither was cleared until the day before the District tournament.
“We’ve been nursing injuries, nursing arms for about the last month,” said Kopf, who has just 11 players on his roster. “Once we knew we were out of the conference race, we had to save some bodies and be smart with how we practiced. Coming into Thursday, we were still waiting to hear if Nevaeh and Ava were going to be able to play. Both got cleared Thursday, and when (we) got on the bus Friday, that was probably the most focused group I’ve seen.”
Miller pitched a pair of complete games for the Comets in the District, getting a shutout against Farwell and striking out a total of 17 batters over the two games. She also had five hits. Gross had four hits on the day.
“It was very, very special,” Miller said. “Going into it, I wasn’t able to pitch more than one game. My arm had kind of let go, and I didn’t have anything left. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get us to where we needed to be. In the past couple years, I’ve noticed I throw a lot better in the heat, and we hadn’t really had many hot-weather games.”
The next day, the trio was on the track in Hudsonville. In addition to their relay, Miller competed in the long jump and the pole vault, while Chafee ran the 100 meters. She had qualified for the 200, but scratched to save herself for the relay.
They teamed with Nehrig to run a season-best time of 52.62 seconds in the second-to-last heat. They had to watch the final heat to see if they’d place.
“That heat was insane,” Miller said. “It was very insane. They had live timing and live results, so as soon as that heat was done we knew. It was almost immediate.”
Now, the girls can focus solely on softball as the Comets prepare for a Regional Semifinal on Saturday against Alcona at Carson City-Crystal.
But they hope that this weekend’s experience wasn’t once-in-a-lifetime, and they can repeat it a year from now. Without all the nervous moments beforehand, of course.
“I look forward to it, actually,” Chaffee said.
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.
PHOTOS (Top) From left, Coleman’s Nevaeh Chaffee, Madison Miller and Ava Gross show their team’s District softball trophy won Friday at Beal City. (Middle) From left, Chaffee, Gross, Amber Nehrig and Miller take a relay photo together Saturday at the LP Division 4 Finals at Hudsonville’s Baldwin Middle School. (Photos courtesy of the Coleman athletic department.)