Re-focused Hanson Ready to Climb Again

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

April 6, 2018

By most any standard, Alexandra Hanson had a tremendous junior track season.

The Brown City star didn’t lose a 100, 200 or 400-meter race in a dual or tri meet, and only finished lower than second twice prior to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 championships, where she was all-state in all three events – fifth in the 200 and 400, and eighth in the 100.

That great season was not up to the standards of one very important person, however – Hanson – and not just because she was coming off a sophomore season that saw her win a Division 4 title in the 400 and finish second in the 200.

“I just feel like I should have at least improved a little from my previous year, and I didn’t,” said Hanson, who didn’t match any of her personal records as a junior. “I know that was because I didn’t do anything during the winter. I was just super naive about it. I thought, ‘I won a state championship, I can just do it next year.’ I definitely had the completely wrong mindset. I think I got comfortable and was not pushing myself like I should have.

“I’m trying to take it as a lesson learned. Take it as a positive.”

Hanson’s disappointment has fueled her this offseason, as she looks to finish her high school career strong and transition to Saginaw Valley State University, where she will run collegiately.

While the Green Devils don’t have a meet scheduled until April 10, and practices have been hampered by early-spring weather, the difference in Hanson can already be seen by those who know her best.

“When she won the state, she didn’t run again until we started track practice the next year, and right in the middle of track season, she got a really bad cold and missed two or three meets,” Brown City coach Don Twiss said. “When you’re an elite runner, you have to stay at that training level, you can’t afford to take that amount of time off. I’m excited about her this year, just because her motivation seems to be totally different this year.”

Hanson spent much of her summer going through workouts she had taken from the Saginaw Valley coaching staff and her other college visits. She ran cross country for Brown City in the fall, and in the winter she continued to run, albeit mostly on a treadmill.

“I feel like I’m in better shape than where I was a year ago,” Hanson said. “Every time I’m like, ‘I don’t feel like running today,’ I tell myself, ‘Well, you don’t want to be like last year.’”

Hanson’s success this season won’t be measured in how many times she crosses the finish line first – although if she is successful in meeting her goals, she’ll do that plenty.

She’s eyeing her personal best times – 58.03 seconds in the 400, 26.01 in the 200 and 12.71 in the 100 – meaning she’ll spend most of her season running against the clock. Fortunately for her, this is something she’s grown accustomed to, as many of her races aren’t particularly close throughout the season.

“It’s hard, especially when you’re in meets where you don’t have someone pushing you,” she said. “It’s definitely hard when you’re racing against the clock. I’m not the most personally motivated person, so my dad has to be standing there at around the 300-meter mark, and he has to scream at me. That motivates me. I have to have someone there motivating me.”

She also has her eye on a new race, as at Saginaw Valley the plan is for her to transition to middle distance and add the 800 meters to her repertoire. She ran it once as a junior, and will try it a little more this season as opportunities present themselves.

“I still think (team) points wise, I’m going to have to run the 200,” Hanson said. “But I’ll definitely run (the 800) more than last year. I’ll be able to run it more because my sister (Juliana) is here now, and she’s fast, too, so she’ll be able to take over the 100.”

Hanson is excited about the transition to middle distance, as she said the 400 has been her favorite race since she was in middle school. She’s also self aware, and said she has a better chance to get her 400 and 800 times to a level where she can compete in college, as opposed to her 100 and 200 times.

“Coming from a small town, the shorter distances I did really well in, so that’s what I did,” she said. “I talked to college coaches, and they started explaining what most 400 runners do – they go up.”

Twiss believes the potential is there for Hanson to transition to the 800 and be successful. He also believes the 400 is where she’s at her best, and that could lead to another trip to the top of the MHSAA podium in June.

“She’s like a gazelle when she gets out there and goes,” he said. “She’s such a natural middle sprinter, or like I call them, long sprints. She’s capable of running an upper 56-second (400 meters). If she does that, that will win it.”

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) Brown City’s Alexandra Hanson pulls away from a pack of runners during a race last season. (Middle) Hanson sprints down the stretch. (Photos courtesy of the Brown City girls track & field program.)

Reading Returns to Take Final Step

May 31, 2014

By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half

HUDSONVILLE – When Reading senior Michelle Davis looked over the girls track and field team prior to this year, she was a little surprised at what she discovered.

“I looked at the freshmen coming up and saw that we weren’t losing as much as I thought,” she said. “We knew it was there to win the state title, but we had to work hard, and we did.”

Reading, fresh off an unexpected runner-up finish in 2013, came into this season with some added confidence, and on Saturday it all came together in an MHSAA championship. Reading won its second Lower Peninsula Division 4 title and first since 2001 with a convincing performance at the Baldwin Street Middle School facility in Hudsonville.

Davis led the way and broke two LP Division 4 meet records in the process. She won the 100 hurdles in 15.05 seconds – an LP Division 4 record – and added the 400 with a record time of 57.33. She also was second in the 300 hurdles and ran a leg on the winning 1,600 relay team.

However, she said breaking the record in the 400 was the most thrilling for her.

“The 400 was the best for sure because my idol is Erin Dillon (former Reading track star who went on to star at Central Michigan University), and she had the record before me,” Davis said. “It’s just amazing – all the hard work.

“Every person on this team worked so hard.”

Reading tallied five first-place finishes in 17 events and totaled 81 points to easily outdistance runner-up Traverse City St. Francis by 25 points.

Coach Deb Price thought the runner-up finish from a year ago played a big part in this year’s championship.

“Last year was somewhat of a surprise,” she said. “I thought we’d be in the top five, but I didn’t think we’d be runner-up. We had a mission. Our goal was to try to get it, but I didn’t want to count on anything until it actually happened.

“I think confidence was a big factor. I think that was huge. I think that made them realize that maybe they could get something. We had an awesome year.”

Junior Jenny Davis, Michelle’s sister, enjoyed a great meet in the sprints. She ran a leg on two winning relay teams – the 400 and 800 – and was second in the 200 in 26 seconds and third in the 100 in 12.65.

“It’s awesome, she did so well,” Michelle said of her sister. “She does so well in sprinting. I used to do sprinting, but she’s got it covered now so I don’t need to.”

Little sister Jenny was impressed by the way Michelle made the transfer to the hurdles.

“We needed another hurdler this year, so she just took that over,” she said. “It’s really fun running with Michelle.

“She’s a great role model for me. We get to run in practice and push each other.”

Reading’s three winning relay teams included a variety of younger runners with at least two more years of eligibility.

In the 400 (51.60) and 800 (1:47.36) relays, Jenny Davis was joined by sophomores Teddi Zimmerman and Samantha Pfeffler and freshman Kaitlin Seager. In the 1,600 relay (4:10.96), Michelle Davis was joined by Pfeffler, Alyssa Kinney and Terasa Eidenier – all sophomores.

Eidenier also took fourth in the 1,600 in 5:13.47 and fifth in the 800 in 2:23.75.

“We have a lot coming back,” Price said.

Runner-up Traverse City St. Francis has an exciting future as well with sophomore Holly Bullough, who won the 800 in 2:15.52 and the 1,600 in 5:01.34. She also was second in the 400 in 58.4 and ran on the third-place 3,200 relay team.

“This year was a little different because I did the open 400 instead of the two-mile,” Bullough said, “but going into this meet, I felt a little more ready because I worked out all over winter and last year I hadn’t done that.

“I felt a lot more in shape coming into this and a little more confident.”

Bullough has a lot to live up to with her bloodlines. The Bullough family has a long history of success in football at Michigan State University, starting with her brother Max, her father Shane and her grandfather Hank.

She said the name does not put a lot of added pressure on her.

“It seems like it would give a lot of pressure, but actually it doesn’t,” she said. “I’m not trying to beat out my brothers or anything. I’m just trying to make them proud. I just want to represent them, so I just go out and do my best.”

She did admit that the thought of playing football has crossed her mind – at least the fantasy of it.

“I always joke and say I’m going to go out for running back next year, but I have cross country,” she said. “I just think it would be funny if I tried.”

Another two-time winner was Ottawa Lake Whiteford senior Miranda Johnson, who repeated as champion in the long jump and broke her own LP Division 4 record with a leap of 18 feet, 6.5 inches. She added a victory in the 200 in 25.15 seconds.

Jade Madison of New Buffalo swept the throws. She won the discus with a toss of 123-0 and broke the LP Division 4 record in the shot put with a winning effort of 43-8.25. In the other field events, Bethany Kuenzer of Pittsford cleared 11-3 to win the pole vault, while Jessica Tea-Hui of Evart won the high jump at 5-4.

Freshman Jordan Goodman of Mason County Eastern won the 100 in 12.55 seconds, while Savanah Feldpausch of Fowler took the 300 hurdles in 45.42 and Kirsten Olling of Breckenridge finished first in the 3,200 in 11:17.24. Olling won the 3,200 all four years of high school.

The lone relay that was not won by Reading was the 3,200, which was won by Beal City.

Price, the Reading coach, also coached the Rangers in 2001 when they won the MHSAA title for the first time.

“It’s a lot like 2001 – nothing feels as good as a state championship,” she said. “I can’t describe it to anybody until it happens.”

At the same time, Concord – from the same Big 8 Conference as Reading – was celebrating the boys title.

“Two teams from the Big 8 Conference win state championships,” she said. “How cool is that?”

Click for full results.

PHOTO: Reading’s Michelle Davis clears a hurdle Saturday en route to setting Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals records in both hurdles races. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)