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?”
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.)
Running Set Life's Stage for Grosse Pointe South's Record-Setting Meier Sisters
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
July 28, 2022
A decade ago the Meier twins, Haley and Hannah, were instrumental in changing the dynamics of the track & field and cross country programs at Grosse Pointe South.
South had never won an MHSAA Finals team title in either sport before their arrival at the school in 2009. Under longtime coach Steve Zaranek, the Meiers led South to three consecutive MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 track titles (2011-13) and another championship in cross country (2011), while forming half of a national record-setting 3,200-meter relay in the former.
“I've never seen anything like it,” said Zaranek, who will lead the program for a 44th season next spring and recently retired from teaching. “We had all of those athletes. The highlight was the distance (events) with the Meier twins. It was the perfect storm.”
The Meiers attended Duke University for their first two years of college before they transferred to University of Michigan. Their career paths have taken them in different directions, but they remain as close as ever.
Two years ago Haley moved to Adelaide, Australia, with her fiancé Jordy Hewitt, who she met at U-M. Hannah soon will leave Ann Arbor for Charlottesville, Va., where she will begin work as a dietitian within the medical school at the University of Virginia.
Two weeks ago, Haley and Hannah were together in Nashville, Tenn., along with four friends, for Haley's bachelorette celebration. The wedding is scheduled for Oct. 8 on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.
Haley, who received her bachelor’s degree in education, is in her second year as a middle school teacher in Adelaide, and Hewitt works as a consultant at Price Waterhouse just blocks from St. Mary's College, the all-girls private school where Haley teaches.
“I always loved spending time with kids,” Haley said when asked why she chose the teaching profession. “When they figure things out, it's so rewarding. It comes with its challenges. I've been practicing my patience daily.”
This past spring Hannah completed her master's degrees in both sports management and public health from U-M, to go with her bachelor’s in kinesiology. Her longterm goal is to work with athletes in their efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Hannah Meier began researching various types of food and how they affects athletes and their eating habits. For instance, Hannah is a firm believer in a person eating breakfast 30-to-60 minutes after rising to allow for metabolism to kick in properly.
“I was getting injured (so often) between lifting and cross training that I decided to go into public health,” Hannah said. “That's one of the reasons I left Duke. They didn't offer a public health (curriculum).”
The Meiers were highly competitive at both Duke and U-M. At Duke, Haley won the Atlantic Coast Conference title in the 1,500, and for U-M she won the Big Ten Conference title in the indoor mile. In her last season (2019), Hannah won the Big Ten title in the mile with a school-record time of 4:32.46. Both qualified for the NCAA Championships on multiple occasions.
Their college accomplishments stacked on top of significant achievements that helped Grosse Pointe South to those three Finals teams championships.
Hannah continues to own the all-Class/Division Finals records in the 800-meter run (2:06.35, 2013) and 1,600 run (4:39.23, 2013 – also ninth-best all-time nationally at the high school level). She and Haley, along with Kelsie Schwartz and Ersula Farrow, set that national high school record in the 3,200 relay of 8:48.29 in 2012. (Of note, the second-best 3,200 relay time in MHSAA LPD1 Finals history was recorded by Oak Park in 2015, 8:54.29, as Farrow teamed with Jayla Fleming, Lashae Bowens and Dorriann Coleman.)
To show how competitive and talented the twins were, when Hannah set the all-Finals record in the 1,600 in 2013, the previous all-Finals record was the 4:42.60 she had run in 2011. Haley's time of 4:42.43 in 2013 was good enough to top her sister's 2011 record, but not the time Hannah posted that June afternoon – as Haley finished in that race to her sister.
For Zaranek, the post-Meier era has included a team that placed sixth in LP Division 1 in 2014 and another top-15 finisher since, with at least a few Finals qualifiers almost every season.
“For me and our program,” Zaranek said, “to get to the Regional level and compete, that's the sign of a really good program. I really think the best programs are the ones that allow the students to try different events. We talk about opportunities. We talk about contributing to the team.”
For the Meiers, they cherish the memories and continue to run but at a much slower pace. In addition to the memories and accomplishments, they say the sport made them better people, more appreciative for what they have and who they are.
“Haley and I ... we have a better perspective on life,” Hannah said. “We are able to handle situations much more calmly.
“And it's all because of Coach Z. We weren't fans of running in middle school. Without running we wouldn't have gone to U-M and graduated. If we hadn't gone to U-M, we wouldn’t have met our significant others.”
(Hewitt, from Australia, was a middle distance runner for U-M when he and Haley met. Hannah's boyfriend, Kevin Haughn, was competing in the pole vault for the Wolverines when they first crossed paths.)
Haley said her life, and Hannah's, are so busy that finding time to run requires a few less hours of sleep at times.
“I enjoy it, but the hardest part is getting up in the morning to do it,” she said. “It's a transition.
“After all these years, it's still practicing good habits. Running has taught us to be resilient, to persevere.”
2021-22 Made in Michigan
July 25: 2005 Miss Basketball DeHaan Cherishing Newest Title: 1st-Time Mom - Read
July 21: Championship Memories Still Resonate with St. Thomas Star Lillard - Read
July 14: Portage Central Champ Rolls to Vanderbilt, Writing Next Chapter in Alabama - Read
July 12: Coaching Couple Passing On Knowledge, Providing Opportunities for Frankfort Wrestlers - Read
June 30: Hrynewich's Star Continuing to Rise with Olympic, Pro Sports Arrivals - Read
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Hannah and Hailey Meier enjoy the moment after helping set a national high school record for Grosse Pointe South in the 3,200 relay in 2012. At top right, Haley and fiancé Jordy Hewitt. At bottom right, Hannah and boyfriend Kevin Haughn. (Middle) The Meier sisters, center, bring their family together in Australia. (Below) Haley, left, and Hannah Meier top the LPD1 1,600 medalist podium in 2013. (MHSAA Finals photos from RunMichigan.com; recent photos courtesy of Hannah and Haley Meier.)