Kettle Paces Milford Past Familiar Field

November 3, 2012

By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half

BROOKLYN — Brian Kettle came away with a couple of battle scars to go with his MHSAA championship medal Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

The Milford junior was bleeding from both knees as he crossed the finish line in the Lower Peninsula Division 1 cross country race with a time of 15:07.3.

Midway through the race, Kettle took a tumble that scraped both of his knees. He got up quickly, but lost ground to a fast lead pack. He patiently took a half mile to catch back up, then made a decisive move with 300 meters remaining to beat runner-up T.J. Carey of Lake Orion by 2.1 seconds.

Kettle made sure he didn’t panic when the unexpected happened in the biggest race of the year.

“I knew I had to stay relaxed; things happen,” he said. “I didn’t let anyone else get too far ahead of me, so I took my time catching back up and tried to run even. It was just enough to scrape the ground and come back up. I was moving forward the whole time.”

Once Kettle regained contact with the lead group, it was time to determine when to make his move. The 2012 Division 1 1,600-meter champion in track and field launched his kick with 300 meters to go down the straightaway in front of the main grandstand at MIS.

His thoughts?

“I’ve got a shot at it,” he recalled. “If I run a solid next 200, I’ve got it in the books.”

The top four runners, as well as seven of the top 10, were from Oakland County. That sense of familiarity was a plus for Kettle.

“A lot of these guys I see in earlier meets throughout the year,” he said. “It was great competing against them at that time, and it’s great coming here with all of them and finding out who’s the fastest.”

Making Kettle’s victory even sweeter was that it led Milford to the team championship. The Mavericks scored 83 points for a comfortable winning margin over Waterford Mott, which had 167. Rockford was third with 186.

All five of Milford’s scoring runners broke 16 minutes. Senior Cody Snavely was fourth in 15:16.7, senior Chris Housel 31st in 15:46.3, senior Matt Graves 33rd in 15:47.6 and junior Kevin Black 42nd in 15:54.9 to complete Milford’s scoring.

Kettle credited his teammates for helping him become an MHSAA champion, as some of his toughest races take place in practice.

“It’s a huge advantage having a good team,” Kettle said. “I love everyone we run with. We’re good friends, even out of the practices. Being able to push each other during races makes it all the better. We’ve got the best training partners in the world.”

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PHOTO: Milford's Brian Kettle (70) runs amid a sizable pack during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)

Sinke Family Has Bear Lake Primed to Compete for Championships Now, In Future

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

October 25, 2024

One Sinke is nearing the end of a high school running career seeking to qualify for a fourth-straight MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Cross Country Final.

Northern Lower PeninsulaA few other Sinkes are right in the middle of possible team and individual title opportunities.

Mason Sinke, who broke the Bear Lake cross country race record earlier this season, is about to finish his stellar career on 5K courses. He still has the spring track season ahead, and then he’s moving on to run for Hope College. Saturday, he hopes — or rather expects — to qualify for his fourth Final while vying for the individual Regional title at Benzie Central.

His team will not qualify for the Final due to an insufficient number of healthy runners. But the Bear Lake girls team – led by freshman Callie Sinke – has its eyes on qualifying for the Final and can’t help but think a state championship is obtainable in the near future.

A future boys title also isn’t out of the question as the Lakers have a strong middle school program as well. The middle school’s current number one runner is Johnny Sinke. 

And all the Lakers cross country teams are coached by Tony Shrum and Kim Sinke. Shrum has headed up the cross country program, which co-ops with Onekama, since 2012. Kim Sinke, a former college distance runner, joined the staff this year. She is also the mother of Mason, Callie and Johnny Sinke.

The Bear Lake girls team take a trophy photo after clinching the West Michigan D League title.Bear Lake is really hoping to start some strong winning streaks this weekend after long Regional championship streaks were common up until a decade ago. The Lakers are not unfamiliar with Finals appearances, but they’re looking for their first in a decade with the Regional trophy earned.

“For the girls, as long as we’ve got everybody healthy and racing, the goal is to win,” Shrum said of the upcoming Regional. “It would be our seventh girls Regional title in the program’s history, so they would be on a list with a pretty exclusive group.”

Shrum hopes the resting and recovering this week will allow the Lakers to put their best foot forward in the Regional. Bear Lake’s girls, the West Michigan D League champions this year, will be racing against some familiar foes.

There will be disappointment if there aren’t several Lakers listed among the top 10 finishers – and a handful in the top five are pretty much expected.

Callie Sinke, who is fighting through normal running injury challenges, and Addy Zeller are the Lakers’ top two runners and arguably the top two rated runners in the region. But injuries have slowed down the top two Lakers a bit.

“Right now Callie is about 20 seconds ahead of everybody in the field Saturday,” Shrum pointed out. “We have three of the top five girls when healthy in the region, and our fourth girl has top-15 ability and our fifth girl has been coming on.”

And these Lakers are young. Callie Sinke is a freshman and Zeller, hampered lately by a quad injury, is a sophomore. Melodie Hulinek, the number three runner who is coming back from a knee injury, is also a freshman. Natalie Brown, the current fourth runner, is a junior. Two other freshmen, Isabella Card and Peyton Buckner, may run for the fifth scoring spot, along with two other juniors, Lauren Pulido-Huber and Libby Daugherty. The co-op is without a senior on the girls side.

Mason Sinke, middle, takes a photo with Bear Lake head coach Tony Shrum and assistant and mother Kim Sinke.Shrum is excited about the opportunity this year and really the next three. He notes two current middle school runners will likely compete for varsity spots next fall.

“We’ve got a good core of girls coming back for the next four years,” Scrum said.

Zeller and Sinke attend Onekama High School. The rest of the girls team are enrolled with Bear Lake. 

Mason Sinke is a senior at Onekama. He too has sat out a few races recently to rest and prepare for his last two career high school meets.  

All season, he’s had a special partner and coach, Kaden Forward. The school record Sinke broke this year had belonged to Forward, who finished 13th in last year’s Final. Sinke was a few seconds behind Forward in the Final last year and finished 16th. He’s looking to take one of the top spots – if not first place – this Saturday and go on to a top 10, if not top five, at the Final.

The West Michigan D League features one of the top runners in the state in Alex Tyndall from Mason County Eastern. Tyndall finished 18th in last year’s Final, a few seconds behind Sinke. Tyndall and Eastern will be among many competitors Bear Lake has raced against week after week. A handful of other runners familiar to Mason Sinke will challenge him for a top-five Regional finish.

“Right now Mason would be the number two guy behind Alex coming in,” Shrum acknowledged. “We’ll see if he wants to chase Alex and push him and see if he can take Alex down. but otherwise I think silver at the Regional is a definite possibility for him.”

Callie Sinke runs a race this fall.The Bear Lake boys team has no chance of qualifying for the Finals as two of its five team members are out with injuries. But Shrum holds strong hopes senior Greyson Hoeflinger will also qualify for the Finals as an individual.

Over the 35 years of the co-op’s existence, Bear Lake’s boys teams have won 23 Regional titles and the girls have won six.

“Between Mason and Kaden, they have really changed the mindset of our program,” Shrum said. “Callie is leading the girls on the same path.”

Bear Lake is looking forward to an influx of talented young runners on the boys side too.

“Our next set of boys teams could be banner raising, winning teams of the state final,” Shrum predicted. “We’re on the comeback collectively as a program.”

The future is bright, but the current boys and girls teams members should get the credit for getting Bear Lake back to its winning ways.

“To me it is exciting to get back on that level and compete for state titles and Regional championships in the next five, six years,” Shrum noted. “A lot of it really has to do with the current group of kids that we have and their dedication, their discipline, their excitement and enthusiasm for the sport.”

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Mason Sinke runs to his school record-setting 5K time Sept. 7 at the Bear Country Invitational. (2) The Bear Lake girls team take a trophy photo after clinching the West Michigan D League title. (3) Mason Sinke, middle, takes a photo with Bear Lake head coach Tony Shrum and assistant and mother Kim Sinke. (4) Callie Sinke runs a race this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Sinke family.)