3-Sport Standout Back as Airport Coach
September 9, 2020
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CARLETON – Dakota Bostic started his high school cross country career because he wanted to get into shape for his freshman year of basketball for Carleton Airport High School.
A decade later, Bostic is about to launch his coaching career as the varsity cross country coach for the Jets.
“Cross country teaches you a lot,” said Bostic, 22. “It’s a tough sport. There’s no one to battle but yourself. There’s plenty to learn from the sport. I didn’t learn it until I looked back a bit. When you stop, you kind of realize what you put yourself through. It makes you mentally tough.”
Bostic was a three-sport athlete at Airport before graduating in 2015. He ran varsity cross country for all four years, was moved up to the Jets varsity basketball team as a freshman and played baseball four years.
“I think sports are an integral part of a person’s school experience,” he said.
Bostic played basketball for four years at Concordia University in Ann Arbor, going from a little-used freshman to starting his junior and senior seasons. He was also an outstanding student at Concordia, being named the Justice and Public Policy Student of the year in 2019 and graduating with a bachelor’s degree. The award came in part because of his work on a class project that involved investigating a 2013 cold case murder of a mother of two from Taylor. He was named to the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference All-Academic Team multiple times, maintaining a cumulative GPA of 3.25.
Airport athletic director Tim Duffy said when he heard Bostic was available this fall to be a coach, he called him up. He at first thought Bostic might be interested in being an assistant with the cross country team. But after talking to him, Duffy thought he would be a candidate for head coach.
“He was a very well-rounded athlete here,” Duffy said. “I can’t tell you how many times I saw him run or ride his bike to and from school to get into the gym. Everything he does, he puts everything he’s got into it. Everybody you talk to here speaks highly of him.”
After Bostic was hired, he had to go through the MHSAA certifications and complete a lot of paperwork to be eligible to coach.
“The morning after he was hired, he was in my office trying to figure out everything he had to do,” Duffy said. “He knocked it all out within a week. And, he did it all while juggling a job. That’s the type of kid he is.”
Bostic has enjoyed his first few weeks coaching the Jets runners.
“The kids have been great,” he said. “My little brother just graduated from Airport, so some of them know me. They are a receptive group. They all want to get better. They are learning what it takes.”
While basketball was his favorite sport in high school, cross country holds a special place in Bostic’s heart. Now, he gets to pass that on to a new group of student athletes.
“In any sport, there is something you can do to get better every day,” Bostic said.
Bostic grew up about three miles from Airport High School and remembers attending Jets sporting events from a young age.
“I remember looking up to the older guys, watching them play basketball and football,” he said.
He exceled in basketball, earning some looks from colleges while being an all-region player in Monroe County.
“I always knew I wanted to play basketball in college,” he said. “It was a process once I got there. I had to adjust. My freshman and sophomore seasons, I didn’t play very much. I had to make my name in practice.
“By my junior year I started playing a little bit, then I got to start a game and stayed there from then on. It carried over into my senior year. In four years of playing basketball, I learned there are plenty of aches and pains.”
After Concordia, Bostic joined the Marines. He was in officer school when a back injury forced him to be honorably discharged. When Duffy found out Bostic had returned to the Airport area, he jumped at the chance to add Bostic to his coaching lineup.
“He’s a great guy, and we are happy to have him coaching with us,” Duffy said. “He’s a great pick-up for us.”
Bostic said his message to his cross country athletes will be to treat every practice and every meet as if it might be their last.
“Given the current situation of the world, I’ll try and remind them that no opportunity is guaranteed,” Bostic said. “You owe it to yourself and the kids who aren’t getting to participate to go out and not take it for granted.”
Bostic coming home to coach Airport is not necessarily what he previously pictured doing at this point in his life, but he’s happy to be doing it.
As Bostic said, "I hope to always be a Jet.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Dakota Bostic this fall is beginning his first season as Carlton Airport’s cross country coach. (Middle) Bostic makes his move toward the plate while pitching for Airport. (Below) Bostic lines up to shoot a free throw while playing at Concordia-Ann Arbor. (Top and middle photos courtesy of Monroe News; below photo courtesy of Concordia-Ann Arbor.)
Preview: Past Champions Setting Up as Storylines Again in Finals Returns
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 1, 2024
Two reigning champions ranked to repeat and a past individual champion setting the statewide pace are among those anticipated to make headlines across four Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Romeo in Division 1 and Whitmore Lake in Division 4 will enter their championship races top-ranked after finishing first in their respective divisions a year ago. Holland West Ottawa senior Helen Sachs is looking to close her high school career with a second individual championship after placing first in Division 1 in 2022.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first girls race, in Division 4, begins at 10:50 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Romeo
2023 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2024 top-ranked: 1. Romeo, 2. Holland West Ottawa, 3. Saline.
We’ve seen two repeat Division 1 girls champions over the last decade (technically three as Pioneer won three straight titles from 2019-21), and Romeo is favored to accomplish that feat as well. The Bulldogs placed the first seven individuals at their Regional, with six of those runners their top six from last season’s Final when they finished with 65 points – 61 fewer than the runner-up Pioneers. Sophomore Annie Hrabovsky (fourth), juniors Natalia Guaresimo (seventh) and Emmerson Clor (13th), and senior Lillian Deskins (22nd) all medaled last year. Holland West Ottawa finished third last season, and 2022 Finals individual champion Helen Sachs led West Ottawa to a dominating Regional win this time with four individuals among the top nine. Saline was fifth at the 2023 Final and won its Regional last weekend just ahead of Pioneer 28-41 with six individuals among the top 10.
Individuals: Two-time champion Rachel Forsyth of Pioneer graduated in the spring, but this field still returns a past winner in Sachs, whose 16:52.8 at the Otsego Invitational on Sept. 28 is the fastest time this season among runners competing this weekend in any division. She placed 11th in LPD1 a year ago. Rochester senior Lucy Cook has finished third the last two seasons and has the fourth-fastest top 5K time in any division this fall, and Midland Dow senior Victoria Garces has the third-fastest top time this season and is coming off a fifth-place Finals finish in 2023. Grand Blanc senior Gracy Tykocki was 10th at last year’s Final and finished runner-up at her Regional last weekend. Sachs, Garces, Cook and Annie Hrabovsky were Regional champions, joined by Kalamazoo Central senior Annie Alkema, Brighton junior Lydia LaMarra, Pioneer freshman Natasza Dudek, Canton junior Aiden Pengelly and Novi sophomore Katelynn Egli. Dudek has the fourth-fastest top time in Division 1 this fall.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Grand Rapids Christian
2023 runner-up: Otsego
2024 top-ranked: 1. Goodrich, 2. Zeeland East, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Grand Rapids Christian topped 2022 champion Otsego 112-131 a year ago with Goodrich just behind them in third at 139, and some combination could dominate the top of the standings again. The Martians didn’t have a senior in last year’s lineup, and six of those runners from 2023 were among the seven Goodrich competitors who finished among the top 15 at their Regional last weekend. Zeeland East is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and placed fifth last season with only one senior, and Grand Rapids Christian brings back three from last year’s championship lineup and placed five among the top 17 in its Regional victory.
Individuals: St. Johns sophomore Ava Schafer is the top returning placer from last year’s Final after finishing fourth, and she’s undefeated this season with the third-fastest top time in Division 2 at 17:32.4. Zeeland East senior Emma Drnek is right behind her on that list at 17:44.4 and finished seventh at last year’s Final, and Goodrich’s Kamryn Lauinger was ninth at last year’s Final. The fastest top times in Division 2 this season belong to Otsego junior Emma Hoffman – who also is undefeated – and Gaylord junior Katie Berkshire, who placed 17th and 73rd, respectively, in 2023. Berkshire ran a personal record 17:31.05 to win her Regional last weekend and was joined among Regional champs by Drnek, Hoffman, Schafer, East Grand Rapids sophomore Adeline Armstrong, Freeland sophomore Clara Kaczor, Linden sophomore Addison Josephson, Croswell-Lexington senior Eva Thompson and Carleton Airport senior Courtney Bovair.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2023 runner-up: Traverse City St. Francis
2024 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Central Montcalm.
Lansing Catholic is pursuing a second Finals championship after previously winning Division 2 in 2017 and finishing seventh in Division 3 last fall with just one senior. Four of last season’s Finals runners were among the seven who finished among the top 20 in last weekend’s Regional victory, with freshman Josie Bishop second individually. St. Francis won the championship in 2022 before finishing second last year to Lumen 140-177, and the Gladiators placed six among the top 14 in winning their Regional including the top two in senior Betsy Skendzel and sophomore Molly Kate Hollandsworth. Central Montcalm finished eighth last season with no seniors and is seeking its first top-two Finals finish, coming off falling one point behind No. 4 Pewamo-Westphalia but placing the top two individuals at their Regional.
Individuals: Central Montcalm’s Kyah Hoffman was that Regional champion noted above and finished third at last year’s Final; she’s run the fastest top time in the Division 3 field at 17:25.3. Skendzel is next on the top times list at 17:46.8 and finished fourth last season, and Emmry Ross (17:47.3) follows on the top times list after placing fifth at the 2023 Final. Lakeview sophomore Kamryn Salladay, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep senior Eliza Bush and Kent City senior Lila Volkers finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, in last year’s championship race, and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Grace VanderKooi was third in Division 4 and won her Division 3 Regional last week just ahead of Volkers. Also winning Regionals were Bush, Hoffman, Ross, Skendzel, Salladay, Fennville sophomore Isabelle Sliter, Millington junior Abigail Ross and Leslie junior Hailey Creisher.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Whitmore Lake
2023 runner-up: Johannesburg-Lewiston
2024 top-ranked: 1. Whitmore Lake, 2. Hillsdale Academy, 3. Harbor Springs.
Whitmore Lake’s championship last season was its first since 1996, and four of those title-winning runners return this weekend including 2023 individual runner-up Kaylie Livingston – who outpaced the field at her Regional last weekend by 1 minute, 44 seconds, at 17:51.9. Hillsdale Academy is hoping to make a jump from fourth last season as it pursues its first championship; the Colts didn’t have a senior last year and finished Division 4 runners-up in 2022, and placed all seven runners among the top 17 in a Regional title win. Harbor Springs won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 and finished runner-up in 2015 as it too seeks to move up from a year ago, when it finished fifth also without a senior. The Rams placed six among the top 12 in winning their Regional.
Individuals: Livingston’s top time of 17:46.2 tops the Division 4 list by 14 seconds, and she is followed by Johannesburg-Lewiston senior Allie Nowak, who placed fourth in 2023. Whitmore Lake junior Carina Burchi was sixth at last year’s Final and sits fourth on this year’s top times list, and Gobles sophomore Libby Smith finished one spot behind her at last fall’s Final but is one spot ahead with the third-fastest top time in the division. Adrian Lenawee Christian senior Izzy Brooks is back after placing eighth last year, and Petoskey St. Michael senior Jane Manthei returns after placing 10th. Nowak was first and Manthei second at their Regional, and joining Nowak and Livingston among Regional winners were Brooks, Smith, Bear Lake/Onekama freshman Callie Sinke, Vestaburg senior Abigail Davis, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Emma Riker, Dryden junior Cara Prusakiewicz and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian senior Eliza Keith.
PHOTO Otsego’s Emma Hoffman (2411) leads on the way to winning Division 2 race Sept. 28 at the Otsego Invitational. (Photo by Gary Shook.)