Brother Pairs Pace Kalkaska's Boys Cross Country Hopes
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
September 10, 2021
Three sets of Kalkaska brothers will be running together again this weekend. And most likely Tyler Guggemos and Hayden Moore, both seniors, will be leading the Blazers.
This time, they’re running in the mud – the Charlevoix Mud Run.
The Mud Run is held every year by the Charlevoix Rayders. It’s a favorite of most teams as they overcome obstacles and challenges while getting a little dirty in the process. With multiple knee-deep mud pits, logs and other obstacles strewn throughout the course, overcoming those are at least as important as racing opponents when it comes to achieving a good finish.
Many of the teams are Kalkaska’s opponents in Lake Michigan Conference races and possible obstacles for MHSAA Finals qualification. And East Jordan, a league opponent, also is hosting the Regional.
The Mud Run will help the Blazers along in meeting the season goals.
Guggemos and Moore hope to qualify for the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. They’ve set their sights on individual qualification but have high hopes the whole team will be there, including their younger brothers Gavin Guggemos and Camden Moore, and senior twins Jake Olds and Dave Olds.
“We would like to finish in the top half of the teams at the Lake Michigan Conference meet and take a shot at qualifying for the state finals,” said Kalkaska cross country coach Doug Brown, who has coached all the brothers since they started running middle school track. “We'd have to be in the top three finishers at Regionals to do that.
“We'd at least like to get two or more runners to the state finals.”
Hayden Moore would love to reach the Finals with his younger brother coming along.
“I really want to get sub-17 (minutes) for the 5K and get into states,” Hayden said. “I also really want to get our team to states.”
Tyler Guggemos, who has a shot this fall at breaking Kalkaska’s cross country school record, agreed.
“I would like to make it to the state cross country meet and be in the top five in the state,” he said. “It would be great if the team made it too!”
The Blazers are off to a good start competing in McBain, East Jordan and Benzie Invitational meets with Guggemos finishing first for Kalkaska and Moore second. Their younger brothers as sophomores round out the top four. The twin Olds brothers are also pushing them along.
There’s a little sibling rivalry helping the Blazers, the boys acknowledge, but none noted between the brothers. The six boys have been running for Kalkaska together for six years, starting on the middle school track.
“Dave and I have competed quite a lot over the years, as is natural for twins to do,” said Jake Olds. “I wouldn’t call it a rivalry because he and I have different interests and have different goals in running.
“Having a brother on the team is a gift and a curse because, well, we are brothers and it’s fun to spend time together, to an extent.”
Gavin Guggemos hopes to match his brother’s success.
“It's nice to have someone to try to chase,” he said. “It's not a rivalry because he makes me want to be better.
“It's fun to train together,” Gavin continued. “My goals this year are to run in the 17s and make it to states.”
The younger Moore views it similarly.
“It’s not really a competition, although it is fun to compare times and say that you’ll catch them,” Camden said. “When it comes to times it’s fun to try to beat his when he was in my grade.”
Hayden finds motivation in his brother’s running.
“I think that it's a rivalry in that my brother races to beat my PR (personal record) at the same age and I race so that he can't beat my PR when he gets to my age,” he said. “We also have a rivalry over summer miles.”
The Guggemos and Moore brothers teamed up to run the 3,200 relay as sixth and eighth graders and then qualified for the Track & Field Finals in the 3,200 last spring as freshmen and juniors.
Brown is looking for even more success for all three pairs, but he remembers fondly the start in middle school track, especially the 3,200 relay team.
“I was very happy for them, because we thought they were a good team in middle school, and it was great to see them live up to their potential a few years later,” he said. “They were thrilled to be able to make a trip to the state meet together.”
Looking ahead, Kalkaska will host an invitational Sept. 21 after going to Elk Rapids on Sept. 16.
At Elk Rapids, the brother pairs will compete against Coach Brown’s son Seth, a sophomore. The Elks also have a brother duo – junior Caleb Kerfoot and sophomore Christian Kerfoot.
Tom 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) From left: Tyler Guggemos, Hayden Moore, Camden Moore and Gavin Guggemos make up two thirds of a Kalkaska distance running group with Cross Country Finals aspirations this fall. (Middle) Those four also filled relay spots together during middle school track. (Below) Hayden Moore (580) rounds a bend during a race. (Photos courtesy of the Kalkaska athletic department.)
Spartan Success Suggests Plenty of Possibilities as Karg Seeks Finals Redemption
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 18, 2025
Brody Karg doesn’t know how fast he can run anymore, and he’s OK with that.
In fact, it excites him.
After the pull of competition helped him to a personal best time of 15 minutes, 47.2 seconds on a tough Forest Akers East cross country course at the Spartan Invitational this past Friday, the Harbor Beach senior is adjusting his goals.
“After MSU, it seems like the sky is the limit,” Karg said. “I figured, before the season, that I’d be able to run like 15:35 by the end, but honestly, I feel like that State time, that might have been worth 15:30 if it was on a fast course in good conditions. I beat some guys that have already run 15:30 this year. I don’t know what I’m capable of. I’m trying to keep that open mind, like you really don’t know how good you are until you go out and test yourself. I think that mid 15:20s could be possible. But we’ll see.”
Karg placed sixth at MSU in the Spartan Elite division. The five runners who finished ahead of him – Brandon Cloud of Northville, Luke Hammond of Grand Haven, Jack MacGregor of Howell, Ian Morgan of Okemos and Aiden Pengelly of Canton – all earned all-state honors at the 2024 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, with four of them finishing among the top 10. And of those five, only Cloud (15:34.3) and Hammond (15:38.7) were more than three seconds ahead of Karg.
It was an improvement of 26 places and nearly 50 seconds from his Spartan Invitational performance a year ago. And that was during a year when Karg won eight of his 10 regular-season races, his Division 4 Regional and placed 16th at the MHSAA Finals at Michigan International Speedway.
“I mean, I don’t get a lot of chances like that to really show what I’ve got,” he said. “So those ones always feel a little bigger. Those bigger races always feel a little bigger for me than maybe they would for someone who (regularly sees tougher competition).
“The competition helped push me there, but I’ve also made a big jump from last year to this fitness-wise. I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in training that I haven’t been able to do in previous builds, so I knew that I was ready to make a big jump. It was just a matter of when.”
The Spartan Invitational was one of the few chances Karg has had to prove himself on one of the state’s biggest stages since that 16th-place finish a year ago, joining, most notably, the Division 4 Track & Field Finals, where he placed third in the 3,200 meters.
Third is about where he thought he could have finished at last year’s cross country Finals, too, but a near total-body shutdown as he approached the finish line thwarted that.
With about 400 meters remaining in the race, Karg said he went to make his finishing kick, but his legs wouldn’t let him.
“I was right next to another kid, ready to make my move, and I felt strong enough to make that move, so I was like, ‘OK, we’re moving,’” he said. “I went to make the move, and all of the sudden, my legs had nothing. He starts pulling away from me. I get passed by one guy, by two guys, and I’m wobbling. I can’t stay up. I went down, and then I just got back up and scrambled to the line. It took me like a half hour to get back to the tent. I did puke a couple times. It was horrible.”
To this day, Karg doesn’t know what happened. It could have been a bit of sickness or dehydration, but he said he thought he had hydrated well, and that he felt good running right up until he didn’t.
He’s taken extra precautions in how he prepares now, making sure his eating and sleeping habits are in line, along with his electrolyte intake.
“I was obviously disappointed,” he said. “I felt like I really could have gotten third. But things happen. It gave me some motivation, I guess. I came back and had a successful track season. I’m doing well this cross country season. I’m just hoping to go back to MIS and prove what I can really do.”
Meets like the one at MSU are part of Karg’s schedule to help prepare him for this year’s Finals. He’ll also run at the Portage Invitational and the DXC and Vintage 03 meet at Shepherd, which are sure to feature some of the top competitors in Division 4. Those will also give him a chance to run down the school record of 15:41, which was set in 2015 by Luke Anderson.
Karg will be heading to Portage and Shepherd on his own, but he went to MSU with his teammates. Having them compete on that stage, and getting a chance to watch Karg excel, was important for Harbor Beach coach Debbie Anderson.
“People said, ‘It’s a big venue for you, Deb. Are you sure you want to take the kids?’” Anderson said. “Absolutely I do. Where else are they going to see this during high school? Let’s take them to these big places where they can see kids do amazing things, and on Friday, it was one of our very own kids that did an amazing thing. I want them to see that. One of us shined on Friday, and it was really cool to see one of us in the elite race. We’re so proud of him.”
Anderson is on the same page as Karg in thinking the sky is the limit for him moving forward. He’s dialed in, she said, and even with high-level runners like reigning champion Mark Butkiewicz of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep in the field, she’s not putting anything past Karg.
“Can he (win the Division 4 Final)? Yes,” Anderson said. “I always say yes. My mantra is, there are no places taken. Don’t act like this guy has first place. No, it depends on how you run. You can change all the places if you want.”
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) Harbor Beach’s Brody Karg (1219) paces with Three Oaks River Valley’s Landon Rogers during last season’s Division 4 Final at MIS. (Middle) Karg charges toward the finish line. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)