Concord's Hersha Matches Heroes
November 3, 2012
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Jesse Hersha has already done something his running role models never accomplished, but that doesn’t lessen the sense of awe he has for past Concord state champions Kyle Stacks and Spencer Nousain.
Hersha became Concord’s third individual MHSAA champion in the last four years, but the first to do so as a sophomore, as he cruised alone up front to take the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway with a personal-best time of 15:32.3. His performance led Concord to a second consecutive team title.
Stacks won the 2009 championship in 15:54.8, followed by Nousain two years later in 15:55.8. Both were seniors when they won.
“I’m always fighting to beat Spencer’s times and Kyle’s times,” said Hersha, who was a teammate of Nousain’s on last season’s championship team. “Today I was three seconds or so off Kyle’s best time.
“They are definitely a push for me. They inspire me. Even if I beat their times, I’ll never think of myself as more than them. They’ll always be a role model to me.”
Hersha ran alone up front, winning by 20.5 seconds over David Zinger of Evart. Sean Kelly of Saugatuck was third in 15:58.9.
Hersha placed 19th at last year's Final, ninth among non-seniors. It was during the summer road race season that he began to get the confidence that he could become an MHSAA champion.
“I ran a road race without much training in 17:04 or something,” Hersha said. “My coach came to me after that and told me when Spencer won his senior year, he ran like 16:50 something at that race. When Kyle won his senior year, he ran 16:50 something.”
Nousain was the only senior in Concord’s Finals lineup last year, so the Yellow Jackets were favored to repeat. They did so handily by a 61-100 margin over Evart.
Freshman Josiah Ottolini was 11th in 16:23.0, senior Parker Saenz 14th in 16:27.0, senior Tyler Neu 18th in 16:29.7 and senior Sam Comden 47th in 17:05.4 to complete Concord’s scoring.
PHOTO: Concord's Jesse Hersha became the third MHSAA individual champion from Concord. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Charlevoix Championship Tradition Reborn with Team, Individual Finals Sweep
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The Charlevoix boys cross country dynasty took place decades before Hunter Eaton was born, but that history is never far from him and his teammates.
“You think of those guys and all the history and we’ve got to start it back up a little bit,” Eaton said. “We’ve got to keep up with it.”
Consider Charlevoix’s tradition revived.
The Red Rayders clinched their first MHSAA Finals championship since winning seven Class C titles during a 10-year span from 1982-91 by emerging victorious in a three-way battle Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Charlevoix scored 131 points to win by seven over Lansing Catholic. Jackson Lumen Christi was third with 143.
In the process, Eaton became the first Charlevoix boy to win an MHSAA Finals individual championship since two-time winner Scott Miller won the Class C team race in 1989. Eaton finished in 15:30.8 to win by three seconds over Gage Hoffman of Central Montcalm.
The Red Rayders did their alumni proud.
The team even has a Drenth, junior Maxwell Drenth, who continues a family lineage. Walt Drenth coached at Charlevoix in the 1980s and is the former coach at Michigan State University.
“We have Walt Drenth come talk to us every year,” Eaton said. “He’s our coach’s brother. They had a brother, Jeff Drenth, who passed away. We have another guy who came to us last summer, Bill Taylor (from the 1982 and 1983 championship teams). He’s a really good guy. We also have some other alumni who come. It’s very motivating, because they want to see us do well.”
Eaton was in a three-way battle with Hoffman and Christian Craanen of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central through two miles, as the runners were separated by one second. Eaton opened up a four-second lead during the third mile and had enough left to win a kick to the finish.
“It was just like, ‘I’ve got to go,’” Eaton said. “I don’t care how I feel. I’ve just got to run right through the line. I was getting tired though. If there was another 100 (meters), I don’t know.”
Eaton was ninth last year and 42nd as a freshman. Had he continued on his original path, he might have been playing football for Charlevoix this fall instead of running cross country.
“I started running in fifth grade,” Eaton said. “I played Pop Warner football in fourth grade. The coach told my dad I’d be a good cross country runner. My dad made me think about cross country, and I did. It obviously worked out. I’m glad I chose this sport.”
Ryder Hopkins was 10th in 15:58.4, Matthew Solomon 19th in 16:10.2, Drenth 57th in 16:36.5 and Aurie Selph 119th in 17:12.2 for Charlevoix.
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton approaches the finish line first in the Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) The Rayders’ Ryder Hopkins (995) leads a group down the stretch including Jackson Lumen Christi’s Gibson Shore (1045) and Centreville’s Will Hulin (2015). (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)