Engadine Cross Country Gets Fast Start
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 18, 2015
MANISTIQUE — Twenty-eight years had passed since Engadine High School was last represented in cross country.
The year was 1987, when Deren Pershinski captured the Upper Peninsula Class D championship as the Eagles’ lone representative.
Things are different this year, as the Eagles have a full team for the first time in school history.
Engadine brought five girls to Wednesday’s Manistique Invitational, where the Eagles gained runner-up honors with 53 points. Munising won with 29.
Freshman Mickaela Deace was Engadine’s pacesetter in fifth place, covering the 3.1-mile course in 25 minutes, 49 seconds.
“Personally, I didn’t want to go out for cross country at first,” she said. “I had never been to a cross country meet in my life before this year. Some of my friends convinced me to come out, and this has been a good experience. The first practice was hard, but after that they got easier. There’s a lot of communication among us. We all get along.”
All of the team’s practices begin at 6:30 a.m. The school has 85 students, and some are pulling double duty to take part in cross country as well as another sport.
“My challenge is getting everybody to one spot at the same time,” said coach Tracy Germain. “We have volleyball and football players on the team. That’s why we run early in the morning. We want to avoid conflicts.”
Instead, adding the sport has increased an already impressive level of participation. During the 2014-15 school year, 71 percent of the student body participated in at least one varsity sport. There were seven athletes who previously did not participate in a fall sport who now run cross country (the school also added sideline cheerleading this season, and six more students who also previously didn't participate in a fall sport have joined that squad.)
"I am also the student service coordinator and believe strongly that students who are involved in something bigger than themselves fare better in school and in life," Engadine athletic director Deb DeWyse said. "Engadine is working to get as many students involved as we can responsibly and financially."
This was only the second cross country meet for the Eagles, who opened Sept. 2 in the Northwoods Invitational at Pickford.
Freshman Beth Haney placed sixth (25:59) despite feeling under the weather at the end of Wednesday’s race.
“I got lightheaded and it felt like I was going to pass out,” she said. “Except for that, the race went good. The course at Pickford is pretty hilly. Our first race was hard and challenging, but it probably helped me for today.”
Classmate Abby Germain followed in seventh (26:20), rounding out Engadine’s top 10 finishers.
“This has been hard, but it has also been a good experience,” Abby Germain said. “You want to push yourself to do your best. This meet was a lot easier because it was cooler over here. The breeze helped a lot. It was warm and humid at Pickford. I was nervous before the meet at Pickford because I didn’t know what to expect. It felt good to get the first one in.”
Junior Keegan Nance, who transferred from a small Christian school in Manistique last year, led the Engadine boys in ninth (21:43). The Eagles have nine boys on their roster.
“This is quite a learning experience,” he said. “We had one cross country meet a year at our Christian school, which hardly compares with this. There’s a lot of competition for us now, which is good. The practices were hard at first. Getting up early was probably the hardest part for me, but now I’m used to it.”
The Engadine boys finished fourth on Wednesday with 71 points. Rapid River won the meet on a sixth-runner tie-breaker.
“Many of these kids didn’t really know what cross country was before now,” said coach Germain. “Retired coach Jim Beck has been helping me. He comes to some of our practices and gives me advice when I need it. I couldn’t do this without him. I can’t say enough about the kids and their dedication and work ethic. These are brave kids. Our seniors Hannah French and Nick Price have shown great leadership.”
The Eagles resume Monday in the first leg of the Eastern U.P. Conference Jamboree at Pickford. The season concludes with the Upper Peninsula Finals on Oct. 24 at Gladstone.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Engadine girls, in jerseys with green and gold, run with a pack during the Northwoods Invitational at Pickford this season. (Middle) There are 14 runners representing the Eagles this fall, some who also play other fall sports.
Concord Multi-Sport Standout Begins Senior Run to Finish Career with 20 Letters
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
August 20, 2026
It’s only August but Concord senior Haley Stimer has her mind on the softball season that starts in March – eight months from now.
“I don't know if we're going to have enough people,” she said. “I'm kind of worried about our numbers.”
For Stimer, having a softball season is how she will finish her career with a stunning 20 letters over her four years of high school. She enters her senior year with 15 varsity letters already on her jacket.
“It took a little bit to get into figuring out how to manage my time,” she said. “I feel like I’m pretty good at it now with communicating with teachers and coaches and everything.”
Stimer runs cross country and plays golf in the fall, plays basketball in the winter and dual-sports between track and softball in the spring. Except for a little bit of JV basketball her freshman season, she’s been on varsity teams her entire high school career.
“I guess I’ve just always played all of the sports,” she said. “When I was younger, I played basketball and softball and golf once in a while. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into my freshman year.”
With the blessing of Concord athletic director Matt Lehman and all of her coaches, Stimer has set forth a remarkable career of steady success and showing up for everything possible.
“She is one of our top athletes in each sport,” Lehman said. “I've been at Concord for 33 years, and I don't recall anyone even close to (20 letters).”
Her cross country and golf coaches often coordinate practice times. In the spring, she floats between track and softball with ease.
“They have been really accommodating with what time we need to have practices,” Stimer said of Concord golf coach Mike Bauman. “He normally bumps it back until whenever we finish cross country.
“It can be a lot to figure out,” she added. “I have to watch practice times a lot, just to be sure. The hardest is probably with golf because there are days when you have to miss the entire school day for a meet.”
The Yellow Jackets currently have just two golfers on the girls team. The season began Tuesday at the East Jackson Scramble, and Stimer and teammate Mya Barrett combined to shoot an 82 and finish among the top 10. Unfortunately, they don’t have enough girls on the team to score in dual meets.
“It’s hard to get girls out for golf,” Stimer said. “My sophomore year there were only four of us, and the other three girls were seniors. Last year I had to find three more girls that would do it and two of them were seniors, so now it's just me and one other girl (Barrett).”
Stimer has been part of some outstanding basketball teams at Concord. Over the last three seasons Concord has won 66 games, two league titles, three District titles, two Regional titles and played in the 2025 Division 4 Semifinals when she started and stayed on the court all 32 minutes in a 34-24 loss to Ewen-Trout Creek.
Stimer admitted she’s never been a fan of running, but that hasn’t slowed her down. She qualified for the 3,200 and as part of the 3,200 relay for the spring’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. She led off the relay team that would finish fourth in 10:01.31, helping the Yellow Jackets finish seventh as a team at the meet.
Last fall she placed 29th at the LPD4 Cross Country Finals. As a freshman she was all-state in cross country, placing 13th with a time of 19:31.1, her personal best to date.
At one time basketball was her favorite sport, but she said she’s taking a stronger liking to golf recently. She might try golf in college. She has no idea at this point what she might want to study, although she said she is really strong in math and likes English. She finished her junior year at the top of her class with a GPA above 4.0.
Stimer, 17, has a younger brother who is going to be a sophomore this year and a sister, Hannah, who is a sophomore in college. The daughter of Bart and Kiersten said her parents and her sister often inspired her in athletics.
“I kind of followed in her footsteps because of all of the sports she did,” Stimer said.
Stimer admits there are some nerves starting her senior year. She’s on the Concord student council and National Honor Society and last year volunteered with some groups in school. Through a leadership class she helped organize a basketball camp for Concord elementary students. This year she is adding something else to the mix – she will be dual-enrolling at Jackson College, her first dive into college courses.
“I’ve taken AP courses, but not college before,” she said.
There’s a lot on her plate, she said, but she is still excited.
“I'm nervous because it's going to be a lot, I think, but I've always done it, so, I know I can do it this year too.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Concord’s Haley Stimer (1171) approaches the finish line during last season’s LPD4 championship race at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Stimer passes the ball during a basketball game against Hillsdale Academy. (Top photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com. Middle photo courtesy of Joseph Miller/JTV. Head shot courtesy of the Concord athletic department.)