Hersha Paces D4 Field for 3rd, Final Time
November 1, 2014
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Jesse Hersha is the best small-school runner in Michigan, but he's got big-time talent.
Everybody else in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 cross country meet Saturday was running for second place, as exemplified by Santana Scott's reaction when he finished as runner-up to Hersha at Michigan International Speedway.
Spotting Evart teammate Josh Woods in the finish area, Scott thrust his arms in the air and ran in his direction.
"Josh! I got second!" a delirious Scott screamed.
Hersha ran away with his third straight individual title, posting a time of 15:23.0 to narrowly miss the LP Division 4 record and win by 31.7 seconds over Scott.
Scott shattered his personal best with a time of 15:54.7.
Asked if the field was racing for second place, Scott said: "That's what I was feeling like. I didn't think I'd be able to catch him."
Hersha became only the third boy to win three championships since team and individual qualifiers began running in the same race in 1996, the first year for the LP Finals at MIS. Benzie Central's Jake Flynn won Class C from 1997-99 and Maverick Darling of Ovid-Elsie won Division 3 from 2005-07.
Four others who ran when there were separate team and individual races had the fastest time at the MHSAA Finals three times.
"When I won it my sophomore year, the first thing I thought was, 'All right, I've got to go through and do it,'" Hersha said. "It really didn't feel real until now that I'm a three-time state champion."
Hersha would be a threat to win or place high in any division in the state.
He ran his personal best of 15:07 on Sept. 12 at the Spartan Invitational, taking second to Royal Oak's Ben Hill in an elite field stacked with some of the best Division 1 runners in Michigan. He finished ahead of Waterford Mott's Ryan Robinson, who was 21st in last year's Foot Locker national meet.
"It's nice to be able to look at the state meet as low-pressure, because I feel I can win every time," said Hersha, whose next race will be the Foot Locker Midwest Regionals on Nov. 29 in Kenosha, Wis. "Obviously, if something goes wrong, I won't win. I'd honestly rather race the bigger guys, even if I don't win the race."
The only thing that didn't complete Hersha's final season at Concord was that the team didn't win its third championship in his four-year career, taking fourth with 123 points.
Fourth-ranked Beal City pulled the upset, edging top-ranked Saugatuck by four points with 105.
Senior Nick Pung was third in 16:19.3 and junior Ethan Schafer seventh in 16:33.9 to lead Beal City, which was in the MHSAA Final for only the third time. Last year's seventh-place finish was the team's best showing in a Final before Saturday.
PHOTOS: (Top) Concord's Jesse Hersha kicks down the stretch on the way to winning his third LP Division 4 individual championship. (Below) Beal City senior Nick Pung finished third individually to lead the Aggies to their first MHSAA team cross country championship. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Cardinal Mooney's Lenn, Hillsdale Academy Run to Division 4 Championships
November 4, 2023
BROOKLYN — Among the T-shirts cross country runners enjoy wearing — besides “our sport is your sport’s punishment” — are those that emphasize the importance of summer training.
“Summer miles bring fall smiles” and “Medals are earned in the summer and picked up in the fall” are among the favorites.
Marine City Cardinal Mooney senior Tyler Lenn wasn’t smiling much during the summer, because he was unable to log those all-important miles required for building an aerobic base.
He ran through injuries during track & field season before the pain became too much. He was dealing with a stress fracture, Achilles’ tendinitis and calf strains in both legs.
“Mentally, for me, it was not where I wanted to be,” Lenn said. “I don’t think anybody would want to be in that position. At the same time, there’s nothing I could have really changed about it. I made the most out of the situation, and I guess I showed that today.”
Lenn was all smiles Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, standing atop the podium after winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 individual championship.
Lenn posted a personal-best time of 15:49.0 to win by 12 seconds over Owen Patton of Vestaburg.
It was the culmination of a rocky season that began to turn around Oct. 20 when he won his league meet in 16:02.1. He ran 18:35.1 17 days earlier and 17:09.3 in his previous meet.
“I was like, ‘OK, I feel like I have a little bit of confidence in my body again,’” Lenn said. “Throughout the season, it was really rough. I would just fall apart in some races where I would trip and tweak the ankle and I would fall apart in the race mentally.”
Patton held a slight lead at the mile and two mile before Lenn laid down the hammer in the final mile.
“I think I made the right move,” Lenn said. “I just fought for positioning in the first 400 (meters), kind of held myself back a little bit to save for the end.”
Top-ranked Hillsdale Academy won the team championship, scoring 129 points to win by 70 ahead of Holland Calvary. It was the second MHSAA championship for Hillsdale Academy, which won in 2021.
Senior Thomas Holm was fourth, junior Reece Poole was fifth, sophomore Grayson Rorick was 20th, freshman Ryan Miller was 76th and sophomore Harry Lindsley was 80th for Hillsdale Academy.
PHOTOS (Top) Cardinal Mooney’s Tyler Lenn leads through the stretch of the Division 4 Final on Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Thomas Holm pushes toward a fourth-place finish that led Hillsdale Academy to a team title. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)