Holland Calvary Christian Boys Repeat in Record-Tying Fashion
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2026
BROOKLYN – Holland Calvary Christian boys cross country coach Richard Laninga knew his team had a chance to not only repeat as Lower Peninsula Division 4 champion Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, but make history.
He just didn’t tell his runners the second part.
Calvary finished with 35 points to claim its second-straight title and tie the Finals record for lowest team score.
“It kind of crossed my mind a little bit, but we didn’t really focus on that,” Laninga said. “We just kind of felt like if we came in and we emptied the tank and ran our best, we’d just accept whatever result we got out of that. But I did think it was possible, I just never told the boys.”
Calvary’s 35 points matched Wyoming Potter’s House Christian’s 2022 race, and bested a very dangerous Breckenridge team that placed two of its runners among the top 40 team-connected competitors.
But Calvary had five of the top 11 team scorers on the day, which was simply too much for the Huskies to overcome.
“It’s crazy,” said Calvary senior Noah Schipper, who led the team by finishing fifth overall and scored two points for his team at 16 minutes, 3.7 seconds. “Coming into it, we weren’t even thinking about (tying the record). We knew there were some good teams out there and that we had to do our best. All I could see was a Breckenridge guy in front of me and one behind me. They ran a great race. I was just trying to do my best and trust that (my teammates) would do their best.”
All five Calvary runners finished in the top 15 overall, as Christian Getz was seventh (fourth among team competitors) at 16:06.1, Brody VanTuinen was 12th (eighth) at 16:31.9, Gibson White was 14th (10th) at 16:38.7 and Reagan Downing was 15th (11th) at 16:41.1.
Owen Ledebuhr was 17th at 16:44.8 to also finish all-state, and seventh runner Linkon Utter finished just two places outside of the podium, finishing 32nd at 17:02.9
While Calvary Christian was running away with the team title, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian’s Lincoln Laansma was running away with the individual crown.
The junior led wire to wire and finished off his school’s first Finals title with a 15:50.6, five seconds ahead of Breckenridge’s Anthony Rowe running second at 15:55.6.
“I felt pretty good the first mile, but with the wind and stuff that second mile, it just killed me,” Laansma said. “I know it’s going to sound crazy, because I was way far off, but I was hoping to try and hit (Marek Butkiewicz of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep’s Division 4 Finals record of 15:09.7 set in 2024), but I just didn’t have it. I maintained the pace for 1K, but then I just fell off after that.”
Laansma was running essentially by himself throughout the race, as he had already opened up a 10-15 meter lead after the first 400.
“I had my coach toward the end of the second mile and he said, ‘Hey, you have a 40-50 yard gap,’” Laansma said. “I knew they were going to start upping the pace, so I knew I had to push it. That’s what I did at the end and luckily was able to come away with the win.”
Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central’s Abram Fettig was third in 16:00.5, with Elias Baldwin of Decatur finishing fourth at 16:02.9. Schipper rounded out the top five.
PHOTOS (Top) Calvary’s Noah Schipper (1204) chases Mesick’s Kyle Redman during the final stretch of the Division 4 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Christian Getz (1202) leads another group toward the finish. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
One Mora Chance To Finish On Top
November 2, 2012
Mr. Competitive got the nickname from his fourth grade teacher, and he still loves to win.
He's enjoyed that feeling more times than most over the last three years. But Connor Mora nearly made a decision that would’ve deprived the state’s cross country community of its fastest runner this season.
Soccer was a serious contender for Mora’s talents as he contemplated what fall sport to play as a freshman. Not until the end of June that summer did the now-senior decide to join Cedar Springs’ cross country team instead.
“I’ve thought about it a lot, where my life would be if I chose to play soccer. I don’t know where I’d be right now,” he said.
And the rest is history. Or can become so today.
A Second Half High 5 recipient this week, Mora will run in his fourth and final MHSAA cross country championship race at Michigan International Speedway, and is expected to lead the pack.
To answer Mora’s question, had he chosen option two, he might have just finished patrolling the Redhawks’ midfield. He was “all right” at soccer and played it through middle school. But that’s when he also decided to run cross country with some friends who were joining the team.
Great call. Fast forward to Nov. 7, 2009, when he ran a 16:23.4 at MIS. He finished 15th at the Division 2 Final and was the fastest freshman in that race. Only Lake Orion’s T.J. Carey (16:18.2) was faster among freshmen from all four divisions.
In 2010, Mora cut his Finals time to 15:39. He finished fifth in Division 2 and was the fastest sophomore in any race by five seconds.
Last season he ran a 15:33.2 at MIS, good for third in Division 2 behind two seniors. And he was again second-fastest in his grade on the day, with only Carey in Division 1 edging him by a second.
So it makes sense that Mora enters his final high school cross country race with the fastest time in the state this fall by 11 seconds after breaking the 15-minute milestone with a 14:54 at his Regional a week ago.
That time broke his personal best by 20 seconds and the Cedar Springs school record by seven.
"The exciting thing for me as a coach was being able to call off his time with maybe 200 or 300 meters to go. That’s one of my styles; I’m not at the finish line, I’m away from the finish line letting them know where they’re at,” Cedar Springs coach Ted Sabinas said. “When I called out his time, I could see he instantly knew what that meant. He had put on an amazing 800 anyway to separate himself from Clark Ruiz (of Big Rapids). When he knew he had a chance to break into the 14s, that look on his face, that effort he put in, it was something to see.”
Breaking into the 14s for a high school runner is comparable to a running back rushing for 2,000 yards or a basketball player scoring 2,000 points in a career. It’s done on occasion, but only by the very best.
Sabinas has coached cross country at the school for 28 years. He’s watched the program emerge from its beginnings to an MHSAA team title contender, and he told Mora earlier this week that he remembers vividly when his all-time top runner broke into the 16s for the first time, and then the 15s too.
But he’s become memorable for more. Mora won MHSAA track championships in the 1,600 and 800 this spring, and owns the school 1,600 record of 4:09. He’s a 3.8 student and a leader who pulled in even his youngest teammates and helped them to feel included. Mora remembers the runners who pushed him when he was a freshman, and works to supply the same influence now.
“Certainly his times stick out. But it’s his nature and his personality,” Sabinas said. “He’s a leader on the team with his actions. He leads by the way he presents himself in practice. He doesn’t take an easy day. He leads in the classroom. We’ve got a close-knit group of kids here, and he leads the way.”
That will be the goal today. Mora has finished lower than first only once this season, nearly two months ago.
“My drive to win, that’s really what drives me. I don’t want to sound full of myself or anything, but I just want to be the best,” Mora said. “I want to set an example mostly for others coming up, who are in that position, and I want to give them someone to look up to.”
PHOTO: Cedar Springs' Connor Mora (left) rounds a turn during last season's Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway.