Jacobs, Corunna Finish Title Quests
November 5, 2016
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN – Noah Jacobs’ race was done, but the job wasn’t finished.
Not by a long shot.
So, he took zero time to soak in the moment after he won the MHSAA Division 2 individual cross country championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Instead, he turned around and kept a close eye on the runners finishing behind him, hoping to see the white Corunna singlets not too far back.
The first teammate he greeted was his sophomore brother, Ben, who finished eighth in 16:01.8.
Before long, he would be reunited with the rest of his teammates. When the places were added up, not only did Jacobs win an individual championship, but he led his school to the team title.
Corunna beat reigning champion Fremont, 92-99, for its first MHSAA championship since 1997.
With his time of 15:28.0, Jacobs joined 1998 winner Jared Aldrich as the only Corunna boys to win the individual title. He won by 12 seconds over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior Brendan Fraser.
“I came into the stadium, and the wind was in my face,” said Jacobs, who recently committed to run for the University of Wisconsin. “It was a battle that last mile, it really was. It was one of the harder races I ever ran. The course was a little bit soft; it wasn’t exactly ideal. I’m proud. I gave it everything I had, and my team gave it everything they had. That’s all you can ask for. What I take away from it is it’s a great last race in my Corunna jersey.”
The cross country championship has eluded Jacobs, who has two MHSAA Division 2 track and field titles in the 3,200-meter run on his resume. He was 56th as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and second to two-time champion Morgan Beadlescomb of Algonac as a junior.
Jacobs has a personal best of 15:00 in cross country and 8:55.57 in the 3,200, so he had hoped to put his name among the all-time greats who have ever run at MIS. That plan changed when he saw that rain from earlier in the week turned portions of the course into slop.
“Originally, I wanted to run in the 14s,” Jacobs said. “But running the warmup on the course and figuring everything out, it wasn’t worth my time to go out and only think about time. It wasn’t going to be beneficial. It was just going to end in a day I felt I could do more.”
Even with the graduation of Jacobs, Corunna should be well-positioned to repeat next year.
The Cavaliers ran only two seniors Saturday, the other No. 5 man Kyle Mesh. There might even be a future individual champion in the Jacobs household.
Ben Jacobs was fourth among non-seniors and the second sophomore in Division 2. His time was only 5.2 seconds slower than Noah ran as a sophomore at MIS.
“He was one of two guys who PR’d today,” Noah said. “He ran awesome. A lot of people in Michigan don’t know Ben that well. Ben’s a sophomore this year. He has a lot of big things coming. He’s faster in the mile (as a sophomore), but in the 5K he’s a little behind me, but we’re close.”
With junior Dakota Hundley placing 25th in 16:24.5, Corunna had three all-staters. The top 30 make all-state.
Sophomore Charlie Bruckman was 50th in 16:44.2 and Mesh was 52nd in 16:46.4 to round out Corunna’s scoring.
Fremont has won eight MHSAA championships, but was trying to repeat for the first time. Grand Rapids Christian finished third with 139 points.
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Corunna’s Noah Jacobs charges toward the finish for his first MHSAA cross country title. (Middle) Ben Jacobs (296), Noah’s brother, finished eighth to help the Cavaliers to their first team title since 1997, while Otsego's Alex Comerford (392) also posted a top-10 finish. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Solgot Realizes Championship Potential, Working to Become Michigan's Best
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 30, 2026
MACOMB — For Macomb L’Anse Creuse North junior Xavier Solgot, last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Finals were about more than just where he finished.
Sure, Solgot was thrilled to nearly crack the top 10, placing 11th and finishing as the top underclassman at the meet.
But more than the result, his performance was a personal revelation revealing what kind of runner he can become.
“It gave me a lot of confidence and just showed I can stick with those top guys,” Solgot said. “Last year, I came in and I didn’t think I was going to be up there that much. I feel like my goal was just to get all-state. Getting 11th was more than I expected. Going into this year, it showed me that I can push through what my expectations are for myself.”
Solgot has certainly pushed to even better things so far this fall. Last month, Solgot broke his own school record, clocking a time of 15.02. He also repeated as champion at the Macomb County meet on Oct. 17, finishing nearly a full minute ahead of the second-place finisher with a time of 15:22.9.
Barring anything unforeseen at the Regional on Friday at Algonac, Solgot should qualify for next week’s Finals and enter on the short list of individual Division 1 title contenders.
“I’m not as worried about place this year as I was last year,” Solgot said. “I think that I just want to push myself as much as I can. Just give it everything and just stay with the top guys as long as I can. Last year, I think I was third at the mile (marker). This year, I think I can stick with them longer.”
Solgot said he first got into cross country when he was in sixth grade after being “peer pressured” by friends to get into the sport, but said a turning point came when he was running a meet during eighth grade.
“In eighth grade, we had a Regional meet and I took my (2-mile) PR from 12:00 to an 11:31, and then I realized I could be pretty good at this and I should start training more in the offseason,” he said.
This season, Solgot looks to be in even better form, and for more reasons than just being a year older and stronger.
For one, he said he prioritizes being fresh each day.
“I’m always getting about 10 hours of sleep every night and making sure I’m well-rested before starting to train,” he said.
Two, Solgot said he has remedied an issue that plagued him during track season when he ran the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.
“I found out at the beginning of cross season that I was very deficient on iron,” he said. “That is kind of why I did so bad at the end of the season of my track year. I’ve been taking iron supplements, and every day I feel better than the last day.”
Finally, Solgot said he has made sure to fully optimize his mental outlook going into each race.
“I’ve kind of changed my perspective going into races,” he said, noting he has upped his training by five miles per week this season. “I used to be nervous, and then I started seeing a sports psychologist to feel less nervous and more prepared for the race. Not be so anxious.”
It’s all made for a terrific junior season, and going into the final week, Solgot and the rest of the state know he belongs among the top echelon of Division 1 contenders.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) L’Anse Creuse North’s Xavier Solgot runs with a pack toward the finish of last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Solgot holds up his medal after this season’s Macomb County championship meet. (Finals photo by RunMichigan.com. County awards photo provided by Solgot.)