Lee Learns From Best, Runs To Be Next
August 18, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
FENTON — Jacob Lee attained a measure of fame last summer through his association with the No. 1 high school distance runner in the nation.
However, the Fenton High School senior gained much more from the experience than an appearance on the cover of a major national running magazine.
When Running Times profiled Grant Fisher in its September 2014 issue, his training partners shared in the glory. The cover of the magazine showed Fisher and five visible training partners doing repeats on a sledding hill at Bicentennial Park in Grand Blanc.
On the far right of the cover shot was Lee, who had trained since eighth grade with Fisher and a group of predominantly Grand Blanc runners led by coach Mike Scannell.
"That was pretty awesome, actually," Lee said. "I saw myself. I knew the article was about Grant. It's still pretty cool to be training with all those high-caliber guys."
Fisher was a two-time national Foot Locker cross country champion who won two cross country and five track and field titles in MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meets, setting the all-time Finals record of 4:00.28 in the 1,600-meter run as a senior last spring.
Fisher raised the bar incredibly high for the next generation of Michigan high school runners. Having trained daily in the offseason with Fisher, Lee had a unique front-row perspective as Fisher progressed into one of the top high school distance runners ever in this country.
Lee certainly hopes to take the lessons he learned in training with Fisher onto the cross country course this fall and the track next spring. But, beyond that, he will seek to apply lessons learned while training in Scannell's group to other areas of his life.
"It was incredible to train with Grant Fisher and all those guys up at Genesys (Athletic Club in Grand Blanc) with the level they train at," Lee said. "It's not just athletics. They strive to do great in the classroom and the community. That's what I like about it. They have household goals, academic goals. We just strive to achieve them."
One lesson that Lee has learned all on his own is that, no matter how well you've trained and how attainable your goals might appear, strange things can happen in MHSAA Finals.
He was primed to grab a top-30 spot last year after finishing 37th in the Division 1 cross country meet as a sophomore. Things were going according to plan through the mile mark before the race began to unravel for Lee. His body mysteriously betrayed him. Slowing down just a little bit can spell disaster in the Finals, as Lee discovered by dropping to 212th place out of 256 runners with a time of 17:24.3.
"I was feeling good between the first and second miles," Lee said. "I was right on pace. I was in the top 30-40 group. About the second mile, I started cramping up. I don't know what happened exactly. My back kinda tightened up, too. I couldn't move as much. My stride became super short. I'm not really sure what happened that day. I'm just making sure it's not going to happen again."
The Finals aside, it was a season in which Lee lowered his personal best from 16:13.4 as a sophomore to 15:46.75 as a junior. He broke 16 minutes twice.
“I thought the season overall was a great success,” he said. “I wish the state meet would’ve gone better, because I know my fitness level was higher than what I finished.”
Lee's shot at redemption came at the Division 1 Track and Field Finals, where he placed 13th as a sophomore in the 3,200-meter run in 9:38.78. He was peaking at the right time, running 9:23.6 on May 1 in Saline and 9:27.9 two weeks later in the regional meet.
As was the case in cross country, Lee was positioned right where he'd hoped to be. But bad things sometimes happen when so many fast feet are in close proximity. Again, disaster struck for Lee in the biggest meet of the season.
"I tripped and fell with 800 to go," Lee said. "I got spiked in the head, actually. I've still got a little bit of a mark. So, I wish that would've gone better, because I was in the top eight going into the last 800, but there's nothing you can do about that. I was right behind (Davison's) Nick Schmidt, who ended up coming in sixth."
The 5-foot-7 1/2, 122-pound Lee got to his feet and finished 21st with a time of 9:37.23.
“When I first met Jake, I thought he was someone’s younger brother who happened to be training with the team and Mike’s guys,” Fisher said. “Jake’s always been one of the smaller guys. Because of that, he has to make up for that in his work ethic and intensity at every practice. I definitely have a lot of respect for him because of that. He’s racing against guys who are 6-3, 170 or whatever. Jake’s not the biggest dude. Jake has a focus that is pretty special. He brings his all at every practice.”
While Lee no longer has the Stanford-bound Fisher to push him in training, he will have some strong talent within his own league to keep him sharp throughout the regular season.
Fenton competes in the Flint Metro League, which will feature Clio senior Ethan Taljonick and Holly senior Dilon Lemond. Taljonick finished 16th in last season’s Division 2 Final, while Lemond was 39th in Division 1.
Lee's goal is to finish among the top five at the MHSAA Finals, but along the way he hopes to emerge from that speedy trio as the Metro League champion.
"The competition is really high in our own league, so it should be a good race for the individual top spot," said Lee, whose personal best came when he won a talent-laden league jamboree at the Cummings Center in Mount Morris. "All of the league meets are pretty good competition, especially the ones with Clio and Holly. There's no slacking off when it comes to racing those guys, for sure."
Lee also will get a good daily push in practice because of a coaching change that has former Fenton all-stater Jesse Anderson in charge of the cross country program. Anderson was 11th in 2006 and 10th in 2007 at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Cross Country Finals. He still runs at a high level in road races.
“It’s going to be a huge benefit, a huge advantage for us,” Lee said. “Not only does he know what he’s talking about, but he runs. He knows all of this great stuff about running, he owns a shoe store, but he can also run with us and tell by our individual fitness what we’re capable of.”
And what is Lee capable of this season
“It’s pretty limitless, really,” said Anderson, who calls coaching Fenton his “dream job.” “We want to keep him healthy. He’s coming in with a very, very strong base. We’ll see how he responds to training.”
Lee began running in fifth grade with the encouragement of his physical education teacher at North Road Elementary in Fenton.
“We had this thing called Mileage Club at North Road,” he said. “He turned me on to that. I started running. I really liked it. I kept running every single day to get toe tokens. Once you get five miles per card, you get a token. It was a race between me and my friends to get the most tokens. You put them on a shoelace and wear them around; it’s pretty cool.”
As cool as they were back then, a medal from the MHSAA Finals on Nov. 7 would be even cooler.
And for his part, Fisher was glad to see friends like Lee make his Running Times cover.
“I was really happy they picked that picture,” Fisher said. “They were taking all these options for a cover shot. To have that group of guys on the cover was really special, because those are the guys I train with day in and day out. A lot of times, they’ll feature me or Mike.
“Jake is the younger guy, but he’s very dedicated to running. To get him on the cover and the other guys, when they first saw it and had the magazine in their hands, their reaction was pretty cool. It was definitely more special for me. I’d rather have it that way than an individual shot of me.”
Bill Khan served as a sportswriter at The Flint Journal from 1981-2011 and currently contributes to the State Champs! Sports Network. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Fenton's Jacob Lee runs with a pack during last season's MHSAA Division 1 Cross Country Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Lee, on left, turns the corner during a race at the 2013 Brighton Invitational. (Top photo by RunMichigan.com, middle by Bill Khan.)
As Race Times Fall, Centreville Sophomore's Profile Rises, Goals Grow
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
October 14, 2025
CENTREVILLE – Will Hulin reported to his first high school cross country practice last fall as a freshman at Centreville without logging any summer mileage.
Hulin's lack of preseason training wasn't his choice though.
"My left knee became inflamed, and there was a bunch of liquid in it so I wasn't able to run the entire summer,” he said. “They removed the liquid, and I was cleared to start running the day before our first practice. I went into the season without any miles under my belt."
Despite the late start in his training, it didn't take Hulin long to work himself into shape – and he blossomed into the Bulldogs' top runner with rapid success.
Hulin ended his freshman cross country season as a 2024 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals qualifier at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where he achieved a then personal-best time of 16:56.1 – good enough for 83rd place.
Also a guard on the Bulldogs' basketball team, Hulin additionally competes in track & field. Last spring he was part of Centreville's Finals-qualifying 3200-meter relay team. He also competes in the 1,600, 800 and 3,200-meter races.
"I missed going to state in the 1,600 by a half second,” Hulin said. “My success in track last spring helped get me prepared for my sophomore season in cross country. The sprints we do in basketball practice, I feel, make me a strong sprinter at the end of my track and cross country races.”
Hulin spent most of June attending open gyms and lifting weights for basketball. He increased his daily mileage base and attended a summer running camp at Grand Valley State University a few weeks before the start of this cross country season.
"At the cross country camp we had our toughest workouts of the day at 6 a.m. every morning. After breakfast, lunch and some free time we'd do further training in the afternoon,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. We had guest speakers come in and talk to us about nutrition, proper running shoes and mechanics to help improve us as runners. I found the nutrition part most beneficial because I learned what kind of food you need to have in your body before and after a run."
Will's parents, Shawn and Kim Hulin, are both former runners who later coached track & field in Centreville at the high school and middle school levels.
"I was always at practice with them every day when I was younger, so running was kind of born into me," Hulin said.
Fifth-year Centreville cross country coach Alicia Schmidtendorff stated that Hulin has some big goals he’s been working to attain since he joined the program back in middle school.
"Will has been running fantastic times this fall. He ran in some different races over the summer and came into this season with the mindset of going after some school records and placing among the top runners in the state. Last year he had to deal with a few injuries, so this is an exciting time for him,' said Schmidtendorff, who ran at Three Rivers High School and Spring Arbor University.
Centreville has more depth, especially on its boys team this season, prompting the Bulldogs to set a team goal of qualifying for the Finals. The Bulldogs' roster numbers 16 runners on the boys side and 13 on the girls.
"Our goal this year is to qualify as a team for state, and we might still accomplish that. It helps to have other guys with the same goals as I have. It pushes me to run faster and do whatever I can to help our team,” Hulin said. “I've been around most of these guys since elementary school. Our coaches have a good workout program for us every week. Everyone makes things fun at practice, and that's always enjoyable."
A quick start during the first mile of every race is a big part of Hulin's strategy.
"I always run my fastest in that first mile and it fades off from there, which I think is typical for most people,” Hulin said. “I like somewhat hilly courses, like the Big Hill Invite at Meyer-Broadway Park in Three Rivers. I really enjoyed that course because this year I was in better shape."
Hulin has turned in consistent times all season as the Bulldogs prepare for their most important meets over the next few weeks. Centreville’s No. 1 runner has finished first in eight of the Bulldogs' 13 races, including winning all three Southwest 10 Conference jamborees. He finished third in the Division 3 boys race at the prestigious Portage Invite on Oct. 4 with at time of 16:12.5. He clocked his all-time personal-best with a fourth-place time of 16:03.8 on Aug. 27 at the Southwest Michigan Rustbuster XC Invite at the Warner Camp in Grand Junction.
"It's been exciting to see Will's mental and physical growth as a runner this season. He's a very driven person who puts the work in on his own schedule along with what we're doing in practice,” Schmidtendorff said. “Will is very good at communicating how much he's able or not able to handle during workouts. I like knowing as a coach where my athletes are (in terms of) what they are capable of handling each day."
"We have a lot of seniors who are great leaders, but also great racers,” she added. “There are also several young runners who have strong work ethics, and our upperclassmen have been very welcoming to them. This group knows they have to be competitive not only with opposing racers but also with people on their own team. It’s been beneficial to Will to have other guys on his team who can push him in practice. Everyone has their strong suits, and they know what it takes to get the job done. It's a team effort, and we have a coaching staff that has a competitive mindset."
Hulin's goals for the remainder of this season include winning his Regional, qualifying for MIS, earning all-state honors with a top-30 Finals finish, and breaking Logan Weis' 2022 school-record time of 16:01.9 in the 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) race.
"I just try and run as fast as I can every race. I'm chasing Logan's record every meet and getting close to breaking the 16-minute barrier and getting into the high 15s," Hulin said. "It would be really cool to win Regionals as a sophomore. I don't think that many people are aware of me yet."
Hulin feels his biggest strengths as a distance runner are his determination and endurance.
"I always approach every race with some sort of strategy depending on who I'm running against,” he said. “I already know most of the guys I am competing against, so I just try to plan out my strengths to work against their weaknesses.”
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Centreville’s Will Hulin sprints the closing stretch Oct. 4 at the Portage Invitational. (Middle) Centreville cross country coach Alicia Schmidtendorff, left, is pictured with Hulin at the school's Fall Sports Media Day. (Below) Hulin stretches out prior to the start of the Division 3 boys race at Portage. (Race photos by Scott Hassinger. Media day photo courtesy of the Centreville athletic department.)