Otsego Ace, Chelsea Outpace D2 Field
November 3, 2018
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — When Alex Comerford of Otsego decided it was go time, the race was over.
Nobody else in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final field could muster a response to Comerford’s 4:49.11 second-mile surge, one which turned a close race at the mile into a 2.1-mile victory lap for the champion.
Comerford made all-state for the fourth time, but for the first time as the winner, when he crossed the line Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in 15:23.6.
East Grand Rapids junior Evan Bishop was second in 15:35.2.
“It’s awesome,” Comerford said. “I couldn’t ask for any better people to do it with. All of my teammates, we’ve come so far this year from where we started. We have so many young guys.”
Comerford is the only senior on an Otsego team that finished fifth. Two freshmen and a sophomore scored for the Bulldogs.
At the mile mark, Comerford and James Gedris of Grosse Ile came through together in 4:51, five seconds up on the chase pack. It was time for a gear shift.
“I don’t always have the last half mile the other guys do,” Comerford said. “I really had to make a hard move with two miles to go. I felt like I could sustain that pace for a long time. I’m happy with the way it turned out.”
Comerford won 12 out of 13 races this fall, finishing fourth in the Spartan Elite race on Sept. 14. He finished behind Division 1 champion Nick Foster of Ann Arbor Pioneer, Division 4 champion Corey Gorgas of Saugatuck and Gedris.
In his career, Comerford finished 13th, ninth, second and first at the Division 2 meet.
Bishop was thrilled with his finish after placing 61st in Division 1 last year and 22nd in Division 2 as a freshman.
“Going into the race, I was expecting maybe best-case scenario third place today, because Gedris is very good from Grosse Ile, and Alex obviously,” Bishop said. “Those two have always had a decent size gap on me. In the second mile, I saw Gedris coming back to me. Alex was out of the picture, at that point. Gedris was kind of coming back. I was like, “I can get him.’ I put in a little tempo there over the middle mile and used that momentum to the finish.”
A year after winning its first MHSAA Finals championship, Chelsea repeated with 121 points. Fremont was second with 134.
The Bulldogs put together two distinct packs to pull out the victory. Senior Carson Rabbitt (11th, 16:15.8), senior Foster Thorburn (12th, 16:17.0) and junior Will Scott (14th, 16:18.4) finished within 2.6 seconds of each other in the first group. Juniors Zander Hartsuff (56th, 16:55.0) and Joseph Norwood (65th, 16:58.3) were 3.3 seconds apart to complete Chelsea’s scoring.
PHOTOS: (Top) Otsego’s Alex Comerford (325), Grosse Ile’s James Gedris (285) and Corunna’s Ben Jacobs (227) lead a pack of runners during an early stretch of Saturday’s Division 2 Final. (Middle) Chelsea’s Carson Rabbitt sprints to lead team champ Chelsea’s finishers. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Kettle Paces Milford Past Familiar Field
November 3, 2012
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
BROOKLYN — Brian Kettle came away with a couple of battle scars to go with his MHSAA championship medal Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
The Milford junior was bleeding from both knees as he crossed the finish line in the Lower Peninsula Division 1 cross country race with a time of 15:07.3.
Midway through the race, Kettle took a tumble that scraped both of his knees. He got up quickly, but lost ground to a fast lead pack. He patiently took a half mile to catch back up, then made a decisive move with 300 meters remaining to beat runner-up T.J. Carey of Lake Orion by 2.1 seconds.
Kettle made sure he didn’t panic when the unexpected happened in the biggest race of the year.
“I knew I had to stay relaxed; things happen,” he said. “I didn’t let anyone else get too far ahead of me, so I took my time catching back up and tried to run even. It was just enough to scrape the ground and come back up. I was moving forward the whole time.”
Once Kettle regained contact with the lead group, it was time to determine when to make his move. The 2012 Division 1 1,600-meter champion in track and field launched his kick with 300 meters to go down the straightaway in front of the main grandstand at MIS.
His thoughts?
“I’ve got a shot at it,” he recalled. “If I run a solid next 200, I’ve got it in the books.”
The top four runners, as well as seven of the top 10, were from Oakland County. That sense of familiarity was a plus for Kettle.
“A lot of these guys I see in earlier meets throughout the year,” he said. “It was great competing against them at that time, and it’s great coming here with all of them and finding out who’s the fastest.”
Making Kettle’s victory even sweeter was that it led Milford to the team championship. The Mavericks scored 83 points for a comfortable winning margin over Waterford Mott, which had 167. Rockford was third with 186.
All five of Milford’s scoring runners broke 16 minutes. Senior Cody Snavely was fourth in 15:16.7, senior Chris Housel 31st in 15:46.3, senior Matt Graves 33rd in 15:47.6 and junior Kevin Black 42nd in 15:54.9 to complete Milford’s scoring.
Kettle credited his teammates for helping him become an MHSAA champion, as some of his toughest races take place in practice.
“It’s a huge advantage having a good team,” Kettle said. “I love everyone we run with. We’re good friends, even out of the practices. Being able to push each other during races makes it all the better. We’ve got the best training partners in the world.”
Click for full results.
PHOTO: Milford's Brian Kettle (70) runs amid a sizable pack during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)