Sumner Sets Pace in Breckenridge Sweep
November 2, 2019
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN – Getting beat by Coleman Clark occasionally last year only made Mason Sumner a stronger runner.
Sumner, a sophomore at Breckenridge, competes regularly against Clark, a junior from Carson City-Crystal, because both schools are in the Mid-State Activities Conference.
They took their individual rivalry to the biggest stage in the state Saturday, dueling for the championship in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at Michigan International Speedway.
Sumner got the best of Clark this time, winning in 16:07.5. Clark was second in 16:16.8. A year ago, Clark took fifth in 16:22.7, just ahead of Sumner, who was sixth in 16:23.0.
“It’s nice to have that competition there,” Sumner said. “Last year, it was definitely back and forth a lot. He had the edge last year in wins. I built up my experience in racing and was able to win more this year. It’s nice to have that in earlier races and every race in the season, because then you’re used to it by state. You don’t get nervous and stuff.”
Clark, who was the conference champion as a freshman, welcomes the challenge from Sumner.
“It’s really nice having that competition at every meet,” Clark said. “When I was a freshman, he was in eighth grade, so my conference meets were really easy. I didn’t have competition. When he came up last year, I’ve had a lot of competition in conference meets. It pushes me to be better.”
Sumner and Clark sat back while Carlos Gascho of Johannesburg-Lewiston set the early pace. They pulled ahead at the two-mile mark, then Sumner made his move a half mile later.
“It went how I wanted it to go,” Sumner said. “I wanted to just sit there and kick. It was going to come down to who could kick at the end.”
Sumner led Breckenridge to its first MHSAA championship since the Huskies won Class C in 1976.
Breckenridge scored 72 points, while runner-up Unionville-Sebewaing had 131.
Colttion Vine was 10th among team runners in 16:56.9, Trent Carter 14th in 17:07.2, Ashton Gillis 19th in 17:15.4 and Colton Chovanec 28th in 17:33.8 for the Huskies.
PHOTOS: (Top) Breckenridge’s Mason Sumner (585) begins his move ahead of Carson City-Crystal’s Coleman Clark, Johannesburg-Lewiston’s Carlos Gascho and Webberville’s Nathan Lott. (Middle) Colttion Vine keeps pace as Breckenridge’s second runner to earn a top-10 finish. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
Jazwinski Clinches with Closing Kick, Powers Claims 1st Title Since 1999
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Whitehall junior Bobby Jazwinski had an unexpected guest watching the biggest moment of his cross country career.
The day before winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 individual championship, Jazwinski saw a familiar face in the family’s kitchen.
It was his sister Jessica, who won two Finals championships and set the girls Division 3 record of 17:08.8 in 2023.
The unusual thing about bumping into his sister in their own home was that she was supposed to still be at school at North Carolina State where she runs for the Wolfpack.
“She was making breakfast,” Jazwinski said. “I was like, ‘What are you doing here?’”
There was no way his sister was going to miss her little brother’s big moment, especially after he had to sit out last season because of the MHSAA transfer rule when he switched from Hart to Whitehall.
Their father slipped out Thursday night to pick up Jessica from the airport.
“I knew she was going to come back home for Thanksgiving and Christmas like usual, but my dad surprised me,” Jazwinski said. “He said he was going to do something in Grand Rapids and brought her home late at night.”
Jazwinski had plenty of family members from Michigan and out of state watching him race at MIS, but having his sister show up unexpectedly was a special gift.
“She’s such an inspiration to me,” he said. “She just kept giving me hugs and said that I’ve got this and to remember how hard I worked. Every time I started hurting, I just remembered how hard I worked over the summer and I didn’t want this to go to waste.”
Jazwinski won a kick to the finish against East Grand Rapids senior Jonah Workman, finishing in 15:07.1. Workman finished in 15:12.1.
Four runners were within 2.6 seconds of each other in the lead pack through two miles before it came down to Jazwinski and Workman at the end.
“My plan was to make a move about the two-mile mark, and I did,” Jazwinski said. “He was pretty much the only one who went with me. My coaches said, ‘Make a move when you get in the stadium; that’s who the contenders are for the championship.’ He was the only one with me I think. I was like, ‘OK, how bad do I really want this?’ I kept pushing through as much pain as I could.”
In the team race, Flint Powers Catholic won its first Finals championship since 1999 by a 98-106 margin over East Grand Rapids one year after not even reaching MIS.
The Chargers finished fourth at their Regional last year, sending Bryce Gross and Lennox Naswell to the Finals as individual qualifiers.
It was Naswell who led the charge Saturday, placing fifth in 15:24.7. Gross was 11th in 15:38.2, Tommy Beiter 30th in 16:00.3, Caleb Carignan 48th in 16:17.5 and Ryan Rathsburg 51st in 16:19.6.
“From the first day of the season, we knew everything doesn’t come easy,” Gross said. “We had a great year, but we learned how to fight from the (Saginaw Valley League meet). In our conference, we took a tough loss by a tie-breaker. From that we learned nothing’s given, not a single spot comes easy. This whole race, if you see a guy in front of you, you need to beat that kid.”
The Chargers’ coaching staff includes Leo Foley, who was a runner on Powers’ 1999 championship team. Head coach Dave Wolbert was an assistant coach 26 years ago.
PHOTOS (Top) Whitehall’s Robert Jazwinski III sprints toward the finish on the way to winning the Division 2 Final on Saturday. (Middle) Flint Powers Catholic’s Lennox Naswell surges through the closing stretch at MIS. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)