Dow's Jensen Setting Pace as Freshman
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 26, 2016
Anna Jensen opened her freshman cross country season at Midland Dow by taking second in the Pete Moss Invitational at Benzie Central, finishing in 18 minutes, 9.9 seconds.
In her second meet, she won the Lancer Invitational in Midland with a time of 18:37.7.
Before her third meet, she went to the doctor, because she didn’t feel right while running in the previous two.
There she received a diagnosis that wasn’t pleasant, but also could be what vaults her to the type of season she knows she’s capable of having.
“I was kind of disappointed with how I was doing at the very beginning of the season,” Jensen said. “But I just focused on running for my team and not getting down on myself. I was going to keep working and hoping my times would eventually come.
“Then I got my iron tested and found out my ferritin levels were low. It’s not a good thing, but finding out that I did have low ferritin was a relief, because it was an explanation for why I was running poorly.”
Poorly, of course, is a relative term. If the 18:09.9 from her first meet was still her season’s best, Jensen would rank as the 17th fastest runner in the state this year, all divisions.
But Jensen is used to going even faster.
Ferritin is a blood cell protein that contains iron, and a low ferritin level indicates there is an iron deficiency. Fatigue is a major symptom of an iron deficiency, and Jensen's mother noticed during those early races that her daughter didn't seem to have the same type of endurance she once did. Now that it's being treated, and her levels are coming back to a normal level, her times are more in line with what she expects from herself.
In each of her last three races, she has broken the 18-minute mark. At the Heritage Invitational on Oct. 8, she ran 17:40.7, which has her ranked seventh in the state.
“She handled it better than I would have expected,” Jensen’s mom, Lara, said. “She didn’t get upset. She was a good sport and she always ran hard and always tried to do whatever she could for her team. I was thrilled and I was pleased because she didn’t get down on herself.
“I could tell when she was running that she wasn’t right, because I could tell she was struggling to catch her breath. Now she looks much more like I’m used to.”
Jensen has been turning heads on tracks and 5K courses since well before she put on a Dow uniform.
As an 11-year-old, she won the women’s division and placed fourth overall out of nearly 1,500 competitors in the Dow Run/Walk. The next year, she ran 17:18 to repeat as women’s division champion, and took second overall.
Her personal bests in the 800 (2:12), 1,600 (4:50) and 3,200 meters (10:33) – set while she was in middle school – would make her an all-state runner most years, and an MHSAA Finals champion in some.
Following Dow’s 2015 Division 1 Regional meet, she ran in an open race on the course and recorded a time that would have won had she run with the high schoolers.
Midland Dow coach Jed Hopfensberger has had some fast runners come through his program over 16 years. But anyone like this?
“Not this fast,” he said. “I have a school record based on who runs the fastest time at the state meet, and that’s 18:09. We’ve had some pretty good kids, too.”
So what’s the secret? Besides a good amount of natural foot speed and the time she’s put in, it’s Jensen’s other sport, swimming, that may have contributed the most to her success.
“My guess is it’s because swimmers develop pretty good lung capacity, so part of it is that fitness level, having that lung capacity,” Lara Jensen said. “You’re working really hard and doing it for hours. Also, I think swimming is good overall conditioning for your whole body with very low impact.”
Lara Jensen swam for two years at Purdue University, and said the family had Anna in the pool at a young age swimming competitively. She’s good at that, too, but the decision to run cross country rather than swim this fall at Dow wasn’t as difficult as the Jensens thought it might be.
“It seemed like it would be a tougher decision before the track season had started,” Anna Jensen said. “I had a lot of success in the winter in indoor track and I just kind of knew that running was my passion. I love swimming, but running was the thing I love to do the most. It’s such a stress reliever. I love everything about running, and that’s what I knew I wanted to do in high school.
“I will actually be swimming for my boys high school team this winter, so that’s going to be really fun.”
Jensen will compete with a strong Dow team Saturday at the Division 1 Regional meet at Delta College. Dow enters as the favorite based on simulations by Athletic.net. According to those, teammates Maija Rettelle, Emily Wall and Anastasia Tucker join Jensen to give Dow four of the top five runners at the meet.
The MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals will be held Nov. 5 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
As she still has yet to qualify for that meet, looking too deep into the future may seem premature. But Jensen’s times already make her a Division I college prospect. While coaches can’t directly contact her yet, they’ve made it known to others that they’re interested.
“I would love to be in a position where I could get some scholarship money to run for a Division I college,” she said. “Depending on how fast I can get, I would love to run after college, maybe professionally.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. 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) Midland Dow's Anna Jensen runs through a fan-packed stretch during a cross country race this fall. (Middle) Jensen passes a flag during one of her races. (Photos by Craig Adams.)
Challenging Courses, Modified Scoring & Evening Start Highlight UP Race Debuts
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
September 17, 2024
CRYSTAL FALLS — A pair of high school cross country meets made their debuts earlier this month in the Upper Peninsula, with the Gwinn Invitational on Sept. 3 in Sawyer followed a day later by Crystal Falls Forest Park’s first meet at Fortune Lake Lutheran Camp.
According to Forest Park coach D.J. Rasner, it took three months of planning to make the Trojans’ first home meet possible.
“We’re glad to get this in,” he said. “We’re hoping to find out where we need to improve. It’s exciting, and hosting this meet has generated excitement in the community. We were without a program for about 20 years. This is our third year back, and our program has been growing slowly. I’m grateful for the school and administration for taking this risk.”
Bark River-Harris senior Wes Knauf, who runs for Powers North Central as part of a cooperative program, found the course to be challenging.
“It’s a nice course with a lot of shade,” he said. “There was a large sand hill about a mile into the race, and I shortened my stride. Many guys slowed down on that hill. There were a lot of roots out there. You had to watch your footing. There was also a downhill that was nearly as long, which helped me get my second wind.”
Knauf, who won the 3.1-mile race in 19:52.2, was followed by Forest Park junior Joey Mainville (20:47.5) and senior brother Max Mainville (20:47.7) on a sunny and warm afternoon. The Trojans won their home debut with nine points in a meet featuring modified scoring with the top three finishers contributing toward their respective team scores.
“It feels great to win our first home meet,” Joey Mainville said. “Running on our home course for the first time provided us with special motivation. We just didn’t want to start out too fast.”
“Getting to practice on this course really helps,” Max Mainville added. “It’s a big boost for me to finish in the top three, and the victory is a big boost for our team. We had very good conditions for this race, and low humidity helped.”
The North Central girls were crowned champions with seven points, followed by Rock Mid Peninsula with 22 and Rapid River at 24.
BR-H senior Hope Varoni, who also runs for the Jets, won individually at 23:44.9.
“I usually try to follow people and stay with them,” she said. “Today, I decided to run at my own pace. It was a little uneven on parts of the course, although it was a nice course. I’d say my season is starting the way I want.”
At Sawyer, Munising senior Dan Goss took the Gwinn Invitational boys title at 18:32.3 in a meet which started at 6:15 p.m.
“The course was pretty sandy and there were a lot of roots,” said Goss, who trains 40 miles a week. “You had to watch your footing. My goal was to get in front of the pack, and I took my first mile out at 5:30.
“I think it’s pretty cool to run in the evening. It was a great atmosphere. I don’t think I ever started a race after 6 p.m. Lot of times the wind goes down in the evening.”
He was followed by classmate Trevor Nolan (19:13.8), Manistique senior Ben Gilroy (20:00.1) and Gladstone junior Tyler Soderman (20:02.3).
“I’ve twisted my ankle about five times and was trying to be cautious,” Gilroy said. “I tried to take it at a comfortable pace. I started walking on the uphill and several people passed me, but I caught them after the hill anyway. I was just trying not to get injured before our home meet (Sept. 11). I think it was a fun meet. It was an adventure and something new. I told my teammates to take it easy. I don’t want them to be injured for the U.P. (Division 2) Finals.”
Gladstone junior Payton Takkunen recorded her first varsity victory on the challenging 3.1-mile course in 25:56.6
“This feels really good,” she said. “I’m glad everyone was there to support me. I wanted to stride it out in the first mile and continue from there. I thought the race was well-organized, but it was really hard. Although, I think this will give me confidence for the bigger meets.”
Takkunen was followed by senior teammate Kristy Karl (26:34.2) and Ishpeming seniors Peyton Kakkuri (26:39.9) and Laynie Korpi (26:51.8).
“Payton and I were on pace for 8-minute miles, but once we got into the sand we slowed down a lot,” Korpi said. “I was doing pretty good until we got to the hill in the last mile. We had beach sand after the first mile. I enjoyed the race, though. It’s good when you have somebody to run it.”
The Gladstone girls won with 20 points, followed by Superior Central at 47 and Manistique with 57.
“That was a challenging course, but it was a good first meet for us,” Superior Central coach Holly McDonnald said. “It was nice because it was close for us. I hope they’ll do it again.”
The Gladstone boys also won with 32 points, followed by Munising at 57 and Gwinn at 76.
The invite featured varsity, junior varsity and middle school races, with seven varsities competing for boys and girls championships.
“It was a tough course,” Gladstone’ coach Gary Whitmer said. “Although, it was pretty exciting to see the kids get their medals. This is a boost for the kids.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS (Top) Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Max Mainville crosses a road during his school’s inaugural invitational Sept. 4. (Middle) The Trojans’ Ellie Zaupa crosses the finish line. (Below) Gwinn’s Eloi Lopez (194), Manistique’s Ben Gilroy (464) and Gladstone’s Teagan Reynolds (422) run a stretch of the Gwinn Invitational on Sept. 3. (Forest Park Invitational photos courtesy of the Forest Park cross country programs; Gwinn Invitational photo by Laura Spade.)