Engadine's Rock & Roll Relays Provide Runners with Interval Challenge
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
August 27, 2026
ENGADINE — This was not your ordinary cross country meet.
Last week’s Engadine Rock & Roll Relays provide interval training for the runners, who do a mile on three occasions during the races and start and finish with music playing in the background.
“It went pretty good,” Engadine junior Ed Frankowiac said. “The breaks are nice, but you have to keep moving. It’s fun. We didn’t have this meet two years ago because it conflicted with a meet in Munising (Larissa Vartti Memorial Invitational), but we’re glad we had it last year. We’re trying to build this up.”
Frankowiak combined with junior Nate Stielstra for the first-place finish as they covered the six miles in 35 minutes, 17.18 seconds on a sunny and mild Aug. 20 day.
Rapid River, however, won the boys meet with five points. The host Eagles scored six and Manistique finished with 11.
The Rapid River girls retained their title by edging the Eagles 5-6.
“This is the second year we got the plaque,” Rockets’ sophomore Victoria Coppock said. “This is a nice boost for our team. Engadine has a couple real good runners.
“This is one of the meets I really look forward to. I think it’s more competitive. It’s also easier to look at placement and know where you are.”
Engadine sophomores Sarah Chapman and Fern Stielstra combined to win the girls race at 44:59.31. Rapid River juniors Kaylee Tyler and Julia Poma were runners-up (47:53.93) followed by Coppock and junior Ashlynn Thompson (49:02.42).
“All my miles were under seven minutes,” Chapman said. “I’m very happy with my times and how I finished each time. It’s hard to stop and go, but it’s fun. It’s a great way to open the season. I think last year’s experience is helping me. It was nice out there. It wasn’t too hot and we had a nice breeze. I think it went well.”
Engadine junior Birch Bitely, who teamed with Oliver French for a fifth-place finish among the boys (41:08.53), also enjoys this meet.
“It’s a good course,” he said. “There’s one big hill toward the end and a few rolling hills before that. We had better conditions this time. Last year we had rain with temperatures in the 50s. The nice weather made it easier to keep your legs warm.”
Rapid River senior Jae Poma and sophomore Owen Truitt were boys runners-up at 35:40.63, followed by senior teammates Jeb Green and Jon Denkins (38:38.56).
“I really like it,” Poma said. “It’s something different. This helps our speed, and it’s kind of a tune-up for other races. It’s nice to get the break, but you have to keep moving to keep your legs warmed up for your next interval.”
Poma also has some personal and team goals in mind.
“I would like to get under 18 minutes,” he added. “I feel we have a shot at the U.P. (Division 3) title. There’s a lot of good teams out there, but if we work hard I think we have a chance.”
Rapid River senior Camden Holmio and Engadine’s Eli Frankowiak teamed for a sixth-place finish in 48:01.53.
“I was a little excited to run with a guy from another school,” Holmio said. “I think that made it more fun. Interval training is pretty helpful. The breaks are good, but it’s sometimes a little hard to get going after you stop.”
Sophomore Keira Hart, who represented the Manistique girls, ran on a boys team with fellow Emeralds Trent Mason and James King.
“I really wasn’t that nervous, but standing at the starting line alone was the hardest part mentally. It just felt weird because I wasn’t running with the other girls,” she said. “It was a good first meet. It was also kind of a learning experience.”
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) Rapid River and Engadine medal winners stand for a photo together after the Engadine Rock & Roll Relays. (Middle) The Rockets enjoy a moment together after their win. (Photos courtesy of the Rapid River cross country program.)
Ottawa Hills Strides into Title Contention
November 12, 2020
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – The Ottawa Hills girls cross country team was hoping for a lofty finish at last Friday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
The Bengals, however, suffered a bump in the road.
Ottawa Hills recorded a program-best 10th-place finish at Michigan International Speedway, but was hampered by a late arrival to the race due to an unfortunate situation.
“Things went a little sideways for us on the way there,” Bengals coach Dan Ebright said. “On I-96, right before the Lowell exit, there was a humongous accident and they were stuck in traffic for over an hour.
“Instead of arriving an hour and 45 minutes prior to the meet, they arrived 40 minutes prior to the meet and we had to scramble like crazy to get them to the starting line on time.”
The accident shut down the highway, and Ebright said the team was forced to sit in the car for nearly three hours.
It made their preparation for the biggest race of the season chaotic and hurried.
“We warmed up in the parking lot, and their warm-up run was to jog through the field to quickly change their spikes and get on the starting line,” Ebright said. “That’s how rushed it was, and the warm-up was not an ideal warm-up for us.”
The delay affected several of the Bengals’ runners, including senior Madison Ebright.
Ebright, coach Dan’s daughter and an all-stater last year with a 12th-place finish, ended up taking 50th (19:26.54) and was bothered by cramping two miles in.
“We got there late, and it was kind of stressful,” Madison Ebright said. “And then my stomach didn’t feel well and I thought I might be in trouble. I was going good through two miles, but then I cramped up and it was hard to breathe so it was a tough finish.
“It was disappointing, but once I thought about it, it was a great season leading up to that point and I was consistent all year.”
Ebright ran a personal-best time at the Pre-Regional, which Ottawa Hills won, and helped lead the team to a school-best runner-up finish at Regionals. The Bengals finished runner-up to top-ranked Traverse City Central.
“While our 10th-place finish was our best finish as a team, we really didn't run like we had the three meets prior simply for the fact that we didn't get the chance to warm up properly,” Dan Ebright said. “And my daughter had cramps getting out of the car and could not work it out in the short time we had to warm up.”
The Bengals’ top-10 Finals finish was led by freshman Selma Anderson, who garnered all-state honors crossing the line 27th individually. She clocked a time of 19:00.59.
Junior Adit Dau, who battled through a knee injury most of the season, was 37th (19:16.42), while senior Naomi Dykstra was 89th (20:02.54).
The remainder of the team included senior Ella Posthumus, sophomore Kira Smith and freshman Campbell Hudson.
“Selma had a PR and was all-state and Adit had a solid race for us coming back from injury,” Dan Ebright said. “We really looked at the results and felt like we could’ve finished as high as sixth if everything had gone like the prior weeks at the conference meet, Pre-Regionals and Regionals.
“Sometimes that stuff happens and there was nothing we could really do about it. We were excited because we thought it might be worse than that.”
It was the full team’s second appearance at the Finals in the last three years, as Ottawa Hills took 23rd in 2018 in its first trip ever and also won the school’s first conference crown that same year.
Last season, the Bengals didn’t have a full team.
Ebright, Dau and Dykstra competed as individuals at the Finals.
“We had three girls lined up, and they didn’t run,” Dan Ebright said. “If they would've run, we would’ve had a good chance of winning the state finals. If the season goes perfectly smoothly those three girls make all-state, but sometimes things don’t go perfectly. You take the good with the bad.”
The success of the program has been a work in progress. The groundwork was laid years ago with the implementation of an elementary program in 2010.
Ebright took over the program at Ottawa Hills after previously coaching at Creston High School before it closed.
“It was something that started way back when, and it’s been building since that point,” Dan Ebright said. “It hasn’t been an overnight thing, and it’s something we’ve worked very hard at and developed our runners. We lost a few good ones along the way who didn’t care to run, but it was the kids showing up every day and not only during the season, but the offseason, too. Putting in the miles to get ready.”
The improvement and dedication of a solid core helped the Bengals become competitive on a statewide level.
“We felt like we had a real talented bunch come through, and this year’s team was the most talented group we’ve had,” Dan Ebright said.
Madison Ebright, who will run at Grand Valley State next season, was thrilled with her high school experience.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and we had a great coach who knows what he’s doing,” she said. “Great friendships were made with the girls on the team, and we did a lot of team building. It’s the most important part of my life, and the girls I did it with made it fun.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Selma Anderson (240) leads the way for Ottawa Hills at Friday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at MIS. (Middle) Adit Dau (241) and Madison Ebright (243) crossed next for the Bengals with top-50 finishes to contribute to the team overall 10th place. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)