Gull Lake XC Extends Tradition Cross-State
October 4, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
In Randy Hunt’s mind, there was no way Richland Gull Lake’s cross country teams weren’t going to continuing their Homecoming tradition this fall – no matter how much farther they had to run.
Every year since 1993, Gull Lake’s runners have carried a game ball from their football opponent’s school to the Blue Devils’ stadium in advance of the Homecoming game. Previously, the longest trip was 72 miles from Niles.
But this fall, Gull Lake’s varsity didn’t have an opponent lined up for Homecoming until picking up Detroit Country Day – 138 miles to the east.
No problem. Over Thursday and Friday last week, past Farmington Hills, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Battle Creek and more, the Blue Devils again delivered the game ball.
“Our runners are amazing and up to any challenge,” Gull Lake girls coach Robin Blackburn said. “We originally heard that our opponent this year was Detroit Country Day; we thought our athletic director was joking! No joke, she was serious.
“Next thought, how are we going to make this happen? We had lots of crazy ideas. My favorite was putting a treadmill on a flatbed truck and having them run. Obviously we couldn’t do that, but we knew we had to do this over two days. Once we started planning and mapping the course, everything fell into place.”
Runners filled out cards with whom, when and how far they wanted to run, and then Blackburn and Hunt, the boys coach, built the plan. The first shift left Gull Lake for Country Day at 5:30 a.m. Thursday. Makenzie Wank, Betsy Martens, Sarah Grimes, Kayla Eklund, Grace Foster and Abby Bell – running in pairs in 4-mile increments – tackled the first 35 miles west.
The next shift left from Gull Lake at 10 a.m. headed for Northfield Township, north of Ann Arbor. Joel Blackburn, Nick Dawson, Koby Fraaza, Read Knapp, Nate Krawczyk and Nate Alpers – running 5-mile increments – tackled the next 45-mile leg of the relay and even were questioned by a local police officer as to what they were up to in the middle of nowhere on dirt road.
“Usually we like the ball to be continuous, but obviously with such a distance and safety concerns, we split this one up,” Hunt said. “The kids were excited to do it, and as coaches we knew it would create an awesome memory/story.
“I think the kids liked it because it got them out of school but also for the team bonding. I was impressed with their commitment to the tradition.”
Freshmen Kristian Shyiak and Cameron Perkins took Friday’s first leg from Jackson, a 6.4 mile stretch, followed by 10 more shifts – all planned to exact distance and arrival time, while parents joined in to taxi groups to their starting points and back to the school.
The plan was to finish with nearly a full lap at the track at 6:30 p.m., with the teams’ seniors then delivering the ball to the football officials at the 50-yard line. But with time getting short, the last group of four had to adjust, with each athlete running one mile as hard as he could to get the ball to the stadium and into the officials’ hands by 6:50 – and they made it with time to spare. “It was amazing to see the kids work so hard and do it gratefully,” Hunt said.
Others who took part in the relay were Lainie Scott, Lauren Adams, Sarah Donovan, Ashley Randall, Kaylie Murphy, Luke Larson, Zach Zahrt, Neil Gleason, Simon Hakman, Lilly Weigt, Jayne Flynn, Rachel Grimes, Justin Walker, John Porter, Tyler Ford, David Larson, Ruby Risser, Lija Krasts, Nick Martens, Elly Whitfield, Aelita Klausmeier, Lorelei Hess and Oliver Harnden.
“Cross Country doesn’t get a lot of coverage, but this even got the community involved and following our updates on Facebook and Instagram,” Blackburn said.
“We are about being a family. We do a lot outside of practice to build our unity. This was a special moment in our family – one none of us will forget.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Starting top left at Detroit Country Day, groups of Gull Lake cross country runners take turns carrying the game ball during their nearly 140-mile trek to Richland last week. (Middle) Blue Devils runners take their turn on a country road. (Below) All of the runners join together for the final stretch on Gull Lake’s track. (Photos courtesy of the Gull Lake cross country program.)
Northville Extends Team Title Streak, Jenison's Conner Joins All-Time Elite
November 2, 2024
BROOKLYN — Ethan Powell is grateful to be part of three team championships with Northville at MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Finals, but sometimes he wonders if things could’ve turned out better his freshman year.
The Mustangs finished fourth that season with 204 points in a meet won by Kensington Lakes Activities Association West rival Brighton with 141.
Powell finished 94th that year in 16 minutes, 41.28 seconds after running times of 16:19.88 and 16:24.8 in the first two meets of Northville’s championship season.
“My freshman year, we had a chance to win it, too,” Powell said. “I underperformed. I was part of the reason we didn’t win it. We took fourth that year. I was just really bummed out.”
Powell never left Michigan International Speedway feeling that way the rest of his career.
He led Northville to its third consecutive Division 1 championship Saturday by a dominant 99-169 margin over Saline.
The Mustangs are the first Division 1 boys team to win three titles in a row since Milford from 2011-13. Powell is the only runner who was in the Finals lineup for all three championships.
Northville was ranked No. 1 all season, winning the KLAA championship by a 36-68 margin over a Brighton team that finished third Saturday. The Mustangs’ league included four of the top 10 teams in the Division 1 Final.
“Last year, it was honestly a tougher year, especially after Portage (Invitational) where we took sixth or seventh or whatever,” Powell said. “We came back and were able to win it last year. It was honestly an amazing feeling doing it back to back.
“This year, we’ve just been grinding. Some people don’t really understand the behind-the-scenes part of it. Every day, it’s work. It’s making sure we’re doing what we’re doing, not slacking off. We have this saying: ‘Don’t bite the bait, don’t take the cheese.’ We’re making sure not to get too boastful or too ahead of ourselves, knowing anything can happen.”
Potential trouble struck for the Mustangs when senior Ishaan Kundapur fell about 200 yards from the finish line and struggled to get going again. He finished as the team’s fifth and final scoring runner in 84th place.
“I’m really happy he ended up finishing,” Powell said. “It looked like he wasn’t going to finish. He ended up pushing through and finishing. That’s a moment where, honestly, it can be a game-changer and turn the tables.”
Northville had four runners make all-state by finishing among the top 30, including three in the top 10. Powell was seventh in 15:24.8, junior Ben Hartigan was ninth in 15:27.7, sophomore Brandon Cloud was 10th in 15:29.0, senior Nick Barretto was 25th in 15:41.7 and Kundapur was 84th in 16:14.5.
The battle for the individual championship was won by Jenison senior Seth Conner, whose time of 14:54.5 ranks 11th in the 29-year history of the Finals at MIS.
The names ahead of him include three Olympians, most notably Grand Blanc’s Grant Fisher. Like Fisher, a two-time bronze medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Conner played soccer and ran cross country early in his high school career.
Conner didn’t make it to MIS as a freshman as Fisher did, finishing 45th at Regionals, but he gave up soccer to focus on running after that.
He never envisioned becoming a Finals champion.
“Oh, no,” he said. “I was a soccer player, so freshman year I came in and didn’t really have any goals. Nobody probably would’ve seen this coming. Last year, I was like, ‘I’m gonna win state. Let’s see what happens.’”
Conner had a comfortable lead as he cruised down the final stretch at MIS, having made a decisive move about halfway through the race. Canton junior Aiden Pengelly charged from behind to nip Milford junior Kyle O’Rourke at the finish line to take second place by one second in 15:01.0.
“I was really nervous about it, especially after MI Speed Rating ranked me lower for the Regional race,” Conner said. “I just kind of gave it all to God. ‘Hey, listen, this is making me really nervous. I know you’re going to take that from me. I can just focus on my hard work.’ That’s what I did. Going into the race, I wasn’t really that nervous, just very confident and excited.”
PHOTOS (Top) Northville’s Ethan Powell powers toward the finish as his team’s top placer Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Jenison’s Seth Conner sees the finish line ahead as he leads the Division 1 Final. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)