Milford Racing to Spell Victory Again
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
August 30, 2017
HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP – Cross Country at Milford is not so much a sport as it is a way of life.
That might sound a tad overstated. But you would have a difficult time convincing Nicole Gringling.
Gringling is a senior at Milford High. She’s competed at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals her first three seasons and played a big role on the school’s first MHSAA championship team in girls cross country last season.
The boys program has won five titles, all under Brian Salyers, the head coach for both teams.
An adopted child, Gringling latched onto the sport – and the people who are a part of the cross country community in this western Oakland County town – when she was in middle school. Gringling started swimming at age 4 and gave up the sports competitively seven years later for this opportunity to race outdoors instead.
“I fell in love with cross country,” she said. “Running is more fun (than swimming). I kind of have a rough background. I just have so much fun running with my friends. It’s where I belong.
“I’m definitely looking forward to running in college. It’s part of my personality.”
Milford returns five of its six top runners from a year ago, Gringling being one, and is again one the state’s top teams.
But that doesn’t seem to be important or at the top of the list of priorities for the team or Salyers. It instead gets back to what Gringling said: running cross country is fun. That’s what’s important. And if you win, well, that's makes it more fun.
To understand what cross country means to those in this community one must go back 50 years or more to when the legendary Lee Averill coached Milford’s cross country teams, boys and girls. Averill, a Milford graduate who died in 2014 at age 76, would go on to coach at West Bloomfield and lead his 1989 girls team to an LP Class A title.
Gene Balawajder took over the cross country program in 1970, and though he never coached an MHSAA champion, he came close and along the way was paramount in the continuation of a proud program Averill established. Balawajder’s girls team placed second to Dearborn Edsel Ford at the Class A Final in 1984.
Milford’s girls would win a number of county titles, including in 1988, a year when the boys finished third in at the LP Class A Final.
Salyers was a member of that boys team. That was his senior year, and although Salyers wasn’t one of the top runners (and a better basketball player at the time), he grew to love the sport. In 1996, after graduating from Western Michigan University, Salyers took over the program and Balawajder became the athletic director. To help with the transition, Glen Edwards, Balawajder’s longtime assistant, served as Salyers’ assistant the first two years.
Salyers knew then that he was taking over a special program, one he needed to embrace and enhance.
“The tradition is rich here,” he said. “It’s something we take pride in.
“In terms of having a cross country culture, it runs all through the school. When you put those letters on, M-I-L-F-O-R-D, you play for your school, your parents.”
The letters, those on the jerseys, has become part of Salyers’ imprint on the program – a touch that adds a little more pride. Seven runners represent each school at Michigan International Speedway, and each Milford runner who earns his or her place among those seven wears one of the letters, whether it be the block “M” or the “I” and so on.
Gringling wore the D her freshman year, the L her sophomore season and the letter I last fall.
Junior Victoria Heiligenthal, Milford’s top runner who placed 14th at MIS in 2016 and is the current county champion, is all in with the team aspect of the sport. Like Gringling, Heiligenthal competes in track & field too, her best events being the 800-meter run and the 1,600.
“Wearing the letters is one of my favorite things,” she said. “It’s really a lot of fun. All of the tradition the program has. Even the new conference (Lakes Valley) we’re in is something we look forward to.”
During the offseason, Salyers organizes events and camps to keep the athletes involved and fresh. He holds a team camp near Rapid River in the central Upper Peninsula where his runners train, but also get away from running and (with cell phones hopefully put away) have fun playing Frisbee or football – anything to create camaraderie and stronger friendships. There’s also a group camp, a much larger gathering where the underclassmen and the incoming freshmen mingle with the varsity squad.
“We have a saying,” Gringling said. “And that’s we care about each other more than the other team cares about their teammates.”
Salyers creates an upbeat atmosphere where winning isn’t the goal, but by having fun and working hard you, as an individual, will win even if it’s just by cutting a half second off of your best time.
“There’s a hometown feeling here,” he said. “It’s a fading element in high school sports. The transfers and all that is conflicting with that.
“I don’t know what high school sports will be like in 10 or 15 years. There have been a lot of changes. We try to keep an old-school atmosphere.”
And Salyers is not one to forget the past. When Milford won its first cross country title with the boys team in 2003, he had Balawajder come up to the podium with the team to celebrate in hoisting the trophy.
“That might be my proudest moment,” Salyers said.
There have been many.
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Nicole Grindling (far right) rounds a curve during last season’s LPD1 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Milford’s seven runners spell out their school name on the track after winning their first title. (Below) Victoria Heiligenthal works to stay ahead of another competitor during a race last season. (Photos courtesy of Brian Salyers.)
Preview: Past Champions Setting Up as Storylines Again in Finals Returns
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 1, 2024
Two reigning champions ranked to repeat and a past individual champion setting the statewide pace are among those anticipated to make headlines across four Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Romeo in Division 1 and Whitmore Lake in Division 4 will enter their championship races top-ranked after finishing first in their respective divisions a year ago. Holland West Ottawa senior Helen Sachs is looking to close her high school career with a second individual championship after placing first in Division 1 in 2022.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first girls race, in Division 4, begins at 10:50 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Romeo
2023 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2024 top-ranked: 1. Romeo, 2. Holland West Ottawa, 3. Saline.
We’ve seen two repeat Division 1 girls champions over the last decade (technically three as Pioneer won three straight titles from 2019-21), and Romeo is favored to accomplish that feat as well. The Bulldogs placed the first seven individuals at their Regional, with six of those runners their top six from last season’s Final when they finished with 65 points – 61 fewer than the runner-up Pioneers. Sophomore Annie Hrabovsky (fourth), juniors Natalia Guaresimo (seventh) and Emmerson Clor (13th), and senior Lillian Deskins (22nd) all medaled last year. Holland West Ottawa finished third last season, and 2022 Finals individual champion Helen Sachs led West Ottawa to a dominating Regional win this time with four individuals among the top nine. Saline was fifth at the 2023 Final and won its Regional last weekend just ahead of Pioneer 28-41 with six individuals among the top 10.
Individuals: Two-time champion Rachel Forsyth of Pioneer graduated in the spring, but this field still returns a past winner in Sachs, whose 16:52.8 at the Otsego Invitational on Sept. 28 is the fastest time this season among runners competing this weekend in any division. She placed 11th in LPD1 a year ago. Rochester senior Lucy Cook has finished third the last two seasons and has the fourth-fastest top 5K time in any division this fall, and Midland Dow senior Victoria Garces has the third-fastest top time this season and is coming off a fifth-place Finals finish in 2023. Grand Blanc senior Gracy Tykocki was 10th at last year’s Final and finished runner-up at her Regional last weekend. Sachs, Garces, Cook and Annie Hrabovsky were Regional champions, joined by Kalamazoo Central senior Annie Alkema, Brighton junior Lydia LaMarra, Pioneer freshman Natasza Dudek, Canton junior Aiden Pengelly and Novi sophomore Katelynn Egli. Dudek has the fourth-fastest top time in Division 1 this fall.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Grand Rapids Christian
2023 runner-up: Otsego
2024 top-ranked: 1. Goodrich, 2. Zeeland East, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Grand Rapids Christian topped 2022 champion Otsego 112-131 a year ago with Goodrich just behind them in third at 139, and some combination could dominate the top of the standings again. The Martians didn’t have a senior in last year’s lineup, and six of those runners from 2023 were among the seven Goodrich competitors who finished among the top 15 at their Regional last weekend. Zeeland East is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and placed fifth last season with only one senior, and Grand Rapids Christian brings back three from last year’s championship lineup and placed five among the top 17 in its Regional victory.
Individuals: St. Johns sophomore Ava Schafer is the top returning placer from last year’s Final after finishing fourth, and she’s undefeated this season with the third-fastest top time in Division 2 at 17:32.4. Zeeland East senior Emma Drnek is right behind her on that list at 17:44.4 and finished seventh at last year’s Final, and Goodrich’s Kamryn Lauinger was ninth at last year’s Final. The fastest top times in Division 2 this season belong to Otsego junior Emma Hoffman – who also is undefeated – and Gaylord junior Katie Berkshire, who placed 17th and 73rd, respectively, in 2023. Berkshire ran a personal record 17:31.05 to win her Regional last weekend and was joined among Regional champs by Drnek, Hoffman, Schafer, East Grand Rapids sophomore Adeline Armstrong, Freeland sophomore Clara Kaczor, Linden sophomore Addison Josephson, Croswell-Lexington senior Eva Thompson and Carleton Airport senior Courtney Bovair.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2023 runner-up: Traverse City St. Francis
2024 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Central Montcalm.
Lansing Catholic is pursuing a second Finals championship after previously winning Division 2 in 2017 and finishing seventh in Division 3 last fall with just one senior. Four of last season’s Finals runners were among the seven who finished among the top 20 in last weekend’s Regional victory, with freshman Josie Bishop second individually. St. Francis won the championship in 2022 before finishing second last year to Lumen 140-177, and the Gladiators placed six among the top 14 in winning their Regional including the top two in senior Betsy Skendzel and sophomore Molly Kate Hollandsworth. Central Montcalm finished eighth last season with no seniors and is seeking its first top-two Finals finish, coming off falling one point behind No. 4 Pewamo-Westphalia but placing the top two individuals at their Regional.
Individuals: Central Montcalm’s Kyah Hoffman was that Regional champion noted above and finished third at last year’s Final; she’s run the fastest top time in the Division 3 field at 17:25.3. Skendzel is next on the top times list at 17:46.8 and finished fourth last season, and Emmry Ross (17:47.3) follows on the top times list after placing fifth at the 2023 Final. Lakeview sophomore Kamryn Salladay, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep senior Eliza Bush and Kent City senior Lila Volkers finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, in last year’s championship race, and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Grace VanderKooi was third in Division 4 and won her Division 3 Regional last week just ahead of Volkers. Also winning Regionals were Bush, Hoffman, Ross, Skendzel, Salladay, Fennville sophomore Isabelle Sliter, Millington junior Abigail Ross and Leslie junior Hailey Creisher.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Whitmore Lake
2023 runner-up: Johannesburg-Lewiston
2024 top-ranked: 1. Whitmore Lake, 2. Hillsdale Academy, 3. Harbor Springs.
Whitmore Lake’s championship last season was its first since 1996, and four of those title-winning runners return this weekend including 2023 individual runner-up Kaylie Livingston – who outpaced the field at her Regional last weekend by 1 minute, 44 seconds, at 17:51.9. Hillsdale Academy is hoping to make a jump from fourth last season as it pursues its first championship; the Colts didn’t have a senior last year and finished Division 4 runners-up in 2022, and placed all seven runners among the top 17 in a Regional title win. Harbor Springs won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 and finished runner-up in 2015 as it too seeks to move up from a year ago, when it finished fifth also without a senior. The Rams placed six among the top 12 in winning their Regional.
Individuals: Livingston’s top time of 17:46.2 tops the Division 4 list by 14 seconds, and she is followed by Johannesburg-Lewiston senior Allie Nowak, who placed fourth in 2023. Whitmore Lake junior Carina Burchi was sixth at last year’s Final and sits fourth on this year’s top times list, and Gobles sophomore Libby Smith finished one spot behind her at last fall’s Final but is one spot ahead with the third-fastest top time in the division. Adrian Lenawee Christian senior Izzy Brooks is back after placing eighth last year, and Petoskey St. Michael senior Jane Manthei returns after placing 10th. Nowak was first and Manthei second at their Regional, and joining Nowak and Livingston among Regional winners were Brooks, Smith, Bear Lake/Onekama freshman Callie Sinke, Vestaburg senior Abigail Davis, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Emma Riker, Dryden junior Cara Prusakiewicz and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian senior Eliza Keith.
PHOTO Otsego’s Emma Hoffman (2411) leads on the way to winning Division 2 race Sept. 28 at the Otsego Invitational. (Photo by Gary Shook.)