Preview: Racing to Reign Again
October 19, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
All three reigning team champions are loaded again. All three reigning individual champions are back in the field (even if two are this time running the same race).
Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Pictured Rocks Golf Course in Munising easily could see repeat champions one way or the other in every division – but with a number of other high placers also back from 2017, that’s easier anticipated than done.
Races begin Saturday with the Division 1 boys at 11 a.m. and finish with the Division 3 girls at 1:30 p.m. Check back Saturday evening for coverage, and see below for more teams and individuals to watch.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Marquette
2017 runner-up: Sault Ste. Marie
Top-ranked: 1. Marquette, 2. Sault Ste. Marie, 3. Houghton.
Marquette’s title last season was its fourth in five years, and the Redettes and Sault Ste. Marie have finished first and second in some order the last four seasons (with the Blue Devils crowned champions in 2016). Marquette won last year’s title with four underclassmen and a junior, and four returnees are leading the charge this time. Junior Ericka Asmus moved up from 10th as a freshman to second last season, and juniors Reegan Ketzenberger (sixth) and Delaney Sall (eighth) and senior Samantha Borzick (14th) also are back this weekend. Three of Sault Ste. Marie’s top seven are back, led by sophomore Haleigh Knowles (seventh).
Individuals: Reigning champion and Negaunee now-junior Emily Paupore leads 10 returnees from last season’s top 20 – but she’s not the only champion in the field, as Ishpeming Westwood junior Tessa Leece won Division 2 a year ago. Kingsford sophomore Sarah Kulas will look to build on her ninth place in Division 1 last season, while juniors Katie Anderla of Menominee and Talon Prusi of Negaunee are back after finishing 12th and 13th, respectively. Houghton senior Anabel Needham will try to make a jump in her final high school meet after coming in 16th a year ago. Ishpeming Westwood sophomores Allyssea Smith and Elizabeth Williams finished 12th and 14th, respectively, in Division 2 in 2017.
Division 2
Reigning champion: St. Ignace
2017 runner-up: Ishpeming
Top-ranked: 1. Ishpeming, 2. Gogebic (Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer), 3. Ironwood.
St. Ignace broke Ishpeming’s three-year reign in Division 2 last fall, but the Hematites finished runners-up and return two top-20 finishers from last season – sophomore Chyanne Gardner (10th) and senior Brooke Johnson (16th) – and were led by two freshmen in finishing second at the Mid-Peninsula Conference final. Still, the Saints might be favored with four top-seven finishers back from last season – senior Elizabeth Becker (second), sophomore Emmalee Hart (third), sophomore Hallie Marshall (fifth) and senior Emily Coveyou (senior).
Individuals: Even with the Westwood runners in Division 1, 10 of last season’s top 20 are back. Sophomores Naomi Aili (13th) and Macie Ahonen (19th) were Gogebic’s top finishers in 2017, while Ironwood senior Emily Carey (fourth) and Newberry sophomore Sophy Smithson (eighth) will be looking to contend. And Munising senior Madeleine Peramaki should be in the mix too after she finished second in Division 3 a year ago.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Chassell
2017 runner-up: Rock Mid-Peninsula
Top-ranked: 1. Chassell, 2. Dollar Bay, 3. Rock Mid-Peninsula.
Chassell has won three of the last four Division 3 titles and finished second in 2016. The Panthers took four of the top eight team places last season, and all four of those standouts are back – senior Lela Rautiola (third), senior Jenna Pietila (seventh, sixth for team), freshman Paige Sleeman (eighth/seventh) and sophomore Gwen Kangas (ninth/eighth). Rock Mid returns three top-14 finishers – reigning champion and now-junior Daisy Englund, sophomore Landry Koski (fifth) and junior Chevey Koski (14th).
Individuals: A mighty 15 of last season’s top 20 return, not counting Munising’s Peramaki now in Division 2. Cedarville might also be a team contender with three of the 15 – sophomore Cassidy Barr (12th last season), freshman Meredith Emigh (16th) and junior Lily Freel (17th). Eben Junction Superior Central junior Danika Walters (sixth), Stephenson sophomore Kylee Kuntze (10th), Painesdale-Jeffers sophomore Keena Larson (11th), Pickford junior Natalie Miller (15th) and Engadine senior Annika Hollinger (19th) also are back.
PHOTO: Marquette and Ishpeming, here during a race earlier this season, are among title favorites Saturday. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)
VanderKooi, Hart Extend Title Streaks
November 7, 2020
By Jason Schmitt
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN – Muskegon Western Michigan Christian’s Abby VanderKooi did so well Saturday at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals that she can’t wait for next year to get here.
The junior won the Division 4 championship as both a freshman and sophomore. This year, her team was bumped up to Division 3. The team did not qualify for the Finals. But VanderKooi did, and she shined on the state’s biggest stage.
“My motivation was to break the course record (for Division 3),” VanderKooi said. “That was my goal. Hopefully, next year we move back to D4 because I want to break that record too.”
Her time of 17:12.47 bettered the previous-best Division 3 time by more than 30 seconds. And she did it running in the first of two races of the session. All teams that finished third at their Regional, as well as all individual qualifiers, ran first. All Regional champions and runners-up competed in the second race. They were split to help limit the number of competitors in each race.
VanderKooi led her race from start to finish, and her split times would have had her leading the second race at each of the three mile marks, and of course the finish. She crossed the finish line 1:31 ahead of her nearest competitor, Allison Chmielewski of Roscommon (18:43.76), who finished sixth overall.
“I ran my best. I ran my hardest, and that’s all I could do,” said VanderKooi, who if given the opportunity will look to make amends for her less-than-stellar performances in her previous two Division 4 races. “I ran very poorly the last two years at states. I ran an 18:11 last year, which for me is not good. My iron was low, and we didn’t know it. The year before, that course was ridiculously awful.”
She was extremely happy with Saturday’s performance.
“I’m very happy with that (time),” she said. “I broke the record. I just got this new watch, and it told me that my predicted 5K time was like a 17:22, and I was like, ‘I’d love to run that time.’”
Hart captured its fourth straight Division 3 team championship, finishing three runners among the top five and four in the top 10 while piecing together a team score of 59. Freshman Alyson Enns was second overall in a time of 18:05.97. Senior Savannah Ackley was third, junior Audrianna Enns fifth and senior Lynae Ackley 10th overall. Junior Lauren Vanderlaan rounded out the team’s scoring.
“It never gets old, but you never know until the day comes,” Hart head coach Terry Tatro said. “We just take things one day at a time and hope that you have your best race of the season here. The girls ran pretty well today. As a coach, I always think they can do better, but winning a state championship, they ran as good as I could expect them to.”
Ithaca, led by junior Lani Bloom’s fourth-place finish (18:32.26), placed second as a team with 114 points. Senior Grace Weburg finished 23rd overall for the Yellowjackets.
Grandville Calvin Christian was third overall (121 points), followed by St. Louis (195) and Benzie Central (217) among the top five.
PHOTOS: (Top) Western Michigan Christian’s Abby VanderKooi closes in Saturday on her third MHSAA Finals championship. (Middle) Hart freshman Audrianna Enns approaches the finish line leading for the eventual team champ. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)