Finals Preview: Last Chance to Catch These Stars
May 31, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
More good stories emerge from MHSAA Track and Field Finals day than perhaps any other during our school year.
And arguably the most significant this entire spring will be final good-byes to some of the top female athletes ever to compete in this sport.
Grosse Pointe South twins Hannah and Haley Meier, Detroit Country Day’s Kendall Baisden, West Bloomfield's Erin Finn and Reed City’s Sami Michell are among standouts who will compete in an MHSAA event for the last time Saturday.
Read more about them below in our breakdown of the team favorites and key individuals at all seven MHSAA girls championship meets. Of course, we can’t mention everyone here who may do big things this weekend – but we’ll have coverage of every meet as well on Second Half beginning late Saturday night.
Click for meet information including all qualifiers and also Saturday night for results as they come in. And check out MHSAA.tv for live streaming coverage of running events from both peninsulas. (NOTE: "Top ranked" aren't listed for U.P. divisions because the coaches association does not produce U.P. rankings for this sport.)
LP DIVISION 1 at East Kentwood
Top ranked: No. 1 Grosse Pointe South, No. 2 East Kentwood, No. 3 Rockford.
Grosse Pointe South: The two-time reigning champion can continue building on an impressive run with perhaps its most dominant team of the last three seasons. The Blue Devils have six qualifiers in field events, 10 in individual races, and all four relays come in with top-eight qualifying times – including the national record holders in the 3,200 relay (Kelsie Schwartz, Ersula Farrow, Haley Meier and Hannah Meier), who ran an 8:48.29 last season. Hannah Meier owns two more LP Division 1 Finals records (more below).
East Kentwood: Senior Mariah Davis is one of the state’s top throwers and has two of the team’s eight field event qualifying berths. The team also will compete in three relays, but only three individual races – although freshman Sekayi Bracey has the top qualifying time in the 100 and 200 (more below).
Rockford: Distance running remains the name of the game for the Rams, who have seven individual race berths and also will run all four relays – with three posting qualifying times among the top eight in Division 1. Rockford also qualified five times for field events.
Southfield-Lathrup’s Keianna Ingram: The senior high jumper set the meet record of 5-9 last season and qualified at Regionals this spring at 5-8.
Jackson’s Cierra Pryor: She too set a meet record last season as a junior with a long jump of 19-0, and jumped 18-9 at her Regional. Pryor also tied for the second-fastest qualifying time in the 100, 11.9 seconds.
East Kentwood’s Sekayi Bracey: Just a freshman, Bracey has the fastest qualifying times in the 100 (11.7) and 200 (24.2), and both would be Finals records in Divisions 2-4. She’ll need to cut just a few tenths of a second to break Shayla Mahan’s all-Finals record of 11.5 in the 100, set in 2006, but about half a second to catch Mahan’s all-Finals 200 record of 23.74. Bracey also qualified third in long jump at 18-2.75.
Grosse Pointe South’s Hannah and Haley Meier: The much-celebrated twins should add a few more accolades in their final MHSAA Final. Hannah, set the all-Finals record in the 800 of 2:07.37 in 2011 and also set the all-Finals record of 4:42.6 in the 1,600 that spring. She has the third-best qualifying time in the latter this weekend, and Haley has the second-fastest.
West Bloomfield’s Erin Finn: This senior also has established herself as one of the nation’s top high school distance runners, and enters her last MHSAA Final with the fastest qualifying times in the 1,600 (4:49.3) and 3,200 (10:25.4). She set the all-Finals record in the latter last season with a time of 10:17.86.
Other returning individual champions: Jae’vyn Wortham, Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse (discus, qualified this spring number one in discus and tied for 16th in shot put).
LP DIVISION 2 at Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Top ranked: No. 1 Ada Forest Hills Eastern, No. 2 Dearborn Divine Child, No. 3 Williamston.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern: The Hawks have a solid collection of qualifiers with three in field events and nine in individual races. But they’ll make their points in the relays – all four enter with qualifying times among the top five in their respective races, keyed by the top-qualifying 400 relay. FHE’s 400 team ran a 48.8 at its Regional, the best of any Division 2 team by nearly a second and only 11 hundredths off Detroit Renaissance’s Division 2 Final record of 48.69 set in 2000.
Dearborn Divine Child: A large group of frontrunners makes the Falcons the possible favorite again – they tied for first last season, won outright in 2010 and finished runners-up in 2011. All four relays qualified among the top eight overall in the division, with the 800 and 1,600 relays running the fastest Regional times. Paige Patterson (more below), Mallory Myler and Kayla Gandy enter Saturday with a combined four top qualifying times in their respective events – among 10 individual race qualifications total for the team.
Williamston: This is one of the younger Hornets teams of late, but they could improve on last season’s sixth-place finish with five qualifications in field events plus three relay berths. All three relays ran qualifying times 10th or better in the division.
Kendall Baisden, Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets’ senior is one of the most decorated champions in MHSAA history. She won the 400 last season in a meet-record 54.58 seconds to go with two individual championships as a freshman and three more won as a sophomore. She posted the third-best 200 Regional time in Division 2 at 25.6 and the 10th-best in the 400, 59.8.
Paige Patterson, Dearborn Divine Child: Also a senior, Patterson is favored to finish with two more MHSAA championships after winning the 200 last season in 24.91. She tied for the top Regional time in that race, 25.1, and also enters with the best 400 Regional time of 57.6 after finishing third in that race at last season’s MHSAA Final.
Janina Pollatz, Grand Rapids Christian: The senior is the reigning pole vault champion, going 11-3 last season. She tied for the second-best Regional vault at 11-2 and also leaped the second-best long jump of 17-2.
Kathryn Mills, Eaton Rapids: The Greyhounds junior is hoping to win the high jump for a third straight season and tied for the best Regional jump of 5-4. She also tied for the 15th-best Regional time in the 100 hurdles, 15.9.
LP DIVISION 3 at Comstock Park
Top ranked: No. 1 Frankenmuth, No. 2 Benzonia Benzie Central, No. 3 Hopkins.
Frankenmuth: The reigning champion won by nine points last season and again is loaded with scoring potential. Eight qualifiers are ranked among the top 12 in their respective events based on Regional performances – thrower Ashley Frahm, hurdler Sydney Bronner and sprinter Angie Ritter all are expected to contend in multiple events. The 800 relay ran the fastest Regional time in the division, 1:47.2, and all four relays ran times that ranked among the top 12 in those races.
Benzie Central: Last season’s runner-up should score big with its relays – all four posted Regional times among the top 10 in the division, and three of four posted times among the top five division-wide. Benzie Central also has seven individual race qualifiers and three in the field events.
Hopkins: After tying for 10th last season, Hopkins too could make a big jump thanks to relays. All four enter this weekend with Regional times that ranked among the top six for the entire division. Hopkins also has six individual race qualifiers and three in field events.
Sami Michell, Reed City: A senior, Michell last season became just the second girl and fourth athlete boys or girls to win four MHSAA individual titles in a single Finals meet. The University of Michigan recruit suffered a knee injury during volleyball season but should threaten her Division 3 record in the 100 hurdles of 13.84 (she ran a 13.9 at the Regional) going for her fourth title in that race; Michell also ran a division-best 45.2 in the 300 hurdles at the Regional and owns the all-Finals record in that race of 42.23. She also had the second-fastest 200 time in the division and will attempt to defend her two long jump Finals titles.
Brianna Dinneen, Buchanan: The Bucks senior should make a run at finishing her career as the elite sprinter in Division 3 history. She ran an 11.9 in her 100 Regional, better than the MHSAA Final record of 12.09 by Keyria Calloway of Detroit Crockett set in a 2006 semifinal. Dinneen’s 200 Regional time of 24.9 is just off the Division 3 Final record of 24.82 set by Laingsburg’s Julie Johnson in 2002. Dinneen also qualified in the long jump and 400.
Amber Way, Charlevoix: The sophomore’s 10:51.8 in the Regional 3,200 would best the Division 3 Final record in the race of 10:57.16 set by Nicole Bush of Wyoming Kelloggsville in 2004. Way also should contend in the 1,600 after running that race in 5:10.4 at the Regional.
Raquel Serna, St. Louis: The Sharks senior is a solid favorite in the 1,600 with the division’s best Regional time of 4:58.6, and she too ran a Regional time in the 3,200 that would break the MHSAA Division 3 Final record – 10:53.6. She also should score in the 800.
Other returning individual champions: Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port’s Kayla Deering (shot put, qualified this spring number one in that event and 18th in discus), Schoolcraft’s Kara Craig (high jump, qualified this spring tied for 10th), Leroy Pine River’s Devyn Powell (400, qualified this spring second), Manistee’s Annie Fuller (800, qualified this spring second, sixth in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200).
LP DIVISION 4 at Hudsonville Baldwin Street Middle School
Top ranked: No. 1 Beal City, No. 2 Sand Creek, No. 3 Traverse City St. Francis.
Beal City: Reigning high jump champion Addie Schumacher should again play a big role as Beal City works to move up from third last season. She tied for the second-best high jump at Regionals and tossed the sixth-best shot put. Only two relays qualified – but both with the third-fastest Regional times in the division – and the team also boasts four more field events qualifications and nine in individual races.
Sand Creek: These Aggies have fewer qualifiers than Beal City, but more expected to score big points. Senior Elizabeth Herriman is the defending shot put champ and had the best toss at Regionals both in that event and discus. Senior Natalie Perry ran top-five division-wide Regional times in both the 1,600 and 3,200, and the 400 and 800 relays turned in times that ranked second in the division.
Traverse City St. Francis: A pair of top individuals and strong relays could push last year’s runner-up to the top. Reigning 400 champ Lauren Buckel posted the fastest Regional time in that race and the second-fastest in the 200, and freshman Holly Bullough ran the second-fastest 800, fastest 1,600 and second-fastest 3,200 in the division. The 800 relay was Division 4’s fastest, and the 1,600 and 3,200 relays were among the top four.
Miranda Johnson, Ottawa Lake Whiteford: The junior has a shot at breaking at least two division records – her 18-3.25 long jump at the Regional would beat the current record by 3.5 inches, and her 12.2 100 would beat the current record by two tenths of a second. She also had the fastest Regional time (25.8) in the division in the 200.
Chantel Davenport, Athens: A senior, she’ll go after the 100 hurdles record of 15.14 set in 2009 – Davenport ran 15.1 at the Regional. She’s also the favorite in the high jump and posted the second-best long jump behind Johnson last weekend.
Ashley White, Detroit Edison Academy: Five sprinters should make a run at that 100 record, but White joins Johnson among those who bested that 12.4 time at Regionals. White, a junior, ran a 12.3 and also posted the third-fastest time in the 200.
Kirsten Olling, Breckenridge: The reigning 3,200 champion has the top Regional time (11:19.4) coming in and the second-fastest in the 1,600 (5:17.9).
Other returning individual champions: Hillsdale Academy’s Shaley Albaugh (800, qualified first this spring).
UP DIVISION 1 at Kingsford
Marquette: The Redettes are loaded for a third-straight MHSAA team title and fifth in six seasons. They have the top qualifying time in the division in all four relays plus the top qualifier in one field event and five individual races. Freshman Lindsey Rudden comes in as the favorite in the 800 (2:21.86), 1,600 (5:15.2) and 3,200 (11:53.21). That 800 time would approach this meet’s record, and the 1,600 time would break it easily. Sophomore Shayla Huebner won the 400 last season and enters with the best Regional time in that event and the second-fastest in the 800.
Negaunee: The reigning runner-up fell seven points shy last season but is led again by senior Ashley Veale, the 2012 champion in both the 100 and 300 hurdles who also will run the 100 and 200. Her 100 hurdles Regional time (16.54) was the best in the division.
Chelsea Jacques, Calumet: Last season as a freshman she set the meet record in the 100 (12.55), and she ran a 12.59 at this spring’s Regional. She also ran the second-best Regional time in the 200, 27.08, after winning the Finals championship in that race as well in 2012.
Jessica Young, Gladstone: The senior is expected to defend her discus title with the top Regional throw (107-3) by more than a foot, and she’s also a contender in the shot put.
UP DIVISION 2 at Kingsford
Iron River West Iron County: The Wykons bring a deep team coming off a third-place finish last season and a Regional title this month. They have at least one qualifier in every event, with Megan Miatech the favorite in both the discus and shot put and Cassilyn Pellizzer the top 300 hurdler at Regionals in the division.
Manistique: The Emeralds finished eighth in Division 1 last season but won their Regional in Division 2 and have the top relay in three races based on Regional times. Freshman Holly Blowers is one to follow – she enters with the best 800 (2:32.04), 1,600 (5:32.3) and second-best 3,200 (11:31.76) times from Regionals.
Hannah Palmeter, Ironwood: The senior is the reigning champion in the 800 and ran the second-fastest Regional time in the division, 2:37.13, ranking behind only Blowers.
UP DIVISION 3 at Kingsford
St. Ignace: The winner of the last three Division 2 championships is running in Division 3 this season. Senior Sarah Cullip won three individual titles last season and owns four overall; she ran the fastest Regional time in the division in the 800 (2:30), 1,600 (5:36) and 3,200 (12:30), and will also pole vault. Another big scorer could be junior Rachel Hetherington, whose times in the 100, 200 and 400 all ranked among the top five from the division’s Regionals.
Brimley: Despite finishing 37 points behind St. Ignace at their Regional, Brimley has to be considered a contender again after winning this Final the last two seasons. Junior Tabitha Graham likely will be the biggest contributor Saturday. She is the reigning high jump champ, has the second-fastest Regional time in the 400 and also is a contender in the long jump. Sophomore Emily Chartrand is the reigning champion in the 3,200 and had the second-fastest Regional time in the division.
Jamie Dompier, Chassell: The senior already holds a meet record in the 200 of 26.36 and ran a 26.21 at the Regional. Her Regional time in the 100 of 12.45 would break the Final record of 12.5 set in 2003. She also had the division’s fastest Regional time in the 400 (102:33).
Engadine’s Aspen Hood: She should approach a meet record as a freshman – her 47.94 in the Regional 300 hurdles would’ve broken this Final’s record of 48.07 from 2009. She also ran the fastest Regional time in the 100 hurdles (16.3) and the second-fastest in the 200 (26.29). She won the 300 hurdles last season as an eighth grader.
Rudyard’s Savannah Dugan: The junior won the Division 2 discus and shot put last season, setting a meet record in the former of 122-10.25. She had the best Regional throws this spring in both events in Division 3.
Other returning individual champions: Rapid River’s Neena Brockway (discus, qualified eighth in that event and shot put this season), Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Sarah Audette (pole vault, qualified tied for second in that event and 11th in high jump this season.)
PHOTO: Ottawa Lake Whiteford’s Miranda Johnson uncoils on a long jump on the way to winning the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship last season. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
Knudsen's Early Perseverance Sign of Character to Come During Record-Setting Leland Run
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 11, 2025
What was, nearly wasn’t.
When the Buckley Invitational — weather permitted — takes place today, Ella Knudsen will begin to cap off a dream career at Leland.
The way her career began, frankly, was a little more like a nightmare.
Knudsen, the most decorated distance runner in the school’s history, is expected to challenge today for top honors in 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Last year, weather forced cancellation of Buckley season-opening invite, but this year’s the forecast was much more encouraging.
Knudsen’s career — or at minimum her freshman season — was nearly cancelled as well as she tried to cross the finish line at her first high school event, the 2021 McBain Cross Country Invitational.
On an extremely hot August day, onlookers thought her difficulties finishing were caused by heat exhaustion.
“Her very first cross country first race could have been an end-all,” said her coach and mother Ann Knudsen. “It really talks to her determination, and her power of positivity overcoming adversity.”
Ella, one of the 10 student-athletes recently selected by MHSAA this year from Class C and D member schools to receive scholarships through the MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award program, vividly recalls the moment.
“It was my first time truly racing a 5k, and as I was going down the last hill to the finish line about 15 feet from the finish line I heard three to five pops in my left hip,” Ella said. “My momentum from the hill carried me through the finish line, where I collapsed and was caught by people at the finish line.”
Event staff tried to keep Knudsen moving, but she went into shock. It took a few minutes for Knudsen to gather herself enough to communicate she was suffering extreme hip pain.
Her injury later was diagnosed as a hip avulsion fracture, and it was expected to sideline her for the season. That type of hip injury occurs when a tendon or ligament pulls off a piece of bone.
“I looked at it as a challenge,” Knudsen said. “I continued to show for my team, racing other spectators to various positions on the course with my crutches because I wanted to be there for my team and encourage them in every way possible and lift them up.”
The Comets trained the summer ahead of Knudsen’s first season with high hopes of qualifying for the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. She had noticed hip pain during training, but was pushing through it.
The Comets’ Finals dreams were shattered — but for the moment only.
Doctors told her there was very little chance she’d return to running that first fall. Regionals were out of the question, they told her. But, Knudsen recovered fast enough to lead the Comets in the Regional. She placed fifth, and her team advanced to the championship race at Michigan International Speedway. She also led Leland in the Final with a ninth-place finish.
The rest of her high school career has been one qualification after another for Finals in cross country and track, plus four-year lettering in basketball. Throw in four years of dual sporting in golf during the fall and two years of dual sporting in soccer in the spring, while Knudsen set and reset one school running record after another.
She was a member of the record-setting 3,200 relay team that qualified for MHSAA Finals in 2021 and 2022.
“We have a great team this year – a really big team, and I am super excited about that,” said Knudsen, who is in Leland’s record books for the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays. “It’s a goal this year to make it back to the state meet for the 4x800 and also individually myself, as well as some others, be able to qualify to head to states again this year in individual events.”
And while Knudsen has experienced tremendous success competing in sports, she will value the relationships she has established along with the way.
Many of those relationships were developed during Finals competition and while serving on the MHSAA Student Advisory Council. She is one of eight seniors on the 16-member Council.
“You create relationships with others that go beyond just the court, or field of play or the competition,” Knudsen said. “You connect outside. It is so cool to have those relationships where you don’t look at each other as competitors.”
One of her fondest memories was made during the Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals at MIS this past fall.
“I was able to be in a box with other girls from our region who I had connected with this year, and we were able to just have a really cool moment in prayer before the race,” said Knudsen, who was joined by her freshman teammate Sophie Grinage in that moment. “It was just one of those things where it just allowed us all to take a deep breath. It allowed us to connect and feel like we were a part of something bigger that just ourselves.”
Knudsen, who also owns school records in 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 individual track events and cross country 5k, also has fond memories of being coached by both her mother and father. Ryan Knudsen, also the Comets’ athletic director, coached her all four seasons in basketball in addition to her mother’s coaching of track and cross country.
“Honestly, I would not want anybody else to coach me,” Ella said. “When you have a parent as a coach, you feel like you want to perform a better and you want to push yourself more. I have two amazing people who are going pick me up at the end of the day no matter what and love me and care for me even on my worst days.”
Ann Knudsen points out Ella’s ability to ground herself and those around her, especially those dealing with anxiety at the starting line.
“From a coaching perspective, she’s kind of a dream to coach,” Ann Knudsen said. “It’s kind of fun to be able to say that as a mom. Some moms and dads can coach their kids, and some know it is never going to work.”
It may be tough for the Knudsens to see Ella’s career come to an end in June. But her parents/coaches will be proud no matter how it concludes.
“I could not be more proud of who she is, and what she has accomplished during her high school career,” Ryan Knudsen said. “As a parent, coach, and athletic director I am most proud of how Ella has represented our school and our community by modeling for others what being a student-athlete is all about.”
In addition to her playing career and serving on the Student Advisory Council, Knudsen has been a leader in her school community participating on student council and as a member of the National Honor Society and National Art Honor Society. She also served in multiple other volunteer roles, including establishing an elementary wellness program with classmate Emerie Burda.
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Leland’s Ella Knudsen rounds a curve carrying the baton during a relay race. (Middle) Knudsen, center, takes a photo with father Ryan and mother Ann after receiving her MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award in March. (Below) Knudsen races toward the finish line. (Photos courtesy of the Leland athletic department.)