Logo

Harbor Springs Finishes 1st Title Run

May 30, 2015

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half

 

HUDSONVILLE – Harbor Springs’ Emily Kloss has been coaching track and field for more than two decades.

 

Throughout her career, however, one accomplishment had eluded her.

 

That was until Saturday afternoon at Hudsonville’s Baldwin Middle School.

 

Harbor Springs claimed the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track and Field Final championship. It was the first in school history.

 

The Rams finished with 57 points, while Fowler placed runner-up with 53.5 points. Concord (50) and was third, and defending champion Reading (48) was fourth.

 

“I’m super excited because we brought 11 girls here and every single one of them placed and medaled,” said Kloss, who coaches with her husband, Mike. “This is my 25th year coaching, but the first state championship won for track.”

 

Harbor Springs’ cross country program has won two MHSAA Finals and placed runner-up twice, but the track and field crown has special meaning.

 

Kloss’ hometown is Fowler, and she and Fowler’s coach, Jill Feldpausch, were teammates in high school.

 

“We won state championships together so this is pretty special, especially for them to take second,” Kloss said.

 

Senior Charlotte Cullip, who placed runner-up in the 400 to teammate Salix Sampson, was thrilled to end her career with a victory in the Finals.

 

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’ve run forever in cross and track and this is my last year, so it’s amazing. Our coaches looked at the stats and thought we had a chance. I didn’t believe them until the 4 X 4, and then I thought we could do it.

 

“We had throwers, pole vaulters, distance runners, relays. We had everything, and I’m so glad it all came together this last year.”

 

Sampson clocked a 58.99 in the 400 and was the anchor on the victorious 1,600 relay (4:08.14).

 

“Our team has worked really hard at it, and our coach doesn’t say that we can do something if we can’t,” Sampson said. “We had a lot of good freshmen come through, and they really powered through. We couldn’t have done this without them, and the seniors have been there since the beginning.”

 

Kloss credited her seniors for helping propel the team to the top of the standings.

 

“My seniors have worked so hard, and we broke two school records today,” she said. “I’m pretty excited to finally do it with the great seniors that we have. Everyone worked really hard, and it is nice to end it this way.”

 

Sophomore Caylin Bonser took fifth in the discus and fifth in the shot put, while teammate Erika Lechner, a sophomore, was fourth in the shot put.

 

The weather Saturday changed dramatically, and the final portion of the meet was run in light rain, wind and cooler temperatures.

 

“We’re used to this crappy weather,” Kloss joked. “We had snow at our conference meet last week.”

 

Fowler senior Ashley Hufnagel led her team’s charge.

 

She won the 300 hurdles (47.38), placed runner-up in the high jump (5-2), and led off the 800 relay, which won with a time of 1:48.35.

 

Fowler also finished runner-up to Onekama in the 400 relay. Also contributing to the win were junior Madison Koenigsknecht and freshmen McKenzie Feldpausch and Sidney Horak.

 

Mason County Eastern sophomore Jordan Goodman won the 100 for the second year in a row, and in record time.

 

Goodman raced to a narrow win by clocking a 12.40, which tied the LP Division 4 Final record set by Pewamo-Westphalia’s Abbey Hengesbach in 2010.

 

“I was nervous at the beginning, but then I thought, ‘this is my favorite race’,” Goodman said. “I’m a sophomore, I need a scholarship and this is my race. I like being out there, and I feel strong in that event. I feel like I can run really fast.”

 

Goodman held off Concord’s Lindsey Lehman by two hundredths of a second.

 

“I felt a little bit of pressure, and I was worried because I know Lindsey and (Reading’s) Jennifer Davis were running some pretty good times,” Goodman said. “I just got in the right frame of mind. I ran a 12.1 this year, so I thought if I could do that again then I would be all right.”

 

Goodman also placed sixth in the 200 and sixth in the long jump.

 

Lehman recovered to edge Davis in a photo finish in the 200 by clocking a 25.92.

Click for full results.

PHOTO: Salix Sampson (middle) and teammate Charlotte Cullip race to the top two places in the 400 during Saturday's LP Division 4 Final. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com. Photo by Janina Pollatz.)

High 5s - 5/1/12

May 1, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.

Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:

Sarita Dotson

Battle Creek Lakeview junior

Girls Track and Field

For the second straight season, Dotson was named the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Eldon Draime/Al Geisler Memorial All-City Meet held at Battle Creek Harper Creek (she shared the award in 2011). Dotson won the 100-meter dash (12.5 seconds), the 200 (25.5) and the long jump (16 feet, 3.5 inches) and was on the winning 800 relay (1:48.11) as Lakeview scored 250 points as a team to win the meet by 102.83. Dotson qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Final last spring as a sophomore, but just missed making the championship races in the 100 and 200. She focuses solely on track, but was a cheerleader as both a freshman and a sophomore.

100 is my No. 1: "It's just so much fun. It's really exciting. You've got it or you don't. After a while, everyone is at the same level. Whoever is on her game that day, prepared the hardest, it's going to show in the 100 meters."

I learned the most about track from: Dotson said a number of coaches, and that her first youth coaches -- including Larry Caper -- could tell right away what she should be running. "Immediately, the first day of practice, one of them said, 'She's a sprinter.' I didn't know what a sprinter was."

A few words to run by: "I always start off with a prayer, or at least try, to remember why I do this and to get my mind straight. My pastor was my coach when I started in third grade, and the first thing he taught us to do when we get on the track is pray."

Favorite formula: Dotson's favorite school subject is chemistry -- and she is considering a career in cosmetic science with a focus on the engineering and creation of make-up.

Cullen Prena

Walled Lake Central junior

Boys Track and Field

Prena has blasted onto the throwing scene this spring and especially the last few weeks after twice throwing the discus more than 180 feet -- and according to an Oakland Press report, broke both school and Oakland County records that had each stood for at least 29 seasons. He threw the discus 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at Saturday's Oxford Invitational, and he also won the shot put with a toss of 52-1. Prena's best discus throw last season was 159 feet -- and his toss Saturday would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Prena finished fifth in discus at last season's Division 1 championship meet. He's not the only thrower in his family -- older sisters Kari (University of Michigan) and Kelsey (Michigan State) throw in the Big Ten.

I learned the most about throwing from: "Definitely Coach (Nebojsa Stojkovic). And it helps to have my sisters now in college. They can give me advice all the time."

Be like Ryan (Crouser): The University of Texas freshman owns the national high school discus record of 237-6, and "is definitely a model (for me). That's quite a mark."

My dream scenario: "... after this would be college, then to train for the Olympics after that, and win gold in the Olympics. Realistically, I don't know if that's out there or not. But it's a great place to aim."

Major decision: Prena hasn't picked his college or what he'll study some day, but "I'm thinking some kind of marketing or business, or something in the communications field. I do like working with people, and I also like talking. Potentially a sports broadcaster or a marketing engineer."

Muskegon Mona Shores boys golf

Mona Shores didn't finish first during either round of this weekend's Traverse City Central Invitational. But the Sailors, ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 state poll, finished second both at Spruce Run (309) and the Wolverine (297) for a combined score of 606 -- good for a one-stroke win over top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and two strokes ahead of then No. 5 Traverse City West. Three more teams from that field have since joined the Division 1 top 10.

Reed Hrynewich shot a 69 to finish second at the Wolverine and a 75 to finish fifth at Spruce Run, while teammate Andrew Van Aels finished eight overall at both courses. Those two, Joel Maire and Eric Kastelic also were among the team's top five when it finished fifth at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.

This spring's previous honorees