Hart, St. Charles Share Historic Finish
June 2, 2018
By Jeff Bleiler
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – Put the Hart and St. Charles teams together, and you’d have had a runaway winner in the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals on Saturday at Comstock Park.
Hart’s dominance in the distance events and St. Charles’ performances in the sprints would have made it difficult for any other team to challenge for the title.
As it was, each team’s strength countered the other to near perfection as Hart and St. Charles tied for the Division 3 championship with 46 points, earning both their first MHSAA Finals title in this sport.
They finished 10 points ahead of third-place Onsted, which closed the gap by placing fifth in the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. Neither Hart nor St. Charles fielded a team in that event, and Onsted entered it 14 points behind with only 10 available to the winner – so the championship had been decided before that last race even got started.
Both Hart and St. Charles’ coaches were pleased with the shared championship, the first time that’s happened in Division 3 since Laingsburg and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central split the crown in 2003.
“We had an idea we’d have a chance if we used (junior) Adelyn (Ackley) in three events but didn’t know where she’d end up,” said Hart coach Mindy Whitney, who actually inserted Ackley into a fourth event, which proved critical.
Ackley – who led the cross country team to the LPD3 title in the fall as well – won the 3,200 in 10 minutes, 45.54 seconds; finished runner-up in the 1,600 to Hanover-Horton’s Judy Rector; and placed sixth in the 800, all that after anchoring the winning 3,200 relay in the day’s first event. Alayna Ackley, her older sister, led off and sophomore Brenna Aerts and freshman MacKenzie Stitt filled the second and third slots, respectively, as the relay finished in 9:32.67.
Alayna Ackley also provided valuable points by placing third in the 3,200 despite coming back from a stress fracture injury just last month. The 3,200 was a boon of points for Hart, which picked up 20 in that event alone as the third Ackley sister, freshman Savannah, was fifth.
Whitney said her brother was keeping tabs on the team scoring but after the completion of the 3,200, she thought they came up a point short.
“I was very happy; it was a good day,” she said.
The same could be said for St. Charles, which did its damage in the sprints. Najiyah Holden did the most by winning the 200 in 25.61 seconds, finishing third in the 100 in 12.73 seconds and running the first leg of the winning 400 and 800 relays. The other members of the relays were freshman Hope Kushion and sophomores Erica Garcia and Celine Whiren.
Coach Andre Williams was especially pleased with the 800 relay team’s time of 1:44.97, which broke by three seconds the school record.
“I’m satisfied with (sharing the title),” he said. “After the 400 relay, I knew we had a shot. I told Najiyah she had a shot at winning the 200, and she did. We just don’t have any distance runners.”
Sprinter Jenna Odykirk of Farwell put to rest previous struggles at the Finals by winning the 100, edging reigning champion Shiyon Taylor of Parchment by two hundredths of a second, and finishing runner-up in the 200.
Odykirk, who finished a disappointing 16th in the long jump, took solace with her finishes in the sprints after she missed the finals in 2017 in the 200 by one spot and was a distant 16th in the 100.
“I didn’t do too well in the long jump, but I had decent times in everything else,” said Odykirk, whose time of 12.63 seconds in the 100 was a personal best.
Odykirk, a junior, credited the improvement to off season indoor work at Saginaw Valley State University with coach Kyle Payne and outdoor work with Farwell coach Matt Horodyski.
“Next year, my goal is to be state champ in the 200 and the 100, do better in the long jump and run in the 400,” said Odykirk, who qualified this year for the 400 after finishing sixth in the event at last year’s Finals. She opted not to run it Saturday.
In the field events, the shot put provided some late fireworks as Beaverton senior Alicia Aldrich and Clinton’s Amanda Schaare put on quite a show.
In her final attempt with Aldrich on deck, and with the crowd slow clapping as she readied, Schaare heaved it 43 feet, 9¼ inches to move into first. The crowd gave Aldrich a similar slow clap, and she responded with a launch of 44 feet, 7½ inches to take the championship.
“I was like shaking a lot,” Aldrich said. “It feels really great. I wasn’t expecting that at all. The competition really makes you want to throw it farther. I got nervous when I saw Amanda throw it, but then I heard the atmosphere and it pumped me right up.”
Aldrich, who just started competing in shot put last year, will continue in the sport at SVSU.
The runner-up finish for Schaare was not a disappointment as she already had repeated as the discus champion. Schaare won with a toss of 128 feet, beating Sheridan Dinsmore of Caro by six inches.
“(Repeating) was awesome; I really wanted to do that for myself,” Schaare said. “Words just can’t describe it. It’s a feeling that not everyone gets to experience. I just have the greatest support system.”
Schaare’s runner-up put was a personal record, beating the 41-9 she posted early in the season.
“I didn’t finish first in the shot put, but I’m OK with that because with the discus, that would have been icing on the cake,” said Schaare, who will compete in track for the University of Michigan.
Marlette senior Emily Schaub swept the hurdles, winning the 100 hurdles in 15.01 seconds and taking the 300 in 46.96 seconds. She was third in the 100 hurdles a year ago and did not qualify for the 300 final after placing 15th in her 2017 preliminary.
Jackson Lumen Christi freshman Renae Kutcha won the 800 in 58.75 seconds, and Hanover-Horton’s Rector won the 1,600 in 4:52.59. Kutcha also led off the opening leg of Lumen Christi’s winning 1,600 relay team, joining junior Allison Rand, junior Marilyn Schonhard and senior Audrey Warriner with a finish in 4:01.9.
Boyne City senior Anna Harmeling won the pole vault in 11-6, Millington senior Hannah Hall won the high jump at 5-3 and Onsted senior Harlie Sweet won the long jump with a leap of 17-3½.
VIDEO: Holden On For A Bulldogs Co-Championship
PHOTOS: (Top) A pair of St. Charles runners execute a handoff during a relay Saturday. (Middle) Hart's Adelyn Ackley, left, stays a step ahead during one of her relays. (Photos by Annette Tipton. Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Bush Capping Championship Career as Arbor Prep's 1st Track Finalist
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2025
Eliza Bush admits it would be nice to have teammates, but the Ypsilanti Arbor Prep distance runner hasn’t let that stand in the way of a successful track season.
The senior three-sport athlete qualified for Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals in the 1,600 and 3,200.
“It doesn’t bother me, but it’s hard at times,” Bush said. “I don’t have anyone to run with or that is pushing me during my workouts. It’s made me more self-motivated. I’ve had to push myself.”
Bush has been all-state four consecutive years in cross country, finishing as LPD3 Final runner-up in the fall while just one of two Gators on the cross country team. She was an all-stater in basketball this winter when she led Arbor Prep to its second-straight Division 3 championship. During that Final she played all 32 minutes and scored 10 points, with three huge 3-pointers as the Gators defeated Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest by 11.
This is Arbor Prep’s first season with an MHSAA-sanctioned track & field team.
“Our school never had track, and I’ve always done AAU basketball in the spring,” Bush said. “I basically had to beg (Arbor Prep athletic director Scott) Stine to let me do track.”
When Stine said yes, she also had to find competition. Since Arbor Prep is not part of a conference, she helped make her own schedule. She competed at weekend events like the Farmington Invitational, Oakland University High School Invitational, Ann Arbor Greenhills April Showers Invitational and Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Railsplitter Invite.
“I would look for weekend events to go to, then ask Mr. Stine to register me,” she said. “I wanted to compete at races where I knew there would be good competition. Almost everywhere I went there were 30 to 40 other schools there. I want to race against good competition.”
She won the 3,200 and finished second in the 1,600 at her Regional.
Her personal best this season in the 1,600 was 5:00.31, which is second-fastest in LPD3 behind only 2024 champion Emmry Ross of Onsted. She’s also run second in LPD3 in the 3,200, about eight seconds behind Ross. She finished ahead of Ross in that race at the Regional at Adrian Madison.
“I’m hoping to get into the fours in the mile,” she said.
Stine is the official head coach of the Gators track team, but Bush did a lot of research about workouts and training on her own, with a major assist from cross country coach and school dean Stephanie Roberts.
“She was really helpful with timing and giving me splits,” she said. “I do appreciate everything she has done and being there. It has helped me a lot doing the research on my own, though, because I’ve learned so much from doing it.”
Last year, before Arbor Prep was allowed to run in postseason competition, Bush raced in four events when she could – the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200. She started this season running the 400 as well, but decided to go with her strength and focus on the two longest distances instead.
She’s not one to shy away from competition, which has been the mantra at Arbor Prep no matter the sport.
“For some people it can be difficult when it gets (to be) higher competition, but I’m used to that,” she said. “Having such good competition in multiple sports is helpful.”
Bush lives in Dexter. She’s been part of the Arbor Prep sports program, however, since she was in the fifth grade when she became the ball girl for the Gators girls basketball team.
“I really liked going to their practices and games,” she said. “When I was younger, I would go to a lot of their games because they’ve always been so good. The team became like sisters to me, and it made me want to go there.”
Bush plans to run at Oakland University next season. She had debated playing basketball in college, but said she started looking more at track & field after Oakland contacted her last year. She wants to go into pre-medicine or study to become a physician’s assistant.
And she’s looking forward to having teammates again.
“It was a very hard choice. I think I’ve always focused more on basketball. I’m curious to see what it will be like doing (running) year-round,” Bush said. “I’m looking forward to running in college, to have teammates to work out with and push each other.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Arbor Prep senior Eliza Bush rounds a curve during a track race. (Middle) Bush puts up a jumpshot at the Breslin Center. (Below) Bush takes a photo during a visit to Oakland University. (Track photo by Dan Zeppa; Oakland photo courtesy of Bush family.)