High 5s: 11/7/12
November 7, 2012
This past Saturday saw eight teams and eight individuals crowned MHSAA champions, and this week we feature a few who will be listed among the best for all time.
Erin Finn
West Bloomfield senior
Cross country
Finn won her second straight MHSAA individual Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, this time in 17:07.9. Her finish was the fastest from any of the four divisions that raced Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, and gave her the victory in hers by 27 seconds. Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever at an MHSAA Final. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.
On track for more: Finn also won an MHSAA Track and Field championship last season, setting an all-division/class record in the 1,600 with a time of 10:17.86. That time was nearly five seconds better than the previous best.
Maize and Blue: Finn will run next season at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines cross country team is ranked No. 7 nationally heading into Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional.
Scientifically speaking: Finn intends to study biomechanical engineering at U-M. "My junior year, I found out I love physics, and I already knew I loved bio and chemistry. So, what's better than to combine those?"
Runners to chase: “I looked up to Megan Goethals (of Rochester), number one, and Shannon Osika (of Waterford Mott). They’re people I competed with. I know that one day I can be like that. It’s more real to me.”
Nick Raymond
Erie Mason senior
Cross country
After dashing to the lead last season and finishing fourth, Nick Raymond dominated the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at MIS with a time of 15:05.1 – the second-fastest time for a Division 3/Class C MHSAA Final to only Maverick Darling's 14:52.8 for Ovid-Elsie in 2007. Raymond is the first individual cross country champion from Erie Mason (not counting another who finished first among individuals before team and individual placers were combined for one race beginning in 1997) and also placed in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the spring's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track and Field Final.
A long drive: "I've been working hard, since the first time (I ran) in sixth grade. Working hard and training hard over the summer and during mandatory practices too."
Brotherly influence: Raymond began running cross country in the footsteps of his older brother Andrew Raymond, a 2010 graduate. "He told me, 'If you just keep working hard, just look forward at your dream, your goal, you will achieve it.'"
Now the pool, then the track: Raymond swims during the winter, specializing in butterfly and breaststroke. Then it's on to track. Raymond finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:21.84) and seventh in the 3,200 (9:44.91) at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final.
Looking up to Pre: Like many in the running community, Raymond considers former Oregon and international star Steve Prefontaine a major influence. "I liked how he had a lot of faith in himself."
East Kentwood soccer
The top-ranked Falcons edged Grand Blanc 1-0 at Troy Athens to claim their fourth Division 1 championship in six seasons. They finished 22-1-4, their seventh with at least 20 wins in the last eight years.
Previous 2012-13 honorees:
- Julia Bos, Grand Rapids Christian cross country - Click for more
- Morgan Bullock, Zeeland swimming - Click for more
- Nathan Burnand, Waterford Mott cross country - Click for more
- Aaron Chatfield, Burt Lake Northern Michigan Christian soccer - Click for more
- Billy Heckman, Portage Central tennis - Click for more
- Codi Jenshak, Escanaba tennis - Click for more
- Amanda McKinzie, Battle Creek St. Philip cross country - Click for more
- Connor Mora, Cedar Springs cross country - Click for more
- Kelsey Murphy, Plymouth golf - Click for more
- Dewey Lewis, Rockford soccer - Click for more
- Jacqueline Setas, Lansing Catholic golf - Click for more
- Michael Sienko, Williamston tennis - Click for more
- Beal City volleyball - Click for more
- Grand Blanc boys soccer - Click for more
- Ithaca football - Click for more
- Lansing Everett football - Click for more
- Ludington boys tennis - Click for more
- Muskegon Mona Shores girls golf - Click for more
Mid Peninsula Pair Push Each Other to More Finals Success
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 22, 2021
ST. NICHOLAS — Daisy Englund and Landry Koski have been training partners for the past six years.
Things will be different this fall, however, as Englund begins her collegiate running career at Ferris State University and Koski enters her senior year at Rock Mid Peninsula High School.
“It’s definitely going to be different without Daisy here,” said Koski. “It’s definitely going to be a change, and it was really a big change without (2020 grads) Kennedy (Englund) and Chevy (Koski). Although, it’s a good feeling to have the team. That just makes everything better. It helps you mentally because it’s nice to have friends to experience that with you.”
Englund was in seventh grade when she and Koski became teammates.
“I ran cross country in sixth grade,” said Englund. “My seventh grade year is when we started running together. We pushed each other and made each other better, and Chevy and Kennedy weren’t all that far behind us. I didn’t start out the best, but when I got into eighth grade I was on varsity and my times improved.”
Koski also recalls what the early days were like.
“I just loved running,” she said. “In my first year of cross country the races were only 1½ miles, but it was hard to stay with Kennedy. I didn’t know how to pace myself, then I kind of learned as I went on. I didn’t know what I was capable of doing.”
Both have come a long way, which was evident during the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals on June 5 at Kingsford.
Englund was crowned 800-meter champion for the first time in two minutes, 30.75 seconds, but had won other races at the Finals.
“You only get to experience the U.P. Finals a few times in your life, and I think it makes you hard-working,” she said. “It felt great to finally get the 800 title. I honestly didn’t think I’d get it. The Ontonagon girl (sophomore Makennah Uotila) was a lot taller than me.
“It didn’t feel like those were my last high school races, and it still doesn’t feel that way. It’s so stressful. You know what kind of ability you have, but it can be disappointing if you don’t perform the way you want.”
Koski was seeded eighth going into the 1,600, but came from behind to win it in a season-best 5:39.89 on a very hot and humid day.
“It always gets so nerve-wracking in the end,” said Koski. “You don’t know what everybody else has left. In my freshman year I won the 1,600 and 3,200. I didn’t think I’d win those because Danika Walters (of Superior Central) was real good. You never know what’s going to happen. At the Finals, you see so many schools you don’t see during the regular season, especially this year without having the (Superior) Dome meets.”
Englund was crowned UPD3 cross country champion in 2018 and 2020, with Koski gaining top honors in 2019.
“It was always our goal to get Mid Pen’s name out there,” said Englund. “I always liked running against the bigger schools.”
“Many people think ‘you’re just Division 3,’” Koski added. “It makes you want to go out there and prove yourself.”
Englund was awaiting a training schedule from Ferris State as she prepares for her first collegiate season.
“It’s going to be different,” she said. “I’m not going to have Landry down there. I’ve been running by myself, although we’ll probably be running together this summer. August 22 is moving-in day and practices start in late August. It will be more intense training. We’ll probably run about 15-20 miles a week.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rock Mid Peninsula’s Daisy Englund leads the 800 on the way to winning the race during the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals on June 5 at Kingsford High School. (Middle) Teammate Landry Koski races one of her three individual events during the championship meet. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)