2 weeks Ago By BY BRENDAN QUEALY [email protected]
BENZONIA — One pack of Huskies had its best day of the season on the cross country course. The other might have had its worst. But both are 2024 regional champions.
The Benzie Central boys and girls teams both captured Division 3 regional titles Friday, running on their home course and coming out on top. "It's been a long time. It has been a long time since we won one of these," Benzie head coach Asa Kelly said.
The Huskies' girls team was dealing with an injury to its No. 3 runner, Nevia Chimonas, as well as Avery Kelly and Althea Gaylord coming down with pneumonia. A nagging hip injury also resurfaced for Nora Grossnickle during the race, but Kelly expects his top runner to be good to go for the state finals Nov.
2. "That was probably one of their worst races of the season, but it's understandable. We knew coming in that we'd struggle," Coach Kelly said of the girls team.
"The boys had their best day of the season, by far. One to seven was on fire." Benzie won the girls division with 70 points.
Hart was second with 80, followed by McBain in third with 103 points. All three program will send their full girls squad to the state finals at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, Nov. 2.
"Even though this was not our best race, we still have proved that even on a not super good day that we can come out and win," Grossnickle said. "It just proves that we're really ready for state and that we're going to have an amazing day at state." Grossnickle led the Huskies with a third-place finish, running an 18:54.
43. Avery Kelly was fourth with a 19:06.97.
The other three scoring runners for Benzie were Lily Whaley in 13th at 19:59.02, Maggie McClellan in 14th at 20:03.73, and Ava Iverson in 36th with a 21:28.
42. McBain freshman Caelyn Torry added on to her incredible debut campaign, placing second individually with a personal-best time of 18:32.75.
"It's really nice. I didn't know I was this good," Torry said. "I'm really grateful.
My time was really good, and I PR'd, which was really great, too." Torry has never run at MIS, but she said she is excited for the opportunity. "I feel like it's going to be really fun," she said.
Benzie ran away with the boys title, scoring 45 points to runner-up Hart's 73. Reed City placed third with 83 points. Jackson Schaub was the leader of the pack for the Huskies, placing third with a 16:31.
2. Eli VanPoortfliet was nipping at his heels, taking fourth at 16:32.15.
Wyatt VanPoortfliet (sixth, 16:43.93), Cage Edingfield (12th, 17:00.46) and McKai Henry (22nd, 17:18.
25) were Benzie's three other scoring runners in the championship victory. "I'm feeling great, and all of the other guys are feeling great as well," Schaub said. "I'm so proud of my team and what we've accomplished throughout this season.
The camaraderie has been incredible this season, and I feel like both the guys and girls teams have connected really well." A conversation the coaching staff had with the boys team at Portage Central has proved to be a turning point for the Benzie boys. "It wasn't us just chewing on them that day.
It was the 20-plus minutes of them just figuring it out, having a little family meeting and just banging it out," Coach Kelly said. "After that day, they really started to come together. Those guys have got it figured out, finally.
" Schaub said that discussion at Portage Central was "very, very important." "We had to really focus on what we needed to improve on, to better ourselves and come to where we were today," Schaub said. "That conversation was vital in us achieving what we did today.
" Schaub said they have more left to achieve come Nov. 2 at the state finals. "We just have to make sure we're all on our A-game," Schaub said.
"We have to treat ourselves right. Go to bed on time and do everything we need to. If we can do what we did this week, we should do great things next week.
" Coach Kelly said it has been a joy to watch his runners have fun while reaching their potential as competitors. "I'm excited for next week," he said. "I think both teams can go down there and put up a good number.
" The Huskies weren't the only ones having a good day in Division 3. Reed City's August Rohde put together the performance of the day, winning the D3 boys race and breaking the 15-minute mark for the first time in his career. "This is just insane," said Rohde, who ran a 14:58.
66. "I ran a good race last week, and I just wanted to see what I could do today. I knew it'd be tough, but I'm so happy.
" Rohde is happy about the regional title, but he said he is focused completely on the state finals. "This, right now, is just a stepping stone for the bigger picture. My season starts at regionals," he said.
"The state meet is what I train for. But this gets me really excited." His sub-15-minute time should carry momentum into next weekend.
"Right now and probably until tomorrow morning or even later, I'm going to think of that time and it's not going to make sense," Rohde said. "It's not going to feel real, but next week it'll set in that I deserve to be in the top group of guys at state." Manton's Robert Dykhouse came in second behind Rohde, and the junior Ranger had a little extra motivation to run as fast as he could Friday.
Dykhouse made a bet with his coach that the junior would have to shave his head if his time was longer than 16:15. Dykhouse came through with a 16:06.1 to turn the tables on his coach, Jeff Harding, who now has to buzz off his locks as part of the deal.
"I felt amazing out there," Dykhouse said. "That first mile, I was just telling myself to ease the pace a little. There's a lot of energy at regionals, so I had make sure I balanced that.
Once the second and third miles came, I said I was going to hammer it and give it all I could." Dykhouse, whose time also broke the Manton junior record, said after the race Friday that he was just trying to enjoy the moment. "Now, I'm probably just going to celebrate.
But the next day I wake up, I'm definitely going to lock in for states and place a lot better," he said. Dedication will be the name of the game for Dykhouse at the finals. "I have to relax and find that balance for my emotions," he said.
"The nervousness is really just preparing me, and I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself." SHEPHERD — The Traverse City West Titans are Division 1 regional champions after just edging out Okemos and Midland Dow at Shepherd on Friday. The Titans finished with 72 points.
Okemos wasn't far behind with 76, and Midland Dow — which had the top two finishers — was third with 80 points. "We knew it was going to be a close one," West first-year head coach Lia Palomino said. "I knew if the girls ran their best that they could win, and I told them that.
I'm very proud of how they've worked through the ups and downs of the season. They put it all together on the right day." Sophomore Tessa Mascari led West with a sixth-place finish, running an 18:32.
66. Also scoring for the Titans were Abby Veit (ninth, 18:47.1), Alyssa Fouchey (15th, 19:27.
48), Peyton Tucker (19th, 19:43.78) and Bailey Wenzlick (23rd, 19:45.46).
"I would love to see them all run their best and PR," Palomino said of her hopes for the state finals. "Top 10 would be a great goal for us. I definitely think that's possible.
" Palomino said the leadership on the team has been "amazing" this season as Fouchey stepped into that role as the lone senior. "Everybody has been so supportive of each other, of me coming into this position," Palomino said. "I couldn't have asked for a better team to coach.
You have a talented team, and you also have a team with good humans on it." Traverse City Central finished fifth with 136 points and will send two runners to the state finals. Freshman Ariana Rajah finished 11th with a 19:14.
26, and Sienna Cobb was 13th with a 19:17.99. In the boys division, the Trojans placed third to earn a spot at the state finals for the eighth consecutive year.
Caleb Keller led Central with a runner-up finish in a sprint to the end, running a 15:47.63 to Okemos' Ian Morgan's 15:46.7.
Also scoring for the Trojans were Ian Boss (fifth, 16:16.73), Neil Oyer (15th, 16:29.79), Lawrence Cubitt (19th, 16:35.
73) and Luke Byland (38th, 17:03.11). The Titans will have two representatives at state in the boys race as Hayden Murray (18th, 16:34.
03) and Aidan Simrau (20th, 16:39.5) qualified as individuals. The D1 state finals are set for Saturday, Nov.
2 at Michigan International Speedway. BENZONIA — Make that two regional championships in a row for Katie Berkshire. The Gaylord junior and Big North Conference champion is now a regional champion for the second time after winning Friday's Division 2 race at Benzie Central.
"I feel great about it," Berkshire said. "I'm feeling more confident going into states and going for a championship. I wasn't expecting to PR today, but I was really glad about that.
It just shows how much I've improved." Mindset has been a big help for Berkshire. "I've learned to cope with stress a lot better, and that's helped me race more efficiently and feeling confident going into races," she said.
Ten days after setting her personal record at the BNC Championships, Berkshire did it again with a time of 17:31.05. Now, she hopes to do better this year at the state finals after placing 73rd last year.
"I would like to get top five at state. That would be a big goal for me to achieve, considering how last year went," Berkshire said. "If I can get in that top-5 position, I'd be really proud of myself.
" Cadillac's Brooklynn Brown and the rest of the Vikings' girls team will be joining Berkshire at the state finals. Brown, a junior, broke the school record Friday with a time of 18:07.87.
"It feels great," Brown said. "I've been working on that for three years." The Vikings finished third as a team in the D2 girls division with 99 points.
Spring Lake won with 79. "I look forward to getting all-state and top 10 or around there," Brown said. "We're going as a team, so that feels good.
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