#21 Recovering From The Worlds

Inside This Issue

• The Lead Story That Didn’t Happen

• How Did Michigan Do At Worlds?

• Pete Moss Invitational

• Other XC Meets

• Who To Watch This XC Season

• Legend: Penn Relays Champ While In High School

• Interview: From Northville To Malta—Gina McNamara

• The Little Things

Idea For Lead Story Goes Down In Flames

That’s right. I had great plans to do a piece on what it’s really like to report on a World Championships: the high points, the headaches, etc. And then, two days into the meet, I got hit with a health crisis that destroyed the experience for me. I’ll leave out all the details, but in a nutshell, I spent three days trying to find appropriate medical help in Hungary (I definitely don’t recommend getting sick there). Finally, at wit’s end, I bought a ticket to head home halfway through the meet. I had never bailed on a major meet before, so this was a huge disappointment. Now I’m home, well cared-for, and trying to catch up on too many things that got ignored the last few weeks, including this newsletter.

How Did Michigan Do At Worlds?

100H – Cindy Sember (Ann Arbor Huron/Great Britain) 4h-12.83; 6s-12.97

Cindy Sember was unable to advance to the finals in the 100 hurdles. She wrote on Instagram, “I've fought all year long and unfortunately it wasn't enough to perform my best at world champs this year. I know what I'm capable of, and last night was not any indication of that. With how this year started and all the trials that came along with it, I'm grateful I had the opportunity to give it a shot. Sad and frustrated, but God knows what He's doing so I'll continue to give it to Him. I'm wrapping it up for this year to recover properly, but best believe I'll be back with something special in the Olympic year next year!”

Sember Semi Video (lane 8)
Sember Heat Video (lane 8)

400H – Anna Cockrell (Detroit Country Day MS) 2h-54.68; 2s-53.63; 5-53.34

Anna Cockrell placed 5th in the 400 hurdles. She PRed in the semis at 53.63 (old best 53.70), then in the finals with her 53.34. They are the fastest 400H times ever by a Michigan MS/HS alum. “It’s hard to get upset about a PR, but it’s hard not to be upset about not getting a medal.”

Cockrell Final Video (lane 9)
Cockrell Semi Video (lane 7)
Cockrell Heat Video (lane 9)
Cockrell Interview

110H – Freddie Crittenden (Utica) 2h-13.40; 1s-13.17; 4-13.16

Freddie Crittenden, in his first global championship, came through some of his finest hurdling ever, winning his semi and then placing 4th in the final. “London Diamond League, I kind of pulled up, had some hamstring stuff that was bothering me. and the past month I’ve been recovering, making sure we’re taking baby steps each day, to make sure I could get here healthy. I literally had one good workout to make sure we were good to go. So being able to come out here and compete the way I did, I’m just really proud of myself.”

Crittenden Final Video (lane 4)
Crittenden Interview

DT – Brian Williams (Fraser) 9-63.62/208-9

Brian Williams was the top U.S. finisher in the discus, finishing 9th. “What a ride. I fought my way into this final ranked 25th and finished within the top 10 in the world. I'm not allowing myself to be upset or sad about this performance. I've been through so much this season both physically and mentally and to know that when it's time to go I still have my best to give is a reassuring feeling.”

Williams Video

DT – Alex Rose (Ogemaw Heights/Samoa) 12-61.69/202-4

Alex Rose made the final with a solid qualifying throw of 65.26/214-1, then finished 12th. “Struggled to find one today, but so happy to represent Samoa in my second World Final. I felt great, just couldnt quite find a rhythm and wound up 12th. Best season of my life, and I'm grateful for all of the support!”

Rose Qualifying Video

Pete Moss Invitational

With track occupying every synapse in my brain this summer, I confess I haven’t done a lot of thinking about cross country. Yet the season is already here! The first big one of the year was Benzie Central’s Pete Moss Invitational. McBain won the Small Schools Girls race over Benzie, 70-91, with individual honors going to Mylie Kelly of Benzie Central in 18:42. Miranda McNeil of Morley-Stanwood ran 2nd in 18:55. Mason County Eastern won the boys race, with Pentwater senior Abie Vanduinen first in 16:26.

The Big Schools girls crown went to Grand Rapids Christian, which topped Ann Arbor Pioneer 49-74 in the 17-team field. Rachel Forsyth of Pioneer won in 17:10. Hart junior Jessica Jazwinski ran 2nd in 17:36 with Buckley’s Aiden Harrand 3rd in 17:53. The boys title also went to GR Christian, and that school produced the boys champion in Simon Triezenberg (15:43). Second went to Hart frosh Robert Jazwinski (15:49).

Other XC Meets

This will be a weekly section during the season, with highlights of selected meets. Just meant for a quick skim; if you want complete results, click on the name of the meet.

Harper Creek Optimist Invite (8/26): 
9-10 Girls—Lane Isom (Gull Lake) 21:49
11-12 Girls—Olivia Perrine (Hanover-Horton) 21:06
9-10 Boys—Cooper Gardner (Harper Creek) 17:34
11-12 Boys—Dominic Lowrie (Harper Creek) 16:48

Mustang Early Bird (8/26):
Girls—1. Lutheran North 39; 2. West Bloomfield 57 (7 teams).
1. Samantha Whitlam (Lutheran North) 22:02
Boys—1. L’Anse Creuse North 41; 2. Chippewa Valley 64.
1. Dylan Penberthy (LC North) 16:46

Michigan Catholic Invitational (8/26): 
Girls—1. Jackson Lumen Christi 51; 2. Lansing Catholic 113; 3. Dearborn Divine Child 117 (17 teams).
1. Madison Osterberg (JLC) 18:39
2. Tessa Roe (LC) 19:04
3. Ava Teed (Cabrini) 19:26
Boys—1. Catholic Central 71; 2. Lumen Christi 98; 3. Hackett 135 (14 teams).
1. Colin Murray (Divine Child) 16:28
2. Isaiah Dinverno (JLC) 16:30
3. Tyler Lenn (Mooney) 16:50

South Lyon Inv (8/26): 
Girls—1. Toledo St Ursula 54; 2. Livonia Franklin 56; 3. South Lyon 83 (10 teams). 
1. Ava Peters (LF) 19:27
2. Kayla Ward (SL) 19:59
Boys—1. Salem 47; 2. South Lyon 64; 3. Novi 82 (12 teams).
1. Nolan Pinion (Lake Fenton) 16:42
2. David Rochon (GP North) 17:13

Who To Watch This XC Season?

For a full, well-researched look at what’s coming up this season, check out Matt Armelagos’ Michigan XC Speed Ratings blog. This is just the Cliff Notes version of Matt’s work. Top boy runners to watch: 1. Seth Norder (Grand Haven); 2. Connell Alford (Chelsea); 3. Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay); 4. Brendan Herger (Northville); 5. TJ Hansen (Freeland).

Top girls: 1. Rachel Forsyth (Ann Arbor Pioneer); 2. Jessica Jazwinski (Hart); 3. Helen Sachs (Holland West Ottawa); 4. Lucy Cook (Rochester); 5. Selma Anderson (GR Ottawa Hills).

Top Teams:
D1 Boys: 1. Northville; 2. Brighton; 3. Kalamazoo Central.

D1 Girls: 1. Romeo; 2. Saline; 3. AA Pioneer.

D2 Boys: 1. East Grand Rapids; 2. Grand Rapids Christian; 3. Forest Hills Eastern.

D2 Girls: 1. Otsego; 2. GR Christian; 3. Goodrich.

D3 Boys: 1. Potter’s House; 2. TC St Francis; 3. Pewamo-Westphalia.

D3 Girls—1. Jackson Lumen Christi; 2. Elk Rapids; 3. TC St Francis.

D4 Boys: 1. Hillsdale Academy; 2. Three Oaks River Valley; 3. Johannesburg-Lewiston.

D4 Girls—1. Whitmore Lake; 2. Johannesburg-Lewiston; 3. Harbor Springs.

Another early look at the season comes from Jacob Tanner. Check out his Summer Preview. Here are his picks at this point:

D1 Boys: 1. Northville; 2 Brighton; 3. Kalamazoo Central. Individuals—1. Seth Norder (Grand Haven); 2. Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay); 3. Brendan Herger (Northville).

D1 Girls: 1. Romeo; 2. Ann Arbor Pioneer; 3. Brighton . Individuals—1. Helen Sachs (Holland West Ottawa); 2. Rachel Forsyth (AA Pioneer); 3. Lucy Cook (Rochester).

D2 Boys: 1. East Grand Rapids; 2. GR Christian; 3. Forest Hills Eastern. Individuals: 1. Connell Alford (Chelsea); 2. TJ Hansen (Freeland); 3. Solomon Kwartowicz (Cranbrook).

D2 Girls: 1. Otsego; 2. GR Christian; 3. St Johns. Individuals—1. Drew Muller (EGR); 2. Allison Kuzma (Zeeland E); 3. Mary Richmond (Frankenmuth).

D3 Boys: 1. Potter’s House; 2. TC St Francis; 3. Pewamo-Westphalia. Individuals—1. Samuel Martini (Kent City); 2. Jackson Rodriguez (Potter’s House); 3. Brad White (Clare).

D3 Girls: 1. Jackson Lumen Christi; 2. TC St Francis; 3. Caro. Individuals—1. Jessica Jazwinski (Hart); 2. Madison Osterberg (JLC); 3. Emmry Ross (Onsted).

D4 Boys: 1. Hillsdale Academy; 2. Three Oaks River Valley; 3. Johannesburg-Lewiston. Individuals—1. Tyler Lenn (Mooney); 2. Owen Patton (Vicksburg); 3. Marek Butkiewicz (Hackett).

D4 Girls: 1. Whitmore Lake; 2. Johannesburg-Lewiston; 3. Kingston. Individuals—1. Kaylie Livingston (Whitemore Lk); 2. Aiden Harrand (Buckley); 3. Ava Teed (Cabrini).

Legend: John Neil “Pinky” Patterson – Detroit University School 1906

A 3-time state high jump champion whose school record still stands, J. Neil Patterson won the Penn Relays as well as the U.S. national title while still in high school.

Born July 27, 1885, Patterson (he went by “J. Neil”) became known as “Pinky” during his 9^th grade year at Detroit University School (now Grosse Pointe University-Liggett). The nickname came from a case of scarlet fever he endured that year, one that kept him out of school for much of the year. That delay in his schooling was part of the reason that in 1906, he was a 20-year-old senior.

A gifted athlete, he could hurdle well (16.1 over the 42-inch barriers), but his specialty was the high jump. In 1902 he placed 2^nd in the state meet as a 9^th grader. The next year, scarlet fever kept him out of school entirely—in effect, he redshirted the entire year. Then the next three years he won it. As a senior, he set a meet record of 6-1.25. He also was the Penn Relays champion that year (the only high schooler competing in the special events, or open, category). He wrapped up the summer season by winning the AAU National title over the best collegian and open jumpers in the country.

That put Patterson on the fast track to the Olympics. He competed for the University of Michigan and the Chicago Athletic Association. In 1908, he won the Central Olympic Trials. He would be the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic team that year. In London, he would clear 6-0 and finish 7^th on an “off day”. No record can be found of him participating in athletics after that point.

An automobile enthusiast, he is thought to be the first person to drive the entire transcontinental Lincoln Highway in 1913. He carried a jug of water from the Pacific Ocean and dumped it into the Atlantic when he finally arrived in New York City.

In World War I, he was a captain in the Signal Corps, and by the end of the war was stationed in Detroit to oversee the entire production of war planes. Afterward, he made his living in real estate in the Los Angeles area. That’s where he died at age 63, on December 20, 1948.

The Michtrack Interview: Gina McNamara

Gina McNamara is doing the best running of her life at age 28, though she’s following a pathway that few would have predicted when she was running for Northville High. A 2:17/5:27 runner as a prep, she flourished at Michigan under the coaching of Mike McGuire, winning All-Big 10 honors and clocking 2:07.77 and 4:30.93 (1500). (Of McGuire she says, “The man just has a certain type of genius for coaching and racing and developing athletes.”) She then went the way of many track graduates, working too many hours in a demanding job and squeezing in the occasional road mile. Then, in 2021, PRs started happening again. In 2022, she ran 2:06.99 and a 4:39.67 mile. This year she’s gotten better yet, suddenly showing up at international championships wearing the uniform of the Mediterranean nation of Malta (as is her sister Clare, a past MHSAA D1 long jump champion). She won two gold medals at the Championships of the Small States of Europe, ran a PR 2:04.41 at the European Team Championships, and her 1500 PR of 4:12.64 is a Maltese National Record. We finally caught up with her and asked her about her unique journey through the sport.

Michtrack: Most collegiate runners, once they're done with their eligibility, they do a few open races, maybe a few road races, and they kind of disappear into jobs and family. And I'm kind of curious about your trajectory and how you're suddenly having this renaissance of running. 

McNamara: I really like that term. That's what we've been calling it in in DC… So I think there's a big community of sub-elite running, popping up primarily in cities. New York has Central Park Track Club, the Brooklyn Running Club. Denver has really big hubs of post-collegiate training coomunities. And it's the same case with Washington, DC, where when I moved to the city there was a group called GRC that's coached by Jerry Alexander. And one of the women that I trained with at the University of Michigan was in DC for a summer internship, My first month moving there for full-time work, she encouraged me to come out, meet the coach. She told me that it was a pretty low-pressure environment as compared to the collegiate thing; I was a little hesitant, I don't know if I want to train like that again. It ended up being a really great fit in terms of working around my work schedule, and then also having a community of men and women that were still chasing some post-collegiate goals.

Michtrack: You were away from serious running for about 5 years.

McNamara: The hiatus was because I was doing consulting. In conjunction with that, I was in business school at the University of Michigan. And consulting was a pretty aggressive travel schedule: it's Monday through Thursday, fly in, fly out, whatever city you're on the project for. So to avoid that travel schedule, I targeted recruiting for DC… with government clients, everything's localized. So you don't have that aggressive Monday through Thursday travel. I ended up getting a job at Accenture Strategy in their DC hub, which worked out really well. Obviously had the hours that came with consulting, but not the travel from 2017 to 2019. And then in 2019, switched over to the private sector, so was doing the Monday through Thursday travel grind, getting a lot of really good work experiences. Also it allowed me to pay off my student loans. Then in 2022, at that point I had been in consulting for five years -- an opportunity came up in Capital One Center for Machine Learning for me to move over.

I interviewed, got the position and then made the decision to move from consulting to tech, which got rid of the 65 to 70-hour weeks. And when you have an extra 30 hours a week, well, what else are you going to do besides start training and running more seriously again? I started running a little bit more consistently. And again with COVID, all consulting travel was grounded. So I had 2020 to 2022 just to actually live in the apartment and city that I was paying rent in, which is really nice. I got more of that community aspect back. My boyfriend runs. It was nice to be able to jog over to the Georgetown track and just rip 200s and have company for that.

At some point in the midst of all of this I realized that, “Oh, this is really fun. I'm enjoying doing this again.” When I first moved to DC I was like, “Oh, looks like my days in the middle distance are over.” I actually signed up for a half marathon [laughs], I think it was September of 2017, because I was like, “Woe is me. I'm never going to touch an 800 or a mile again.” And that half marathon was terrible. I think I ran 6:05 pace for the first eight miles and then hit a huge wall and ended up running the last five miles at 9:30 pace. I was laying on the ground after: “Do we need to call medical? Do we need to call an ambulance for you?” I was new to DC, I think three or four weeks in the city at that point, and the Red Line [Metro] was broken, so I hopped on the train at the wrong direction. My phone was at 4%, so I called an Uber. Post half marathon, my body was like, “What have you done?” I threw up out the window of the Uber on the GW Parkway. Uber driver pulled over, and was threatening to kick me out of the car. At this point I'm crying and I'm sick. The Uber driver got me back to my apartment. And then I was like immobile in my little sunroom bedroom apartment for two days. My roommates were like, “What is wrong with you?”

So I pretty much was like, “OK, we're not going to do distance stuff. We're also not going touch a track,” up until like 2022 where I decided to hop into an 800 and 1500. I had paced teammates in time trials, and I'd done the Millrose Club DMR as part of a team. I hopped in a couple road miles, but nothing where it was at the same level or intensity or individual focus as what I had done at the University of Michigan in the 800 and in the 1500.

Michtrack: Would you say that you're training more now or harder now than you did at U of M?

McNamara: Yes and no. The base runs have been slower, but the workouts have been also higher volume, like four to six miles at that lower intensity. You didn't do a ton of speed work, but did a lot of speed endurance. You grow into the types of training that are available to you. So there's a lot of people that have helped me get here, hasn't been an, an individual effort by any means.

I think this fall was the first time where I was able to -- or I guess I even wanted to – where my body could handle running 50 to 65 miles a week, which is pretty cool. But you look at my average pace for easy days and it's significantly slower. So I'll do my base runs above 8:00 pace if I need to. At Michigan I really didn't get long runs above 8 to 10 miles. And in DC I was doing a lot of 12-14 mile runs, probably a minute to a 1:30 slower per mile on average. And our DC group is pretty half marathon to full marathon heavy. So if I want to run with people, I need to go a little bit further so it's either run 8 alone or run 12 to 14 a little bit slower but with company. They'll do an 18 to 22 mile long run workout and then that 10 to 12 is their base day, so their base day is my long run.

And that's pretty humbling but it's good having good company and then you see all the different types of women in the city that I either ran against or heard of. Tessa Barrett is a great example. She ran at Penn State and also was a phenomenal, phenomenal high school runner. She also got a great education at Penn State, went to Providence for a fifth year, has a degree in finance, is working in banking. She had a really similar schedule. I passed by her on the C&O Trail in DC one day. We ended up exchanging numbers and then that turned into Sunday long run buddies for essentially an entire spring. Which is crazy because… she's the reason why we didn't get a Triple Crown 16 or 2017! [laughs]
But then you get to know her and you're on your long run talking about different career things.

Elena Hayday ran at University of Minnesota and I don't think she ran under 17:30 in the 5K, but she's run 2:30 in the marathon. Emily de la Bruyere ran at Princeton, qualified for USAs in the steeple, trains in DC. We have people who ran at Duke, Syracuse. I do long runs with Kerry Allen on her longer base days. So kind of from all over the NCAAs but everything that we have in common is working and still chasing some post-collegiate running dreams out of the DC area... I'm excited to be back in Michigan, but I'm gonna miss the DC girlies.

Michtrack: Tell me a little more about the Malta connection. 

McNamara: In 2015 or 2016, I looked into applying for dual citizenship just because my mom said the family is all from there… I reviewed some paperwork and found out that I just needed to track down a couple of marriage certificates, death certificates, from both my grandparents' sides and then put in for an application. There's also a couple other people that have switched over such as Jordan Gusman who trains with Tinman out of Boulder and he's Aussie American / Maltese. He switched over I think two years ago... So I reached out to Jordan just asking about the contact for Athletics Malta and got in contact with them. They were able to expedite the application from the government side of things in conjunction with the embassy.

I think my application took maybe four months to process. And then I submitted Clare’s about a month after. I had asked her if that was something that she was interested in getting. She's like, what's that? I'm like, “Oh, it just opens up European Team Championships, Commonwealth Games, Mediterranean Games, Balkan Games, Small State Games and gives you a pathway to Worlds depending on how you can compete, and she's like, “That sounds fun!” So casually… Once we had that, we were in contact with Athletics Malta for what their upcoming season looked like, which is where we got into Games of the Small States of Europe, which is what we were at end of May. That was actually the first time Malta hosted it since I think 2003, so that was a really big deal. And then European Team Championships is what we did in Poland. and there's a few other smaller competitions that are sprinkled throughout the year. But yeah, that's locked up that whole summer season. It's pretty cool sharing it with Clare.

Michtrack: Are you having fun with it? 

McNamara: Oh yeah, absolutely. I've been to Malta before I had citizenship and the island itself is beautiful. And learning more about my grandparents and our heritage and the island has been pretty amazing.

Michtrack: Do you have Olympic possibilities with Malta? 

McNamara: I think the chances are pretty small. I would have to have the best day of my life, but it's not out of the question. I think the International Olympic Committee is changing how auto qualifiers work. In the past it would be if your country doesn't have anyone qualify by auto qualification, which is the time they set, each country would be able to send one male, one female. I think that got cut down to one person. And I think there's talk of 2024, only having three qualification spots for any country that doesn't have anyone qualified. I think the open events are going to be the a 100, 800 and the marathon.

That poses a really interesting question. I started moving up to the 15 this year. I ran a 4:12, which was good enough for an NR. It kind of starts to flirt with the international level or at least get to the international level as you start to dip under 4:08-4:09. But if the open spots are in the 800, then we might be going back to the back to my roots as an 800 runner, which to be honest, I think I'm still in single digits of 1500/miles. So I have a lot to learn in that area.

The Little Things

The Return of Fisher: We haven’t seen the last of Grant Fisher this season. The state’s all-time fastest 5/10K runner, whom we last heard from when he pulled out of the USATF 5000 after his 4th in the 10,000, citing a stress reaction, is on the entry list for this Thursday’s Zurich Weltklasse. The most prestigious invitational on the planet, this year Zurich will bring together 4 of the top 6 from Budapest for its 5000, plus Americans Fisher and Woody Kincaid. World champ Jakob Ingebrigtsen has pulled out in order to regain his health.

RIP: David Williams: The former University of Michigan runner passed away August 22 at age 69. A Muskegon High graduate (1971), he was later Big 10 champion for the Wolverines and captain of the track team for 2 years. He later taught and coached in the Willow Run schools.

Bobby Crim 10M: The winner this year for the men was Three Rivers/Spring Arbor alum Nathan Martin in 48:43.

Nathan Probst: Has been hired as the new sprint/jump assistant at Central Michigan University. He formerly coached at Lewis University.

Meanwhile: Wayne State assistant Eric Hansen has been hired away by Seattle Pacific.

Nag Time: All those coaches who said you would scan your old results over the summer to submit them to the Michtrack Results Archive. Now is the time to get scanning ASAP! Your conscience wouldn’t have it any other way!

Your monthly support: That’s what keeps this operation going, and makes it possible for us to keep digging and sharing the history of the sport in Michigan. Thanks, and remember, it’s tax-deductible!