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- #98 - Dudek Highlights The Post-Season
#98 - Dudek Highlights The Post-Season
Inside This Issue
Dudek Crushes at NXR!
Terre Haute, Indiana, November 16—Pioneer’s Natasza Dudek, already the fastest cross country runner in state history with her stunning run at MIS, added another big win by dominating the NXR Midwest race at the LaVern Gibson XC course. Running a course record 16:18.5, the sophomore won by 35.6 seconds over Otsego’s Emma Hoffman (16:54.1). Other top finishers on the girls side: 6. Katie Berkshire 17:16.3; 11. Annie Hrabovsky 17:25.0; 19. Ella Goodsell 17:37.7; 25. Natalia Guaresimo 17:46.5; 27. Sienna Klemmer 17:46.7; 36. Jaelyn Ray 18:10.1; 48. Caroline Randall 18:17.8; 49. McKinley Jones 18:18.3. Reflecting the individual race, Michigan swept the top two team spots, with Purple TC at 131 points and Runners High a close 2nd with 137.
To put Dudek’s time in perspective, in 2019, running much the same course (but the 6K version), Weini Kelati of New Mexico passed through 5K in about 16:33 on her way to the NCAA D1 title.
Kamari Ronfeldt of Pioneer placed 3rd in a close boys race, running 14:43.4. His teammate, Beckett Crooks, ran 6th in 14:55.0. Other MI: 16. Brandon Cloud 15:11.0; 29. Lennox Naswell 15:23.9; 36. Marek Butkiewicz 15:26.4; 38. Thomas Larson 15:26.8; 42. Ryan Stojov 15:29.4; 48. Jack MacGregor 15:32.2. The top team finisher from Michigan was Six Mile TC in 7th with 284 Points. Purple TC was 11th with 338.
Nike Cross Nationals Coming Up!
Remember when it was scandalous when then-coach Nancy Smith qualified the Northville girls for NXN and brought them to Portland to race, in defiance of the MHSAA? Times have changed, and no legal battles are expected on Saturday when teams from Pioneer (officially dubbed “Ann Arbor Stadium”) and Romeo (“Bruce Township”) toe the line. Katie Berkshire and Emma Hoffman will also be racing. In the boys race, we will have only Kamari Ronfeldt to root for.
Going into this weekend, the Dyestat national rankings have Dudek at No. 1 and Hoffman at No. 8. Ronfeldt is at No. 14. Those are the only Michiganders ranked in the top 30.
The live webcast is free. Boys race at 1:05 (Eastern), girls at 2:35.
Michigan Wins Mid-East Championship!
Kettering, Ohio, November 15—As it has been doing since 1987, MITCA sent a team of some of the best seniors in Michigan to Kettering, Ohio, to do battle with Indiana and Ohio, and once again, our athletes emerged with top honors.
Michigan’s boys and girls combined for a score of 68, topping Ohio (78) and Indiana (111). Our girls won their race with 34 points, ahead of Indiana (38) and Ohio (53). Their finish places: 2. Talya Schreiber 18:22.9; 4. Heiley Creisher 18:43.9; 6. Hope Miller 18:48.0; 9. Lilah Yoder 18:54.4; 13. Ella Abraham 19:04.6; 16. October Harns 19:09.3; 24. Ella Fure 19:23.5; 26. Elliana Neuer 19:26.0; 30. Aviana Skinner 19:33.3; 31. Gracelin Martin 19:34.9; 32. Leah Corby 19:36.7; 34. Juliet Lewis 19:59.2.
Our boys finished 2nd with 34 points, behind Ohio’s 25 and ahead of Indiana’s 73. Ian Morgan of Okemos was the overall winner in 15:54.6. The other Michiganders: 3. Brody Karg 16:06.1; 7. Nate Linden 16:15.7; 11. Gabe Litzner 16:21.5; 12. David Dubeck 16:22.3; 14. Caleb Keller 16:23.4; 22. Evan Owczarek 16:33.7; 24. Jack Steen 16:36.2; 27. Noah Johnston 16:44.4; 28. Dylan Pascoe 16:47.8; 33. Finn Gammerath 17:09.0; 35. Harper Wesley 17:10.7.
Hoffman, Ronfeldt Shine at Brooks Midwest
Kenosha, November 29—Emma Hoffman will make it a nationals double, as she also placed 2nd at the Brooks Midwest Regional (formerly Foot Locker), running 17:30.8. The other national qualifier from Michigan is Dow’s Emilia Garces, 10th in 18:01.6. Other top finishers included 10. Eliza Schwass 18:11.0; 24. Annie Hrabovsky 18:48.7; 36. Alexandra Green 19:39.4.
Kamari Ronfeldt placed 3rd in the boys race in 15:24.3. He was our only boy to earn a ticket to nationals in San Diego on December 13. Other MI: 18. Luka Hammond 16:00.5; 19. Jack MacGregor 16:01.9; 20. Bobby Jazwinski 16:04.9; 45. Christian Craanen 16:37.7; 47. Mitchell Dunlap 16:39.6.
The College Championships
Forgive me in advance. It’s impossible to sum up the entire college scene from a Great Lakes State perspective in just a few paragraphs, but that’s exactly what I am attempting. Those of you who followed the season will find this woefully inadequate. I’m hoping this will be informative for those of you who have been busy with other things this fall! (Note: definitely a good chance I missed a few Michigander names, especially if they’re at smaller out-of-state schools).
Big 10: Newcomer Oregon rudely swept all the wins, but MSU finished 5th on the women’s side and 2nd on the men’s. Rachel Forsyth (6th) led our MIHS alumni, followed by Olivia Millen (33rd). For the men it was Riley Hough (2nd), Thomas Westphal (3rd) and Evan Bishop (4th).
Mid-American: EMU men placed 6th. Our top alum was CMU’s Jason Fredricks (27th). CMU placed 4th in the women’s race. Frosh Kyah Hoffman (12th) led the Michiganders.
GLIAC: Grand Valley swept the loop in a big way, scoring 15 points for the women and 17 for the men. Lauren Kiley won, as did Koby Fraaza.
G-MAC: Hillsdale placed 4th on the women’s side, 5th on the men’s. Allison Kuzma (1st) and Gabriel Phillips (3rd) led the Michigan HS alums.
Great Lakes D1 Regional: MSU women took 4th, UM 7th. Men: MSU 4th, UM 5th. Rachel Forsyth (3rd) and Sophie Novak of Notre Dame (7th) led our women, Riley Hough (10th), Thomas Westphal (12th) our men.
NAIA Nationals: Madonna men placed 11th; Camden Khon of Spring Arbor was 29th. Cornerstone women placed 7th; Emma Moore (who I coached in middle school!) 35th.
NJCAA D2: Lansing CC’s men took the win with a massive 78-point margin! Nate Carmody led the team with his runner-up finish. Muskegon CC took 5th in the women’s race; Tatum Dykstra placed 7th.
NCAA D3: Hope men were 23rd, led by Carston Cole (95th). Calvin women were 21st.
NCAA D2: Grand Valley women won by a tight 4 points! Abby Vanderkooi led the team in 6th, with Lauren Kiley 11th. Grand Valley men got 5th; Koby Fraaza placed 5th as well.
NCAA D1: No state women’s teams qualified. The top female Michigander was Rachel Forsyth (48th), followed by Selma Anderson (97th) and Sophie Novak (114th). For the men, MSU placed 23rd, UM 31st. The MI men were led by Thomas Westphal (59th), followed by Benne Anderson (63rd), and Riley Hough (134th).
USATF Cross Country
It’s a big one this year, since it picks the team that will be competing at the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee on January 10. There will be races at 2K and 10K for the senior runners (the 2K race will pick team members for the XC relay). The U20 crowd will run 8K (men) and 6K (women). We have had Michigan high schoolers make the World team in the past, but unfortunately, those running in the NXN meet that morning on the same course are not eligible. Correction: USATF says it will be choosing one of the top 3 finishers from the NXN race for the World team. Note that favored Natasza Dudek is probably a no-go, if she, like her older sister, opts to represent Poland internationally.
The races will be webcast for free viaRunnerspace.
Key Michigan entrants: 10K—Men: Shuaib Aljabaly, Morgan Beadlescomb. Women: Megan O’Neil. U20—Men: Jack Bidwell (maybe? They have him listed as Appy State). Women: Victoria Garces.
The Foreigner Debate
This seems to be all anyone is talking about since the NCAA D1 races. At that time, I had just finished a major feature on the issue. Then it all blew up on social media before anyone had the chance to read it! And not to pat myself on the back, but of all the articles I saw, mine was the only one to seek on viewpoints on all sides of the issue, as well as talk to people at one of the controversial recruiting services.
Bottom line is I took a balanced look at a very complicated issue, with attention to the market forces driving this foreign recruiting boom. Many of the other articles that I saw was designed to enrage fans and drive clicks. The ridiculousness of it all struck me after I posted the article on the Michtrack Facebook page and found myself in a debate with someone who had their mind made up but admitted they hadn’t even read my article.
It’s not a clearcut issue and there’s not an easy fix. There are folks who are enraged about Kenyan recruits who absolutely don’t mind Canadians and Australians. There are folks who are upset about overage athletes being recruited who don’t mind the fact that plenty of BYU’s men use the religious exemption to start much later. Case in point is Ed Eyestone, the Olympian and BYU coach, who has made headlines speaking out against foreign recruits. He himself was once a 22-year-old freshman.
One coach said she thought the doodoo would hit the fan when state legislatures started questioning why tax dollars in the form of scholarships were going to foreign athletes. And yes, it’s starting to come close to home. We have schools in Michigan that have jumped on this recruiting bandwagon. One of the controversial services, Scholarbook Premier, says that it has landed 8 of its recruits in Michigan this year.
Another Track Nationals?
That’s right. In a field already overcrowded with too many “national high school championship” track meets, we now have another contender. Under Armour has announced that it will be staging a national title meet under its own banner at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
The dates — May 29-31 — mean that we will not have significant Michigan talent going to the Sunshine State for this one, though they will offer middle school events (always a nice way to increase revenue).
Call us old-fashioned for being more comfortable with the now very unrealistic notion that it would be great to have a single national championship. The label of “national champion” is already a bit hollow when we have New Balance, Nike, and adidas all in the game (and that’s before we even get into the dueling Junior Olympics championships). Add to that the NIL situation, which is making it harder to get the best matchups because athletes are contractually obligated to go to their sponsor’s meet. (Not that this affects Michigan directly, as our state senate has buried NIL legislation.)
Two Great Books For Your XMas List
BEYOND THE FINISH LINE: The Art of Transformational Coaching by David Emeott
Emeott, the head coach behind the powerhouse programs at East Kentwood, has written a coaching book unlike any I’ve ever seen. It’s not about the best way to coach the pole vault or any other technical event. Rather, it focuses on the absolute hardest thing for a high school coach to put together: a winning team culture that puts the emphasis on character development.
Emeott shares his own remarkable story, from a stint in jail as a teenager to an achiever who has had a huge impact on the lives of young people. He explores the difference between transformational coaching and transactional coaching and reveals the hard lessons he’s learned along the way. It wasn’t always about trips to the podium. There were missteps along the way, athletes who presented big challenges, and parents who weren’t always supportive.
One of the things I liked the best about his book is that he went back and interviewed various athletes who passed through the Falcon program, and gave their stories, each of them an inspiring lesson on how character is more important than records and wins. Some of those stories amazed me, as I have known those names through my announcing at the D1 Finals; nothing is more gratifying than finding out the rest of the story. Other profiles were on athletes who were not big stars, yet were crucial pieces of the team culture.
So often in the prep coaching world we hear “Trust the process” repeated like a mantra. Asking for that trust without building a character-driven program is often a doomed venture. There is so much more to a great program than a coach that keeps saying “Trust the process.” In this fine —and immensely readable — book, Emeott tells how to make a program worthy of that trust, and gives very specific advice that every coach — not just in track & field — will find valuable.
COACH OF CHAMPIONS: D.L. Holmes and the Making of Detroit’s Track Stars
by Keith D. Wunderlich and David L. Holmes Jr.
This is a must-read for any one interested in sports history and one of the great program’s in Michigan’s past. Operating with very limited resources compared to the powerhouses of today, D.L. Holmes became a legendary coach, guiding the Wayne State program from 1917 to 1958.
The book, cowritten in a unique fashion by his son, David L. Holmes Jr., and his grandson, Keith D. Wunderlich, presents the narrative in a non-linear fashion, with sections about various eras in the program’s history interspersed with interviews with some of the great athletes Holmes produced.
Among these is the story of John Lewis, perhaps the greatest athlete you’ve never heard of. A star at Detroit Northeastern, he became one of the world’s best quarter-milers under Holmes’ coaching. He probably would have been a gold medalist in the 4×4, but General Douglas MacArthur, in charge of the U.S. team, made a controversial decision to replace him at the last moment.
“Lewis didn’t sleep that night. He never went back to his stateroom. He stayed on the upper deck and breathed the salty air while he pondered his future. How could he face his friends and family back in Detroit? Would he even be able to look at Coach Holmes?”
Even I, an occasional historian of the sport, learned much from Coach of Champions. Well written and intensely researched, the book is a prize for any fan of track & field in Michigan.
(I must confess I had only one quibble, and it’s only a debate for extremist track nerds. Was the track at Detroit Redford short in 1950? The book makes much of Holmes taking a tape measure to it, and saying a lap was 8 yards short, causing a panic before the Wayne Relays (a very major prep meet back then). It’s an issue I’ve dived into in the past, as part of the research for my history of Detroit PSL track (which will be finished when I retire). It was later reported that a team of city engineers, accompanied by Holmes, remeasured it and found that it was fine—”5 inches too long”—which is a very normal margin of error. The track was used for many championship events in the years following, with no alterations to its length, or fears that it was short.)
Be that as it may, if you’re addicted the sport, and don’t yet know the stories of greats like Lewis, Lorenzo Wright, Leroy Dues, John Telford, Ken Doherty, Allan Tolmich and so many others, you need to get this book. You’ll love it.
Other Things
Todd Williams: The Olympian will be wearing Monroe’s colors again! The 1992 and ‘96 Olympian in the 10,000, who won 4 state titles for the Trojans, will return to his alma mater to be the boys cross country coach next fall.
West Ottawa: Stunning news out of Holland, as head coach Kyle Barnes has resigned after leading the program to the top with a D1 XC win in ‘22 and a parade of great runners. From his statement: “Effective immediately, I am stepping down from coaching cross country and track and field at West Ottawa as well as coaching SHORE Track Club. This is one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make, and it comes after a long period of trying to navigate circumstances that have taken a significant toll on me and on my family. At this point, continuing in this role would come at a cost to our well-being that I can no longer justify… Coaching these athletes has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Grand Ledge: One of the best community programs in the state is at Grand Ledge, from the excellence of the teams to the wonderful all-comers meets in the summer. Recognizing this and the people who have made it happen, the school board has named the facility the “Brandt/Spalsbury Track & Field Complex” in honor of Jim Brandt, coach from ‘69-97 and Kim Spalsbury, who coached for three decades with great success and still is an official and one of the most positive voices in the sport. Well-deserved!
RIP—Earl Clark: The former coach at Detroit Mercy was 91. He led the XC program from 1972 to ‘95 and track from ‘82-95. Said current coach Guy Murray, “An educator as coach, he was patient, funny, with quiet wisdom and quick wit; the life lessons were there all along. I often think back and realize I should have listened better. When I feel like I'm doing something like he did, I'm doing it the right way.”
Kalamazoo College: This weekend the Hornets are returning to indoor track competition for the first time in 86 years!
Fast Times At BU: It’s time for that big speed fest on the world’s fastest indoor track, with many NCAA stars, still in peak form after the D1 XC Champs, will try to knock off their indoor national qualifiers this weekend. Michiganders we spotted in the elite entries: Rachel Forsyth (mile & 3K), Olivia Millen (mile). There are a lot more in the other races, and we should be seeing some incredible times.
Your Support Needed! Please assist our efforts to preserve Michigan’s track and XC history! Here’s how.
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