50 Tickets to Brooklyn: #7

Patience abounds in Anna’s world
I remarked to her after her race at New Balance that she ran the most heady race of the night, steadily clicking off 80-82’s until she ended up breaking 11:00
- That 10:53 was an exhibit of patience in the career sense as well, Anna had been in the low-11’s for what seemed like thousands of races before that minor breakthrough
Some may have settled on that mark, that time, been content with a great season, but not her
In the coming weeks, she grabbed two state qualifiers, two CAAC Blue titles, then brought it again come early June
- Her double back from the 1600m was one of the better efforts of those who did both, another momentous personal best, a 10:34
This past fall, she established herself early, running some of her better races early – at Saranac, Holly, Coaching Legends
- The times didn’t necessarily come late, but the accomplishments were there, top-10’s at Greater Lansing, CAAC Blue, and Region 4
I believe this track season showed a new level of learning, figuring out how to peak at the right time, that will benefit Anna in November
And as we’ve seen, she’s no stranger to surprising when there

Tucked away over in Division Four is Lezawe, our second Division Four athlete to make this list of returners
On the state stage, he probably had the most dominating results of any boy, all division
- Each state championship race he entered, he won, whether that was a 4×8 team title or a 5k on the grass, Lezawe or his folks crossed the tape in first
He’s always been a name I’ve noticed for The Potter’s House squad, a consistently contending team
The signs of this impending dominance began to materialize during his sophomore year, with multiple sub-17 efforts to close a fall (that unfortunately had to be ended after Pre-Regionals) or a 9:41 at Bluejay
While it may take some kids a few races to bust out some rust, Lezawe OPENED with a sub-16 at Under the Lights, then went undefeated in the Michigan XC regular season, culminating his year with a dominant state meet win by 25+ seconds
During track, we were able to see those victories on the D4 stage, but also what he can do while chasing
- His 9:13 (6^th fastest returner in that event) at the New Balance 3200m gives evidence that there’s even more speed available
Potter’s House has huge aspirations in these coming months, a few additions that weren’t able to compete will be a major help, but the greatest aid will be the leadership and motivation provided by viewing Lezawe do his thing, improving and improving, over and over

Grade	Name	Time	Rating	Meet	Course	Date
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:57.5	208.8	Under the Lights (GRSC)	South Christian HS	27-Aug
11	Lezawe Osterink	17:01.6	186.2	Alliance League 1	Calvary Laketown	1-Sep
11	Lezawe Osterink	16:37.0	201.3	Hill and Bale	Fremont MS	11-Sep
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:50.0	194.7	Autumn Sunrise	Heritage Christian School	25-Sep
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:43.7	202.8	Allendale Falcon	Allendale HS	2-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	18:14.5	178.8	Alliance League 3	Johnson Park	6-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:42.8	208.4	Portage	Portage West MS	9-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	16:36.4	196.5	Kent Ottawa	Gainey Fields	16-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	16:50.4	175.5	Alliance Conference	Fruitport Calvary Christian	19-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:59.8	187.4	31 Allendale	Allendale HS	30-Oct
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:50.6	197.5	D4 State	MIS	6-Nov
11	Lezawe Osterink	15:49.2	202.6	MMOC	Shepherd HS	13-Nov

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