In the current cross country climate, Battle Creek is often forgotten. Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and teams along the Lake Michigan shore have produced in recent years. Other than Maggie Farrell and Ava Strenge, not so much Battle Creek. Harper Creek’s boys will go a way in changing that this year and Lakeview’s boys will be close behind. We should not forget that St. Philip has always been a force in Division 4.
Here are the teams I have from the Battle Creek area:
Athens Battle Creek Central Battle Creek Harper Creek Battle Creek Lakeview Battle Creek Pennfield Bellevue Climax-Scotts Delton-Kellogg Galesburg-Augusta Hastings Homer Marshall Olivet St. Philip Catholic Central Tekonsha Union City
Mason is as dedicated and determined as they come. No shocker to me of how he got to where he is at this point. He does all the small things at home (nutrition, stretching, sleep, etc.). He hasn’t been a captain his first 2 years but will be moving forward. He knows how to lead by example and wants whats best for his teammates just as much as he wants to succeed.
Coach Kurt Gulick
Mason was fortunate through his talent and teamwork to be one of the few to accomplish an individual and team State Title
As with Baracco, very accomplished in his first two years, the two of them being in the conversation for the most accolades thus far in the 2022 class
Suffered an injury last summer which may have contributed to a slower start
However, when October rolled around, he began to pull into form and put together four straight performances in that 16:00/200 rating range
With Breckenridge’s success and seeing how their runners have grown (see Colton Chovanec and Ashton Gillis), continue to expect big things from Mason
Andrew is another one in a long line of recent Clarkston greats
He started his season with a major PR at an OAA Jamboree (Troy) and finished it with three great performances (Regional, State, MITCA)
MITCA race was 16:20.9 (200.4 rating)
He showed up in major races such as Jackson (16th), Oakland County (11th), and Regionals (8th)
Will likely be the lead runner on a Clarkston squad that’s in a bit of rebuild, but we know from their past history that they’ll be there in November
20. Ellie Voetberg, Portage Central
Ellie is a girl who shows that continued dedication to the sport will pay dividends
She was a mid-19 girl for her first two years in HS, then finally made a major leap this past fall
One could see evidence of that leap occurring during the 2019 track season, where she was able to run 5:24 for 1600m
She began the season in a time close to her PR, then broke through at Otsego Bulldog
She did not let up after Otsego, running each subsequent race sub-19, which gave her third State Finals appearance and first All-State finish
