Traverse City Record-Eagle

Cross Country

November 12, 2009

Benzie wins state title with depth

Huskies won title without an All-Stater

BY DENNIS CHASE

TRAVERSE CITY -- Of the eight teams that won state cross country championships Saturday, only one did not have an All-State runner.

Benzie Central.

Instead, the Huskies won the Division 3 boys title at the Michigan International Speedway with depth and spacing.

"I think it sends a good message to other teams around the state," Benzie coach Asa Kelly said. "You don't have to have that amazing runner on your team for everyone to feed off of. If you feed off each other's energy, and you tackle things as a team, you can do it."

Robert Kerby was Benzie's top runner, finishing 40th overall. But the Huskies compensated for that by having their top five runners finish 21 seconds apart.

"If you had told me that we would win it without an All-Stater (top 30), I would have said you were crazy," Kelly said. "In fact, I told the boys last week that if we're going to win, we're going to need at least three or four of you to be All-State. That's what I thought the other teams were going to bring to the table."

Other teams had faster runners up front, but no team had the depth to match Benzie.

"The best spacing we've had all season for our first five runners was 12 seconds," Kelly said. "On Saturday, it was 20. Typically, and most coaches would agree, if you can get your top five within 30 seconds of each other you're going to be tough to beat."

Kerby (17:04), Tom Smeltzer (17:07) and Travis Clous (17:09) came in five seconds apart. David Rhodes (17:19) and Rick Jones (17:25) were not far behind.

"Any one of our top seven guys could have been our number one," Kelly said. "Six ran in the number one position during the season, and the one that didn't was because one of his teammates beat him by a step in one of our races.

"Case in point: At the state finals Robert Kerby was our first guy. That was the first time all year he's been our first guy.

"We didn't have that stud runner this year. We just had seven really good runners who worked well together. They fed off each other's energy. They got each other out there in the summer and in the winter.

"We didn't have a single individual win a meet this year. But we won all but two meets the entire season because we were a team.

"The goal from last year, when we finished third, was to go back and win it. It was neat to see that determination, hard work and team approach pay off for those guys."

The Huskies, like other teams, had to deal with sickness leading into the finals. Two runners came down with the flu before the regionals. Two more were sick the day of the regionals.

"They didn't even come to practice until the Wednesday before the finals," Kelly said. "But I wasn't the only coach dealing with it. Most of the coaches in the state had it to some degree."

Benzie finished with 164 points, seven more than last year's team that took third.

"It was a high-scoring meet," Kelly said. "You never know what's going to happen year to year. Our girls would have won last year with the points they scored this year. But this year there were two teams better than last year."

Even with a higher score, the Huskies still won by 16 points.

"The guys said, 'Sixteen points -- is that a good win coach?" Kelly said. "I said, 'Guys, you're in the state finals. One point is a good win.'"

The state title was the first for the boys program since 1997.

Like the Benzie boys, the Traverse City girls team was also battling illness. Two of the Trojans standout runners, Katie Perkins and Maren Bahra, were sick for part of the season. Perkins missed the regional with the flu, Bahra found out after Saturday's race that she has mono.

"With mono you get tired going up a flight of stairs," Central coach Lisa Taylor said. "To do what she did (79th in 20:08) under those conditions was truly spectacular."

Taylor figures at least half of the 36 girls on the team were sick at one time or another during the season. It just so happened, the top seven were hit the hardest.

Central, the defending Division 1 state champion, finished fourth, just six points out of third.

"The girls rose to the challenge and ran exceptionally well," Taylor said.

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