It's been a remarkable season so far for the Whitehall boys cross-country runners, with their latest and maybe most impressive chapter coming with a victory in Saturday's GMAA meet at Muskegon Community College.
The Vikings posted a score of 33 to outdistance runner-up Western Michigan Christian by 30 points, an impressive performance by any measure.
All five Viking scorers ran their season best times, and four of them set new career bests; Hunter Parsons' only faster time came at last year's regional meet.
"It was amazing," junior Bobby Jaziwnski said Tuesday. "It was just a great day. Everything kind of clicked for everyone on the team that day. Our goal is to win, but we didn't know we were going to win by that much, so we were very, very happy that we won it.
Jazwinski continued to lower his seemingly unbeatable school record at the meet, notching a time of 15:05.5. Every other runner was over a minute behind, but the closest was his teammate Rex Pumford, who came in with his own personal best of 16:16.7.
"Everyone on our team went out in the mile 10 or more seconds faster than usual, and I went out in 4:26 there," Jazwinski said. "Everyone was just super happy to go out and perform to the best of their ability."
Parsons was sixth (16:49.4), and Justin Jensen was the Vikings' fourth top-10 finisher, in 10th (17:26.6). Ian Dennis took 14th (17:38.7), edging teammate Scout Freiheit by five seconds for the last scoring spot. Freiheit too ran a personal best, and so did Matthew Badley, who was 21st.
The glut of personal bests was indicative of a fast course, but Jazwinski said another reason he performed so well was that his dad, Robert Jazwinski, told him for the first time all season to cut it loose at the GMAA meet. Robert and Katie Jazwinski, both star runners in their school days, now run Lakeside Family Fitness in Hart and host an annual running camp for middle and high school runners.
"My dad has been telling me to do a certain tactic because I've had a lot of competition at these big invitationals, and we haven't been really looking for time and haven't been going for a crazy-fast time," Jazwinski said. "Finally on Saturday, he said I can just go out and give it all I've got. So, I went out and gave it all I got that first mile, and I think I paid the price a little in the last mile, but I was happy to go out and push the max that I could."
The Jazwinski family previously ran for Hart - Bobby's sister Jessie won two individual state cross titles and now runs for North Carolina State University, and Bobby was all-state as a Hart freshman - before leaving the program. Bobby was unable to run at the school level last year due to MHSAA transfer rules, but is pleased to have found a home in Whitehall.
"This is the best program, school and kids on a team that I could have asked for," Jazwinski said. "It's a great group of guys that want to go to the best of their ability every race, and it's just a great atmosphere to be around."
With only one regular-season meet left - a pre-regional run at Benzie Central - the Vikings' eyes are trained on the state meet. Jazwinski is the favorite to win the state championship, and the team would also like to qualify to state as a group for the first time since 2013.
Jazwinski, who with Pumford and Parsons has formed a formidable top trio, thinks the team can do it if it remains focused on training. He'll certainly be doing so as he pursues a state title.
"Just keep training as best I can and do all the little things - lifting, core, eating right, getting all my sleep, and focusing on the team a lot on trying to get us to qualify for state," Jazwinski said. "That'd be amazing to have my team there with me."
Also in the boys' race, Montague finished in fifth place and Reeths-Puffer was seventh. For the Wildcats, Brock Hunter (18:01.2) and Wesley Mair (18:03.4) led the team with 19th and 20th-place finishes respectively, both running personal bests. Matthew Leatherman was 24th (18:25.3), Jonathan Mueller took 43rd (19:51.3) and Carson Jasick was 50th (20:38.4). Mueller broke 20 minutes for the first time, and Jasick slashed nearly two and a half minutes off his previous PR.
Rocket scorers, in order, were Dylan Sturr (31st, 18:44.0), Landon Learn (35th, 19:00.1), Gabriel Luna (36th, 19:08.2), Kyron Novak (44th, 19:53.8) and Kasyn Novak (45th, 20:15.1). Each of the final four scorers set PRs.
R-P had the best local finish for the girls, placing third. Whitehall was fifth, and Montague was unable to score.
Jersi Bilek was the top local runner and finished third for the Rockets with a time of 20:00.2. Kaitlyn Durow was 14th (21:51.0) and Darcy Keefe was 17th (22:22.8). Charli Belinger (18th, 22:34.96) and Sidney Shackelford (40th, 26:13.5) each ran PR times and closed the scoring.
Reese Hesse led the Vikings with a 16th-place finish, posting a time of 22:14.2. Ryanne Ellsworth was close behind in 19th (22:55.99), and Ella Nicholson took 26th (23:58.98). Each of the three ran personal bests; Hesse later topped herself at the Whitehall jamboree. Kassidy Parmley (33rd, 25:14.4) and Kassie Sapp (51st, 27:27.9) closed the scoring.
Montague finishers, all in personal best times, were Erica Hansen (21st, 22:58.1), Carmen Howard (25th, 23:56.4), Carlee Gillis (46th, 26:57.5) and Willa Van Loon (49th, 27:11.2).
