THE HASTINGS
Thursday, November 4, 2021Trio of Trojans score spots in D2 cross country Finals
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
What did it take?
Everything she had – and nearly more.
The Thornapple Kellogg varsity girls’
cross country team is sending three girls to
the MHSAA Division 2 Lower Peninsula
Cross Country Finals Nov. 5 after their medal
winning performances at the Division 2
Regional at Portage West Middle School
Saturday.
Freshman Ava Crews cruised across the fin-
ish line in third place at the regional to earn a
spot in the state finals at Michigan International
Speedway (MIS) in Brooklyn for the first time.
Senior Jessica Durkee found the energy to kick
by Eaton Rapids’ Sydney Thompson just
before the finish line to place 12th, earning a
third-consecutive trip to MIS.
The next Trojan around the final two turns
into the long straightaway to the finish in
Portage was junior Emelia MacDonald.
“My stepbrother told me with about 600
meters to go I was in 16th, and then I got passed
right over at that corner. I got passed and I was
in 17th and I didn’t know if I was going to
make it to state until I think I had 200 meters to
go,” MacDonald said. “There were three girls
in front of me and I managed to pass them and
just hold on for dear life. My legs wouldn’t
move any faster. I didn’t realize I was going to
make it until about ten meters from the finish
when I was able to get a good enough lead on
the girl that she couldn’t pass me.”
The top three teams and top 15 medalists in
regional races across the lower peninsula this
weekend earned spots in the finals at MIS.
The top seven runners not on those three state
qualifying teams at each regional also were
guaranteed state finals spots – MacDonald
proved to be sixth in that group in the end.
MacDonald let out a bit of a wail a step
before the finish line, and then arms flailing
collapsed onto the wet grass once she had
crossed the line. She wasn’t alone in ending
the regional race in that fashion, but she was
the only one to earn the last regional medal in
doing so.
As she was helped out of the chute she
heard what she needed to hear. “You did it.
You’re 15th.”
MacDonald had last run in a race Oct. 9 on
the regional course at the Portage Invitational,
a race in which she turned in a time of 23
minutes 53.5 seconds. She missed the chance
to run in the OK Gold Conference
Championship with an injury and managed to
return for regionals and blow away that
Portage Invitational time by finishing in
20:43.6 Saturday. That is a new season best
time for MacDonald, but still about a minute
slower than the times she was running at the
end of her sophomore season when she fin-
ished just 11 spots behind the last of the 30
state medalists at MIS in Division 2.
“This season has been really, really, really
hard,” MacDonald said. “I had a surgery in
the beginning of the season, and then I
sprained my ankle twice in the middle of the
season and then I got in a car accident about
two weeks ago, so it has been really, really,
really bad, but I am really proud of being able
to come back like I did today.”
“Today meant a lot to me. Like I said, I
probably had the worst season I have ever
had before. I had my teammates around meand helping me and just being able to push
through everything, through the anger and the
pain it was kind of monumental to me. Kind
of a really big comeback.”
She said she felt good at the start of the
race – for about the first 400 meters of the
5000 meter race anyway.
“The race itself felt absolutely awful if I
am being honest,” MacDonald said. “To be
able to push through that I am really proud ofSaxons host Sailors for district final Friday night
Valerie Slaughter
Contributing Writer
The Hastings Saxons defeated the Charlotte
Orioles 56–18 at Baum Stadium and Johnson
Field on Friday in first round of the Michigan
High School Athletic Association Division 4
playoffs.
The Saxons scored on a 65-yard run by TJ
Russell on the first play from scrimmage
Friday night. Charlotte then drove the ball
down the field to score on a 4-yard run.
Hastings scored again on their first play of
their offensive series, with a 63-yard run by
Robby Slaughter, and the Orioles scored
again with just over two minutes left in the
first quarter to put the score at Hastings 16
and the Orioles 12.
Saxon Head Coach Jamie Murphy noted,
“after the first two series, we struggled peri-
odically throughout the first half. Charlotte’s
defense gave us some issues up front,
although Slaughter and Russell both rushed
for over 100 yards. Tom Hollars and Diego
Coipel did a tremendous job on the front line,
being a freshman and sophomore in a varsity
playoff game they both did an outstanding
job communicating and executing.”
The second quarter slowed down offen-
sively for both teams, with just over 5 min-
utes left in the half the Saxons scored on a
1-yard run by Russell to put the score at half
to 24-12. In the second half, the Saxons
charged back up and scored three times in
the third quarter on runs by Russell, Mason
Denton and Lanny Teunessen. Charlotte
managed to score one more time in the third
quarter on a 45-yard run by Braden Hill.
Collin Fouty would seal the Saxon victory
with a final score in the fourth quarter on a
10-yard run.
Saxon defense held the Orioles to only 173
combined yards on offense, while the Saxons
managed 466 yards. Russell led for the night
with 198 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns,
Slaughter rushed for 126 yards and one
touchdown and quarterback Mason Denton
rushed for 60 yards and one touchdown.
Coach Murphy added, “defensively,
Teunessen and Ramirez led the team in tack-
les as they do almost every week. Their
defensive comprehension allows us to use
them in run and pass situations. I think the
key to the game came in the second half when
we were able to get a couple of key defensive
stops and capitalize on a kick-off turnover.”
Teunessen picked up 6.5 tackles, LaytonEastman added 5 tackles and Ramirez had 3.
tackles for the night. Slaughter had one sack
for the night, Teunessen and Jackson Dubois
had a shared sack.
Ashton LaGuire led the Charlotte offense
with 11 rushes for 92 yards. Quarterback
Charlie Grant was able to complete just 1-of-
8 passes for eight yards. Brendin Guilford
had a game-high 11 tackles to lead the Oriole
defense.
In order to make the playoffs, teams are
ranked in their division based on win-lossrecords and playoff points. Hastings is the
first seed in its district bracket, finishing the
regular season ranked eighth overall in
Division 4. This is the first time since 2012
that the Saxons have advanced to game two
of the playoffs. In 2020 Hastings got a first
round win, but due to the shortened Covid
season, all teams participated in the play-
offs.
Hastings is now 9-1 overall this season.
The nine wins is the most for the program
since 1990. These Saxons will be attemptingto do something no other Hastings football
team has ever done – win two playoff games
or more in the same season.
The Saxons advance to play the 7-3 Sailors
from South Christian for the district title on
Friday at 7 p.m. at Baum Stadium and
Johnson Field. The Sailors defeated Plainwell
52–7 in their first round game at Plainwell
last Friday.
The Saxons and Sailors last met in 2015,
the end of a 15-year run when both teams
were members of the OK Gold Conference.See TROJAN XC, page 12
Saxon fullback Robby Slaughter works his way through the line and the mist at
Baum Stadium at Johnson Field Friday for a few yards with a block by teammate
Ashton Benson. (Photo by Jason Slaughter)Layton Eastman and Justus Forell are in on a tackle for the Saxons during their
victory over Charlotte in the Division 4 Pre-District contest inside Baum Stadium at
Johnson Field Friday night. (Photo by Jason Slaughter)Thornapple Kellogg junior Emelia MacDonald works her way through the crowd
during the first mile of the Division 2 Regional at Portage West Middle School
Saturday. MacDonald placed 15th in the race to qualify for the Division 2 Lower
Peninsula Cross Country Finals for the second year in a row. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Thornapple Kellogg senior Jessica Durkee runs to a 12th-place finish in the Division 2
Regional race at Portage West Middle School Saturday to earn her third consecutive trip
to the MHSAA Division 2 Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals. (Photo by Brett Bremer)