The 2013 Greater Lansing High School Junior Honor Roll Track and Field Meet is being hosted at the Okemos Track and Field on Thursday, May 30! The meet is the premier individual championship for Greater Lansing Middle School Track and Field Athletes. Coaches only should submit their athlete's performances to Jeff Crowe by e-mail
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or calling 517.648.1775.
Coaches : Please check your athletes names and performances to ensure they are correct. All corrections should be sent to Jeff as soon as possible. Final Deadline is Friday, May 25 at 10am for performance submissions.
The Greater Lansing Track and Field Honor Roll list is a weekly updated list of performances in the Greater Lansing Area. The Honor Roll Committee compiles the performances on a weekly basis and posts them to the Playmakes Website along with having them posted in the Lansing State Journal! If you see missing performances please have your team's head coach submit them to their representative on the Honor Roll Committee. Other questions and or corrections can be directed to Andy Marsh -
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or Meet Manager, Kim Spalsbury @
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On Wednesday, May 29, the Honor Roll Committee will host the Greater Lansing Track and Field Honor Roll Championship. This meet selects the top performers in each event to compete against one another. The Honor Roll Championship will be held at Holt High School this year starting at 5:30pm for the Field Events and 6:30pm for the Track Events.
A special thanks goes to Playmakers for sponsoring the webspace and expertise to maintain an accurate and up-to-date list and the Lansing State Journal for continually supporting the meet through Honor Roll Coverage of the performance list and the Championship Meet.
Running has provided many journeys: Miles logged over years have helped health, too
As appeared in the December 26, 2011, Lansing State Journal and published and at www.lsj.com by Dick Miles (
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) Here we are at the end of yet another year, as time rolls relentlessly forward. Having been involved with running for more than three decades, the miles continue to pile up, though not as quickly as in the past. The speed certainly isn't what it used to be, not that I was ever particularly fast. The important point for me, however, is that I still consider myself to be a runner and that running is still enjoyable. As part of the baby boomer group that sparked the running craze of the early 1980s, I made the fortuitous decision that running would serve as my guide to an active lifestyle, a decision that I have never regretted. I've been places that I never would have gone, seen things I never would have seen and met people I never would have met. I've had the chance to participate in mega events such as the Boston Marathon that have offered the temporary illusion of being a sports star, and have had experiences that will provide me with stories to tell for the rest of my days. My first foray into competitive running was the Dexter to Ann Arbor road race on the Saturday before Memorial Day in 1978. In those days, this was a 15-mile race rather than the current half marathon. It was a very hot day with temperatures in the mid-80's, and perhaps a bit long for my first race, but I didn't die, made it to the finish and have been hooked ever since. Later that year, I ran the inaugural Detroit Free Press Marathon, and am convinced that there are few things more exhilarating than crossing the finish line at the end of your very first 26.2 mile race. As a novice, I ran that race without a watch, and missed qualifying for Boston by just a few seconds. I did finally make it to Boston in 1992, and remember standing in my corral at the start wondering how my life at the time compared to that of the popular high school athletes that I so much wanted to emulate in my younger days. OK, so maybe I can be a bit self righteous, but at that point I figured I had earned the right. A variety of settings Over the years, I've run on beautiful spring days, on crisp fall days, in blizzards, in bitter cold, in searing heat, in pouring rain, through ice storms, and even in the occasional thunderstorm, though I really don't like being out in lightning. I've experienced beautiful scenery such as the Old Mission Peninsula in late May during the Bayshore Marathon and the Detroit skyline at sunrise from the Windsor side of the Detroit River while running the Free Press Marathon. I've run during all hours of the day, including middle of the night runs during the 24-hour relay races that I have participated in. One run in particular stands out in my mind at the Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon in 2008. It was a five-mile leg in a light fog along a gently rolling road just outside of Portland heading into the Coast Range. The night was pitch dark except for my head lamp and the lights on vehicles that occasionally passed by. For quite a ways, the road paralleled a railroad track, and I could hear a train whistling behind me off in the distance, but getting closer and closer and finally passing by me. The train was nothing out of the ordinary, but for some reason on that particular night, it added drama to an already mystical experience. It was one of those rare occasions when I felt better and better as the run progressed, and didn't want to stop at the end when I had to tag off to my teammate. Also over the years, I have experienced many beautiful runs through the Michigan State University campus. Better still, I have learned to love the Lansing River Trail and continue to sing the praises of those with enough foresight to develop this marvelous resource and to expand it into areas such as Scott Woods and Hawk Island Park. Indeed, I consider myself very fortunate to have made running a part of my life. It's helped me to stay healthy and of reasonably sound in mind. Happy New Year to all of you runners and runner wonnabe's out there. Whether you're running ultras, regular marathons, trails, 5Ks, relays, or just getting started in this great sport, may 2012 bring you many happy miles.
Playmakers Racing 7th of 45 teams at USATF nationals
The Playmakers Men's Racing Team finished seventh of 45 teams in the USA Track and Field National Club Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Dec. 10, in Seattle.
Jed Christiansen fiinished in 22nd place in a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) time of 30 minutes, 29 seconds, Zach Ripley 29th in 30:41, Curtis Vollmer 53rd in 31:02, Kris Koster 72nd in 31:28, Alex Russeau 85th in 31:44, Nick Katsefaras 86th in 31:46, Jason Bigelow 139th in 32:36, Jake Crowe 140th in 32:36 and Eric Loveland 177th in 33:15.
Crowe, Senakiewich are Turkeyman Trot winners A record 3,072 runners and walkers finished the Lansing Turkeyman Trot 5K on Thanksgiving morning. Jake Crowe (Grand Ledge/Central Michigan) completed the 3.1-mile course that started and finished in front of Lansing Community College’s Gannon Center in 14 minutes, 59 seconds. A strong finish enabled Crowe to edge Nick Katseferas (Pinckney/Michigan State) and former Detroit Free Press Marathon champion and Haslett coach Nick Stanko (Michigan), who came in at 15:00 and 15:02. Crowe also won a year ago when 2,308 finishers completed the annual Thanksgiving event — which was up from 1,780 in 2009. Lisa Senakiewich (Davison/MSU) was the first female finisher in 17:03. Four other females ran faster than 19 minutes: Jennifer Snelgrove (Grand Ledge/LCC) in 18:24, Becca Schlaff in 18:31, Chloe Prince (Okemos/U-M) in 18:35, Danielle Dakroub (Okemos/CMU) in 18:40 and Christy Snelgrove (Grand Ledge) in 18:57.
Darling 13th + Big Ten, regional champ MSU women 23rd at NCAA
The Big Ten and NCAA Great Lakes Regional champion Michigan State University women’s cross country team finished 23rd and former Ovid-Elsie star and three-time Division 3 state champion Maverick Darling took 13th in a 10K time of 30:07 for the third-place Wisconsin men on Monday in the NCAA Division I national meet at Terre Haute, Ind.
Darling earned All-American honors, which go to the top 25 finishers at the national meet.
The Spartans' Emily MacLeod came in 37th in the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) women's race in 20:49, and Patrick Grosskopf of Corunna was 206th in 32:18 as MSU's only competitor in the men's race.
Junior Carlie Green (21:22) took 104th, junior Rebekah Smeltzer (21:32) 122nd, sophomore Kristen Smith (21:48) 157th, and freshman Julia Otwell (22:15) 199th for the Spartans.
The Spartan women advanced by edging Michigan 80-96 to win the regional on Saturday at Oakland University’s Katke-Cousins Golf Course in Rochester two weeks after topping the Wolverines 74-88 at the Big Ten meet.
MacLeod, the reigning NCAA Great Lakes Regional Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Year, became the first Spartan in program history to win the regional race in back-to-back years. Her 2010 time was 20:18.
Other top finishers for MSU’s first regional champion since 2007 were Green (sixth in 20:41), Smeltzer (11th in 20:53), Smith (30th in 21:32) and Otwell (32nd in 21:38).
MSU finished fifth in the men’s race won by Big Ten champion Wisconsin and Darling (Ovid-Elsie), who took sixth in a 10K (6.2-mile) time of 30:31 as the Badgers’ second runner.
The Spartans’ top finishers were Grosskopf (13th in 30:39), sophomores Isaiah Vandoorne (29th in 31:09) and Ben Miller (30th in 31:10), freshman Sherod Hardt (37th in 31:19) and senior Alex Russeau (39th in 31:21). The MSU men will find out today whether they earned an at-large berth into the national meet.
Freshman Morsi Rayyan (St. Johns) placed 72nd in 32:05 as the fifth runner for seventh-place Michigan, while senior Chris Pankow (Williamston) was 110th in 32:46 for 19th-place Central MIchigan among 31 teams.
Senior Danielle Dakroub (Okemos) took 62nd in 22:02 as eighth-place CMU’s fourth runner, and freshman Amaya Ayers (Laingsburg) 177th in 24:07 as 24th-place Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne’s fourth runner among 33 women’s teams.
MacLeod won the Big Ten 6K women's race in a career-best 19:54.
Darling (23:51), a sophomore and former three-time Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships winner, took sixth place in the men's 8K race to help Wisconsin repeat as league champions.
The Spartan men came in fifth place as Miller (24:09) took 16th and Grosskopf (24:19) was 23rd. Rayyan (25:07) was 55th place as seventh-place Michigan's fourth runner.
MacLeod and Darling repeated as first team all-Big Ten. A year ago, Darling and MacLeod took fourth and sixth, while the MSU women were fifth and the MSU men eighth.
The photo of MSU women's team after winning the Big Ten title (including junior Emily Langenberg of Grand Ledge next to coach Walt Drenth on the far left) taken by Walt Middleton appears courtesty of MSUSpartans.com.
The 2013 Playmakers Kids Mile Series debuted on March 23 with the Run for the House 10k/5k and Children's Races. The Race Series will continue with 7 events that conclude with the Sunday, October 6, Dinosaur Dash on the campus of MSU.
Youngsters who complete five of the seven series events will be awarded a commemorative kids mile series item during the Playmakers Race Series Awards Celebration on Sunday, Oct. 13, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Playmakers.
Fill out and then either drop off, mail or fax (517-349-8627) the form you can see by clicking on this link to claim the participation award.
The following are the five events in the 2013 series:
Sunday, March 23 - Run for the House Children's Mile/Spring
Sunday, May 19 - Dan Langdon memorial Banjo Dash
Saturday, June 1 - Kohl's Michigan Mile and Kids Spring
Saturday, June 15 - Potter Park Zoo Wild One Kids Mile
Sunday, July 28 - Ele's Place Chilren's Mile
Saturday, September 14 - Capital City Kids Mile
Sunday, October 6 - MSUFCU Dinosaur Dash Children's Mile
The Mid-Michigan Track Club switches each year from meeting on Tuesday evenings during the warmer months of the year to Saturday mornings during the colder months. You can view their schedule by clicking on the link below. There are additional links to other clubs and racing teams.
The Big Ten and NCAA Great Lakes Regional champion Michigan State University women’s cross country team finished 23rd and former Ovid-Elsie star and three-time Division 3 state champion Maverick Darling took 13th in a 10K time of 30:07 for the third-place Wisconsin men on Monday in the NCAA Division I national meet at Terre Haute, Ind.
The 2013 Playmakers Kids Mile Series debuted on March 23 with the Run for the House 10k/5k and Children's Races. The Race Series will continue with 7 events that conclude with the Sunday, October 6, Dinosaur Dash on the campus of MSU.
