Local harriers run into the 2025 season with dreams of glory.
Leland boys cross country gets ready for a state appearance; girls look to get new best times.
Leland cross country has its first meet in Benzie on Saturday, August 23, at the Pete Moss invite, before a fun season ahead.
“My goal as a coach is always progress over performance,” said Ann Knudsen, Leland coach. “The hope is there is going to be personal bests for all of the athletes this year, and the goal is always to remain as injury- free as we can, but also to build together as a team.”
A year ago, the boys’ team finished 11th at the state meet, and this year, the team returns five of those runners. Coach Knudsen knows the boys’ team is still young, but since they were able to qualify for the state meet last year, she has hope of doing so again this year.
Sophomore Christopher Knudsen hasn’t thought too much about the goals he has for the year, but he is excited for the season to come.
“We have a bunch of young guys on the team that I’m excited to run with,” Knudsen said. “I’m excited to see what our team can do this year.”
The Leland girls’ team has a different focus as they return one runner who qualified for states last year, and can’t field a full team of seven.
Junior Natalie Burpee hopes to beat her personal record she set as a freshman, but she is also focusing on leading the team.
“My last cross country season, I was running low on fuel, so this year I’m really hoping to improve my best time I’ve been stuck at,” Burpee said. “I really want to focus more on being a good role model for my teammates and encouraging everybody, just keeping team spirit alive.”
Both teams have several races throughout the season, starting in Benzie, and another big meet a month later at the Shepherd Bluejay Invite. They will travel back to Benzie for the regional meet in late October, right before the state meet.
Eagles ready to compete Lake Leelanau St. Mary cross country is ready for another year on the course.
The boys’ team will be led by seniors Cody Couturier, Oliver Mitchell, Garrick Collins, and Timothy Duperon.
“Everyone says it goes by fast, and it definitely does. I remember when I was a freshman, just thinking that this was so long, but it’s almost over now,” Couturier said. “I’ve been trying to make it to states every single year, and I’m ranked 15th right now, which is right on the chopping block.”
The goal remains the same for Mitchell.
“(My career) all went by real quick, and it’s so cool that it’s my senior year now. I can just leave it all out in the course, do my best, and just be happy I was here,” Mitchell said.
For Duperon, his goal is to beat his brother’s personal record.
“At the end of my freshman year, I set a goal that I wanted to beat my brother’s PR, and I’m getting close to that, and I hope I can compete this year,” Duperon said.
This year’s cross-country circuit will be tough across the board.
The Eagles will have five boy runners and two girl runners as of now.
“It’s probably my highest performing individually boys team,” St. Mary coach Nick Papes said.
The Eagles were fifth as a team last year, only two spots away from a state championship appearance.
Junior Daniel Cheney is going to explode on the scene this year to make an impact for St. Mary.
For the girls, Claire Couturier is ready to make her impact after advancing to states last year.
“This will probably be the hardest year for her yet to try to make it to States.”
Couturier has been dominating since eighth grade.
Eighth grader Liberty Schaub is the lone other runner on the team.
“I just want to get faster and hopefully be able to run comfortably at a good speed and not lose my breath. Keep a good steady pace,” Liberty said.
GL cross country is entering the season with big expectations.
Glen Lake will lose Colebrook Sutherland, who is arguably the greatest runner in Glen Lake cross country history.
“The difference in our teams this year is that we’re packing much tighter,” Glen Lake coach George Drown said.
The Lakers will have to replace the production of Sutherland, who rewrote the record books for Glen Lake.
Abraham Feeney will be leading the charge as a junior. The Lakers will also be counting on the freshman boys to be productive this season.
Abraham’s brother, Christian Feeney, will be making his freshman debut along with Spencer McNitt is the middle school cross-country record holder.
“That’s different with our team this year is the last few years, numbers have been, hovering right around seven to 10 ... I don’t want to say it’s been a little easier just based on peer numbers to make the varsity, where this year it’s gonna be really hard to make our varsity lineup on the boy side and we are going to have a full juniorvarsity with 14 boys,” Drown said.
Glen Lake will be led by seniors Liam McCaw, Miles Wright, Dexter Martin, and Kayson Adams.
For the girls, the Lakers return plenty of depth to be competitive.
They only competed as a team in half of the races last year. But this year, they compete as a team every race with seven runners.
The Lakers are bringing in four freshmen and have plenty returning, including junior Carmella Jullian.
“The good thing about the girls is that everything is back,” Drown said.
Julian is back, ready to stake her claim after an impressive 2024 season where she advanced to state and earned all-state recognition.
“Her goal is to run right around 19 minutes flat ... that’ll move her up on our record board and that’ll move in the state finals. We got to be smart about it and keep her healthy and make sure we’re doing the right things,” Drown said.
