Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Kendra Couturier committed to North Central Michigan College in Petoskey last week to run cross country and study.
Couturier was a leader for the Eagles for her whole prep career.
“I was narrowing it down and I think it was a good fit,” Couturier said. “I love running and for a while I didn’t really think it was a possibility to go further and then my coach (Nick Papes) started talking to me about it, so I started thinking about it more and I’m happy that I finally got to make it a reality that I’m gonna do it. I committed.”
NCMC’s cross country program will be going into its third year as a JUCO program in the Michigan Community College Athletic association.
Couturier is undecided on what she wants to study. She will join classmate and volleyball player Leah Fleis as a Timberwolf.
Couturier has been on the varsity cross country squad since she was in eighth grade.
Couturier ran her fastest time of the 2023 season at the Northern Michigan Meet of Champions with a time of 22:38. Couturier’s time has improved by over two minutes from eighth grade to senior year.
When Couturier was a freshman, the Eagles had a meet at Petoskey when St. Mary coach Nick Papes noticed NCMC coaches recruiting.
“I spent some time researching (NCMC) over the course of the year, you know, if it ever came across the radar for one of my kids that it would be an opportunity. I floated out there to a couple of kids, but it wasn’t really until (Couturier) that it really took hold for somebody that it was a quality path for her life,” Papes said. “(Couturier) had different places in mind where she could attend and run, but as I have a conversation with every one of my kids that I send out from my athletic program. I always ask them, ‘what’s after running, after competition?’” Papes knows Couturier will be a lifelong runner regardless of where the course takes.
“(Couturier) can be a catalyst for the small program ... She gets to get her bearings as she figures out the rest of her path,” Papes said. “All in all, she’s a kid who is just spectacular in the classroom, and very dedicated out on the cross country course and we found a path that really, I think, is gonna help her shine.”
