Successful high school teams often call themselves family.
Yet at Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, the No. 1-ranked and defending Division 4 girls’ state champs have cornered the market on real family with the McConnell sisters.
Alexis McConnell is a senior, Bailey a junior, Cammie a sophomore and freshman Desiree joined the team this fall.
“It’s pretty amazing to see; they definitely are a running family,” said head coach Mark Zitzelsberger. “If anything, they have a razor focus on running. It’s quite a dynamic to have all four in the same family spread out one year apart. But the whole team collectively is amazing because of the size of our school, to at one time have this many high-quality athletes. I don’t know if we’ll ever see a team like this again (at Sacred Heart).”
Adding to the school’s family genes is the McConnells’ teammate Scout Nelson, who has two brothers running on the boys’ team — Chase and Colton. They are triplets.
Last year’s girls’ squad broke the Div. 4 state finals record for lowest point total at 52, erasing the prior record of 66 by Harbor Springs. Nobody graduated, making the Irish odds-on favorite to repeat Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, after winning all 15 of its invitational, tournament and conference meets this season.
“Being ranked No. 1 has been a good target (on our backs) all season,” Zitzelsberger said. “The kids simply go out and compete. They are all business and they show up.”
Sacred Heart is ranked No. 2 nationally for small schools by XCNation.com. In Michigan’s Div. 3, Lansing Catholic is ranked third nationally by the same website, and Traverse City St. Francis is No. 7.
Bailey McConnell and Lauren McDonald each set personal-best times just last week. Zitzelsberger said most of the runners are peaking at the right time. Rowan Fitzpatrick, all-state in 2014, is also back after missing last year’s state championship meet.
“The girls are pretty well prepared; their times have been coming down,” he said. “The McConnells just pounded it last summer and are breaking away from packs.”
TIGHT AT THE TOP: Birmingham Seaholm has grabbed the girls Division 1 state title three of the last four years while Northville won it in 2013, so it’s not surprising they are ranked Nos. 1-2 again this season. But Ann Arbor Pioneer hopes to crash the party. The Pioneers are ranked third, but in head-to-head races this year involving all three teams, there has been a different finish order each time. This is a clear case of why coaches preach that rankings don’t matter.
A NEW BOYS’ CHAMPION? Saline and Novi are ranked 1-2 in boys Division 1 heading into Saturday, with two-time defending champ Rockford at No. 7. Since 2000, neither Saline or Novi has won the title, although the Wildcats were runner up in 2000 and ’06, while Saline was runner up in 2007. Based on the body of work throughout the season and regionals, it appears one of those two teams should break through this year.
AS SEEN ON TV: For those who cannot attend at MIS, the MHSAA will be streaming live video of the final portion of the race at MHSAA.tv. The finish line camera has been relocated to a position where viewers can see from the race track’s Turn 4 and down the length of the straightaway to the finish line. The stream will include audio commentary from announcers scattered on the course during each race.
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State finals
What: Boys and girls cross-country finals.
When: Saturday.
Where: Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn.
Boys finals: 10 a.m. Division 4, 10:30 Div. 3, 1:30 p.m. Div. 2, 2 Div. 1.
Girls finals: 11 a.m. Division 4, 11:30 Div. 3, 2:30 p.m. Div. 2, 3 Div. 1.
Tickets: $8.
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart has four McConnells on the team, from left, freshman Desiree, junior Bailey, sophomore Cammie and senior Alexis.