News Photo by James Andersen The 2021 Alpena High cross country team includes, from left to right, back row: Grace Mitchell, Hayden Allen, Jacob Kochanski, Madi Szymanski, Clark Sexton, Matthew Guest, Cam Young, Owen Mendell, and coach Tim Allen; middle row: Veronica Zaborney, Cailyn Burrone, Samantha Zolnierek, Kennan Knight, Thurston Imhoff, Austin Reinhart, Hunter Hitzelberger, Elijah Allen and Tyler VanCleve; front row: Clair Mitchell, Allison Borowski, Elizabeth Barnhill, Abigail Zaborney, Kylee Gagnon, Emma Dickens, Kaelyn Heath, Amelia Roznowski, and Hayden Baccus. Missing are Quinn Kelly, Tom Sheridan, Arlene Dai, Karlin Decker, and Tilly Williams.

ALPENA — Over the last decade, the Alpena High cross country program has established a solid tradition of excellence and hard work that’s seen many runners go on to the state finals and run at the collegiate level.

Now, Joe Donajkowski aims to keep that tradition going.

Donajkowski, a longtime assistant in cross country and track and field, succeeds Joy Bullis this season, and has an experienced group of runners to lead as he takes over the program.

“I feel great. It’s a great group of kids and they’re very easy to coach. I’ve coached the distance kids for years now, so we know each other real well,” Donajkowski said. “They understand the training and they’re receptive to what we’re doing.”

After a strong track and field season and a strong summer camp, Donajkowski expects that the Wildcats will be competitive as they aim to qualify for the state finals.

Alpena has 31 runners on its roster with 10 seniors and five juniors, but many of the underclassmen are also returning after gaining valuable experience last season.

“(We have a) core group of guys and girls who took this really seriously,” Donajkowski said. “They continued on right after track, went into their summer training, and they’ve actually improved even since track season.”

For the boys team, Alpena returns four seniors, including Hayden Allen, who earned all-conference honors last season and was Alpena’s top finisher for most of the year. Senior Jacob Kochanski, a four-year runner who was part of Alpena’s 2018 regional and conference championship team, also returns. Matt Guest is back and healthy after an injury last season and Tom Sheridan returns for his third season.

Alpena’s group of juniors includes Elijah Allen, Hunter Hitzelberger, Owen Mendell, Tyler VanCleve, and Cam Young. Newcomers this season are freshmen Quinn Kelly, Kennan Knight, Hayden Bacchus, Thurston Imhoff, Austin Reinhart, and Clark Sexton.

For the girls team, Alpena returns six seniors, including two-time state qualifier Madi Szymanski.

Szymanski, who qualified for the finals last season, has a personal 5K record of 18:37, and is hoping to return to the finals for a third time.

Four-year runner Grace Mitchell also returns and, according to Donajkowski, has trained hard all summer and stepped up as a leader. Mitchell has committed to running at Spring Arbor University next season.

Karlin Decker and Veronica Zaborney, two four-year runners, also return and Arlene Dai and Tilly Williams are back as well.

Alpena also returns several underclassmen who stepped up last season and were among Alpena’s top varsity runners. Sophomore Emma Dickins, who posted the second best time for Alpena last season along with sophomores Cailyn Burrone, Samantha Zolnierek, and Allison Borowski.

Newcomers this season are freshmen Kaelyn Heath, Elizabeth Barnhill, Kylee Gagnon, Clair Mitchell, Amelia Roznowski, and Abigail Zaborney. Another newcomer to the team is assistant coach Tim Allen, a former college runner, whose 5K time is still among the top-20 all-time in program history.

With Alpena’s experience, Donajkowski hopes the Wildcats can have success this season and qualify for the state finals as a team — a feat that both Alpena’s girls and boys teams have done in the last decade.

“They’re tough, they’re experienced and they know what needs to be done,” Donajkowski said.

“It’s going to be tough for us to make it to the state meet. We’re in such a tough region, but we’ll do the best we can.”