Courtesy Photo The 2022 Alpena Community College cross country team includes, left to right: back: coach Mark Jacobs, Iso Simpson, Jacob Kochanski, Matt Wilbert and assistant coach Duncan Ross; front: Corbin Thering, Daddy Hill, Austin Smith, Matt Mundy and Adam Wolffis.

ALPENA — Mark Jacobs has a lot of reasons to smile these days.

The longtime Alpena Community College cross country coach is in a position he hasn’t been in for a long time — having an entirely new team of runners — but he’s excited by the potential he sees in ACC’s team of eight.

“This is my first time since my first year (that) I’ve had all brand new guys. I’ve got eight new guys,” Jacobs said. “Three and a half weeks ago, not one of these guys knew each other. They’re phenomenal guys, they work hard, but they went from eight strangers to eight brothers — every day after practice I just smile because of how these guys have grown in a short period of time.”

Seven of ACC’s eight runners are freshman and half of the octet has previous running experience. With such a mix, Jacobs has put his team through rigorous, but necessary practices to help runners adjust to the rigors of college running — especially adjusting from running high school 5Ks to running college 8Ks.

Assisting in that effort are two of Jacobs’ former runners, assistant coaches Mikayla Oliver and Duncan Ross.

“It’s morphing those practices so they understand,” Jacobs said. “We do a lot of temple stuff, we do a lot of race pace stuff, we do a lot of distance stuff, so their bodies will adjust.”

ACC’s lone sophomore is Adam Wolffis, who joins the Lumberjacks after a standout freshman season at Muskegon Community College.

Freshmen Matt Wilbert (Rogers City), Jacob Kochanski (Alpena) and Matt Mundy (Sault Ste. Marie) all have running experience. Conversely, Iso Simpson (Saginaw), Austin Smith (Portage Northern), Daddy Hill (Birmingham Groves) and Corbin Thering (Freeland) do not, but have taken to the sport and Jacobs’ program like a hand to a glove.

“I believe it’s (team camaraderie) huge. Cross country is like very few sports, it’s blood, sweat and tears. A lot of different sports, you have a lot of different positions, but here everybody does the same thing and it builds camaraderie,” Jacobs said. “That’s why I love coaching; it’s us together, not just individuals. It is an individual sport, but you’re only as good as your team.”

The Lumberjacks open the season Saturday at Grand Rapids Community College at the Raider Invitational.

ACC will also compete in the Firebird Invitational at Kirtland on Sept. 23; the Oak Community College Invitational on Sept. 30; the Jayhawk Invitational at Muskegon Community College on Oct. 15 and the regional championships in Grand Rapids on Oct. 29.