Alpena juniors Allen, Szumila qualify for state cross country
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ALPENA - Two Alpena High School juniors will represent the Wildcats at the MHSAA Division 1 cross country state championships Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn after strong performances at regionals.
Alexander (Xander) Allen finished sixth in 15 minutes, 34.86 seconds, and Logan Szumila placed 11th in 15:41.86 at the regional meet held at Delta College. Both times rank among the best in Alpena High School history, with Allen now second all-time and Szumila third.
The Wildcats finished ninth as a team. Under MHSAA rules, the top three teams advance along with individual runners who place high enough, allowing Allen and Szumila to punch their ticket to the state championships.
Allen, a returning state qualifier, said this year's regional meet feels different because he is more focused on a specific goal.
"This year I am more motivated to accomplish my goal, which is to finish top 30 at state," Allen said. "Last year my goal was the same, but I finished around 70th, which was very disappointing."
Allen has spent much of the season working on his finishing kick, an area he identified as a weakness.
"My finishing kick at the end of races," Allen said when asked what he focused on improving throughout the year. "It's not my strongest attribute, so I have been working on that most of the year."
With the meet days away, Allen described a mix of nerves and confidence.
"I'm getting pretty nervous, but I'm pretty confident in my training that I can accomplish my goal of top 30," he said.
Szumila's path to the state meet included recovering from an injury earlier in the season. He said the process required patience as his times lagged before he found his form again in recent weeks.
"It took a lot of work to recover from my injury, and then my race times were slow when I came back," Szumila said. "In recent weeks I started speeding back up and I was able to qualify."
The two runners push each other regularly in practice even if they are not always side-by-side in races.
"In races, I don't see him too much, but in practice, I'm always right near him," Szumila said of Allen. "He is a little ahead of me, but I like to try and stay with him."
Unlike Allen, Szumilla said qualifying itself was the main source of stress this season.
"Really, I was just worried about making states this year, so now that I have made it, I'm not too worried about it," he said.
Head coach Joe Donajkowski pointed to consistent training over multiple years as the foundation for both athletes' success.
"Their progression, and their ability to race hard," Donajkowski said when asked what makes the duo stand out. "Success comes from consistent training, and they have been sticking with it for the last three years."
"There is nothing fancy," he added. "It's just good hard work."
Donajkowski also said the pair's accomplishments are also shaping the rest of the program.
"We are starting to see that kind of progression with our whole team as they are looking at Xander and Logan as role models, and they see that consistent training," he said. "The whole team has bought into that kind of training."
Qualifying individually carries meaning beyond the two runners, he added, because Alpena is a smaller Division 1 school that often competes against programs with larger enrollments.
"Alpena has a tradition of having pretty good teams, but we're oftentimes in the shadow of some of the larger enrolments," Donajkowski said. "When they see our little D1 school competing head to head with some of the big boys, those young kids take note of that, and we hope that it will inspire others to join the team."
Assistant coach Tim Allen, Xander's father, is in his third year with the program. He said he tries to treat his son the same as the other athletes.
"He's an athlete on the team, but yeah, he's my son, so of course I'm proud of him as a parent, but I try to compartmentalize that as best I can," Tim Allen said. "I cheer all of the kids on and make an effort to coach them the same."
Running is a family tradition. Tim Allen ran for Alpena in the 1990s and competed at the state meet. Two of Xander's older brothers also qualified for states before graduating a few years ago. Both rank among the school's top 10 runners all-time. A younger sister at the middle school level broke a two-mile cross country record this year.
Tim Allen said the coaching staff's approach to the state meet is straightforward.
"We just want to make sure that they are well rested and prepared to run hard," he said. "This is the last meet of the year, and there is nothing else, so leave it all on the course."