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Posted on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 : 5:55 a.m.

Legacy of Mike Smith and Saline girls cross country team continues to grow

By Bob Gross

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The Saline High School girls cross country team meets with coaches in the gymnastics room before practice earlier this season. The team is 139 members strong.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The Saline High School girls cross country team is large. Division I college football program large. The perennially massive squad broke its own record for participation this season, with a roster 139 runners strong.

While most cross country teams need a large bench for team gatherings, Saline's team packs into the high school's expansive gymnastics room to receive marching orders from coach Mike Smith every day.

Is participation a social thing?

Yes.

Is it an indifferent environment for students to check off another extra-curricular activity on their college application? Far from it.

Every runner who comes out for the team is part of the program, but the Hornets don’t sacrifice quality for quantity.

On Aug. 31, the Hornets took 89 runners in three buses for a race at Huron Meadows Metro Park in Brighton. Ten runners in the top 20. The Hornets are competitive year in and year out, and it's not just their top runners.

Saturday, the Hornets split their team up, as they often do, sending runners to invitationals hosted by Bath and Woodhaven. Saline finished first at Woodhaven, with its "B team," placing seven runners in the top 15 to beat nine Division 1 “A” opponents. They also swept the top 12 spots in the junior varsity run. At Bath, the Hornets "A team" took second place and had seven runners in the top 19.

To maximize his team’s potential, Smith relies on a dedicated staff of two paid assistant coaches -- Susan "Mama J" Jones and Matt Hagood -- as well as nine volunteer coaches. The volunteers range from Tom "Iron Man Mick" Micallef -- a coach in the sport since 1975 -- to 2009 Saline graduate Christina Gonzalez.

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Eileen Creutz, above, was Saline's first girls state champion in 2004 and won again in 2005. Saline won a team state title in 2009.

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The size of his team has also forced Smith to develop innovative organizational tactics. Runners are divided into three groups (Nike, Puma, and Asics), each group has its own coach and separate weekly schedule.

"Once the team got into the 50s and 60s, we knew we had to do something to make the numbers more manageable for practice," Smith said. "And it was clear that with those numbers it was not likely that the entire team could do the same workouts; there was a wide range of abilities. So we went with the idea of three different groups."

Which group a team member winds up in depends on factors such as experience, the amount of mileage they have run and their performances at meets. There are sub-groups within each main group. Nike has two sub-groups, Asics and Puma both have three, and each subgroup has designated upperclassmen leaders.

"We depend on (the upperclassmen) a great deal to keep things running smoothly and to keep things organized," Smith said.

The team’s size and quality is a testament not only to Smith’s 37th year of leadership, but the positive family-like culture he has created and the generations of runners who have helped maintain it.

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Saline senior Amy Creutz, Eileen's sister, was Saline's top finisher at the state championships last year.

AnnArbor.com file photo

"Our large size has a lot to do with tradition," said Eileen Creutz, a two-time individual state champion for Saline in in 2004-'05. Creutz has stayed close to the program and her sister, Amy Creutz, is a senior on this year's team.

"We have had many kids come through the program whose parents, cousins and siblings have been through it," Creutz said. "Our success over the years is built on the base that each year before us has left. Each of us has a duty to work hard, remember our traditions, and be a positive influence. Our girls stay dedicated over the off-seasons in preparation for each season.

"Coach Smith has obviously been a huge influence on this.”

Smith grew up in Napoleon where he ran cross country and track before attending the University of Michigan, where he ran track. Smith started coaching boys and girls cross country at Saline in 1977. In 1993, when the teams became too large to manage, Smith began coaching the girls team exclusively.

“It was a difficult decision. At that point the boys team had had a lot more success than the girls team, so it was hard to ignore that fact," Smith said. The boys were Class B runners-up in 1989 and 1991 and had an individual state champion, Darrel Zeck, in 1984. "The athletic director and I both thought that it might be easier to find a boys coach, so I decided to go with the girls team."

Smith, who retired from teaching in 2005, doesn't plan to stop coaching any time soon, “I have no plans at present to let it go. We're doing too well right now to give it up!”

The Hornets won their first team title in 2009. Whenever Smith decides to leave, the program he helped create should continue to reflect his passion and values long after his is gone.

His legacy is summed up well by Creutz.

“His reputation is seen in the way 'Saline' is whispered amongst competitors at meets, in the shouts of exclamation that are heard when 139 girls get off the buses at competitions, and in the alumni that drive from miles around every year to line the finish at the last Jamboree," she said. "But ultimately, it is in the athletes and people we become under his coaching that I think gives him the most pride. We are his legacy."

Contact Bob Gross at bobmgross@gmail.com.

Comments

salineguy

Wed, Sep 14, 2011 : 7:31 p.m.

Coach Smith and his crew do a phenominal job with a group this large. Behind the scenes the parents also are a key to managing things. It really is a positive atmosphere that is created and fostered, which is difficult to do when there is pressure to succeed on all coaches in the High School ranks. A comment in terms of ... which group a team member winds up in depends on factors such as experience, the amount of mileage they have run and their performances at meets ... as stated above. The best runners obviously train together in the top group and experience and miles logged are secondary. It is the way that this is handled positively without creating animosity that is a testament to the coach and the athletes. Can't say the same for all coaches at the high school level.

4x4Saline

Wed, Sep 14, 2011 : 1:07 p.m.

And at yesterday's Jamboree I: *We had 4 runners in the top 5, 6 in the top 12, and all 10 of our runners in the top 28. *We had 14 seconds between our first 4 runners and a very small 28 second gap between our first 5 runners. *Our 6th runner – Kelly – finished ahead of every other team's 3rd runner. *Our average time for our first 5 runners was 20:04 – compared to second place Dexter's 20:54.