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Meyer’s credentials as a <strong>Michigan</strong> runner<br />
and professional were already well known to<br />
Dudash — he was the first sub-four-minute<br />
miler from <strong>Michigan</strong> and winner of the 1983<br />
Boston Marathon.<br />
“I started chatting with Greg,” says<br />
Dudash. “His encouragement was important.<br />
He started doing stuff with the guys in the<br />
winter. He said he would do it as long as it<br />
was fun. And he says he’s still having fun.”<br />
It’s always impossible on a team to name<br />
all the people who played key roles, but<br />
Dudash tabs Chris Burke, Lex Williams and<br />
Dan Meyer as three who helped others realize<br />
that they could make a run for the top.<br />
“They had never won anything, but they<br />
found out that they could,” he says.<br />
“And there was Andrew Porinski. Before<br />
Lex got a stress fracture in 2001, some of<br />
kids probably had the attitude that they<br />
could sit back and the stars would do it all.<br />
But Lex got hurt and Andrew made the decision<br />
to step up. He helped the team put it all<br />
together.”<br />
Concludes Dudash, “The bottom line is<br />
that all the things aligned. Every school in the<br />
state has a state championship team. The<br />
question is can the coach get the kids out,<br />
and can the kids get the work done.”<br />
Dexter has benefited from its unique<br />
coaching situation. Dudash heads cross country.<br />
His assistant, Ross Martin, is in charge of<br />
distance runners during the track season.<br />
Katie Jazwinski, former University of<br />
<strong>Michigan</strong> star, has handled the middle school<br />
program in past years with help from her<br />
husband, Bob. <strong>This</strong> season they are taking on<br />
the high school girls program.<br />
Meyer handles the crew during the offseason,<br />
but his efforts aren’t confined to<br />
Dexter kids. Recent workouts have seen runners<br />
from Whitmore Lake, Chelsea and<br />
Pinckney joining in.<br />
Of the coaches, Meyer says, “We get<br />
along. We talk all the time. That’s the reason<br />
the kids don’t get hurt. The transitions<br />
between the seasons are seamless.”<br />
Dudash says, “The boys hear the same<br />
message from all of us. There’s no magical<br />
system. It’s hard and easy days, tear and<br />
repair.”<br />
Aprill echoes that. “We are so lucky to<br />
have the coaching staff that we have.<br />
Coaches Dudash and Martin get us ready to<br />
race. Mr. Meyer basically kicks our butts in<br />
the off-season. The Jazwinskis help us so<br />
much. They got me into running.”<br />
The formula showed amazing results this<br />
year. <strong>In</strong> cross country, the Dreadnaughts captured<br />
their fifth-straight D-2 title at <strong>Michigan</strong><br />
<strong>In</strong>ternational Speedway in November, scoring<br />
28 points by having five runners in the top<br />
12 (out of 246 runners).<br />
The boys, ranked No. 2 in the Midwest,<br />
were forced by the MHSAA to turn down an<br />
invitation to the Nike Team Nationals.<br />
<strong>In</strong> June, they won the D-2 track finals,<br />
scoring all their points in the distances with<br />
an amazing 30 of 48 coming from their 1-2-<br />
3-5-7 finish in the 3200 meters.<br />
Photo by Scott Sullivan<br />
Photo courtesy of Keith Bishop<br />
Dan Jackson<br />
Jason Bishop<br />
Photo courtesy of Sandy Hess<br />
Bobby Aprill<br />
Alex Hess<br />
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M I C H I G A N R U N N E R<br />
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