John Raffel
Sports Scene
Harper & Harper.
No, it’s not the name of a law firm. It’s the last name of two of Clare’s best cross country runners, Jonathan Harper for the boys and his younger sister, Victoria Harper for the girls.
They’re from a running family, and their talents have made the Pioneer boys and girls teams successful in Jack Pine Conference competition.
“My mom does marathons and my dad ran a 4:04 mile in college,” Victoria said.
The brother and sister spend time running together.
“I run a lot with him; we put a lot of miles in together,” Victoria said. “We’re good at long distances, too.”
“Over the summer, we do some long distances together,” her brother said. “She’s a super-hard worker.” Victoria indicated that she also works out during the winter to keep up her miles.
Jonathan points out that his dad is a pastor, and he refers to Bible passages like “Run the Race” for inspiration.
“God’s been a big influence on our running,” Harper said. “You want to give your all during a race.”
Victoria is currently a sophomore, and she enjoyed her freshman season immensely.
“Regionals was a big step for me,” she said. “It was probably one of the more positive days in my life. It set me on track, and I ran pretty good at state. I want to continue that this year.”
According to Victoria, her current team is the strongest girls team she’s been on in her four years of running.
She is running one-and-two with teammate Emily Crowley. Her personal record early in the season was 20:29, an improvement of about 40 seconds from a year ago.
“My second mile is better,” Harper said, adding that she’s hoping for a 19:20 before the season ends.
Jonathan is a senior in his second full year of cross country at Clare. He was a transfer from Salem High School in Canton, Michigan. After placing 45th at the state finals last season in 16:47, he opened the 2011 campaign by winning various races. Like his sister, he did plenty of preseason work.
“I put in a lot of off-season training,” he said. “It seems to be showing.”
His best time has been 16:52, and he is looking to lower it to 16:20.