Boys Runner of the Year: Flat Rock's Stanislawski breaks record

FLAT ROCK – Jacob Stanislawski presented a problem for Dave Merkel.

When students act up in Merkel’s middle school gym class, he generally makes them run.

That didn’t work with Stanislawski.

More: Flat Rock's boys win first regional title since 1991

“When I had him in gym class, I couldn’t punish him by making him run because he loves to run so much,” Merkel recalled. “Running is his sport. He runs all the time.”

A problem for a middle school gym teacher turned into great thing for a high school cross country coach.

Stanislawski’s love of running has turned him into the Monroe County Region Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year and propelled Flat Rock to one of the greatest seasons in school history.

Stanislawski laughed when the story of his middle school days was related to him.

“Yeah, you couldn’t punish me (with running),” he said.

It wasn’t always that way.

“When I was a kid, I hated running and swimming,” he said. “Then I started to take it seriously. Look at where I am now. Those are my two sports.”

Stanislawski was introduced to running at the age of about 11.

“The parents of a couple of my swim friends were runners,” he recalled. “They got me into a 5K.”

It was not a case of immediate success.

“During the summer after my fifth-grade year, I ran my first 5K,” he said. “I didn’t go good. I think I ran like 43 (minutes). But, I decided to try another one. I did like 24-flat in the next one and 21-something the next time.”

Stanislawski was hooked.

He joined Flat Rock’s cross country program as a sixth grader and his times kept getting faster and faster. Last year, during his freshman season, he broke the school record with a time of 16:10.

He was expecting big things this season but kept falling short of the record he set last year.

“It was a tough process,” he admitted. “I had a lot of friends tell me that the sophomore year is tough. It’s hard to get PRs. I don’t know why that is, but it just happens that way.”

The PR finally came in one of the biggest meets of the year.

Stanislawski broke his own school record with a time of 16:00.4 to win the Division 3 Regional at Willow Metropark.

“I knew I had to find some way to get it done,” Stanislawski said of his Regional performance. “I had to do it for our team.”

Stanislawski led Flat Rock to its first Regional championship since 1991.

“Everyone contributed,” he said. “It was a great team effort … We had three runners break 17 (minutes), two under 18, one under 20 and one under 21.”

The Regional crown earned Flat Rock its first trip to the state finals as a team since 2013.

The Rams wound up taking 13th at state – the best finish of any Monroe County Region team.

“We all did good (at state),” Stanislawski said. “Nathan Vargo did an amazing job. He had a PR by almost 30 seconds … It was really amazing. All the competition you could ask for was there.”

Stanislawski completed the course at Michigan International Speedway in 16:12.2 to place 18th.

Merkel said Stanislawski improved as a runner this season even as he only topped the school record he set last year once.

“He got a lot more consistent,” the coach said. “He was good last year, but this year he got better at racing. He was more confident.”

Stanislawski said the team made it a special year.

“It was a really fun season,” he said. “I didn’t get as many PRs as I wanted, but we all really helped each other out. It was fun.”

The top four runners for the Rams will be back next season.

“I feel like we can maybe be better next year,” Stanislawski said. “If we stay in D3, I think we can be top three in the state.”

He plans to do a lot of running and swimming to get ready for his junior year.

“Swimming is the only reason I am any good at running,” he said. “They both help each other out.”

But Stanislawski can’t wear his trademark sun glasses while swimming.

“I really can’t go without them,” he said. “If I am running, I have them. They help me out a lot. I feel like I need to see, Plus they are a good-luck charm.”

Family also is a good-luck charm for Stanislawski. His parents, Marisa and Eric Stanislawski of Flat Rock, and grandparents have been very supportive of his running.

His grandfather, Ricardo Razo, is known as “Pappa Rick” to members of Flat Rock’s team.

“Both my grandparents have really helped me,” he said. “Everyone at the meets loves my grandpa. He cheers for everyone and has a really big heart.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Flat Rock's Stanislawski named Region Boys Runner of the Year