Alena Blumberg walked up to the starting line of her high school career last year as a freshman and crossed the finish line at the state finals in cross country and in the starting five of one of the best basketball teams in the area. It was an amazing first year but only surprising to people who didn’t know her – and maybe to her.
“Yeah, I was surprised at how well I did in cross country,” says Blumberg. “But I have a great work ethic and great coaches and teammates that pushed me. In cross country, my biggest challenge was my anxiety and stress that I had to do so well since I was on varsity and I was only a freshman.”
Blumberg says her “freshman year went really well” in cross country.
“I just took it race by race,” she says. “Overall, I cut 67 seconds off my time throughout the season.”
She qualified for the MHSAA State Finals after finishing 13th at Regionals. Blumberg, who landed 69th in her first State Finals with a PR time of 19 minutes, 14 seconds, said running at MIS with the best runners in the state – many four years older than her – was a rollercoaster run.
“Running at States at first was nerve racking especially since I was expecting to run with my team,” she says. “But when I got to the starting line it was exhilarating – with my team all there cheering me on and finally realizing ‘I’m at the state meet.’ The experience was different from other races, specifically, the start was packed and a very long shoot but overall I liked the course.”
Blumberg also is off to a great start in her sophomore run. She placed fourth at the season-opening Lamplighter Invite in Livonia and then ran third at the Saline Early Bird. She was fifth at last week’s SEC Jamboree 1 in Jackson.
Running is in the Blumberg family. Her mom was a cross country runner and in fourth grade, Alena started running with her and has never looked back.
“Something that I liked about running compared to other sports is the team and individual aspect of it,” she says. “Because it’s about making yourself better as an individual and competing against yourself, but still have teammates to rely on.”
Dexter is off to a fast start and the Dreads are excited about competing in the SEC Red and hopefully beyond. “This year’s team is so close,” Blumberg says. “We do so many fun things in and out of practice. One of the goals this year for the team is making it to states.”
Then there is basketball. And as good as she is in cross country, her basketball ceiling is through the roof. Just ask Dexter head coach Lauren Thompson, who has coached some excellent players over the years both as an assistant coach and as the current head coach of the Dreadnaughts.
“Alena is one of the hardest workers I have ever coached,” says Thompson. “She is always in the gym working on her game and this work ethic resulted in her finding a place in the starting lineup as a freshman last year. It is rare to have a freshman earn a spot on a varsity roster let alone a starting position.”
But there is more to Blumberg than just scoring and rebounding. Back over to Coach Thompson.
“More importantly, Alena is an incredible teammate and student,” Thompson says. “She is a model student-athlete. Both the cross country program and the basketball program are better with her as a major contributor. I can’t say enough positive things about Alena. We are so excited to see what she can accomplish in her high school career as a runner and hooper.”
Blumberg averaged 8.3 points per game on a team with several excellent scorers. She also averaged 1.7 steals and 4.9 rebounds and shot 41 percent from the floor. She was Honorable Mention All-Sec Red in her first season.
“Playing on the varsity basketball team as a freshman was thrilling with all the older girls taking me under their wing and pushing me to be better,” she said. “I remember when I was younger I would come watch them play and I thought they were basketball stars and I was lucky enough to get to play with them.”
Blumberg started playing basketball in kindergarten. Her dad coached at New Buffalo High School so she has been around the game her whole life. She started playing travel/AAU in the sixth grade.
“I love the competitiveness of the game, especially with my siblings,” she says. “Playing 1 on 1 with my brother Xavier or playing PIG with my little sister Layla is always fun and competitive.”
Alena, 15, is the daughter of Mark and Sabrena Blumberg and runs to a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. She hopes to play basketball in college but there are a lot more miles to cover and goals to accomplish before she gets to that starting line.
