Beal City Repeats, St. Phil Soph Surges

November 1, 2014

By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half 

BROOKLYN — Ava Strenge's goals were constantly being upgraded as she made her way along the five-kilometer cross country course at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. 

She didn't come into the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 meet as one of the favorites, having placed 73rd last year on what was admittedly a bad day.

"I was hoping for a top 10, at best," the Battle Creek St. Philip sophomore said. 

Then the race started to unfold. Strenge found herself near the front of the pack, within striking distance of first place.

"Maybe at the mile point, I was second or third, and I thought I could do a top three," she said. 

And winning?

"I didn't think about that until that straightaway," she said. 

Turning on the jets down the final long straightaway at MIS, Strenge won a three-girl battle for the championship with a time of 18:54.5.

Sophomore Alexis McConnell of Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart was second in 18:58.1, while freshman Mary Ankenbauer of Kalamazoo Hackett took third in 18:58.6. 

"I was really relieved," Strenge said. "Usually the straightaways are where people get me, because I'm not a good sprinter. I can't go that fast."

Strenge beat her personal best of 19:14.6 set in the regional meet. 

It was a much better finish to the season for Strenge, who ran 21:13.3 at MIS last year after dipping below 20 minutes four times during the season.

"The nerves," she said, trying to offer up a reason for last year's disappointment. "I might have overtrained that last week, because it was my first year and I was really excited. I might have overdid it." 

Beal City, which returned six of seven runners from last year's championship team, repeated as the team title winner with 94 points.

Hackett was second with 108, followed by Sacred Heart with 130. 

Senior Emily Steffke and junior Hannah Steffke led Beal City, taking fifth (19:15.0) and sixth (19:26.0), respectively. Senior Hayley Neyer also made the top-30 all-state range, placing 27th in 20:17.6. Freshman Madeline Steffke, the only newcomer to the lineup, was 41st in 20:40.6. Sophomore Ariel Salter completed the scoring, taking 55th in 20:55.4.

Hackett had four runners cross before Beal City’s fourth did, but there was a 16-point difference between the schools' fifth and final scorer. 

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Battle Creek St. Philip’s Ava Strenge capped her sophomore season by improving 72 places to win the LP Division 4 title. (Middle) Beal City’s Emily Steffke (745) and North Muskegon’s Avery Lowe race for top-five finishes; Lowe ended up fourth and Steffke fifth for the team champion Aggies. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)

Performance of the Week: Whitmore Lake's Kaylie Livingston

November 8, 2024

Kaylie Livingston headshotKaylie Livingston ♦ Whitmore Lake
Sophomore ♦ Cross Country

After finishing runner-up as a freshman, Livingston took the championship step to win her first MHSAA Final in this sport, claiming the Lower Peninsula Division 4 title Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in 18 minutes, 6.5 seconds. Livingston built an 8.6-second lead during the first mile and won the race by nearly 14 seconds, and in the process also led Whitmore Lake to a repeat team championship. 

Livingston won 13 races total this fall, finishing second once and sixth among a field that included two more eventual Finals champions in the Shepherd BLUEJAY Invitational Elite race. She also plays basketball for Whitmore Lake, making the all-Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Conference first team as a freshman, and she's just a few months removed from winning the 3,200 meters, finishing second in the 1,600 and running on the winning 3,200 relay at the spring's LPD4 Track & Field Finals. 

@mhsaasports 🏃‍♀️POW: Kaylie Livingston #crosscountry #whitmorelake #finals #champion #part1 #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ original sound - MHSAA

@mhsaasports 🏃‍♀️POW: Kaylie Livingston #tiktalk #questiontime #modernfamily #heart #emoji #sand #cheese #pizza #part2 #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #fyp #MHSAA ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys - Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

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MHSAA.com's "Performance of the Week" features are powered by MI Student Aid, a division within the Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential (MiLEAP). MI Student Aid encourages students to pursue postsecondary education by providing access to student financial resources and information. MI Student Aid administers the state’s 529 college savings programs (MET/MESP), as well as scholarship and grant programs that help make college Accessible, Affordable and Attainable for you. Connect with MI Student Aid at www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid and find more information on Facebook and Twitter @mistudentaid.

Previous 2024-25 honorees

Oct. 25: Oliver Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic tennis - Report
Oct. 18:
Alex Graham, Detroit Cass Tech football - Report
Oct. 11:
Victoria Garces, Midland Dow cross country - Report
Oct. 4:
Asher Clark, Bay City John Glenn soccer - Report
Sept. 26:
Campbell Flynn, Farmington Hills Mercy volleyball - Report
Sept. 19:
TJ Hansen, Freeland cross country - Report
Sept. 12:
Jordan Peters, Grayling soccer - Report
Sept. 6:
Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie cross country - Report
Aug. 30:
Grace Slocum, Traverse City St. Francis golf - Report

PHOTO Whitmore Lake's Kaylie Livingston charges toward the finish of Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship race. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)