Preview: History-Making Opportunities Await Girls Finals Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 5, 2021
Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals feature a pair of storylines that could make the event one of the most history-making of the 2020-21 school year.
On the team side, Hart is seeking to tie the Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals record with its fifth-straight championship. The Pirates will again be running in Division 3 as they chase the Rockford teams that won five straight LPD1/Class A titles from 1998-2002.
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Abby VanderKooi is back in Division 4 after winning the Division 3 individual championship in 2020. She’ll be racing to finish as a four-time individual champion, and would become the eighth to accomplish the feat and first to do so since 2013.
The day’s first races at Michigan International Speedway begin at 9:30 a.m., and all eight will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv – click for full details.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2020 runner-up: Traverse City Central
2021 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Holland West Ottawa, 3. Saline.
The last two Division 1 Finals have finished with Ann Arbor Pioneer as champion and Traverse City Central as runner-up, 39 points separating them in 2020 and 33 in 2019. Those two certainly could end up as the top two again – Central is ranked No. 4 and Pioneer has been the top-ranked team all season. But Holland West Ottawa has been the No. 2 team in every week’s coaches poll, and Saline and No. 5 Brighton are just a few more contenders among a strong group overall. Pioneer’s five scoring runners from last season all are back this weekend, sophomore Rachel Forsyth as the returning individual runner-up with senior Cookie Baugh (fifth) next for an imposing lineup. West Ottawa brings back its top five from the team that finished fourth in 2020, with junior Arianne Olson looking for her first title after finishing second and eighth her first two seasons, and freshman teammate Helen Sachs already one of the speediest in the state. Saline is expected to make its jump with four scorers back from 2020, and Traverse City Central also is loaded with four returnees led by senior Julia Flynn, who finished third last fall.
Individuals: Birmingham Seaholm’s Audrey Dadamio graduated after winning last season’s title, but 12 from last year’s top 20 are back. Flynn actually has finished third the last two seasons after coming in 10th as a freshman, and Plymouth senior Lauren Kiley has improved from 20th as a freshman to 11th as a sophomore to fourth last fall. Temperance Bedford senior Madison Foster was seventh last season, having made a massive jump from her first two Finals.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Petoskey
2020 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
2021 top-ranked: 1. East Grand Rapids, 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 3. Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
East Grand Rapids has finished first or second five of the last six seasons, claiming its most recent titles in 2018 and 2019 before coming in 11 points back of Petoskey last fall. The Pioneers bring back five of last season’s seven runners including three of their top four finishers led by sophomore Drew Muller (fifth) and senior Ainsley Workman (sixth). Grand Rapids Christian was third last season and is seeking its first championship since winning back-to-back in 2013 and 2014, and the Eagles have four of their top seven running again led by senior Madelyn Frens – who finished third last fall and is tied for the fastest time in the division this season. Forest Hills Eastern is expected to make a jump from ninth with four of its top seven back, and Petoskey is ranked No. 4 with three runners returning.
Individuals: Total, nine of last season’s top 20 are running this race again, including seven of the top 10. Mason sophomore Meghan Ford was runner-up last season to Petoskey’s now-graduated Emma Squires, and Ford is again one of the fastest in Division 2. Frankenmuth sophomore Mary Richmond has tied Frens with a 17:56 to top that fastest-times list, after Richmond placed fourth in 2020. Grand Rapids Catholic Central sophomore Emily Tomes is back after coming in eighth, and Freeland senior Mara Longenecker returns after finishing 10th.
DIVISION 3
Reigning champion: Hart
2020 runner-up: Ithaca
2021 top-ranked: 1. Hart, 2. Jackson Lumen Christi, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
Hart claimed last year’s fourth-straight Division 3 title by 55 points. Four of the team’s seven runners from that clincher are back, led by sophomore Alyson Enns after she finished individual runner-up and senior Audrianna Enns coming off her fifth-place finish. Lumen Christi could jump back into the top two for the first time since winning in 2012, with four runners back from last season’s 10th-place team finisher including seventh-place now-senior Faith Smith. St. Francis finished 13th last season and has two runners back, and No. 4 Lansing Catholic was 10th in Division 2 in 2020 and has four of its top seven back including 16th-place individual finisher Hannah Pricco.
Individuals: VanderKooi may be back in Division 4, but 11 of last season’s top 20 are returning in this race including six of the top eight – plus another past champion, and Pricco from Division 2. Ithaca senior Lani Bloom finished fourth a year ago and has the division’s fastest time this fall at 17:09, and the second-fastest time belongs to Stockbridge senior Rylee Tolson – who won Division 3 in 2019. Roscommon senior Allison Chmielewski was sixth last fall and third as a sophomore, and Benzie Central sophomore Mylie Kelly will be looking to build on her eighth-place finish from 2020.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Lansing Christian
2020 runner-up: Kalamazoo Christian
2021 top-ranked: 1. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian, 2. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 3. Kalamazoo Christian.
Western Michigan Christian will make a run at its first team championship as VanderKooi goes for her fourth individual title. The Warriors didn’t qualify for the Division 3 race last season as a team, but VanderKooi has the fastest time in Division 4 this fall at 17:29 and freshman sister Grace has posted the sixth-fastest. Kalamazoo Christian was second last season with no seniors and one junior, and four runners return, and Johannesburg-Lewiston also has four runners back after finishing eighth in 2020 with just one senior. Returning champion Lansing Christian is ranked No. 13 and bringing five runners back led by junior Ashlyn Kephart, who finished sixth. Keep an eye on Beal City, which is ranked No. 13 after finishing third last fall. Five of its 2020 runners are back, including three who finished among the top 14 individual placers – led by senior Rachal Weber, who came in fourth.
Individuals: With 13 of last season’s top 20 back including seven of the top eight, this was going to be a loaded field even without VanderKooi’s return. Reigning Division 4 champ Mackenna Scott from Maple City Glen Lake has the third-fastest time in the division, and Buckley sophomore Aiden Harrand is second on that list after placing fifth at the 2020 Final. Ubly sophomore Maze Gusa debuted with a third-place finish last season, and Huron Valley Lutheran junior Erika Van Loton (seventh) and Hillsdale Academy junior Megan Roberts (eighth) also are back from the top 10.
PHOTO Among runners returning to the Division 4 race this weekend are Pittsford’s Brooke Smith (611) and Lutheran Westland’s Michaela Kurth (595). (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Redettes' Rudden Aims to Add to Legacy
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
August 20, 2015
MARQUETTE — Lindsey Rudden has enjoyed a stellar high school track career, to say the least.
The Marquette High School senior is the current Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals record holder in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs and was part of U.P. record-setting 1,600 and 3,200 relays this spring at Kingsford.
She could graduate next spring as the top high school female distance runner in Upper Peninsula history. But one accomplishment that has eluded her, however, is a U.P. cross country title – something she’ll begin next week to pursue one last time.
At the end of her freshman year, Rudden was well ahead of the MHSAA Finals field with a half-mile remaining at Munising when she became ill and passed out. In Marquette as a sophomore, she was runner-up to Kameron Burmeister of Menominee. Then, she and now-junior Amber Huebner missed a flag in last year’s Finals and had to retrace their steps, adding distance to their race. Huebner ended up runner-up to Gladstone’s Leigha Woelffer that day, and Rudden finished well behind the leaders.
“I’ve learned so much from the losses,” Rudden said. “I still wouldn’t change it. I know how to react when other people are upset. I was real nervous before the Finals as a sophomore because of what happened in my freshman year. I wasn’t quite as nervous about it last year, and I’m not worried about it this year. I’m just going to try to run it like any other race and do my best. Either way life goes on. I have a great support system. My coaches and teammates have been great.”
Rudden, as she did the past three years, will lead the Redettes into this cross country season when they open Aug. 28 by hosting the Marquette Relays.
“I feel better going into this season than I did going into any other season,” said Rudden, who has made a verbal commitment to continue her track and cross country careers at Michigan State University. “I’m in better shape this year and starting to enjoy cross country. This is kind of special. I’m just going with the flow and trying to enjoy my last year of high school. I feel I’m ready for the next step.”
Rudden indeed has experienced plenty of success in cross country, earning a pair of Great Northern Conference titles in three seasons.
Her efforts certainly haven’t gone unnoticed, as some of the Marquette boys runners will verify.
“Lindsey has great dedication to her sport,” said senior Lance Rambo, last season’s U.P. Division 1 cross country runner-up and winner of the 3,200 and 1,600 at the spring Finals. “She just works so hard. … (And) she’s very humble. She’ll always congratulate other runners after the races and tries to encourage them. She always has a smile after a race.”
Redmen senior Troy Sergey, who finished 13th at last fall’s U.P. Division 1 Final and has known Rudden since fourth grade, also is impressed by Rudden’s accomplishments.
“She’s able to go into a gear nobody else has,” he said. “After two miles, she can pick up the pace. She never misses a workout. Lindsey understands what she needs to do. She talks to me and Lance before every race, and we discuss her game plan.”
Rudden trains an average of 30 miles a week.
“That gives me a pretty good base,” she said. “I’ve also been doing some weight training, and I’m more confident this year. I don’t feel as much pressure now that I’m committed to Michigan State. I’ve already met some of my (future) teammates. I’m just so excited.”
Rudden set Division 1 Finals records in the 800 at two minutes, 13.94 seconds this spring, the 1,600 (4:55.28) a year ago and 3,200 (11:26.38) in 2013. Her 800 and 1,600 times are records for all U.P. Finals.
“I’ve always loved track,” she said. “I think that’s why I’ve had a lot of success with it.”
In late May, Rudden combined forces with current senior Holly Blowers and Amber Huebner and recent graduate Shayla Huebner in U.P. Finals record-setting efforts in the 1,600 (4:00.15) and 3,200 relays (9:30.25).
“I’ve been playing sports with Lindsey since I was in fourth grade,” Amber Huebner said. “She always works her hardest and pushes other people to work harder. Lindsey is a great friend, leader and teammate. I can’t imagine what next season is going to be like without her.”
Rudden will become part of a program which captured the NCAA Division I cross country title last fall and was crowned Big 10 track and field champion this spring.
What has she meant to Marquette’s track and field and cross country programs?
“Lindsey is one of the all-time better mid and long distance runners at Marquette High School,” Redettes coach Dale Phillips said. “Not many girls can meet that kind of success. She has already surpassed the times by the Anderson twins (Emily and Katie in the late 1990s) in the 800 and 1,600 and even the 400.
"I think Lindsey has really matured. She has developed into a good leader, and that’s going to help her. I think that will make her a better runner.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lindsey Rudden (77) leads the pack during last season's MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Final. (Middle) Rudden cruises down the stretch during one of her races at this spring's U.P. Track and Field Finals.