Preview: New Crew Preparing to Emerge
November 1, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Over the course of Saturday, 986 runners will take part in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway – and with a number of contenders facing new championship scenarios and first-time title opportunities.
While last season’s races saw three repeat team champions, only two-time reigning Division 4 winner Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart is predicted to make it three titles in a row. At the same time, some shifting in divisions this fall has led to a few faces in new places, including the favorite in Division 2.
Below are some of the teams to watch and a glance at each of the individual fields as well. The first race of the day – Division 4 girls – starts at 9:30 a.m. Click for all Finals qualifiers, a map of the course and links to buy tickets and watch the Finish Line camera on MHSAA.tv, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four meets.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Highland-Milford
2016 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2017 top-ranked: 1. Rockford, 2. Northville, 3. Troy.
Rockford, Northville and Pioneer in some combination have been considered the favorites most of this season, but Troy moved into the top three for this week’s final ranking. Rockford has five of its top six from last year’s 14th-place team and placed five of the top seven to win a Regional last week that included No. 9 East Grand Rapids and honorable mention Grand Haven. Northville will return to MIS with two of its top three finishers and three from the seven overall that took third place last year; the Mustangs placed the top three in winning their Regional against a field that included No. 13 Salem. Troy was eighth at last season’s Final without a senior and has four runners back this weekend including three seniors. The Colts placed five of the top seven to win a Regional that included reigning Finals champ and No. 8-ranked Seaholm. Pioneer is paced by reigning individual runner-up and now-senior Anne Forsyth, along with three others from last year’s second-place team, and just edged No. 14 Saline to win its Regional.
Individuals: Forsyth is the highest returning placer from last year as champion Maggie Farrell from Battle Creek Lakeview graduated along with two more from the 2016 top 10. Macomb L’Anse Creuse North senior Karenna Duffey finished third both last season and as a freshman and had the fifth-fastest Regional time in the state last weekend behind Traverse City Central senior Sielle Kearney and Rockford junior Ericka VanderLende. Forysth and Kearney (seventh last season) both broke 17 minutes at the Benzie Central Invitational at the end of August, and Saline senior Jessi Larson outpaced Forsyth at their Regional. Also returning from last year’s top 10 are West Bloomfield junior Kyla Christopher-Moody, Grandville junior Madison Malon and Waterford Mott junior Rylee Robinson, while St. Joseph senior Anna Joseph was second in Division 2 a year ago. Robinson joined Kearney, Larson, Duffey and VanderLende as individual Regional champions last week, along with Troy senior Megan Worrel, Northville senior Ana Barrott, East Lansing freshman Abbie Draheim and Portage Northern junior Peyton Witt.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Otsego
2016 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
2017 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2 DeWitt, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Lansing Catholic, last season’s Division 3 runner-up, has shown among the best in Division 2 all fall with a lineup including last year’s top five runners and top-five D3 Finals finishers Olivia Theis (second), Lauren Cleary (third) and Jaden Theis (sixth). Right with the Cougars has been DeWitt, which finished ninth in Division 2 last year and has its top four from that team returning to MIS this weekend. The Cougars and Panthers ran at the same Regional on Saturday with Lansing Catholic winning by a 71-77 edge and the teams combining to place five of the top eight even though Jaden Theis didn’t run (and with No. 12 Mason and honorable mention Ada Forest Hills Eastern among others in the field). Grand Rapids Christian finished third at the Final last season and has four runners back from that team, and is coming off a Regional win against a field including No. 7 Allendale and No. 11 Spring Lake.
Individuals: Reigning champion Kayla Windemuller has won all of her races but one this fall, finishing second to Olivia Theis at the Portage Invitational a month ago. The Holland Christian senior won her Regional last week by a minute. Plainwell sophomore Makenna Veen (fourth), Goodrich junior Jillian Lange (seventh), Mason junior Cecilia Stalzer (eighth) and St. Johns sophomore Taryn Chapko (10th) also are back after posting top-10 finishes in 2016, Veen and Lange coming off Regional titles and Stalzer finished second at her Regional to Theis. Big Rapids junior Meghan Langworthy, Grand Rapids Christian freshman Carly Michele, Flint Powers Catholic senior Paige Deitering, Marysville junior Megan McCulloch and Monroe Jefferson senior Kaitlyn St. Bernard also won Regional titles last week.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Traverse City St. Francis
2016 runner-up: Lansing Catholic
2017 top-ranked: 1. Hart, 2. Benzie Central, 3. Saugatuck.
St. Francis has won the last two Division 3 titles but is ranked only No. 7 heading into this weekend, although the Gladiators do bring back five of their top six from a year ago. Hart was seventh at the 2016 Final but is paced by reigning champion and now-junior Adelyn Ackley plus seventh-place senior sister Alayna Ackley and standout freshmen Savannah and Lynae Ackley (Savannah is another sister to Adelyn and Alayna and Lynae is their cousin). Benzie Central and Saugatuck finished third and fourth, respectively, last year; both teams are returning five of their top six runners from those finishes. Saugatuck won its Regional and Benzie finished second to Hart and ahead of No. 6 Clare last weekend.
Individuals: With the Lansing Catholic leaders running in Division 2 this season, only five more top-10 Division 3 placers are back to join the oldest Ackleys at MIS – McBain junior Klaudia O’Malley (fourth), Shepherd junior Amber Gall (fifth), Traverse City St. Francis senior Joyana Tarsa (eighth) and Montrose senior Remington Hobson (10th). O’Malley finished second to Adelyn Hart at their Regional and Gall and Hobson took the top two spots, respectively, at theirs, but a number of others could move into the mix at the front this weekend. Bad Axe junior Jelena Prescott, Blissfield senior Casey Reed, New Lothrop senior Courtney Krupp, Hanover-Horton junior Judy Rector, Saugatuck junior Thea Johnson, Kent City junior Lauren Freeland and Charlevoix senior Michelle Bollini also won Division 3 Regional titles. Pewamo-Westphalia sophomore Aubrey George finished sixth in Division 4 last season as her team finished second, and the Pirates are in Division 3 this weekend. Harbor Springs and Division 4 eighth-placer Alyssa Kihnke also moved to Division 3 this season; Kihnke is a senior.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
2016 runner-up: Pewamo-Westphalia
2017 top-ranked: 1. Sacred Heart, 2. Lansing Christian, 3. Breckenridge.
Two-time reigning champion Sacred Heart might have been the easiest team to forecast this fall and comes back to MIS with five of last year’s runners back plus a sixth who was a top contributor before missing most of last season with an injury. The Irish placed the top five at last week’s Regional and six of the top seven. Lansing Christian has rushed into the elite after not sending anyone to last year’s Final; the Pilgrims, led by freshmen Madison Volz, Lexi Kinnas and Natalie Tebben, won their Regional last week ahead of No. 4 Fowler and No. 10 Plymouth Christian Academy. Breckenridge is looking to move up from fourth last year with five of their top seven back from the 2016 Final although the Huskies did come in second at their Regional last weekend to No. 7 Ubly.
Individuals: In addition to reigning runner-up and current senior Bailley McConnell from Sacred Heart, only Concord senior Samantha Saenz (third) and Kalamazoo Hackett senior Mary Ankenbauer (10th) will join her from last year’s top 10. Saenz and Ankenbauer both were Regional champs last week, and McConnell finished just behind junior teammate Scout Nelson. Lake Leelanau St. Mary senior Hanna Grant broke 19 minutes in winning her Regional by almost 50 seconds, while Rogers City freshman Morgan Baller, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian junior Josie Aardema, Pittsford junior Renee Osborne, Ubly junior Haili Gusa and Waterford Our Lady senior Olivia Hankey also were Regional winners.
PHOTO: Traverse City Central's Sielle Kearney, left, and Ann Arbor Pioneer's Anne Forsyth round a curve during the Spartan Invitational "elite" race earlier this fall. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Division 1 Winners Lead Speedy Packs
November 7, 2015
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
BROOKLYN — Panic set in, but only momentarily.
With all of the pressure that takes place in an MHSAA Cross Country Final, a runner could easily become unraveled by the unexpected.
Like a fall, for instance.
Grandville sophomore Madison Troy went to the ground during a gravel section of the Michigan International Speedway course midway through the Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet Saturday. Afterward, she bore scuff marks on her right shoulder, hands and legs from the tumble.
But she also wore the smile of a champion, having quickly composed herself. She got back in the lead pack, then pulled away from a three-girl race down the final stretch to win in 17:28.2. Close behind were Saline sophomore Jessi Larson (17:30.9) and Farmington senior Maddy Trevisan (17:31.7).
Troy said she was in third or fourth place when she fell.
"It wasn't too bad," said Troy, Grandville's first individual champion. "I fell all the way through on my back. I quickly got up, because I didn't want to lose my spot. I was nervous at first. I thought I was going to fall behind."
Troy finished 13th in the Final last year in 18:15.8. She had to beat six runners who placed higher than her a year ago.
"I was hoping to win by my junior or senior year," Troy said. "This year was not unexpected, because I knew if I gave it a lot, I'd be able to."
Some rivalries to watch may have formed Saturday, as three of the top four were sophomores. Traverse City Central 10th-grader Sielle Kearney was fourth in 17:41.2.
"It's hard to push yourself when you don't have a group to run with, so that was nice," Troy said.
Troy was coming off a personal-best 17:20.5 performance to win the Regional on the fast Portage Central course. Coming within eight seconds of that time was a solid effort on the wind-swept MIS course.
In the team race, Birmingham Seaholm won for the third time in the last four years, despite graduating two-time champion Audrey Belf (Georgetown) and 2014 runner-up Rachel DaDamio (Notre Dame).
The Maples scored 90 points to beat second-place Brighton by 46.
Without two stars at the front, Seaholm won with a solid pack. The Maples' top four runners finished 16.7 seconds apart, with all five scorers breaking 19 minutes.
Junior Audrey Ladd was 11th (18:06.3), sophomore Rachel McCardell 16th (18:21.6), senior Mary Sanders 18th (18:21.9), senior Patty Girardot 19th (18:23.0) and sophomore Emily Rooney 53rd (18:54.6).
Neither of the top two teams had a runner in the top 10, as fifth-ranked Brighton also came away with the runner-up trophy because of a tight pack.
Brighton's five scoring runners finished 22 seconds apart, as the Bulldogs had their best finish since placing second in 1993. Senior Kirsten McGahan was Brighton's first finisher in 28th place (18:32.1), but she was quickly followed by junior Miranda Reynolds (29th, 18:32.3), senior Jenna Sica (18:34.3), sophomore Lauren Parrell (43rd, 18:49.5) and sophomore Lexi Reynolds (51st, 18:54.1).
Milford, which beat Brighton for the Kensington Lakes Activities Association West championship, was third with 149 points.
The MHSAA Cross Country Finals are sponsored by the Michigan National Guard.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grandville’s Madison Troy (1052) stays just ahead of Saline’s Jessi Larson (1146) and Farmington’s Maddy Trevisan (1031) during the final meters of the Division 1 Final. (Middle) Birmingham Seaholm’s Patty Girardot (1005) leads a pack that includes teammates Mary Sanders (1009) and Rachel McCardell (1007), plus Midland Dow’s Emily Wall. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)