Preview: Past Champions Setting Up as Storylines Again in Finals Returns
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 1, 2024
Two reigning champions ranked to repeat and a past individual champion setting the statewide pace are among those anticipated to make headlines across four Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Romeo in Division 1 and Whitmore Lake in Division 4 will enter their championship races top-ranked after finishing first in their respective divisions a year ago. Holland West Ottawa senior Helen Sachs is looking to close her high school career with a second individual championship after placing first in Division 1 in 2022.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first girls race, in Division 4, begins at 10:50 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Romeo
2023 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2024 top-ranked: 1. Romeo, 2. Holland West Ottawa, 3. Saline.
We’ve seen two repeat Division 1 girls champions over the last decade (technically three as Pioneer won three straight titles from 2019-21), and Romeo is favored to accomplish that feat as well. The Bulldogs placed the first seven individuals at their Regional, with six of those runners their top six from last season’s Final when they finished with 65 points – 61 fewer than the runner-up Pioneers. Sophomore Annie Hrabovsky (fourth), juniors Natalia Guaresimo (seventh) and Emmerson Clor (13th), and senior Lillian Deskins (22nd) all medaled last year. Holland West Ottawa finished third last season, and 2022 Finals individual champion Helen Sachs led West Ottawa to a dominating Regional win this time with four individuals among the top nine. Saline was fifth at the 2023 Final and won its Regional last weekend just ahead of Pioneer 28-41 with six individuals among the top 10.
Individuals: Two-time champion Rachel Forsyth of Pioneer graduated in the spring, but this field still returns a past winner in Sachs, whose 16:52.8 at the Otsego Invitational on Sept. 28 is the fastest time this season among runners competing this weekend in any division. She placed 11th in LPD1 a year ago. Rochester senior Lucy Cook has finished third the last two seasons and has the fourth-fastest top 5K time in any division this fall, and Midland Dow senior Victoria Garces has the third-fastest top time this season and is coming off a fifth-place Finals finish in 2023. Grand Blanc senior Gracy Tykocki was 10th at last year’s Final and finished runner-up at her Regional last weekend. Sachs, Garces, Cook and Annie Hrabovsky were Regional champions, joined by Kalamazoo Central senior Annie Alkema, Brighton junior Lydia LaMarra, Pioneer freshman Natasza Dudek, Canton junior Aiden Pengelly and Novi sophomore Katelynn Egli. Dudek has the fourth-fastest top time in Division 1 this fall.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Grand Rapids Christian
2023 runner-up: Otsego
2024 top-ranked: 1. Goodrich, 2. Zeeland East, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Grand Rapids Christian topped 2022 champion Otsego 112-131 a year ago with Goodrich just behind them in third at 139, and some combination could dominate the top of the standings again. The Martians didn’t have a senior in last year’s lineup, and six of those runners from 2023 were among the seven Goodrich competitors who finished among the top 15 at their Regional last weekend. Zeeland East is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and placed fifth last season with only one senior, and Grand Rapids Christian brings back three from last year’s championship lineup and placed five among the top 17 in its Regional victory.
Individuals: St. Johns sophomore Ava Schafer is the top returning placer from last year’s Final after finishing fourth, and she’s undefeated this season with the third-fastest top time in Division 2 at 17:32.4. Zeeland East senior Emma Drnek is right behind her on that list at 17:44.4 and finished seventh at last year’s Final, and Goodrich’s Kamryn Lauinger was ninth at last year’s Final. The fastest top times in Division 2 this season belong to Otsego junior Emma Hoffman – who also is undefeated – and Gaylord junior Katie Berkshire, who placed 17th and 73rd, respectively, in 2023. Berkshire ran a personal record 17:31.05 to win her Regional last weekend and was joined among Regional champs by Drnek, Hoffman, Schafer, East Grand Rapids sophomore Adeline Armstrong, Freeland sophomore Clara Kaczor, Linden sophomore Addison Josephson, Croswell-Lexington senior Eva Thompson and Carleton Airport senior Courtney Bovair.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Jackson Lumen Christi
2023 runner-up: Traverse City St. Francis
2024 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Central Montcalm.
Lansing Catholic is pursuing a second Finals championship after previously winning Division 2 in 2017 and finishing seventh in Division 3 last fall with just one senior. Four of last season’s Finals runners were among the seven who finished among the top 20 in last weekend’s Regional victory, with freshman Josie Bishop second individually. St. Francis won the championship in 2022 before finishing second last year to Lumen 140-177, and the Gladiators placed six among the top 14 in winning their Regional including the top two in senior Betsy Skendzel and sophomore Molly Kate Hollandsworth. Central Montcalm finished eighth last season with no seniors and is seeking its first top-two Finals finish, coming off falling one point behind No. 4 Pewamo-Westphalia but placing the top two individuals at their Regional.
Individuals: Central Montcalm’s Kyah Hoffman was that Regional champion noted above and finished third at last year’s Final; she’s run the fastest top time in the Division 3 field at 17:25.3. Skendzel is next on the top times list at 17:46.8 and finished fourth last season, and Emmry Ross (17:47.3) follows on the top times list after placing fifth at the 2023 Final. Lakeview sophomore Kamryn Salladay, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep senior Eliza Bush and Kent City senior Lila Volkers finished eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively, in last year’s championship race, and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Grace VanderKooi was third in Division 4 and won her Division 3 Regional last week just ahead of Volkers. Also winning Regionals were Bush, Hoffman, Ross, Skendzel, Salladay, Fennville sophomore Isabelle Sliter, Millington junior Abigail Ross and Leslie junior Hailey Creisher.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Whitmore Lake
2023 runner-up: Johannesburg-Lewiston
2024 top-ranked: 1. Whitmore Lake, 2. Hillsdale Academy, 3. Harbor Springs.
Whitmore Lake’s championship last season was its first since 1996, and four of those title-winning runners return this weekend including 2023 individual runner-up Kaylie Livingston – who outpaced the field at her Regional last weekend by 1 minute, 44 seconds, at 17:51.9. Hillsdale Academy is hoping to make a jump from fourth last season as it pursues its first championship; the Colts didn’t have a senior last year and finished Division 4 runners-up in 2022, and placed all seven runners among the top 17 in a Regional title win. Harbor Springs won back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009 and finished runner-up in 2015 as it too seeks to move up from a year ago, when it finished fifth also without a senior. The Rams placed six among the top 12 in winning their Regional.
Individuals: Livingston’s top time of 17:46.2 tops the Division 4 list by 14 seconds, and she is followed by Johannesburg-Lewiston senior Allie Nowak, who placed fourth in 2023. Whitmore Lake junior Carina Burchi was sixth at last year’s Final and sits fourth on this year’s top times list, and Gobles sophomore Libby Smith finished one spot behind her at last fall’s Final but is one spot ahead with the third-fastest top time in the division. Adrian Lenawee Christian senior Izzy Brooks is back after placing eighth last year, and Petoskey St. Michael senior Jane Manthei returns after placing 10th. Nowak was first and Manthei second at their Regional, and joining Nowak and Livingston among Regional winners were Brooks, Smith, Bear Lake/Onekama freshman Callie Sinke, Vestaburg senior Abigail Davis, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Emma Riker, Dryden junior Cara Prusakiewicz and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian senior Eliza Keith.
PHOTO Otsego’s Emma Hoffman (2411) leads on the way to winning Division 2 race Sept. 28 at the Otsego Invitational. (Photo by Gary Shook.)
Successfully Juggling 2 Sports, Richmond Chases Cross Country Title
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 27, 2021
Mary Richmond is too busy to run slow.
The Frankenmuth sophomore is splitting time this fall between the cross country and volleyball teams, while also working one day per week at an Italian restaurant in town. When those seasons end in the next month, she doesn’t exactly take a break. During the winter, school and work get balanced with travel volleyball. In the spring, track joins the fray, and in the summer, she plays travel softball.
“Both (fall) coaches are really accommodating with my schedules, and even with work, my boss is really good working with my schedules,” Richmond said. “My whole entire life I’ve been busy – I’ve always been going non-stop, so this isn’t a new thing this year.”
Richmond is passionate about each sport and the bonds created with teammates with whom she competes, which is why she wasn’t willing to give up volleyball or softball while becoming one of the state’s top runners.
Entering Saturday’s cross country Regional at Shepherd, Richmond shares the fastest time of the season in Lower Peninsula Division 2 (17 minutes, 56 seconds) with Grand Rapids Christian’s Madelyn Frens. She won a Regional title and placed fourth at the Division 2 Cross Country Finals as a freshman, and was all-state in a pair of events (third in the 1,600 meters, fourth in the 3,200) at last spring’s LP Division 2 Track & Field Finals.
“Mary works extremely hard in practice, and has learned to run on her own in most of our meets this season,” Frankenmuth girls cross country coach Mike Snyder said. “When there is a lead Gator, we simply tell her to chase the Gator. She loves competition and enjoys meets where she can compete with girls that have faster times than her. She has the potential to be the Division 2 state champion, and has the work ethic and focus to go after that goal.”
While Richmond is very busy, she said her focus is currently on the Regional race, which will be in the same location she ran her previous best – a time that is nearly a full minute faster than her closest competition.
“It’s a really good course, and I really want to work on my time and the little stuff, like my form and stuff, so I can get prepared for states,” Richmond said. “States are going to be really tough, because there are four or five girls within seconds of each other.”
Richmond has won nine of the 13 meets she’s run in this season, but her 17:56 came while she finished fifth. While running after the motorized vehicle that’s showing the way has provided some extra motivation in a lot of those meets, it’s racing the best that motivates Richmond the most.
“When my dad bikes next to me while I’m training, I always have him bike in front of me,” Richmond said. “With the Gator, I’m trying to catch it. It’s a racer’s mentality. I’ve never finished in first place when I’ve run a personal record.”
Anticipating she’ll get that chance again at the Finals has Richmond excited. And on that day, she said she won’t be concerned about time, just racing.
“Finishing at the top at states with those girls and being able to have a good race – being able to come out of it and saying I gave all I could give is probably my goal,” she said. “As long as I have no regrets afterward, I’ll be happy.”
In between the Regional and Finals, which are Nov. 6 at Michigan International Speedway, Richmond will be joining her volleyball teammates in trying to win a District title. Richmond, who stands 5 feet, 11½ inches tall, plays middle and outside hitter for the Eagles. She plays a reserve role on the volleyball court, but she’s enjoying it all the same.
“I’ve always loved volleyball, and I wasn’t ready to give it up,” Richmond said. “I don’t get much playing time, but we have such an athletic team that just being on the team and being there for all the practices has been great. I think I use volleyball as a little bit of a stress reliever from cross country. When I get to volleyball, I get to have fun with some of my friends, and at the same time compete.”
Frankenmuth will play in the District at Chesaning, and has a bye into the semifinal. Richmond thinks the team has the potential to make a run, and extend her busy fall.
“I think if we play like we can, those girls are just amazing when they come together,” she said. “Volleyball is barely any of their main sport, but when they come together, the athleticism in that group is nuts.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Frankenmuth’s Mary Richmond crosses the finish line during last season’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Richmond leads the pack during this season’s Tri-Valley Conference championship race. (Top photo by RunMichigan.com, middle courtesy of the Frankenmuth cross country program.)