Jazwinski Repeats in Record Fashion, Osterberg Paces Lumen Christi Team Title
November 4, 2023
BROOKLYN — Hart junior Jessica Jazwinski has been so dominant in cross country that she needs to mentally conjure up competition to keep pushing herself.
“I try to think there’s a girl right behind me,” she said. “So, I’m always practicing, ‘OK, there’s a girl right behind me. If I don’t push myself as hard as I can, she’s going to beat me.’
“That’s kind of what I do.”
That mental game pushed Jazwinski to a record-breaking performance Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, because there certainly weren’t any real opponents breathing down her neck.
Jazwinski’s time of 17:08.8 broke the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals record of 17:12.5 set by Abby Vanderkooi of Muskegon Western Michigan Christian in 2020.
She won by a whopping 40.7 seconds ahead of Jackson Lumen Christi senior Madison Osterberg, whose 17:49.5 performance is the 11th-fastest ever by a Division 3 girl.
“I just wanted to crush it as hard as I could today,” Jazwinski said. “I was really happy with the outcome. I knew I wanted to push myself as hard as I could. I knew there were some really tough girls in this race. I didn’t know how they would go out and if anyone was going to try to run with me. I think all the girls helped push me to run as fast as I did today.”
After placing third as a freshman, Jazwinski has won the last two Division 3 championships.
She has won 13 races in a row since placing second to Division 1 star Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer in the season-opening Peter Moss Invite at Benzie Central. Even though Forsyth has won all of her races this season, Jazwinski didn’t use that fact as any source of comfort.
“I was really disappointed, because I really wanted to try to win that race,” Jazwinski said. “She’s an amazing competitor. I’m excited to race her after the season, too. It lit a fire under my butt, because I didn’t want to lose again. It kind of was motivation, because I didn’t want to lose. I learned a lot from that race.”
Osterberg isn’t someone who is used to losing races, but she was thrilled with her runner-up performance, particularly after placing 50th last year.
“This is a dream come true,” Osterberg said. “Last year, I was in the top 10 and I fell apart and got 50th. I’ve been thinking about this meet for a year to try to help my team. I’m so blessed that I finished on both feet.”
Osterberg did indeed help her team, leading Lumen Christi to its 10th Finals championship and first since 2012. The second-ranked Titans scored 140 points to defeat top-ranked Traverse City St. Francis by 37.
Freshman Samantha Schroeder was 13th, sophomore Macy Fazekas was 43rd, senior Sydney Fazekas was 50th and junior Layla Lopez was 82nd for Lumen Christi.
PHOTOS (Top) Hart’s Jessica Jazwinski closes in on a repeat Division 3 championship Saturday at MIS. (Middle) Jackson Lumen Christi’s Madison Osterberg finishes runner-up in leading the Titans to the team title. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
Livingston Repeats, Whitmore Lake 3-Peats to Kickoff LP Cross Country Finals
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — When asked about her own performance, Whitmore Lake junior Kaylie Livingston kept returning the subject to her team.
Livingston repeated as the Division 4 champion at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals on Saturday with a time of 18 minutes, 30.7 seconds at Michigan International Speedway.
Of even more importance to Livingston was being part of a championship team at the Finals for the third year in a row.
The Trojans achieved the three-peat by scoring 140 points to finish ahead of runner-up Hillsdale Academy by 18. It was the sixth Finals championship for Whitmore Lake.
“My season’s gone really well,” Livingston said. “The girls as a whole have done really good. We had big wins at big invitationals.”
Livingston has been the front-runner leading the Trojans to all three titles. She took second as a freshman behind Buckley senior Aiden Harrand, who won with a Division 4 record of 17:38.9. Livingston won the individual championship last season before repeating this year.
“I really wanted to defend the title to show I’m on the same level as I was last season and just that I keep improving,” Livingston said.
Asked about the pressure of repeating individually, Livingston’s thoughts went to the team as a whole.
“Definitely the pressure is very high,” she said. “The girls felt it. With some of the senior girls this year, I felt really confident we could do really well. We’ve definitely learned how to handle the pressure.”
In addition to Livingston, Carina Burchi, Sofia Robertson and Elodie Weaver have been members of all three championship teams at Whitmore Lake. Malynda Lambros and Caroline Darrah ran for the last two championship teams.
Burchi was 17th on Saturday in 19:50.6, Lambros 30th in 20:20.3, Robertson 46th in 20:56.7 and Weaver 107th in 21:59.8 for the Trojans.
In the individual race, Gobles junior Libby Smith stayed close enough to Livingston to keep things interesting heading into the long final stretch at MIS. Livingston hit the mile mark in 5:42.5, followed by Smith in 5:44.9. Livingston opened up a 10.3-second lead after hitting two miles in 11:43.6.
Smith took nearly four seconds off Livingston’s lead in the final tenth of a mile, but couldn’t close the gap, finishing in 18:36.1.
“I could see her the whole time,” said Smith, who was third last year and seventh as a freshman. “I was hoping. It was a tough race. I’m happy with how I did.”
Emma Riker of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep was third in 18:44.9.
PHOTOS (Top) Whitmore Lake’s Kaylie Livingston charges toward the finish line on the way to repeating as Division 4 champion Saturday morning. (Middle) Gobles’ Libby Smith travels the closing stretch. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)