Lumen Christi's Schroeder, Lansing Catholic Girls Reign Again
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2026
BROOKLYN – Samantha Schroeder spent most of the regular season being chased.
But Saturday, the reigning Lower Peninsula Division 3 champion was doing the chasing.
The Jackson Lumen Christi senior defended her title by taking the lead over the final 200 meters at Michigan International Speedway, winning a second-straight Finals championship with a time of 17 minutes, 50.2 seconds.
“I wasn’t really sure, I felt so sick before, but I think it was just nerves,” Schroeder said. “I had an idea I could catch her. It is mentally difficult (to chase). You need to be mentally strong in order to do it, because everything in your body is telling you to stop. It hurts. It’s too cold. But you have to mentally tell yourself to stop talking and just go for it.”
Schroeder, who became the first Lumen Christi runner to win a Finals title a year ago, trailed by 12 seconds at the 2-mile mark of the race.
“I think I got to the 2 mile and I could see her stride was faltering a little bit,” Schroeder said. “I thought I could maybe catch her.”
As she crossed the finish line, Schroeder fell to the ground, exhausted but alert after running her personal-best time.
“It’s exhilarating,” Schroeder said. “There’s so much adrenaline going through my body. At times it’s very difficult to believe I just did that.”
The team race also featured a nail-biting repeat as Lansing Catholic won its third-straight title with 107 points, just 15 ahead of Lake City which was second at 122.
The two teams alternated runners in the final standings, but the Cougars were slightly ahead with each of their first five.
“Honestly, our team, we’ve won three in a row, so our girls know what they’re doing,” Lansing Catholic coach Tim Simpson said. “They put themselves out where they’re supposed to be. We just tell them, ‘Just run your race and we’ll be good.’ Josie Bishop had a great race. (Isabella) Currie, she’s a soccer player so she doesn’t run all our races, she came through with a big, big race. Then when our fourth or fifth girl almost dropped out, our sixth girl was right there. Everybody was in line, ready to do their job.”
Bishop was third overall in the race at 18:20.9, one spot ahead of Isadora Shaw of Lake City who was fourth in 18:34.6.
The gaps between the teams after that were two, two, three and seven places.
“It was a little tougher than we would like, but it was alright,” Simpson said. “We were pretty far ahead at (2 miles) … But we had enough. That’s our team.”
Grace Wonch was 17th (15th in team score) at 19:09.4, Anna Drauer was 24th (19) at 19:14.5, Currie was 40th (30) at 19:38.7 and Annie Lloyd rounded out the Lansing Catholic scorers in 53rd (40) in 19:51.3.
PHOTOS (Top) Jackson Lumen Christian’s Samantha Schroeder (1053) races toward the finish of the Division 3 girls race Saturday. (Middle) Lansing Catholic’s Josie Bishop runs to a third-place finish to lead the team champion. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
Maples Win First Title, Finn Wins Second
By
Bill Khan
Special for MHSAA.com
November 3, 2012
BROOKLYN — The level of competition made its first MHSAA cross country championship even sweeter for Birmingham Seaholm.
Seaholm, Grosse Pointe South and Saline took turns beating each other this season, setting up a three-way showdown for the Lower Peninsula Division 1 girls cross country title Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
In the end, it wasn’t as close as expected. Even with a sub-par day by its No. 1 runner, top-ranked Seaholm won by a 69-88 margin over third-ranked Grosse Pointe South, the defending champion. No. 2-ranked Saline was third with 101.
Seaholm was fourth in Division 1 last year, its best finish before Saturday. The Maples had been in the top 10 only twice before posting top-nine finishes three of the last four years.
“It’s indescribable,” Seaholm coach Jeff Devantier said. “It’s fantastic. It’s just a lot of hard work that’s finally paid off.
“That’s what makes it even better, knowing the competition around you is as tough as it is. But that was our focus all year. We knew this team and this team — Saline and Grosse Pointe South — were the teams we had to compare ourselves to and had to continually improve to beat. It came together today.”
Seniors Aubrey and Tess Wilberding — two of three triplets — led Seaholm. Aubrey was fourth overall in 17:55.9, while Tess took 12th in 18:16.4.
Rounding out Seaholm’s scoring were freshman Marissa Dobry (15th, 18:23.9), sophomore Rachel Dadamio (20th, 18:27.9) and sophomore Audrey Belf (33rd, 18:32.8).
“The scary thing about this lineup is that we haven’t had the same girls finish in the same order all year,” Devantier said. “My top girl actually did not have the kind of day she wanted to. We wanted to have as many girls in the top 30 to 35 as we could.”
Individually, West Bloomfield senior Erin Finn repeated as champion with the fastest time in all four divisions, a personal-best 17:07.9. Grosse Pointe South senior Hannah Meier set a fast early pace before taking second in 17:34.5.
Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever in an MHSAA meet. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.
“I’m definitely getting back there,” Finn said. “God has blessed me. I don’t think I ever prayed so much before a race.”
Less than a month ago, Finn wasn’t sure if she would be able to defend her championship, let alone run that fast.
She trained harder than ever over the summer, had a good race in the season opener, but then saw her times get slower and slower. Finn was eventually diagnosed with an iron deficiency, which she’s been able to correct primarily with supplements.
Once the problem was identified, Finn set her sights on being strong at the end of the season.
“I told myself the Spartan Invitational doesn’t matter, the Regional doesn’t matter as long as I qualify,” Finn said. “All that matters is state, regionals and nationals. Hey, I think I’m back for those. That’s all that counts.”
Meier, the MHSAA Finals record holder in the 800 and 1,600, held the lead until about one kilometer into the five-kilometer race.
“She just really bolted the first two miles,” Meier said of Finn. “I saw her slowing down the last mile. I wasn’t thinking about individually; I was thinking about team. I just wasn’t feeling it today. I think I could’ve done better but, oh, well.”
PHOTO: Birmingham Seaholm senior Aubrey Wilberding crosses the finish line first for her team, in 17:55.9, as the Maples went on to win the Division 1 team championship at MIS. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).