Next Stop on Lake City's Unanticipated Run? Trojans Set to Contend for Finals Title
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 6, 2026
Starting the season with just two runners returning would not make many cross country teams think about finishing the season at Michigan International Speedway.
But it didn’t take many race results for the Lake City girls team to start thinking about the possibility.
Despite starting the fall with just the two returnees, the Trojans find themselves headed to MIS for Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. And not only did they qualify, but they have thoughts of finishing among the top five this weekend – if not as champions.
“To be honest, I'm still processing it,” admitted fifth-year Lake City girls coach Zach Jones. “It's a little bit, I don't know, surreal or something.”
Juniors Harlow Hughes and Faith Helsel were the only Lake City returnees this fall. Both qualified as individuals for last year’s Final.
“They were already talented runners who had worked hard and made it to states on their own last year,” Jones said. “And they would've this year, too, probably, but knowing that those freshmen were coming up really got them excited.”
Lake City has regularly featured four freshmen and two of them, Isadora Shaw and Aubrey Doan, have been the Trojans’ top performers all season. The other two, Milah Eising and Bailey Griessel, round out the seven-runner lineup most meets. The team also features experienced track distance runner Elise Renkiewicz, a junior, in the number three spot.
Lake City’s roster also includes freshman Elizabeth Dulzo, sophomore Rhaelyn Davis, and seniors Emma Grady and Payton Durga.
“It's just been a really solid team effort on the part of all the girls,” Jones said. “I think they all set the primary team goal above all their individual goals. And I think that's part of why they got it done.”
Lake City qualified for the Final by winning its first Regional title, finishing first at Mancelona ahead of Traverse City St. Francis, which had won 11 straight Regional championships. The Gladiators also qualified for the Final along with third-place finisher Harbor Springs.
Lake City took three of the top four Regional individual places. Shaw led the way, capturing first place with an 18:30.6 performance. Dolan was second, finishing with a time of 18:50.7. Renkiewicz ran a 19:13.8 en route to the fourth spot. Helsel finished ninth and Hughes 12th to round out the scoring.
Thoughts of becoming Regional champs were few and far between when the season started. But as the individual times improved throughout the season, that became the Trojans’ goal.
They also won the Highland Conference championship along the way.
“Because St. Francis has such a strong program, they were a good target for the girls and we could see our chances getting a little bit better each week,” Jones acknowledged. “Quite frankly, it was a lofty goal. I was skeptical because they were setting a big goal for themselves, but I was happy that they were trying.”
And now Jones, who also coaches the Lake City boys team, and the entire Trojans girls squad are ready to make a bid for a Finals championship, something not even on their radar when the season commenced in August.
“It really wasn't on the radar partly because we were taking one step at a time,” Jones said. “Now I think winning is their goal. They know it's there, and they know it's possible. They’re super optimistic and excited.”
Shaw concurs with her coach’s thoughts on the Final.
“I think everybody's really excited to see how we'll do and everything,” Shaw said. “I think it's just going to take a lot of self-belief and just doing what we have been doing, like winning Regionals, the conference and everything. Honestly, it hasn't really quite kicked in yet that we're actually going to states as a team, and you never know what can happen.”
Shaw, who began running just four years ago on the Lake City Middle School team coached by Kelsey Jones, is looking for all seven runners Saturday to make the difference.
“I'm really proud of our top seven because Milah and Bailey are really giving it their all as well,” Shaw pointed out. “And honestly, they have not been running as long. They're really showing up, too, backing us. I'm really proud of our entire team.”
Shaw also pointed to having such a strong training partner and personal friend in Doan as one of the keys to the Trojans’ success. That connection led to both of them recording personal bests at the Regional.
“We are so close to each other in age and in time,” Shaw said. “It's really cool to have somebody who's so close to me because I'm able to train with her and understand our different ways of processing and just doing the whole race overall.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Lake City’s Isadora Shaw and Elise Renkiewicz take off with their teammates at the start of the Highland Conference championship race this season. (Middle) The Trojans pose for a photo with their Regional trophy. (Below) Shaw has been among the team’s pacesetters and won the individual Regional title. (Starting line photo by Zach Jones. Team photo by Courtney Helsel. Shaw individual photo by Hayden Fowler.)
West Ottawa's Olson Aims to Add XC Title to Growing List of Achievements
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
August 24, 2022
HOLLAND – Arianna Olson won her first individual state title when she outran the field in the 3,200 meters at last spring’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals.
Less than three months later, the West Ottawa senior standout is gearing up to accomplish the same feat on the cross country trails.
“That was my first state title in running, but it was something I wasn’t completely sure of because there’s a lot of good girls in the state,” Olson said. “Since I started running, the 3,200 is more of my event, and things went really well for that.”
Olson has blossomed into one of the most talented distance runners in the state and garnered three top-10 finishes in three years at the Finals.
She finished runner-up as a freshman and eighth as a sophomore, and was among the favorites again last year on the way to placing third at the LPD1 Final at Michigan International Speedway.
She was unbeaten during the regular season, setting a new personal record (16:45), and she also won a Regional championship.
“I think last year at state I was prioritizing more of the postseason, and my big goal was to qualify for nationals, so that was a few weeks after,” Olson said. “That was the priority in training, and I tapered before state, but it wasn’t the best training the week before. I knew I had more chances after the state meet.”
Olson’s performance, coupled with freshman Helen Sach’s fifth-place effort, helped West Ottawa finish as Division 1 runner-up behind Ann Arbor Pioneer.
“Third is still excellent, but the goal was to win an individual title and a team title and we came up short on both sides,” Panthers cross country coach Kyle Barnes said. “There were a combination of things that went into that, but she hasn’t won a cross country title so that is certainly on her radar. Michigan has a lot of good runners, so she is going to have her hands full to do that this year.”
A month after last fall’s Finals, Olson set out to prove herself at the national level, and did just that in San Diego. Olson competed in the Eastbay Nationals, which featured the top 40 distance runners in the country. She placed fourth at a Midwest qualifier in Wisconsin to qualify.
Olson finished 13th in California with a time of 17:43.04 to gain All-American honors.
The following month, Olson was named as the Gatorade Michigan Cross Country Player of the Year.
She was the first West Ottawa athlete to earn the prestigious honor, which also recognizes academic achievement and exemplary character off the field.
“That was cool because it doesn’t only take into account athletics, but also the academics and service side of it,” said Olson, who carried a 4.0 GPA.
“I was really happy about that because it wasn’t just about athletics, it was recognizing the whole part of being a student-athlete.”
In June, Olson took part in another national event. She traveled to Seattle to compete in the Brooks PR Invitational and placed seventh in the 3,000 run.
“It was another good opportunity to race at a national-level meet, and I think at both national events it was good to get to know some of the other girls that I’m competing against,” Olson said. “It’s getting harder to find competitive races that have big pack running, and sometimes you have to be creative to find that in the regular season. Nationals is a good opportunity to push myself with the other girls and see what I can do.”
Barnes said Olson has benefited from competing against elite competition.
“All of that is valuable information, and getting those types of experiences and running against that level of competition is invaluable for her,” he said. “We talk about if she banks that information and learns from the positives and negatives, then she will continue to get better.”
Barnes took over the West Ottawa program when Olson was a freshman, and knew her potential after she set several middle school records.
“She works her butt off, and she was one of the first athletes to come through the program when I took over,” he said. “She has helped to build a culture within our program. She does all the right things, and the results speak for themselves.”
While Olson is aspiring to finish up as a champion in November, she’s taking her final season in stride.
“Cross is my favorite over track & field, so it’s about making the most of it with one more year with my team and just pushing really hard,” she said. “This season won’t necessarily be based on my times, but just running the courses to the best of my ability and knowing that at the end I’ve given my full effort.”
Olson, who is undecided on her college choice, will run her first race with her teammates Friday at Grand Rapids South Christian.
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS (Top) West Ottawa’s Arianna Olson approaches the finish during last season’s LPD1 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Olson rounds a corner during another 2021 race. (Top photo by Run Michigan; middle photo by Laura Veldhof Photography.)