Performance of the Week: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Natasza Dudek
September 11, 2025
Natasza Dudek ♦ Ann Arbor Pioneer
Sophomore ♦ Cross Country
Dudek, who finished third at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final as a freshman, opened her sophomore season with a win at the Shepherd John Bruder Classic in a race that also included last year’s Division 2 and 4 champions. Dudek won the race by more than 35 seconds in a time of 17:05.50 – 1:17 faster than when she won her race at Shepherd a year ago.
Natasza is following in the footsteps of oldest sister Zofia Dudek, who won the LDP1 Final in 2019 and has since gone on to earn All-America honors at Stanford and set Polish national records. In addition to Natasza’s stellar cross country debut last season, she also finished second in the 3,200, fourth in the 1,600 and ran on the fourth-place 3,200 relay at the LP Division 1 Track & Field Finals to conclude the spring.
@mhsaasports 🏃♀️➡️POW: Natasza Dudek #annarborpioneer #highschoolsports #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #MHSAA ♬ Bright and fun upbeat pops, Kids, Animals, Pets, Fun, Cute, Happy, Playful, Upbeat(1465232) - SAKUMAMATATA
@mhsaasports 🏃♀️➡️POW: Natasza Dudek #funfacts #tiktalk #performanceoftheweek #mistudentaid #MHSAA ♬ Girly and cute synth pop - SAKUMAMATATA
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Previous 2025-26 honorees
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(Action photo by Nina Moore.)
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.)