Pioneer Adds to Legendary Run, Placing Top 3 All with Times Among All-Time Fastest
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2026
BROOKLYN – Natasza Dudek has made a lot of Michigan cross country history during her three seasons at Ann Arbor Pioneer.
But Saturday, she had company.
Dudek and teammates Keira Von Blon and Sienna Klemmer finished first, second and third at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Girls Cross Country Final, leading Pioneer to a second-straight championship.
Dudek, the reigning Finals and national champion, won in 16 minutes, 26.6 seconds, followed by Von Blon in 16:49.8 and Klemmer at 16:54.7.
“It was such a fun race, and it’s been such a fun season,” Von Blon said. “I think there was a lot of pressure on us to go 1-2-3 because we’ve been doing it this whole year. But I think that we really used that pressure, we really worked together. We were pushing each other through the race. I love racing with them, they push me so much. None of this would have been possible without any of them.”
The trio were the first teammates to go 1-2-3 in a cross country Final since the Wyoming Potter’s House Christian boys did so in Division 4 in 2022. It hasn’t happened in the top division on the girls side since 1983, when Dearborn Edsel Ford accomplished the feat.
But the Pioneer girls did so while running the second, fifth and eighth-fastest times in MHSAA Finals history.
“I feel like even last season we had some pressure on our backs, and I’m just so happy that we were able to really just use it and not crush under these big environments,” said Dudek, who has now run the two fastest times in MHSAA Finals history. “It’s hard to not choke at states. But our team is just so great, we’re always there for each other.”
Romeo’s Annie Hrabovsky was the first non-Pioneer finisher, coming in at 17:07.5, which itself would have been the 11th-fastest all-time Division 1 finish before Saturday. Zeeland East’s Adalyn Raab rounded out the top five with a 17:25.7.
Pioneer finished with 87 points, well ahead of Ann Arbor Skyline which was second at 191. The title was the eighth for Pioneer, tying it for second most all-time with East Grand Rapids.
Nina Moore was 47th overall for Pioneer, and 34th among team scorers, with a time of 18:37.6, while Eliza Selcer was 63rd (47th) with a time of 18:48.8.
“People are always asking us about our mileage and the key to our success,” Klemmer said. “We just come out here and have so much fun with each other, just hanging out with each other. That’s kind of the key to our success. We goof around at practice, we goof around at the meets. That’s the whole point of this, to have fun and enjoy ourselves, and we’re so incredibly proud of every single one of the girls on this team.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Natasza Dudek finishes her second-straight championship run Saturday at MIS. (Middle left) Teammate Keira Von Blon charges toward the finish. (Middle right) Pioneer’s Sienna Klemmer powers through the final stretch. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)
Concord Senior Rises, Irish Stay on Top
November 4, 2017
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — When Samantha Saenz of Concord needs training partners or racing advice, she leans upon the school’s boys team.
“I don’t have many girls on my team, so I train with the boys, so that helps,” she said. “They’re fast.”
So is Saenz.
Moving through the pack for four years, she found herself alone in front throughout the entire race Saturday on her way to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 individual championship at Michigan International Speedway.
She became Concord’s first female Finals champion since Jenny Franssen won Class D in 1982.
The school has produced nine boys individual titles won by six runners. Saenz knows two of them, 2009 champion Kyle Stacks and three-time winner Jesse Hersha, who was a senior in 2014 when Saenz was a freshman.
“Jesse Hersha gives really good advice,” Saenz said. “I learned that pain is temporary and pride is forever. Kyle Stacks also helps with our team.”
Saenz ran a solo race up front, posting a time of 18:16.8. She has been all-state all four years, improving from 22nd as a freshman to seventh as a sophomore to third as a junior.
“It feels so good,” she said. “I’ve been working for it for four years. I finally got it. I’m so happy.”
Finishing second for the second year in a row was Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart senior Bailley McConnell, who finished in 18:44.1. Teammate Scout Nelson was third in 18:46.6.
McConnell and Nelson led Sacred Heart to its third straight team championship with a score of 39 points. Ubly was second with 138 and Lansing Christian took third with 141.
There were four McConnell sisters on last year’s championship team. Alexis McConnell graduated and junior Cammie McConnell was injured Saturday, so it was just Bailley and sophomore Desiree McConnell representing the family this year at MIS.
“It’s pretty sweet,” Bailley said. “This year it was a little different, because last year I had my two sisters actually run with me the whole time for most of it, whereas this year I ran with different teammates because I wasn’t able to run with my younger sister as much.”
Completing the scoring for Sacred Heart were Desiree McConnell (eighth, 19:21.0), Lauren MacDonald (19th, 19:56.3) and Rowan Fitzpatrick (23rd, 20:01.8).
The Irish’s score was the 10th-lowest by a girls team champion in any division or classification since the MHSAA began sponsoring a girls meet in 1978. Last year’s Sacred Heart team set a Division 4 record that ranks sixth all-time with a score of 34 points.
“It’s really nice,” Bailley McConnell said. “Working together, we’re able to stay pretty consistent, and we try to work with each other to know what we’re supposed to do.”
Junior Haili Gusa led Ubly to its runner-up finish, placing seventh in 19:15.6. It was Ubly’s best team finish, surpassing a fifth-place showing in 2004.
PHOTOS: (Top) Concord’s Samantha Saenz pulls away from the field in winning Saturday’s Division 4 race. (Middle) Sacred Heart’s Scout Nelson, left, and Bailley McConnell led the Irish to a third straight team championship. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)