Preview: Challengers Chase History
November 1, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Make way for historic finishes at Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway.
Two of four team favorites have never won before. A third hasn’t won in more than two decades. There will be at least two new individual champions. And two others will attempt to continue impressive reigns.
A total of 985 runners will take to the course at MIS on Saturday for the four girls races, which begin with Division 4 at 9:30 a.m. Below are some of the teams to watch and a glance at each of the individual fields. Click for all Finals qualifiers, a map of the course and links to buy tickets and watch the live broadcast on MHSAA.tv, and come back to Second Half later Saturday for coverage of all four meets.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Clarkston
2018 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2019 top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Traverse City Central, 3. Northville
Pioneer has finished Division 1 runner-up two of the last three seasons, and if rankings hold true will win its first championship since 1997. The Pioneers placed four among the top 52 last season, and all four return led by senior Zofia Dudek. She’s undefeated this fall after finishing third at the Final a year ago, and her personal record (PR) of 16:46.9 is 15 seconds faster than anyone else has run statewide in any division this season. Traverse City Central junior Julia Flynn has the fifth-fastest time in the state (17:26) after placing 10th at last year’s Final, and she’s one of six runners back from the Trojans team that came in fourth in 2018. Northville was eighth last year and brings four runners from that lineup back to MIS, with junior Emily Gordon the top returning placer after coming in 30th.
Individuals: Two-time champion Ericka VanderLende clinched her second title by 50 seconds a year ago. But despite her graduation, this will again be a strong field with Dudek leading 10 returning runners from last year’s top 20. Also back from the top 10 are Lake Orion junior Sophie Novak (fifth), Bay City Western senior Ashlyn Nagel (sixth) and Flynn, and Birmingham Seaholm junior Audrey DaDamio placed 11th and has the state’s third-fastest time this fall of 17:12. Holland West Ottawa freshman Arianne Olson and Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills junior Madison Ebright also should be in the mix; they posted the sixth and 10th fastest times, respectively, in the state this fall at their Regionals.
Division 2
Reigning champion: East Grand Rapids
2018 runner-up: DeWitt
2019 top-ranked: 1. Petoskey, 2. East Grand Rapids, 3. Ada Forest Hills Eastern
Petoskey approached a perfect score at its Regional last week and is running for its first MHSAA Finals championship in this sport after coming in third a year ago. The team’s five scoring runners from that race all are back, and only one is a senior. Junior Emma Squires was seventh in 2018, and junior Cambrie Smith was the league and Regional champ last month after placing 84th at the Final a year ago while competing for Gaylord. East Grand Rapids hardly can be overlooked after winning last year’s title with only one senior. Five of the top six from the title team will run again Saturday, including four who finished among the top 20 individually – senior Margaret Coney (sixth), sophomore Ainsley Workman (11th), senior Katie Hessler (15th) and senior Anna Petr (20th). Forest Hills Eastern is running for its first championship since 2012 with three runners back from the team that placed 11th in 2018. Senior Landyn Howell (46th) is the top returning placer from that lineup.
Individuals: No other race this weekend will have as many familiar faces. Only three seniors graduated from last year’s top 20, and the top 11 all are back in the field. Lansing Catholic senior Jaden Theis won last season’s championship by 15 seconds and has posted the fourth-fastest time in the state this season (17:20.2). Plainwell senior Mackenna Veen came in second in 2018 and has three top-five Finals finishes to her credit, while St. Johns senior Taryn Chapko was third last year and has finished at least 11th all three years of high school. Cadillac sophomore Kendall Schopieray (fourth), Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Madelyn Frens (sixth), Holland Christian seniors Gillian Fiene (eighth) and Michelle Kuipers (ninth) and Allendale senior Sophie DiPiazza (10th) also are back from last year’s top 10.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Hart
2018 runner-up: Grandville Calvin Christian
2019 top-ranked: 1. Hart, 2. Benzie Central, 3. Grandville Calvin Christian
Hart won last year’s championship by 100 points and is seeking its third straight title after graduating only one from that lineup – although that one was three-time individual Finals winner Adelyn Ackley. But the team’s next five runners from 2018 all are back: junior Savannah Ackley (seventh place), sophomore Audrienna Enns (10th), juniors Lynae Ackley (13th) and MacKenzie Stitt (14th) and senior Brenna Aerts (24th). Benzie is looking to make a jump from eighth last year after graduating only one runner and with five returning, led by junior Cierra Guay (37th individually). Calvin Christian graduated its two highest finishers from last year’s runner-up team but returns the other five with senior Olivia Quillan (21st) the top returning placer.
Individuals: A strong senior class last year took the top five places, leaving four of the top 10 – but 12 of the top 20 – to return this weekend. They’ll be joined by a few additions who should make for an interesting finish. Ithaca sophomore Lani Bloom (sixth) is the top returning placer, and with St. Louis sophomore Libby Munderloh (eighth) joins Savannah Ackley and Enns as those back from the top 10. Now the newcomers: Roscommon sophomore Allison Chmielewski was undefeated until her Regional and has the fastest time in Division 3 this fall by 41 seconds (17:31.1). Richmond senior Maddy Bean has won all but one race this season and has the third-fastest Division 3 time (18:24.4) after placing 78th in Division 2 a year ago. And Boyne City freshman Ava Maginity has the fifth-fastest time in Division 3 (18:33.3), which she ran in earning her Regional title.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart
2018 runner-up: Saugatuck
2019 top-ranked: 1. Bridgman, 2. Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, 3. Hillsdale Academy.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart has won four straight Division 4 championships, with four different schools finishing runner-up during that time. But the rankings call for Bridgman to unseat the Irish. The Bees return four from last year’s 15th-place team, led by junior Karyn Stewart (24th individually). They finished ahead of Sacred Heart at the prestigious Portage Invitational and scored just 35 points to win their Regional. Sacred Heart, however, does return three of last year’s top seven, including high placer Desiree McConnell (sixth), now a senior. Freshman Olivia Ervin actually has the team’s fastest time this fall (19:37.7), which ranks ninth in Division 4. And don’t forget about Hillsdale Academy, which finished fourth last year without a senior. Five of the team’s top seven runners return including last year’s three highest placers, led by freshman Megan Roberts, who crossed the line 27th as an eighth grader.
Individuals: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian sophomore Abby VanderKooi made her Finals debut last season running a 17:47.3, the second-fastest 5K time in Division 4 history and 1:15 faster than the field. Her 17:02.7 at Portage is the second-fastest time in the state this fall, regardless of division. Lansing Christian junior Madison Volz and Royal Oak Shrine senior Ellie Kendall finished second and third last season, respectively, and have the third and second-fastest times in Division 4 this year. Marlette senior Riley Ford was fifth last year and has this year’s fourth-fastest time. Four more from last year’s top 20 also are back in the field, and three of the top nine times in Division 4 this fall have been run by freshmen.
PHOTO: Roscommon’s Allison Chmielewski leads the field on the way to winning the Warrior Invitational at Remus Chippewa Hills in August. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Finals Aspirations Drive Experienced Laker Cross Country Teams as 2025 Chase Begins
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
August 21, 2025
When Aubrey Zarnke started running cross country nine years ago in the Elkton Pigeon Bay Port Laker elementary program, she wasn’t thinking about being part of a varsity turnaround.
In fact, it wasn’t something she thought was possible until the end of her sophomore season, two years ago.
“It was a lot different (when I started), the team was a lot smaller, but I just kind of joined and I stayed with it,” Zarnke said. “It kept growing and got so much more fun. I would say when our boys varsity team won the league championship (in 2023), that was a really big thing. Then it kept getting bigger, and records kept getting broken.”
Now a senior, Zarnke is part of a cross country renaissance at Laker, with both boys and girls teams coming off Big Thumb Conference titles and having their eyes on a trip to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals on Nov. 1 at Michigan International Speedway. The boys advanced as a team a year ago for the first time since 1994, while the girls are looking for their first trip.
“I feel like it’s a lot better than if only one was doing it,” Zarnke said. “It’s almost like we’re lighting a fire in each other and pushing even more to be better.”
Mike Klosowski, a 1999 Laker graduate and former runner at the school, took over the program in 2009. At that point, he said, getting enough kids to score as a team was hard.
He got to work building elementary and middle school programs, and it’s paying dividends – not only in quality, but quantity.
Now, the boys are carrying nine runners, and the girls have 11.
“This has been a lot of fun,” Klosowski said. “I’ve taken some of the stuff I did and that my coaches taught me when I was in cross country, and now we’re doing that same thing in the same locations, same spots. That’s kind of fun.”
As this current group was coming up through his program, Klosowski could see the potential.
“When a lot of this core group was in middle school, they had some great success, so I thought they could be very good if they could stay together and keep working hard,” Klosowski said. “A lot of it is their offseason willingness to put time in and work. But also the fact they’re just a real tight group. They get along real well, work well together, push each other and keep each other on track. They’re like a big family, and it’s great to see that.”
This year’s Laker teams look a lot like last year’s teams, as both bring back the majority of their runners.
For the boys, six of the seven runners who competed at the MHSAA Finals are returning, including junior Evan Olson, who holds the school record at 16 minutes, 16.2 seconds. Olson finished two places from earning all-state a year ago.
Sophomore Kale Miklovic, juniors Henry Haag and Noah Mantey, and seniors Achilles Jackson and Jeffrey Ignash also return from the Finals-qualifying team.
Miklovic and Olson both won their first race of the year, as the Lakers ran at the Hemlock Huskie Classic, which runs a freshmen/sophomore race and a junior/senior race.
Two other freshmen – Walter Haag and Jonah Mantey – also placed among the top seven, adding more strength to an already established team.
Also in that boat is junior Noah Young, who had not run since middle school.
On the girls size, Zarnke is one of two runners who qualified for the Finals last year as an individual, as she was joined in Brooklyn by junior Pyper Braun.
The Lakers were two points away from tying for third place in last year’s Regional, and all six runners who competed that day have returned, also including sophomores Lydia Popp and Julia Shupe, junior Olivia Hooper and senior Payton Scott.
Hooper is also a returning Finals qualifier, having raced at MIS as a freshman. She’s healthy now after being slowed by injuries a year ago.
That core, plus the motivation of getting so close a year ago, has the Laker girls fired up to make that first run to the Finals.
“It would be crazy,” Zarnke said. “We’ve already got so much support from the community just with us growing. But that would be amazing. I don’t even know how to describe it.”
Laker was scheduled to run today at the Birch Run Early Invitational, a meet that features some of the top schools in the state in all divisions.
Among them are teams Laker would be competing with at the Regional this year, like Ithaca and St. Louis.
“We had a good talk on Monday, reflecting back on the (Hemlock) meet on Friday and how it was our first meet,” Klosowski said. “This week at Birch Run, there are a lot of schools we’ll see at Regionals, and we talked about how we want to set the tone early, and put our mark and our stamp on things. Show everyone that we’re the real deal.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker’s Aubrey Zarnke (2027) races toward the finish during last season’s MHSAA Finals at MIS. (Middle) Evan Olson (840) works to outpace a pair of runners during the closing stretch of his Finals race. (Photos by RunMichigan.com.)