Preview: Familiar Favorites Seek to Set Pace Again at Girls LPXC Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 6, 2026
Three 2025 team champions are predicted to reign again, and three returning individual winners will seek to do the same at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway.
Ann Arbor Pioneer in Division 1 and Holland Christian in Division 2 are seeking second-straight team titles, Lansing Catholic in Division 3 is looking to run its championship streak to three. Whitmore Lake won Division 4 the last three seasons and is ranked No. 2 this time – but a win Saturday would make the Trojans just the fifth Lower Peninsula program to claim at least four consecutive Finals team championships.
The individual races could be paced by similarly powerful favorites. Pioneer’s Natasza Dudek in Division 1, Jackson Lumen Christi’s Samantha Schroeder in Division 3 and Whitmore Lake’s Kaylie Livingston in Division 4 are running to repeat – Livingston for her third-straight title – and St. Johns’ Ava Schafer in Division 2 also is seeking a second championship after winning her first two years ago.
See below for several more team and individual contenders. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking list of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first girls race, in Division 4, begins at 10:50 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2025 runner-up: Romeo
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 2. Northville, 3. Ann Arbor Skyline.
Pioneer regained the championship last season after back-to-back Romeo titles, finishing seven points ahead of the runner-up Bulldogs, and this time Pioneer is the favorite to repeat and claim what would be a fifth Division 1 championship over the last eight seasons. Pioneer graduated only one runner from last year’s Finals lineup, and the three fastest times in any division this season have been run by junior Natasza Dudek (16:14.9), sophomore Keira Von Blon (16:47.9) and junior Sienna Klemmer (16:50.2). Dudek is the reigning individual champion, with Klemmer placing eighth and Von Blon 14th last season. Northville placed four of the top nine at its Regional last week, led by sophomore individual winner Alexandra Scappaticci, who ran seventh at last year’s Final as her team finished fourth. Skyline finished fifth a year and returns its top four runners from that day, and senior Isla Tharp ran first to lead a Regional effort that saw the Eagles place six of the top seven.
Individuals: Dudek has won every race she’s run over the last two years, and her 16:09.5 to claim last season’s Division 1 championship is the fastest time in Finals 5K history. Okemos junior Rachel Smith also is undefeated this season after finishing runner-up to Dudek at MIS last fall, and she ranks sixth on the Division 1 top times list right behind Romeo senior Annie Hrabovsky, last year’s third-place finisher at the Final. Midland Dow junior Emilia Garces (fourth), Rochester Adams senior El McMahan (fifth), Scappaticci, Klemmer and Zeeland East junior Adalyn Raab (ninth) also return from last year’s top 10 to make this field deep and talented, led by arguably the top runner in Michigan high school history.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Holland Christian
2025 runner-up: Otsego
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Christian, 2. Otsego, 3. Grand Rapids Christian.
Five of Holland Christian’s top six runners from last season’s championship lineup will be racing again this weekend, led by junior Avery Engbers and senior Eliana Stob, who placed individually sixth and 17th, respectively, a year ago. Engbers (17:36.2) ranks fourth on the Division 2 fastest times list this fall, and Stob (18:20.6) ranks 19th. Otsego finished only six points off the lead last year, its second runner-up finish since winning its most recent championship in 2022. Reigning individual champion Emma Hoffman graduated but the Bulldogs return their next five runners from that lineup led by sophomore Alayna Verhage, who placed 20th in 2025. Grand Rapids Christian finished third a year ago, was champion most recently in 2023, and returns four from its 2025 Finals lineup.
Individuals: Ludington sophomore Eliza Schwass made headlines with her track performances in the spring, but she also impressed with her cross country debut last fall. She finished third to two seniors at last year’s Final and ranks 11th on the Division 2 top times list with a best of 18:01.3. St. Johns senior Ava Schafer tops that list with a 17:22, and she’s seeking a second Finals championship after placing first in 2024 and then seventh a year ago. Hastings senior Caroline Randall (fourth), Pinckney senior Jaelyn Ray (fifth), Engbers and Ludington senior Annabelle Lowman (eighth) also are back from last season’s top 10. Freshmen Natalya Hoffman from Plainwell (17:29.8) and Clara Cook from DeWitt (17:49.4) rank second and seventh, respectively, on the top times list in this division and should impact the race.
Division 3
Reigning champion: Lansing Catholic
2025 runner-up: Pewamo-Westphalia
2026 top-ranked: 1. Lansing Catholic, 2. Lake City, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
Lansing Catholic has won the last two Division 3 championships, with P-W second by only 11 points in 2024 but more than a 100 last fall. Lake City didn’t qualify for the Finals last year but is expected to provide the greatest challenge in seeking its first top-two finish, and St. Francis placed second in 2023 and is seeking its first title since 2022. The Cougars return five runners from last season including sixth-place junior Josie Bishop, seventh-place senior Grace Wonch, 11th-place sophomore Anna Drauer and 17th-place junior Isabelle Currie. Bishop ranks sixth on the Division 3 top times list with a best of 18:25.3, and Drauer is 14th at 18:48.5. Lake City has a high-ranking pair of freshmen on that list in Isadora Shaw eighth (18:30.6) and Aubrey Doan 16th (18:50.7), and St. Francis brings back four runners from last season’s eighth-place team and also is led by a freshman, Maggie Mohrhardt, who ranks 17th with a top time of 18:52.2.
Individuals: Jackson Lumen Christi senior Samantha Schroeder won last year’s race by four seconds and has the second-fastest top time in Division 3 at 17:59. She trails only McBain junior Caelyn Torry, who was timed in 17:38.7 at her Regional and could make a tremendous jump after finishing 19th at last year’s Final. Senior Alyssa Kramer will attempt to put P-W in team contention again after finishing fourth last season, and also returning from the 2025 top 10 are Olivet junior Tiya Feldpausch (fifth), Lansing Catholic’s Bishop and Wonch, and Kent City junior Elliana Max. Feldpausch ranks third on the top times list at 18:07.8, which placed her second to Schroeder at their Regional, and LeRoy Pine River junior Madisyn Wanstead also could make a massive jump from 46th last season as her top time this fall of 18:21 ranks fourth.
Division 4
Reigning champ: Whitmore Lake
2025 runner-up: Hillsdale Academy
2026 top-ranked: 1. Hillsdale Academy, 2. Whitmore Lake, 3. Onekama.
Whitmore Lake has won three straight Division 4 team championships and outpaced Hillsdale Academy last year by 18 points. Two-time reigning individual winner Kaylie Livingston will run for one more as a senior and sets the pace at the top of the Trojans’ lineup with the fastest time in Division 4 this fall of 17:56.4. Two more runners also return for Whitmore Lake, with junior Malynda Lambros 11th on the top times list (19:27.3). But Hillsdale Academy – which also finished runner-up in 2022 – is expected to surpass the Trojans this time with four runners back from a year ago and led by senior Evelyn Meyer, who ranks eighth (19:16.4) on the top times list and finished 15th last fall. Onekama didn’t run as a team at last year’s Final but did place three returning individuals among the top 45, with junior Callie Sinke leading the way in eighth. She has the third-fastest top time in Division 4 this season at 18:04.3.
Individuals: Livingston edged Gobles senior Libby Smith by 2.4 seconds a year ago, and this weekend’s race could look similar as Smith’s fastest time of 17:57.7 is just 1.3 seconds off Livingston’s fastest pace – and Smith was first and Livingston second in the Portage Invitational Division 4 race on Oct. 10. Leland junior Sophia Grinage was only 12.5 seconds back in fourth last season and will run again, as will Kingston sophomore Norah Kiley (fifth), Martin senior Veyda Conley (sixth), Holland Calvary Christian freshman Faith Schipper (seventh while running as an eighth grader) and Gobles senior Lauren Shaffer (ninth).
PHOTOS (Top) Pewamo-Westphalia’s Alyssa Kramer (503) sets the pace early on the way to winning her Division 3 Regional on Saturday at Bath. (Middle) Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Gwyn Faber (175) and Grand Rapids Christian’s Zoe Hoekstra lead the Oct. 21 Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship race; Hoekstra would finish first and Faber second. (Top photo by John Johnson. Middle photo by Michigan Sports Media.)
Windemuller Surging into Final Stretch
September 20, 2017
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – Kayla Windemuller typically follows directions well on the cross country course and has rarely been beaten during an already banner high school career.
And even when the Holland Christian senior loses her way, the final outcome doesn’t change.
Windemuller, the reigning MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 individual champion, competed at the Christian Schools Invitational earlier this month and wandered off course momentarily.
She still, however, broke 18 minutes, won the race and laughed about her misdirection snafu.
“I was supposed to go straight but turned, and people turned me around,” Windemuller said. “So I was extremely surprised with my time considering I was just doing a tempo run and I went the wrong direction. I was trying to negative split each mile and then I came across the line at 17:57. I was super surprised by that.”
Windemuller, 17, in the midst of her final cross country season, is one of the elite runners in the state and is setting her sights on repeat success while preparing for college.
Last November, Windemuller put forth a dominating effort in winning the LP Division 2 title by an impressive 24.5 seconds over St. Joseph’s Anna Fischer.
She also defeated 2015 champion and friend Erika Freyhof, who took third.
Windemuller and Freyhof, who live five minutes from each other, had fierce competitions against each other the past three years, but Freyhof graduated from Hamilton and now runs for the University of Nebraska.
“It’s honestly different now,” said Windemuller, who also has won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the past two LP Division 2 track & field championships. “We had our first meets this year and it’s weird to not have her there. I trained a lot with her this summer, and she helped me with the college process.
“She’s not here, but I do have new competition with Olivia and Jaden Theis (Lansing Catholic), who moved up to Division 2. I’m excited to race against them.”
Windemuller and Freyhof built a strong relationship on and off the course while competing in the same conference.
“They made each other better runners, and Kayla loved racing against her,” Holland Christian coach David DeKruyter said. “They pushed each other, but now she doesn’t have to race against the top girl in the state at every meet.”
DeKruyter was Windemuller’s sixth-grade teacher at Pine Ridge Elementary. He has seen first-hand her development into a talented runner over the course of the last six years.
“She was a pretty good runner back then, and we knew right away that she was going to be a standout runner,” DeKruyter said. “She’s just very motivated. She loves running, she loves the challenge of it and she thrives on competition. Those ingredients put it together for her to excel as a runner.
“She’s been given a God-given talent of running and she’s using it and developing it as best she can right now.”
A strong work ethic has factored into Windemuller’s success. And it carries over to her studies as well.
“I really want to see how fast I can get, and my hard work shows in school, too,” she said. “My grades don’t come naturally to me, and I have to work hard to get good grades.
“My whole work ethic shows in the classroom, and then I try to show that when I run. I try to be the best version of myself that I can be. My parents work hard, and they taught me to work hard.”
DeKruyter has seen a different side of Windemuller as a senior. She’s shown leadership and served as a role model on a strong squad that is currently ranked No. 5 in LP Division 2.
“She seems to be a much more mature athlete,” he said, “as far as understanding the training at the level she is racing to be more of a team leader. She’s taken and developed her role as a team leader to a completely different level than she ever has before.
“She has pulled the other girls along with her, and it’s nice to have a team back her up and make this is a special year for her.”
Windemuller has seen a change in herself, too.
While still focused and driven, she’s trying to relax and not be as serious as in the past.
“Last year I got up-tight, and I wanted everything to be perfect,” Windemuller said. “I wanted to see myself grow as a runner, and I was too focused and I worked too hard.
“This year on the easy workout days I run with my teammates. I’m more relaxed this year and it’s fun to do easy days with my teammates and bond with them more. They support me a lot and like me to reach my goals, but I like to see them reach their goals.”
Windemuller loves the talent and dedication of this year’s group.
“Being my senior year, it’s exciting that we have a chance of winning Regionals and we have a chance of being top 10 in the state,” she said. “They work so hard, and I love seeing it.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM and WOODTV. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTO: (Top) Holland Christian's Kayla Windemuller approaches the finish at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Windemuller is surrounded by her teammates after their 17th-place team finish. (Top photo by RunMichigan.com, middle photo courtesy of Holland Christian's athletic department.)