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.)
Preview: Hart, East Grand Rapids Set to Challenge Records for All-Time Success
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 3, 2022
Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway will give hundreds of athletes a chance to build on what they’ve accomplished this fall – and allow some of the state’s top programs an opportunity to build on their impressive histories in the sport.
Start with Hart, which has won five straight LP Division 3 championships and can become the first Lower Peninsula team to reach six straight with another title this weekend.
Meanwhile East Grand Rapids, the top-ranked team in LP Division 2, can tie Jackson Lumen Christi’s record of nine Lower Peninsula Finals titles.
Contenders Ann Arbor Pioneer and Grand Rapids Christian are tied for third on that all-time Lower Peninsula championship list with six apiece, followed by Hart with its five. Pioneer has won three in a row, and with a fourth straight would tie for the sixth-longest championship streak in either peninsula.
See below for more on several team and individual contenders Saturday. 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 race begins at 9:30 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 MHSAA.tv.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Ann Arbor Pioneer
2021 runner-up: Holland West Ottawa
2022 top-ranked: 1. Saline, 2. Ann Arbor Pioneer, 3. Holland West Ottawa
Pioneer has won three-straight Division 1 championships, last year ahead of West Ottawa 68-100, with Saline running fifth. But as the Pioneers seek a fourth-consecutive win, the competition could be as tough as ever. The Hornets sit in the top spot, seeking their first Finals championship since 2009, after winning last week’s Regional at Milan ahead of Pioneer 33-42. Pioneer did win the Portage Invitational on Oct. 8 with West Ottawa a close second and Saline third, and West Ottawa was the top Michigan placer (second) at the Spartan Invitational Elite race back on Sept. 16. West Ottawa is paced by the two fastest runners in the state this fall – sophomore Helen Sachs (season best 17:01.6) and senior Arianne Olson (17:11.3), who finished fifth and third, respectively, at last year’s Final. Reigning champion and now-junior Rachel Forsyth (season best 18:11.6) returns for Pioneer and is teaming with senior Emily Cooper (17:49.8), who has won three straight races including their league and Regional championship runs. Senior Mia Rogan (18:12.3) paces Saline and was the Regional runner-up last weekend at Milan. All five runners rank among the top 22 on the statewide season best list.
Individuals: Including Forsyth, Olson and Sachs, five of last season’s top seven Finals finishers will return this weekend. Rochester sophomore Lucy Cook is back after running sixth, and Macomb Dakota junior Jayden Harberts returns after running seventh, and both have season-best times among the top 18 statewide. Sachs, Cooper, Cook and Harberts won Regional titles last week, joined by Midland Dow sophomore Victoria Garces, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior Clara James-Heer, Ann Arbor Skyline senior Natalie Kessler, Northville junior Ella Christensen and Farmington sophomore Molly Baracco.
Division 2
Reigning champion: East Grand Rapids
2021 runner-up: Grand Rapids Christian
2022 top-ranked: 1. East Grand Rapids, 2. Otsego, 3. Grand Rapids Christian
East Grand Rapids has been a regular at the front of this pack the last two decades and is the reigning champion after also recently earning titles in 2018 and 2019 and the runner-up spot in 2020. Five of last season’s Finals runners are back and six Pioneers finished among the top 16 at their Regional last week at Grand Rapids South Christian, paced by junior champion Drew Muller. She was fifth at last season’s Final, while sophomore Sadey Seyferth was 12th and junior Sophia Lado finished 15th. Muller ranks fifth on the statewide season best list with a 17:25.3. Otsego is only a few years removed from back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016 and finished fifth last season with four underclassmen among its top five runners. Three of those four are back this weekend led by junior Megan Germain. Grand Rapids Christian is another team always in the mix, with another runner-up finish coming in 2017 and its most recent championships in 2013 and 2014. Last season’s individual champion Madelyn Frens was a senior, but the next five Eagles runners from 2021 will return this weekend, with junior Natalie VanOtteren coming off a fourth-place Finals finish a year ago and ranking seventh on the season best statewide list this fall with a 17:37.4.
Individuals: Including the three East Grand Rapids returnees and Christian’s VanOtteren, nine of last season’s top 15 finishers will race again this weekend hoping to follow Frens as the individual champion. Mason junior Meghan Ford finished second at the Final as a freshman and third last year, and Frankenmuth junior Mary Richmond was fourth as a freshman and second last season. Richmond has the third-fastest season best time in Division 2 (and 23rd statewide) of 18:12.6. Also returning from last year’s top 15 are Grand Rapids West Michigan Aviation Academy junior Emma DeVries (10th), Zeeland East junior Allison Kuzma (11th) and Marshall junior Camille Decola (14th).
Division 3
Reigning champion: Hart
2021 runner-up: Kent City
2022 top-ranked: 1. Traverse City St. Francis, 2. Pewamo-Westphalia, 3. Hart
Hart’s championship record pursuit will be led by one of the state’s fastest runners in sophomore Jessica Jazwinski, whose 17:15.1 is the third-fastest season best time statewide this fall. Junior teammate Alyson Ens is not far behind with a 17:49.9 that is tied for 11th-fastest season best time. Ens was runner-up and Jazwinski third at last year’s Final, and three more of their top six runners from that meet also will be back this weekend. But the challenge will be mighty. St. Francis finished third last year without a senior, and six of those seven runners – including the top five – are back led by sophomore Betsy Skendzel, who placed eighth in 2021 and has the 16th-fastest season best time statewide of 18:07.5. P-W finished 10th last season and returns its top six runners from that team. Lansing Catholic was fourth last season with only one senior and brings four runners back including its top three, with senior Hannah Pricco seventh last season, junior Tessa Roe 17th and senior CC Jones 18th. Jones and Pricco’s season-best times this fall rank among the top 27 statewide.
Individuals: Division 3 graduated an impressive class after last season, including three Finals champions. But eight of last season’s top 15 will return this weekend. Joining Enns and Jazwinski, Pricco and Skendzel will be Benzie Central junior Mylie Kelly (sixth in 2021), Ypsilanti Arbor Prep sophomore Eliza Bush (ninth), Jackson Lumen Christi junior Madison Osterberg (12th) and Kent City sophomore Lila Volkers (14th). A newcomer will challenge them as well; Onsted freshman Emmry Ross is undefeated this season, and her top time of 17:47.6 ranks second in Division 3 only to Jazwinski’s season best and ninth on the statewide list. Skendzel, Jazwinski, Volkers, Ross, Pricco and Bush won Regional titles last weekend, as did Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett sophomore Kerith Short, Reese senior Ellymae McCoy and Lawton junior Kendra Koster. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian sophomore Grace VanderKooi and Kalamazoo Christian sophomore Alaina Klooster were placers in Division 4 last season, crossing the line eighth and 15th, respectively, in that race.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
2021 runner-up: Kalamazoo Christian
2022 top-ranked: 1. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 2. Whitmore Lake, 3. Harbor Springs
Western Michigan Christian became the third-straight first-time Finals champion in Division 4 last fall, and Johannesburg-Lewiston would run that streak to four if it matches its ranking. The Cardinals finished sixth a year ago with only one senior and bring back their top five runners from that meet, including senior Adelaida Gascho, who finished fourth individually last fall. Johannesburg-Lewiston finished second at last weekend’s East Jordan Regional to Harbor Springs, but sophomore Allie Novak and freshman Yolanda Gascho were the top two individual placers. Whitmore Lake is seeking its first team title since 1996 and bringing back four of its top six runners from last year’s ninth-place team – including 13th-place now-junior Natalie Meadows – plus standout freshman Carina Burchi, whose 17:42.5 is the second-fastest time on the Division 4 season best list. Harbor Springs was 12th in Division 3 a year ago and brings three of its runners back this weekend, and placed four among the top seven individuals in that Regional win over Johannesburg-Lewiston. Harbor Springs is seeking its first Finals team title since 2009.
Individuals: Four-time Finals champion Abby VanderKooi graduated this spring, but Buckley junior Aiden Harrand is another big star from a small school. She was fifth as a freshman and runner-up last season, and her season-best time of 18:11 ranks 20th on the statewide list. She’s one of 10 runners back from last season’s Division 4 top 15 (not including the two who are running in Division 3 this weekend). Joining Harrand, Gascho and Meadows are Huron Valley Lutheran senior Erika Van Loton (fifth in 2021), Mendon sophomore Presley Allen (sixth), Auburn Hills Oakland Christian sophomore Eliza Keith (ninth), Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest senior Mackenzie Lemke (10th), Allen Park Cabrini junior Ava Teed (11th), Pittsford sophomore Ava Mallar (12th) and Wyoming Potter’s House Christian junior Ivy Andreas (14th). Joining Nowak among Regional champs were Harrand, Allen, Burchi and Teed, as well as Genesee junior Isabella Yeoman, Adrian Lenawee Christian sophomore Izzy Brooks, Hudsonville Libertas Christian freshman Sadie Schout and Beal City senior Kaylee Locke.
PHOTO Hart's Alyson Enns (255) and Jessica Jazwinski kick toward the finish of last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)