Repeat Champ Paces Hart's 1st Title Run
November 4, 2017
Second Half reports
BROOKLYN — The arrival of four girls from the same family at Hart High School resulted in a day the Pirates have never experienced in any sport.
With four Ackley girls finishing in the team’s top four spots, Hart won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 cross country championship Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
It was the first MHSAA championship for Hart, its best finish being a second-place showing by the girls track & field team at the 1987 Class C meet. The 1985 wrestling team was third in Class C. Three Hart teams in bracketed sports reached the MHSAA Semifinals.
Until recently, girls cross country seemed like an unlikely program to deliver Hart its first title. Hart had never qualified for the MHSAA Finals in the sport until 2011. The Pirates have been to the Finals six times in the last seven years, the best finish being fifth in 2014.
Hart scored 55 points to win by 69 over Benzonia Benzie Central. Grandville Calvin Christian was third with 137 points.
“My dad (Calvin) started a middle school team,” said Hart junior Adelyn Ackley, who repeated as individual champion with a time of 17:49.4. “He got a lot of kids to go out. Pretty soon, they started going out in high school. He would write them running charts and how many miles they should run in the summer. Kids hooked on to it and are running pretty well now.”
Freshman Savannah Ackley took sixth in 18:51.3, senior Alayna Ackley was seventh in 18:52.0 and Lynae Ackley was 20th in 19:23.7. Lynae is the first cousin of the other three Ackleys, who are sisters.
Sophomore Brenna Aerts was 37th in 19:51.7 to complete Hart’s scoring.
“We train every day over the summer and through the winter together,” Adelyn Ackley said. “It’s fun. We like to push each other.”
There was nobody to push Ackley as she repeated as individual champion.
She was 24.8 seconds ahead of Shepherd junior Amber Gall, who made the top five for the third time.
It was quite a contrast from last year when Ackley won a sprint to the finish with Lansing Catholic’s Olivia Theis by 0.7 seconds in 17:40.6.
“I kind of wish I had somebody closer to me, so they could push me,” Ackley said. “I was looking to beat my time from last year. I couldn’t quite push myself hard enough. I had a girl with me last year. I went out pretty hard so I could get out of the crowd. It felt pretty easy at first. The second mile was definitely the hardest.”
Gall was third in 2015 and fifth in 2016.
“I decided coming in to just run my own race,” Gall said. “I thought that would be the smartest. Usually, I started really fast. I have a condition called hypoglycemia. My sugar runs at a certain level, then it just drops. It’s hard when I start out super fast, because I waste the sugar immediately. Pacing myself at the start was necessary. I don’t usually wear a Garmin, but I did just because I had to watch my time.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Hart’s Adelyn Ackley (1589) begins to break away from the pack during Saturday’s Division 3 Final. (Middle) Alayna Ackley (1590) leads another pack around a curve in helping her team to its first MHSAA championship in any sport. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Schroeder Surges To Front Near Finish, Lansing Catholic Pulls Away in Repeat
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Jackson Lumen Christi junior Samantha Schroeder never lost confidence, even as the gap began to seem insurmountable between her and the fastest girl in Division 3 cross country this season.
Schroeder was in fourth place at the mile and two-mile marks during the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final, trailing leader Hailey Creisher of Leslie by 8.8 seconds at the first split and 9.2 at the second at Michigan International Speedway.
She would not only have to make up a sizeable amount of distance to win the championship, but she would have to pass three runners in the process.
“I visualize a lot of things,” Schroeder said. “At the beginning, before the gun went off, I visualized her being a good amount in front of me and being able to catch her.”
With time nearly running out, Schroeder unleashed a furious kick to win the race with a time of 18 minutes, 7.0 seconds. Creisher finished second in 18:11.2.
Schroeder ran the third mile in 5:46.7 and the final tenth in 30.7 seconds. Creisher was 5:54.9 for the third mile and 35.9 for the last tenth.
“It was really exciting, because I really like having competition,” Schroeder said. “It pushes me to do things I never thought I could do. I don’t think I would be able to get that much of a kick if I was by myself.
“I had no clue if I was going to catch her or not, because she was still a good distance in front. My confidence was pretty good, though.”
Creisher came into the meet with the fastest time in Division 3, having run 17:51.9 on Oct. 11 at the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships. She won 14 of 16 races coming into the Finals, including a showdown with Schroeder at the Jackson Invitational on Sept. 20.
Creisher won handily that day with a time of 18:10.0. Schroeder was second in 18:42.2.
Schroeder learned something about how to approach a race against Creisher from that meeting.
“She goes out in the beginning really fast and goes back into even pace,” Schroeder said.
The team competition wasn’t nearly as close. Lansing Catholic repeated as champion by 69 points to win by 110 over Pewamo-Westphalia.
The Cougars put four runners on the all-state (top 30) podium. Josie Bishop was sixth in 18:38.4, Grace Wonch seventh in 18:38.7, Anna Drauer 11th in 18:51.1 and Isabelle Currie 17th in 19:06.0. Frances Melinn was 42nd in 19:49.1 to complete Lansing Catholic’s score.
It was the third Finals championship for the Cougars, who also won in 2017.
Pewamo-Westphalia, which was second to Lansing Catholic by only 11 points last season, finished runner-up for the third time over the last four seasons and fourth time in 10 seasons.
The Pirates were led by fourth-place Alyssa Kramer, who finished in 18:27.5. The Cougars had all five scoring runners across the line before Pewamo-Westphalia had four finishers.
PHOTOS (Top) Jackson Lumen Christi’s Samantha Schroeder (866) pulls past Leslie’s Hailey Creisher during the closing stretch of Saturday’s Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Lansing Catholic's Josie Bishop (874) and Grace Wonch (880) and Roscommon's Alaina Civinskas (1194) surge toward the finish line. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)