Did you see that? (10/15-10/21)

October 22, 2012

Three MHSAA fall sports came to an end over the weekend, and the tournament for a fourth has begun. Those finishes highlight the non-football best from the week that was Oct. 15-21.

Golf

Rankings play out: The Lower Peninsula girls season came to a close with all four top-ranked teams claiming championships. Plymouth won its first MHSAA title in any sport in Division 1, while Mona Shores became the first Lower Peninsula girls golf team to win four straight by doing so in Division 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern made it two titles in three seasons by winning Division 3, and Lansing Catholic won its third straight in Division 4. Second Half covered them all. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)

Tennis

Dynasties continue: Three of four top-ranked teams also won MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals over the weekend, with the other champion hardly unfamiliar with first place. Ann Arbor Huron was ranked only No. 3 before winning Division 1 for the third time in five seasons. Midland Dow won its fourth straight Division 2 title and Ann Arbor Greenhills won its fifth straight in Division 4. But the biggest headline goes to Detroit Country Day, which tied Ann Arbor Pioneers’ dominance in 2002 with 39 points in claiming the Division 3 title. Second Half also covered all four of these Finals.(Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)

Cross country

One streak ends, another begins: The Upper Peninsula season came to an end with its Finals for three divisions. Calumet’s Tara Kiilunen led her team to the Division 1 girls title by winning the individual championship for the fourth consecutive season. On the boys side, Sault Ste. Marie won its first title in 11 years thanks to the individual Division 1 championship of freshman Parker Scott, who finished this season undefeated. Second Half covered all the races. (Girls Finals) (Boys Finals)

Soccer

Powers emerge in Division 1: Lower Peninsula Districts whittled the number of teams still alive down to 64 – 16 in each of four divisions. And the two toughest Districts to navigate were arguably in Division 1. Top-ranked East Kentwood beat Caledonia 6-0 to win that District, but only after the Falcons knocked out No. 2 Rockford in a semifinal and the Rams did the same to No. 7 Okemos in an opener. Rochester Stoney Creek, ranked No. 4, emerged from a district at Rochester that included No. 9 Utica Eisenhower and honorable mention Troy Athens by beating Rochester Adams 2-1 in the title game – after Adams upset Eisenhower in a semi. (Grand Rapids Press) (Oakland Press)

Livingston Repeats, Whitmore Lake 3-Peats to Kickoff LP Cross Country Finals

November 1, 2025

BROOKLYN, Mich. — When asked about her own performance, Whitmore Lake junior Kaylie Livingston kept returning the subject to her team.

Livingston repeated as the Division 4 champion at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals on Saturday with a time of 18 minutes, 30.7 seconds at Michigan International Speedway.

Of even more importance to Livingston was being part of a championship team at the Finals for the third year in a row.

The Trojans achieved the three-peat by scoring 140 points to finish ahead of runner-up Hillsdale Academy by 18. It was the sixth Finals championship for Whitmore Lake.

“My season’s gone really well,” Livingston said. “The girls as a whole have done really good. We had big wins at big invitationals.”

Livingston has been the front-runner leading the Trojans to all three titles. She took second as a freshman behind Buckley senior Aiden Harrand, who won with a Division 4 record of 17:38.9. Livingston won the individual championship last season before repeating this year.

Gobles’ Libby Smith travels the closing stretch.“I really wanted to defend the title to show I’m on the same level as I was last season and just that I keep improving,” Livingston said.

Asked about the pressure of repeating individually, Livingston’s thoughts went to the team as a whole.

“Definitely the pressure is very high,” she said. “The girls felt it. With some of the senior girls this year, I felt really confident we could do really well. We’ve definitely learned how to handle the pressure.”

In addition to Livingston, Carina Burchi, Sofia Robertson and Elodie Weaver have been members of all three championship teams at Whitmore Lake. Malynda Lambros and Caroline Darrah ran for the last two championship teams.

Burchi was 17th on Saturday in 19:50.6, Lambros 30th in 20:20.3, Robertson 46th in 20:56.7 and Weaver 107th in 21:59.8 for the Trojans.

In the individual race, Gobles junior Libby Smith stayed close enough to Livingston to keep things interesting heading into the long final stretch at MIS. Livingston hit the mile mark in 5:42.5, followed by Smith in 5:44.9. Livingston opened up a 10.3-second lead after hitting two miles in 11:43.6.

Smith took nearly four seconds off Livingston’s lead in the final tenth of a mile, but couldn’t close the gap, finishing in 18:36.1.

“I could see her the whole time,” said Smith, who was third last year and seventh as a freshman. “I was hoping. It was a tough race. I’m happy with how I did.”

Emma Riker of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep was third in 18:44.9.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Whitmore Lake’s Kaylie Livingston charges toward the finish line on the way to repeating as Division 4 champion Saturday morning. (Middle) Gobles’ Libby Smith travels the closing stretch. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)