BROOKLYN — When Kaylie Livingston finished second to Buckley senior Aiden Harrand at last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals, the moment she enjoyed Saturday seemed inevitable.

And it very well could be repeated each of the next two years.

After finishing as the Division 4 Final runner-up as a freshman, Livingston dominated the field to take first place in 18 minutes, 6.5 seconds at Michigan International Speedway.

Eliza Keith of Auburn Hills Oakland Christian was second in 18:20.1.

“That motivated me a lot,” Livingston said of her runner-up finish last year. “Aiden was an amazing runner. I got to train with her, and she helped me my first year to know the course, when to speed up and when to kick. I’m just happy I got to accomplish that today.”

Livingston was no stranger to MIS when she arrived in Brooklyn her freshman year, but watching the Finals as a spectator and racing the course are two entirely different experiences.

“I’ve been coming here since I was younger,” she said. “It was my first time racing it. I was just happy to execute my finish today.”

Livingston actually ran a faster time last year, going 17:44.7, but she didn’t need the extra gear Saturday. When she hit the mile mark in 5:39.5, she already had an 8.6-second lead. That lead increased to 21.6 seconds at the two-mile mark.

“It wasn’t my fastest mile of the season,” Livingston said. “It was a little behind. I had to make up for it in the last two miles.”

Livingston is Whitmore Lake’s first individual champion since Betsy Speer won the Class D team race with the fastest time of the day in 1995. The Trojans had winners at the Finals four straight years from 1992-95, with Speer also winning in 1993.

What also could be inevitable for at least the next two years is Whitmore Lake winning team Finals championships.

Whitmore Lake repeated as team champion by a 110-125 margin over Oakland Christian.

The Trojans had only one senior in their lineup, No. 6 runner Isabella Nelson-Daniels.

Whitmore Lake had three all-staters (top 30 in Livingston, 11th-place junior Carina Burchi (19:20.3) and 24th-place junior Elodie Weaver (19:53.0). Also scoring for the Trojans were freshman Malynda Lambros, who was 63rd in 20:57.7, and junior Sofia Robertson, who was 65th in 20:59.5.

“I wanted this state individual championship, but the team is most important to me,” Livingston said. “This program has meant a lot to me. I get to run with my best friends. I’m just so happy we get to accomplish this great thing and show off our hard work.”

Oakland Christian had three all-state finishers in Eliza Keith (second, 18:20.1), Raley Keith (13th, 19:29.5) and Lydia Gleason (19th, 19:41.8), but Whitmore Lake had five runners across 16 team places before Oakland Christian’s final finisher.

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PHOTOS (Top) Whitmore Lake’s Kaylie Livingston approaches the finish during her Division 4 championship race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) Elodie Weaver (1538) pushes through the final stretch on the way to crossing the line third for Whitmore Lake. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)