Girls Cross Country

When Samantha Saenz of Concord needs training partners or racing advice, she leans upon the school’s boys team. “I don’t have many girls on my team, so I train with the boys, so that helps,” she said. “They’re fast.”

Macomb L'Anse Creuse North senior Karenna Duffey, coming off her fourth Macomb County championship and a repeat Macomb Area Conference Red title as well, ran the state’s fifth-fastest time of last weekend to win her third Regional title and earn the Michigan Army ...

Former college teammates Calvin Ackley and Rob McConnell used to joke that if their seven “little girls” ever took up cross country, and ran on the same team one day, that maybe, just maybe, they could win an MHSAA Finals championship.  The one team th...

Over the course of Saturday, 986 runners will take part in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway – and with a number of contenders facing new championship scenarios and first-time title opportunities. While last s...

Daisy Englund had a couple of very reachable goals when she began this fall’s Upper Peninsula cross country championship race. The Rock Mid-Peninsula freshman wanted to finish ahead of her running partner and teammate Landry Koski and get into the top 15 placers ...

Nobody could catch Negaunee sophomore Emily Paupore at Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals. Paupore ran the day’s fastest time, covering the 3.1-mile course at Pictured Rocks Golf Club in 19 minutes, 22.3 seconds on this sunny, warm and br...

Of 30 runners who finished among the top 10 in an Upper Peninsula Girls Cross Country Final last season, 18 will be returning for another championship opportunity Saturday at Pictured Rocks Golf Club in Munising. And if that’s not sign enough that the competition...

Today, you’ll find her seated behind a desk in Denver.  A CPA and the mother of three, including a former Olympic speed skater, Beth Jurgensmeyer still runs. The MHSAA’s first girls individual cross country champion, she was introduced to the spor...

After missing out on winning her first Finals championship last fall by less than a second, Lansing Catholic senior Olivia Theis is undefeated at the 5K distance this fall.  On Friday, she outpaced the toughest field the state has seen this season to date &nd...

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.

“Begin with the end in mind.” Those words were at the heart of Julie Duffing’s preseason message to her Traverse City St. Francis cross country teams last month. Benzie Central as well is focused on building its strongest team with the future in mind.

They were running in the dark – a key scene-setting detail to keep in mind. So being familiar with the course surely gave St. Johns’ cross country runner Taryn Chapko an edge during her school’s Under the Lights Invitational on Aug 18.

Before most high school students have blistered their fingertips on a hot Pop-Tart in a rush to get out the door and to school on time, White Pigeon sophomore Claycee West has already completed a rigorous cross country workout. It’s not for love of the sport that...

Cross Country at Milford is not so much a sport as it is a way of life. That might sound a tad overstated. But you would have a difficult time convincing Nicole Gringling.

Deep in the woods, so far west of municipal Mount Pleasant you’d think you’d gone too far, findable only by invite and the line of cars parked alongside the road, Michigan’s most intriguing cross country team is getting ready to show why. Well, that m...

MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals race day in 1997 looks a little gray as the Class B participants are taking their first strides above.  But it turned out to carry plenty of significance in the four-decade history of Michigan girls cross country. 

After finishing runner-up at the 2015 Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final to Traverse City St. Francis’ Holly Bullough as a freshman, Hart's Adelyn Ackley was driven for more Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Not only did she emerge as champion this time,...

When everyone packed up and left Michigan International Speedway last year, cross country gurus inclined to predict the 2016 MHSAA Division 1 girls cross country race had no shortage of candidates for the individual championship. Of the top 17 finishers, 13 were non-s...

Kayla Windemuller was exhausted from a championship effort. The Holland Christian junior didn’t have much left in her after winning the MHSAA Division 2 individual championship Saturday with a time of 18:06.4.

The finish line couldn’t arrive soon enough for Hart sophomore Adelyn Ackley. There was no one in front of her at Michigan International Speedway as she sprinted down the final stretch Saturday in the MHSAA Division 3 cross country meet. It’s what was behin...