Girls Cross Country

Erika Freyhof didn't say a whole lot when talking about herself, even on the day she won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship. What really got her to light up and open up was when the topic shifted to her team.

Panic set in, but only momentarily. With all of the pressure that takes place in an MHSAA Cross Country Final, a runner could easily become unraveled by the unexpected. 

Holly Bullough knows something about playing with pain. She is, after all, from one of Michigan's most well-known football families. So, she wasn't going to let a stress fracture in her left foot keep her from defending her MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 championshi...

The feeling of elation had yet to replace the feeling a runner gets after laying it all on the line. Walking away from the finish line, Tessa Fornari of Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes was breathing heavily, even though she finished with plenty of breathing room to wi...

There could be a few changes on the trophy stand at the end of Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Girls Cross Country Finals at Michigan International Speedway. But maybe not.

Marquette High School’s Lindsey Rudden has excelled in track and cross country throughout her prep career. The senior harrier has earned her share of Upper Peninsula Division 1 titles in track, but hadn’t won at the U.P. Cross Country Finals prior to Satur...

All three individual champions from 2014 will run at Saturday’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Cross Country Finals, sponsored by Michigan National Guard, and two team champions from last season are favored to repeat. Here's a look at some of the teams and individuals exp...

Red is the dominant color when you talk about cross country in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Courtesy of one of the pre-eminent cross country programs in the state, red is worn by the Marquette High School teams that have been a scourge to the rest of the U.P. since the ...

Megan Aalberts was in middle school when she first realized the potential of her classmates and what their future running days could look like. “Going into sixth grade and middle school, I could already see that the girls in my grade and a year behind me were r...

Twenty-eight years had passed since Engadine High School was last represented in cross country. The year was 1987, when Deren Pershinski captured the Upper Peninsula Class D championship as the Eagles’ lone representative. Things are different this year, as the E...

Oxford Hills Country Club hosted the 1980 Lower Peninsula Class B Cross Country Finals on what had to be a chilly day, considering the heavy coats and winter gloves worn by spectators in the photo above taken during the races that day. A little cool in the air isn&rsqu...

Two decisions, no regrets.  Holly Bullough made the switch from soccer, Anthony Berry from football. Today, the two Traverse City seniors are among the best high school runners in the state.

Lindsey Rudden has enjoyed a stellar high school track career, to say the least. She could graduate next spring as the top high school female distance runner in Upper Peninsula history.  But one accomplishment that has eluded her, however, is a U.P. cross country ...

Ann Arbor Pioneer this week mourned longtime girls track & field and cross country coach Bryan Westfield, who died Sunday at the age of 72 and led Pioneers teams to a combined 19 MHSAA team championships over a career spanning more than three decades. He began coac...

Rachel DaDamio of Birmingham Seaholm may be the only runner to ever finish second in an MHSAA championship cross country meet without ever having won a race in her career. Not one race. Not even a dual meet or low-key invitational. 

Karrigan Smith of St. Johns had been closing the gap on Kenzie Weiler of Cedar Springs the past three years. Smith finally caught her and passed her Saturday to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 cross country championship at Michigan International Speedway.

Holly Bullough of Traverse City St. Francis had raced Amber Way of Charlevoix numerous times, but never with as much at stake. Bullough closed a gap of about 75 yards and used one final surge in the last 10 yards to beat Way to the finish line and win the MHSAA Lower ...

Ava Strenge's goals were constantly being upgraded as she made her way along the five-kilometer cross country course at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.  She didn't come into the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 meet as one of the favorites, having pl...

For the second straight season, many eyes at this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals will be focused on a girls race of the best from some of Michigan’s smaller schools. On Saturday, Macomb Lutheran North’s Gina Patterson will run fo...

The element of surprise always is a possibility in any athletic endeavor. Gladstone High School sophomore Leigha Woelffer surprised many people including herself Saturday by earning her first Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country championship at Gentz Homestead Gol...