Girls Cross Country

Ava Streng and Bailley McConnell both got what they came for Saturday. Streng, a Battle Creek St. Philip senior, reclaimed the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 individual cross country championship with a powerful front-running performance at Michigan International Sp...

A total of 987 girls will launch from the starting line during four MHSAA Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. And a number of those athletes have plenty of experience crossing the finish line first over the last few seas...

After dominating the Big North Conference, and running away with Regional crowns, Alpena’s Mitchell Day and Traverse City Central’s Sielle Kearney are in position to set a new benchmark in northern Michigan. They will run to become the first northern Michig...

Anna Jensen opened her freshman cross country season at Midland Dow with a pair of top-two finishes and sub-19 minute times. Before her third meet, she went to the doctor, because she didn’t feel right while running in the previous two. There she received a diagn...

It was a history-making day for the Sault Ste. Marie High School girls Saturday as they were crowned Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country champions for the first time with 34 points. Ishpeming reigned again in Division 2, and the Cedarville girls won for the first ...

The Upper Peninsula’s dominant girls cross country programs will be looking to add to those legacies Saturday at Gladstone’s Beauchamp Cross Country Course. Marquette is seeking its fourth straight title in Division 1, while Ishpeming in Division 2 and Chas...

Ann Arbor Pioneer junior Anne Forsyth has been one of the state’s fastest distance runners since starting her high school cross country career three seasons ago. But she’s made a jump to MHSAA championship contender this fall, showing it again by running a ...

Among the most intriguing stories from the first month of cross country season is the significant improvement of Battle Creek Lakeview's Maggie Farrell. On Friday, Farrell won the Spartan Invitational “Elite” race at Michigan State University with a time of...

One of the leading contenders to win an MHSAA cross country championship this fall nearly gave up that opportunity so she could switch gears for her senior year.  Linden's Alia Frederick, who was third in the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final last season, considere...

The MHSAA Girls Cross Country Finals is never short on star power and awe-inspiring performances, whether rivals are racing on the state's largest track at Michigan International Speedway or among the changing leaves at one of the Upper Peninsula's wooded courses. ...

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...