Woodhaven girls cross country team advances to state finals for fourth straight year

The Brownstown Woodhaven girls cross country team secured a 61-point score on Saturday at Lake Erie Metropark, locking in their fourth consecutive trip to the Division 1 state finals. The Warriors finished second in the regional race, trailing only Ann Arbor Pioneer, which posted a 35-point total to claim the team title.

Woodhaven enters the state meet as the No. 12 team in Division 1. The squad also claimed its fourth straight Downriver League championship the previous week. Junior Charley McKay anchored the team effort with a time of 18:23, placing sixth out of more than 100 competitors. Three other Warriors scored in the top 15, with Annabelle Chan running 19:25 for 10th place, Alexis Kmiecik finishing 19:29 for 11th, and Jaelynn Green clocking 19:39 for 12th. Hope Noal recorded 20:07 to place 22nd.

Wyandotte Roosevelt captured the final team qualifying spot for the boys with a 103-point score. This marks the first team qualification for the Bears since a three-year streak ended in 2013. Zachary Greene led the group by finishing ninth overall with a time of 16:00. Noah Amori, Allen Decaminada, Maxwell Gray, and Connor Ball finished 13th, 19th, 29th, and 33rd, respectively.

Nineteen individual runners from the Downriver area also earned spots at the state championships. On the boys side, Woodhaven’s Vincent Jones and Zawadi Mwathi both placed in the top 15. Jones, a senior, is making his third straight state appearance. Gibraltar Carlson’s Wyatt DelValle and Allen Park’s Jaden Hill also qualified, finishing fourth and seventh, respectively.

Five girls from the area advanced as individuals, all finishing consecutively from 15th through 19th place. Southgate Anderson’s Joy Schuck and freshman Ava Brancheau led the group, becoming the first solo qualifiers from their school since 2023. Ada Cain and Giada Fioritto from Gibraltar Carlson also advanced, while Emma Puscas from Wyandotte Roosevelt placed 16th to extend the Bears' streak of qualifying runners on the girls side to five straight years.

In Division 2, New Boston Huron’s girls team qualified for a second straight year with a 63-point score. Sophomore Zoey Cheney finished sixth to lead that effort. Three boys and two girls from the area also advanced individually in Division 2, including Huron senior Cameron Crane, who won the regional race. Division 4 saw Riverview Gabriel Richard’s boys team earn the third and final qualifying spot with an 81-point score, led by Jacob Ferdubinski’s regional title.

The Michigan high school cross country state finals will be held at the Michigan International Speedway complex in Brooklyn on Saturday, November 7.