We're five weeks out from the State Meet! What do we know about the top girls' teams in each division?
There were two huge meets and some other smaller meets scattered across the state that attracted many of the top teams this past weekend. Here is a look at the top five teams in each division as we head toward Portage Invitational and then the post season.
Division 1
Ann Arbor Pioneer got a dominant win at Otsego running their full squad. No reason to not pick them as the state's best and a strong contender to be in Portland at NXN. Natasza Dudek , Keira Von Blon and Sienna Klemmer went 1-2-3 with Zeeland East's Adalyn Raab in 4th.
Ann Arbor Skyline - the crosstown rivals to Pioneer sit at number two, they did not race this past weekend but will line up at Portage. While Pioneer is front-loaded, Skyline has a top-five that are all between 18:20 and 18:46, led by Junior Lucia Llanes.
Northville has spent much of the year at number two and had some tight battles with Pioneer before Dudek returned. The Mustangs sat out the weekend action as well in prep for Portage.
Hudsonville was a distant 2nd in the D1 race at Otsego behind Pioneer. They are led by their top two of Grace Snyder and Chloe Purwin. They finished ahead of 5th-ranked Portage Central.
Portage Central currently ranked 5th finished behind Hudsonville led by Avery Scott. They are clearly ahead of the next teams behind them and are looking like a solid top five team and will be at Portage as well.
Division 2
Top-ranked, and defending state champs Holland Christian got the win at Otsego over the 2nd-ranked hosts. They continue to dominate and are one of the top ten teams in Michigan regardless of class.
Otsego finished runner-up at the state meet last year and are currently ranked 2nd again. They showed on their home course that they are definitely still one of the best teams in D2 led by their top three: the A-team of Alayna Verhage and Adelyn Verhage and Addelyn Sabatke, all between 18:44 and 18:58.
Grand Rapids Christian finished 3rd in 2025 at the State Meet and is sitting at 3rd currently. They were 3rd at Otsego in a race that featured the top four teams in D2. They are a bit behind the top two but have proven year in and year out to be top contenders. This is a fascinating team battle of traditional powers to keep an eye on.
Grand Rapids South Christian was 4th at Otsego about 20 points behind GR Christian. They are led by much-improved junior Tiffany DeMaagd who dropped her PR to 18:13 at Otsego.
Linden is the only non-west-side team in the top five. They won the D1-2 division at DeWitt in a preview of the regional course beating 6th ranked DeWitt on their home course. The two will meet again at regionals.
Division 3
Lansing Catholic won the 3-4 division at DeWitt beating top ten Jackson Lumen Christi. Lansing Catholic is seeking their third straight state title and despite not fielded their full squad in any meet this year have beaten all the division 3 teams they have faced.
2nd-ranked Traverse City St. Francis did not compete after facing many of the top D3 teams the week before at the PW Invite and finishing within a point of Pewamo-Westphalia and Saugatuck.
The next three teams in the rankings were all at Allendale where Kent City may have announced themselves as top five contenders in D3 by beating three top five teams behind Elliana Max and Shelby Zimmer .
Grand Rapids Covenant Christian, finished 3rd at Allendale behind PW and Kent City and ahead of Saugatuck
6th-ranked Benzie Central won their division at Shepherd so at this point after Lansing Catholic there are six teams that could finish in any order depending on the day. Portage and the State Meet should be very interesting in girls D3.
Division 4
Hillsdale Academy the 2025 runner-up are now ranked first and looking to unseat Whitmore Lake. They did not run this past weekend but have held down the top spot all year and remain the team to beat at the state meet in D4.
Number two ranked Gobles ran in the D2 race at Otsego presumably to get their star Libby Smith in a more competitive race. They finished 13th out of 24 teams and Smith was 5th in the race. They will face all D4 competition at Portage after taking on bigger schools at PW and Otsego the last few weeks.
Onekama ran at Shepherd and finished 2nd in the Jays division losing only to D3-ranked Maple City Glen Lake. They will also be in the D4 field at Portage.
Three-time defending champ Whitmore Lake behind their all-time star Kaylie Livingston are not going down easy. They are still ranked in the top five and will also be in the Portage field.
Martin won the smallest division at Otsego knocking off a number of larger schools. They are led by Veyda Conley and will of course be at Portage.
Stay tuned as these teams and others head toward the state finals on November 7th.
We're five weeks out from the State Meet! What do we know about the top girls' teams in each division?
There were two huge meets and some other smaller meets scattered across the state that attracted many of the top teams this past weekend. Here is a look at the top five teams in each division as we head toward Portage Invitational and then the post season.
Division 1