Who are the top 5 girls' cross country runners in Livingston County in 2023?
1. Carrigan Eberly
Brighton, senior
► Accomplishments: Eberly was going to be No. 1 on this list before she ran the season-opening Lamplighter Invitational, but her performance under the lights solidified her spot. Eberly ran a huge personal best of 18:40.8 in Livonia. Hampered by an injury for nearly a month last season, she came back to finish eighth in the KLAA, seventh at regionals and 46th in the state Division 1 meet.
► Coach Kristi Matuszewski: “Carrigan is just fierce. She’s an awesome competitor and she loves cross country. I have girls who are really good cross country runners, but they love track more. That’s a huge factor in her success. Also, she’s not playing soccer anymore. I have her 100% this year, and she did the same for track this past season. We definitely saw a difference in her being able to just focus on one sport.”
2. Nikki Carothers
Brighton, senior
► Accomplishments: Carothers is coming off a track season in which she ran 5:07.94 for 1,600 meters and 11:05.02 for the 3,200, an event in which she qualified for the state meet. She ended last cross country season on a high note, running 18:30.5 in the postseason MITCA Meet of Champions. She broke 19 minutes in three of her last five meets.
► Coach Kristi Matuszewski: “She had a great track season. She’s super fit. Her and Carrigan are really healthy and pull this team along in practice to dive into what their potential can be.”
3. Jaelyn Ray
Pinckney, freshman
► Accomplishments: The only non-Brighton runner to crack this list could end up at the top if her high school debut is merely scratching the surface. Her second-place time of 19:09.5 at the Lamplighter Invite was the fastest debut by a Pinckney runner since Mia Garcia ran 18:52.9 at Benzie Central in 2016. Her middle school times of 5:29.46 for the 1,600 and 11:38.45 for the 3,200 would have won most high school meets.
► Coach Matt Maciag: “She’s going to have a great freshman season, but we want to make sure she continues to have great seasons ahead of her. We’ve managed her workload accordingly, whether it’s practices, long runs, the usual list of workouts. Expectations were high.”
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4. Lydia LaMarra
Brighton, sophomore
► Accomplishments: Last year’s top freshman in the county now has a year of big-meet experience under her belt. She was Brighton’s top finisher in the state meet, placing 41st in 19:15.4. Her time of 18:50.4 at regionals was the fifth-fastest by a Brighton freshman. LaMarra qualified for the state track meet in the 3,200 with a time of 11:21.82. She ran 5:28.97 for the 1,600.
► Coach Kristi Matuszewski: “Lydia got her feet wet last season. She’s definitely a distance girl, so she’s got a really strong mind. She can hold pace for a really long time. Track really helped her find a little bit more speed.”
5. Juliet Lewis
Brighton, sophomore
► Accomplishments: Lewis is one of the more intriguing runners in the county. Her forte is middle distance, having set the county 800-meter record with a time of 2:16.73 in the spring. If she can harness that speed with a greater aerobic base, Lewis could be dangerous. Her fastest cross country time last fall was 19:26.3.
► Coach Kristi Matuszewski: “She’s just hiding in the shadows at this moment. She’s got to get in a bit more training. She’s green. She kind of figured out cross a little bit last year at the end of the season — ‘Oh, I can go a little quicker than this.’ Obviously, she’s naturally super fast; we found that in track.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County's top 5 girls' cross country runners in 2023
