Hailey Creisher didn’t have visions of running in college when she began her high school cross country career as a freshman.
But her aspirations started to change as a junior in 2024 for Creisher as she saw her times make significant drops while emerging as one of the best distance runners in Greater Lansing.
That’s when Creisher figured running in college would be a logical next step for her future.
And the Leslie senior now has found a home to do just that.
Creisher, who was voted the latest LSJ girls high school athlete of the week winner, made a verbal commitment to continue her running career at Central Michigan on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
“It’s such an amazing opportunity and I’m so excited to further my running career and develop as a runner,” Creisher said.
At CMU, Creisher will try to build on the development she’s made over the last four years at Leslie.
Creisher broke 20 minutes just three times during her freshman and sophomore seasons with the Blackhawks with a personal-best time of 19:39.9 in 2022. Her goals have become much higher over the last two years as she’s now regularly posted times in the 18s while emerging as one of the top 10 runners in the area.
That included breaking 18 minutes for the first time this season and second time in her career at the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 11. Creisher had a personal-best time of 17:51.9 at the annual showcase race at Ledge Meadows Golf Course while finishing as the girls runner-up behind Okemos sophomore Rachel Smith and placing ahead of two-time defending champion Ava Schafer of St. Johns.
“That was really huge for me,” Creisher said. “I’ve all season wanted to get into the 17s and I finally got there so I hit my goal.
“I got the opportunity to race against some very good girls so that was also really fun.”
Creisher hopes the Greater Lansing race is part of a strong finish to her high school career with regionals and the state meets looming. She ran her second-fastest time of the season Oct. 15 while finishing as the champion at the Cascades Conference championship meet in 18:06.8.
With her original goal for the season already accomplished, Creisher is ready to see what else she can achieve over the next few weeks.
“Now I’m trying to see how far I go under 18 (minutes),” Creisher said. “I haven’t really thought about a goal, but I’d like to get 17:40. We’ll see I guess.”
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Central Michigan-bound Hailey Creisher eyes strong finish to cross country career at Leslie
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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