GRAND LEDGE — Rachel Smith used to spend her fall sports season playing soccer.
But the desire to compete in a sport with her close friends, Mya Bower and Alyssa McFall, led to her trading her time on the pitch to navigating cross country courses in Greater Lansing and across the state.
“I had done races when I was a kid and I did well in them so I was, like, this is fun,” Smith said. “My mom and my aunt and my dad are runners, but I never thought I would be a runner.”
Smith has become one. And a very good runner at that in just her second season competing in cross country.
The Okemos sophomore standout finished as the individual girls champion at the Greater Lansing Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 11, at Ledge Meadows. She won the race with a time of 17:08.6 and finished 43 seconds ahead of the runner-up — Leslie’s Hailey Creisher.
Smith, who entered the race with the area’s fastest time, wasn’t sure what to expect Saturday and had not competed against other top runners like Creisher and St. Johns’ Ava Schafer in any meet this season. So she relied on her strategy and that prevailed as she prevailed after taking second to Schafer in 2024.
“Right after the first mile is when the race begins (for me) so I can focus on that second mile,” Smith said. “Last year I was not focused on that second mile and I would, like, fall off and that’s when I lost my races. I decided I’ll win my races in the second mile.”
That’s when Smith made her move and gained separation after being tight with Creisher and Schafer early on her way to recording her second fastest time of the season.
“Usually after she finishes the first mile she has this surge where she just starts kicking and it’s crazy,” Okemos senior October Harns said.
Smith was joined by Harns as a top-five finisher while contributing to Okemos winning the team title. Harns finished fourth and helped the Wolves finish with 84 points, which was 10 ahead of runner-up Lansing Catholic.
Howell (158) was third, while DeWitt (166) and Pewamo-Westphalia (167) rounded out the top-five teams.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on X @brian_calloway and Bluesky @briancalloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Okemos’ Rachel Smith adds to running success with title at Greater Lansing Championships
Reporting by Brian Calloway, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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