Northville's girls cross country team enters the MHSAA postseason ranked No. 2 in Lower Peninsula Division 1, led by a sophomore who has posted one of the fastest times among Michigan runners this season.
Alexandra Scappaticci ran 17:27.7 at the Strongsville Invitational in Ohio on Sept. 26, placing her sixth on MLive's Oct. 8 statewide leaderboard. She won the race by 26.1 seconds over runner-up Lexi Schultz, according to Athletic.net results.
The Mustangs trail only Ann Arbor Pioneer in the Oct. 19 coaches poll. Northville opened at No. 2 in the Sept. 14 poll, spent two weeks at No. 3 and returned to second Oct. 12.
Nathan Korp of The Detroit News reported Oct. 22 that the program "looks to return to the podium at the Division 1 final this season" behind "an experienced group of returners."
Scappaticci is not the only Northville runner producing results. At Strongsville, senior Lucia Lachapelle finished fourth in 18:11.1, and sophomore Brynn Somers placed fifth in 18:19.0. Freshman Lily Szukaitis finished eighth in 19:01.4, and sophomore Ella Corby placed 21st in 19:54.1.
Northville also won the Wayne County Championships on Oct. 10. Freshman Julia Riemer led the Mustangs with a seventh-place finish in 20:20.6.
Juniors Naya Abu Yasin (14th, 21:00.4) and Ella Rohrhoff (18th, 21:15.6), senior Lauren Watkins (19th, 21:18.6) and junior Priya Sastry (21st, 21:25.4) completed the scoring five, according to meet results published by MileSplit.
Northville competes in Region 7. The Lower Peninsula Division 1 state finals are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7, at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, according to the MHSAA.
Novi's girls received honorable mention in the Oct. 19 coaches poll after ranking No. 11 on Sept. 28.
