In high school, Lauren Kiley had a dream she won Nationals in California wearing a white jersey. On November 23, 2024, Kiley suited up in her white Grand Valley State jersey for the Division II National Championship at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California.
And her dream came true.
Kiley was a standout for Plymouth Girls Cross Country. During her career, she recorded a Park record 5K time of 17:43.1, the only girl in P-CEP history to go under the 18-minute mark.
During her high school career, Kiley collected numerous accolades as a three-time KLAA Conference champion, three-time Wayne County champion, two-time Regional champion, and a four-time all-state runner including a fourth-place finish in her junior season.
Looking back at her time with Plymouth, Kiley considered Plymouth’s annual preseason training camp, Camp Doug, during her freshman and sophomore years as a highlight of her experience. “It was a grind, but it was fun because that’s where I kind of got to know everybody. And we were all in this little cabin together. It was all these girls fitting into one cabin, and we’re all so close together, so you really got to know each other that way.”
“I learned a lot of grit from Plymouth.”
As a high school star, the prospect of a college career became more forefront in Kiley’s mind going into her junior year. Kiley became increasingly motivated to improve her times both as a personal achievement and for potential scholarship money.
“Senior year I decided to wake up every morning earlier, I usually would do 10 minutes of core, because that would help,” Kiley said. “I kind of just decided to put more into it, because I wanted to get more out of it.”
During her senior track season, a Grand Valley State cross country assistant coach made the trip to see Kiley race at the New Balance Twilight 3200 on May 7, 2022, in which Kiley finished third with a personal best and Park record of 10:35.65.
As her senior year wrapped up, Kiley was faced with the final decision for college plans. She had considered many schools including the University of Michigan and Grand Valley State University. It was not until she took a visit to GVSU that she knew it was the place for her.
“It was just pretty. I thought it was pretty. It felt nice to just be there. It was a little bit far away from home,” Kiley said. “[Ann Arbor] just didn’t feel like an escape. And then we had a lot of facilities here to use, like the indoor track. We have this thing called the Sea of Turf, which is just this huge turf field that we do a lot of our workouts on. They just had a lot of amenities here that I didn’t think D2 would have. And I was like, it’s pretty cool. So I chose here.”
As a GVSU freshman, Kiley was an immediate asset. She brought home the honor of 2022 GLIAC Freshman of the Year, after a runner-up finish at the 2022 GLIAC Conference Championships.
“Coming from high school to college, the amount I’ve learned, even within the first year, has been actually insane,” Kiley said. “Coming to college, I started running up to 40-50 miles a week, and that was just something that I never thought I would do.”
Fast forward, heading into her collegiate sophomore outdoor track season, Kiley made the difficult decision to redshirt and step away from competition. “I didn’t want to run, I was pretty close to quitting, so I was kind of like, hey, I should probably take a break now. And if I don’t, I’m probably going to quit.”
After the needed step back, Kiley entered her junior cross-country season with a new-found fortitude. However, a root at the preseason cross-country training camp sidelined her with a foot injury. With the delay to the start of her season, Kiley put in numerous hours of cross-training to maintain her fitness for a timely return to the grass.
Kiley set her sights on a season debut at the GLIAC Conference Championship meet. “I got out way too fast because I was excited, and I just was like, oh my god, I’m racing again.”
In a time of 20:46.3, Kiley got her first cross-country victory as a collegiate runner, leading the Lakers to a conference championship and extending the Lakers’ dominance at the meet.
Two weeks later, Kiley checked off win number two at the Midwest Region Cross Country Championships, winning in a time of 20:57.8 and leading Grand Valley to a team victory en route to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships.
Preparing for Nationals, Kiley set out to win it all. To win a race this big is a dream come true. Ignoring the rankings, and staying focused on her training, Kiley knew she had a pretty good chance. “I didn’t feel real, and I was smiling so hard on the start line because I thought that I had it like I already won.”
The race before her was a distance of six kilometers on a golf course which thanks to the weather and prior races was torn up and almost completely underwater. Kiley says the first 2K went quickly; at the 2K mark, Kiley took the lead keeping it close with six other girls. At 4K, she made her move.
“If somebody goes with me, then they go with me, and that’s who I’m gonna have to battle it out at the end,” Kiley said. “Nobody went with me. And it was when I was by myself. It was a crazy thing. I remember my eyes. I was looking at my teammates, some of the guys cheering. My eyes were so wide, I’m by myself right now. This shouldn’t be happening.”
As she turned the corner to the homestretch, the official said to Kiley “good race” and she knew there was no one hunting her down. “I can’t even put it into words.”
After a 7th place finish her freshman year and 15th her sophomore year, in a 6K time of 20:28.5, Kiley capped off an undefeated season
“My favorite part about winning was realizing that you don’t have to be perfect to do it,” said Kiley. “There is no such thing as perfect, and there never was. It was just something I made up in my head this whole time.”
“I always thought in my head like the girl who wins it, it’s always that one person that’s kind of different from her teammates,” said Kiley. “She’ll do everything perfectly, and everything will be almost robotic.”
“And for me, I’m not like that at all,” said Kiley. “I always thought, ‘I have to do this, this and this, in order to be as good as these girls.’ And I was like, ‘no,’ because I was as good as these girls the whole time.”
As the 2024 NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country National Athlete of the Year, Kiley looks ahead to the track to extend her dominance. On the indoor track, Kiley will take on the 3K and 5K, and on the outdoor track the 5K and her first attempt at the 10K.
Looking back on her journey, Kiley’s advice to those just setting out is: “Do it because you love it, and you don’t need to do it perfectly, and you don’t need to go freaking crazy when you do it, it’s just something you gotta enjoy.”
