An Early Look: Region 19

GIRLS

For whichever reason, Harbor Springs was omitted from the preseason top 25.  But don’t worry, they’re here!  They’d be ranked 8^th, so if you’re below them, move yourself down a spot.

Harbor Springs will give Traverse City St. Francis a fair race, but the first four St. Francis girls will likely lock it up.  Libby Gorman is the returning champion here, she followed that up with a 16^th place finish at States.  Track season was a success as well, PRs in both long distance events, with a narrow miss at the podium for the 1600m.  A breakthrough candidate could be Megan Arntz.  She mainly concentrated on the 400/800.  She threw down a 2:46 relay split, nothing spectacular, but solid enough that makes you think she could improve from last year.

Harbor Springs gets by on their depth.  They have 6 individuals that could qualify on their own.  Maye Burns could be the frontrunner they need.  She finished 4^th here last year (adding Chmielewski to the mix moves everyone down), then busted out a 11:42 in track.  If she moves up a few spots into TCSF’s top two, that makes things more interesting.  Ella Deegan had some serious breakthroughs in track.  She knocked off more than a minute from her 3200 to 13:01, but a more impressive time in my mind is her 5:39 1600.

Charlevoix, Roscommon, and Kingsley are all top 25 teams (19^th, 13^th, 17^th respectively).  Charlevoix is the favorite here because of the strength of their 3^rd and 4^th girls, Annie Bergmann and Megan Scholten.  We’re going to give Scholten a lifetime achievement award.  Three appearances at MIS in three years of XC.  Bergmann gets an award for most improved, knocking 2:00 off her previous best from 2017.

Two girls that could give Roscommon and Kingsley some hope for a minor upset are Josie Fairbanks and Morisa Schleich.  Fairbanks ran in the mid-13’s consistently during her middle school season.  Schleich set two huge PRs in 6:08 and 12:53. Both times are indicative of a girl capable of finishing top 15 in this race.

The top 20 is so dominated by these 5 teams, but you’ll see one Boyne City jersey in the mix.  Avery Stadt has been top 10 here her whole career.  She also finished 30^th in the state as a sophomore.  She’s coming off a track season that saw her place 4^th in the 800, her highest finish yet.

BOYS

Once again, the boys’ side contains much less drama, at least in the team race.

Charlevoix is another team that excels via its pack.  Their top 5 should all be within 20-30 seconds each race.  They have potential, 3 of their top 5, last fall was their first season of high school XC.  They also have kids who have improved, Blaise Snabes has dropped 30+ seconds each year and Evan Beane improved from 18:12 to 17:30 last year.

Traverse City St. Francis is another top 10 team up here.  They’re led by Thomas Richards, who had a sensational freshman year, finishing 4^th in the region and 10^th at Northern Michigan.  Darkhorse candidate for stepping up is Jacob Heeringa, who dropped a 5:00 1600 (and a few other 5:0x to prove no fluke).  He ran 18:57 last year, expect him to drop a minute at least if (and always a big if) he puts the summer training in.

Harbor Springs unfortunately loses Jeremy Kloss and his valuable contributions to the program, but it seems they won’t take too much of a hit.  Austin Smar finished second here last year, 13^th at Northern Michigan, and broke 17 for the first time.  They are a favorite for the 3^rd spot because, a familiar tale, of their 5^th/6^th runners.  Luke Shehigan is the one to watch, he’s a sophomore who spent considerable time in the 18’s and managed to run 11:00 in track.

It’s extremely tight at the top, so a chart is necessary.  It can go so many ways, so here’s a listing of times and common races between these guys.

Name	Thomas Richards	Austin Smar	Xander Civinskas	Tyler Guggemos	Blaise Snabes	Ben Lentz	Tyler Mcclure
East Jordan		5th		26th	13th	3rd	16th
Mud Run		4th		29th	8th	10th	16th
HotH		5th	4th				9th
Hot Dog			2nd			3rd	6th
BlueJay	15th		8th		12th	4th
LMC	3rd	2nd		8th	5th
NMC	10th	13th	31st	29th			35th
Regionals	4th	2nd	6th	5th	3rd	7th	11th
States	114th	48th	51st	72nd	64th	82nd	109th
800	2:04	2:03	2:05	2:18		2:15	2:05
1600	4:48	4:37	4:37	4:53			4:34
3200	11:08	10:12	10:22	10:30			10:24