The Regional Previews: Division 4, Region 36

Last Year

Girls

1. Rochester Hills Lutheran NW (6^th)
2. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (8^th)
3. Royal Oak Shrine (15^th)

Boys

1. Lutheran Westland (21^st)
2. Marine City Cardinal Mooney (20^th)
3. Royal Oak Shrine (19^th)

Top 27 Teams

Previous years had top-25 teams, but there’s 27 (and sometimes more) team qualifiers and what does it hurt to add another two?

Girls

Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (Top 10), Royal Oak Shrine (16^th), Allen Park Cabrini (25^th)

Boys

Lutheran Westland (22^nd), Marine City Cardinal Mooney (25^th), Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (27^th)

(If your team isn’t listed in the images above or the scores below, you probably don’t have five returners, at least on ol’ athletic.net. I’m sure many of these teams will fill out their rosters by late October)

Projected Scores

Place	Girls Team	Score
1	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36
2	Royal Oak Shrine	44
3	Allen Park Cabrini	72
4	Academy of the Sacred Heart	104
5	Southfield Christian	124
6	Austin Catholic	165

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	69
2	Lutheran Westland	70
3	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	80
4	Royal Oak Shrine	115
5	Southfield Christian	115
6	Birmingham Roeper	148
7	Detroit Frederick Douglass	160
8	Plymouth Christian Academy	176
9	Austin Catholic	221

Top Runners

Thought I’d give a review of some of the top returners in each region. Returners means no incoming freshman (you’ll get your days in the sun). If you’re gonna be in the 50 Tickets, you’ll get a full writeup there (Tyler Lenn, Ava Teed). If you’re on a top team and you’re projected highly here, you hit the jackpot! Yes, I’m writing a bit less than previous years, but I think I’ve learned my lesson in that I need to conserve energy and brainpower for all divisions and regions. Typically by August, I’m rushing to get these done. This time around, hopefully all regions get the same amount of coverage.

Eliza Keith, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian

Started the year off with victories in six of her first eight races. Then it was championship time, where Eliza pulled off a string of seconds, each with more significance. First at the MIAC Championship, then here, and then at MIS. That big race medalin’ continued onto track, where she was All-State in the 800m and 1600m.

Leah Zarrilli, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian

Been a consistent contributor each of the past two years, but stepped up a notch in 2022. Leah went from 19^th to 5^th in the MIAC, 9^th to 4^th in this region, and then a huge leap at State, 71^st to 20^th.

Natalie Gibbs, Birmingham Roeper

September and October full of tough courses prepared her for championship season. Those 22 min. efforts may have not looked impressive on paper, but they paved the way for her second consecutive All-State.

Maya Ferguson, Marine City Cardinal Mooney

Started shining a bit brighter in track, especially in the 3200m. Maya ended the year with two sub-13’s, medaling in the CHSL Cardinal and Blue Water MoC.

TJ Donnan, Southfield Christian

Three years of XC have resulted in three State Finals appearances, TJ moving up 30-40 spots each time. For his junior year, that left him 2 spots shy of All-State. But if track is any indicator, he has a great chance of stepping on that podium.

Abenezer Cerone, Royal Oak Shrine

His freshman year had a few ups and downs, but ended on a high note – a personal best at this region and another sub-18 in Brooklyn.

Emmanuel Mehari, Plymouth Christian Academy

Built confidence and dropped times this entire spring. A 4:42 1600m is very good for someone who was above 18:00 all fall.

Isaac Zammit, Marine City Cardinal Mooney

We’ll be missing Matthew Zammit, but at least we get one more year from his brother. He was an essential member of the Cardinals mid-distance squad, qualifying for State in the 1600m and 800m, also contributing to their Regional and Conference championships in the 4×8.