The Regional Previews: Division 4, Region 29

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW
MID-SEASON
REGIONAL PROJECTIONS
THE RESULT

Girls

1. Grand Traverse Academy (11^th)
2. Buckley (10^th)
3. Leland (7^th)

Boys

1. Mason County Eastern (7^th)
2. Frankfort (10^th)
3. Pentwater (15^th)

My boys projections were consistent all year for the top two, Eastern and Frankfort. But for the third spot, it was Leland. Then Buckley. Then Pentwater. And hey, I was right for once! But to be right, a kid such as Mitch Daniels stepped up in a big way. Leland’s girls pulled off a great late season surge, coming through here, then finishing the highest of any girls team from the Division 4 M-22 area.

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

Buckley (8^th), Mason County Eastern (10^th), Frankfort (20^th)

Boys

Mason County Eastern (8^th), Maple City Glen Lake (11^th), Frankfort (14^th), Pentwater (16^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	Buckley	44
2	Mason County Eastern	45
3	Frankfort	75
4	Bear Lake-Onekama	104
5	Grand Traverse Academy	123
6	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	140
7	Pentwater	183

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Mason County Eastern	68
2	Maple City Glen Lake	80
3	Pentwater	91
4	Frankfort	94
5	Leland	134
6	Mesick	134
7	Bear Lake-Onekama	146
8	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	162
9	Grand Traverse Academy	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 (did I forget Aiden this year?), you’ll get a full writeup there. 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.

Aiden Harrand, Buckley

A victory here would be her third consecutive regional championship. Full writeup coming in a few weeks!

Ella Knudsen, Leland

Sophomore season was only ~20-25 seconds faster than her freshman year, though that doesn’t tell half the tale. Ella went from 5^th to 3^rd here, the real momentous jump was her 44^th to 15^th place advancement at State.

Lucy Shoup, Mason County Eastern

On top of the quantum leap from her 9^th to 10^th grade years, Lucy also racked up a few honors. A WMD Championship, 8^th place at Class D, 4^th place here, and an All-State.

Lauren Niedzielski, Mason County Eastern

Mentioned her final three races in the Top Tens post a few weeks ago. To gain a greater appreciation for that, consider Lauren’s best coming into October was nearly 23 minutes.

Abe VanDuinen, Pentwater

Top-5 finish here and a 35^th place at State were both far and away his bests at each juncture. Those high placings likely helped kickstart Abe into a spring where he ended with an All-State in the 1600m.

Alex Tyndall, Mason County Eastern

His 3200m personal best (and it’s not one of those anomalies, dude was 9:5x on multiple occasions) doesn’t just impress in the small school scene, he’s also #35 amongst all 9^th and 10^th graders in the state of Michigan.

Colebrook Sutherland, Maple City Glen Lake

An extremely condensed cross season with a major highlight – 16:55 here, good for 4^th place. Track may be more of an indicator of his fitness, a 4:37 1600m placing 14^th at Division 4 State.

Mason Sinke, Bear Lake-Onekama

Placed 2^nd here as a true freshman, but unfortunately missed the 2021 season. That year off was no deterrent from another runner-up finish this past fall.