The Regional Previews: Division 1, Region 5

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW

MID-SEASON

FINAL PROJECTIONS

THE RESULT

Girls

1. Saline (4^th)
2. Ann Arbor Pioneer (3^rd)
3. Temperance Bedford (28^th)

Boys

1. Saline (7^th)
2. Ann Arbor Pioneer (5^th)
3. Monroe (27^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

Saline (Top 2), Ann Arbor Pioneer (3^rd)

Boys

Ann Arbor Pioneer (11^th), Saline (18^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	Saline	30
2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	33
3	Brownstown Woodhaven	101
4	Temperance Bedford	129
5	Wyandotte Roosevelt	174
6	Monroe	182
7	Allen Park	184
8	Dearborn Heights Crestwood	248
9	Dearborn	255
10	Gibraltar Carlson	259
11	Detroit Cass Tech	281
12	Belleville	357
13	Dearborn Fordson	402
14	Detroit Martin Luther King	428

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	35
2	Saline	54
3	Temperance Bedford	95
4	Allen Park	99
5	Brownstown Woodhaven	157
6	Monroe	158
7	Gibraltar Carlson	198
8	Dearborn	260
9	Wyandotte Roosevelt	267
10	Dearborn Edsel Ford	317
11	Belleville	324
12	Ypsilanti Lincoln	348
13	Dearborn Heights Crestwood	349
14	Lincoln Park	432
15	Dearborn Fordson	485

Top Runners

I’m making a slight change for the Division 1 folks. Previous regional writeups had the top finishers, even if they were mentioned in the Top 10’s or 50 Tickets. Because so many Division 1 kids make up the top 50 returners (which makes sense, since D1 covers about 60% of the state), I’ll write about a few returners beyond those 50. This will hopefully extend a bit more coverage towards more deserving athletes. Some of the 50 have been covered, others will get their own post. Check the Summer Preview page or keep checking back until Thursday for those.

Payton Scheffler, Brownstown-Woodhaven

Has excelled on the track these past few years. Payton has smashed through the 5 min. barrier both as a sophomore and junior, and this year nabbed her first individual medal at Division 1’s State Finals, running 2:13 in the 800m. On top of all this, she ain’t bad at cross either, grabbing a state qualifier in each of the past three years.

Sylvia Sanok Dufallo, Ann Arbor Pioneer

Beyond the cross course and into spring is where Sylvia truly shines. Three years of high school racin’ have led to three years of sub-2:20 efforts in the 800m. During her sophomore spring, that led to an All-State finish, and throughout many of the seasons, she’s been a part of Pioneer/Purple TC championship relays.

Corynn Gady, Saline

Viewing paces, viewing races, you look at two different girls between her 9^th and 10^th grade years. An 8^th place over here in Region 5 was a solid 16 spots lower than what she achieved in 2021, a 9^th place in the SEC Red wasn’t even possible the previous year, as she was winning the JV race. I have a feeling we’ll come back to this in a few months claiming that she was underrated, as her 5:06 and 11:27 point to someone capable of individual glory come November.

Eric Overdier, Ann Arbor Pioneer

Another one who transformed where and when he’s stepping on the line. During his first two Octobers, Eric hadn’t experienced a varsity regional race. In the three races prior to last October’s regional, Eric had busted out a slew of sub-17’s. Much pressure on his shoulders, to which he responded in a major way.

Vincent Peterson Sand, Ann Arbor Pioneer

Each of the past two years, he’s reliably been in the mid-16’s come championship season. Both years have emitted 6^th place finishes over here in Region 5, though in 2022, he was able to improve on his State Finals finish by 30 places. Track may have not been there in terms of individual honors, but he was a valuable team member in a sub-8 4x800m outfit.

Caleb Wynn, Allen Park

On a few occasions, I’ll bend the rules to praise those Jaguars, but no rules needed breaking this time. Caleb closed his junior season with a bevy of 16-min. efforts, including a 16:34 here to grab 13^th. Expect even more of the same after his 9:57 on the track.