Regional Previews: Division Three Boys

Time to get cracking on these regional previews. As with the 50 Tickets, these are a bit condensed compared to past years. I found the writing was getting excessive, repetitive, and more work than the actual season. But still, regional projections are in order. I thought I’d highlight a few of the battles, tough regions, and outstanding individuals.

Compared to Division 4, Division 3 is a bit easier in terms of finding who will be going to what school. Returning roster sizes are a bit larger and the feeder middle schools are easier to follow.

Anyhow, here are your D3 Boys predictions. Similar to the 50 Tickets, these are based on last year’s XC season and track seasons, projected improvements, and a few bits of subjective shuffling.

Toughest Regions

Region 20 – four teams in the top-23. Projections show a little gap between #18 Reed City and #23 Lake City, the latter of which who’d likely be a favorite to make it out in a few other regions. A positive point for the Trojans is that they return everyone from their varsity regional squad, which placed 4^th behind Reed City. But it’ll be tough with the ‘Yotes bringing back everyone but Gus.

Region 21 – five teams in the top-28. Which means that two teams, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and Montague may be on the outside looking in. A point in the favor of those two is that there aren’t any projected superstar teams, which increases the chance of an upset.

Region 23 – three top-10 teams. Potentially next to impossible anyone beyond Hanover-Horton, Jonesville, or Jackson Lumen Christi to make it out.

Region 26 – four teams in the top-25. And heck, Plymouth Christian Academy is close by at #34. With Lansing Catholic’s strength, 1^st is probably out of the question.

Intriguing Battles

Region 20 – Benzie Central vs. Hart for the victory. Since 2017, both Benzie Central and Hart have been at the forefront of this region. The Pirates have won quite a bit, but have missed out on crowns for the past two seasons because of Benzie and Reed City exploits. Hart has reloaded with the venerable Ackley family, both Silas and Grant successfully handling a freshman year and ready to improve as sophomores. The Huskies are exceptionally strong up front, bringing back four underclassmen that broke 17:00 at some point in 2024.

Region 21 – Holland Black River vs. The Potter’s House for the win. Mentioned above that these two are favorites, but not clear cut above the rest. Regardless, the projections have Holland Black River as 2 points ahead of The Potter’s House, despite the Pumas holding a better D3 ranking. TPH has a bit stronger depth in their 4^th and 5^th runners, Black River a stronger top-three.

Region 23 – Jackson Lumen Christi, Jonesville, and Hanover-Horton for the win. Not often you get THREE elite teams in one region. Jackson Lumen Christi is the defending champion here, though the Titans will have to replace their outstanding two low sticks. Tying for 3^rd here and advancing on their sixth runner (Jacob Gray) were the Jonesville Comets. They’re a young squad, bringing back all but one varsity runner. Coming in as the favorite are the other Comets, the tradition-laden Hanover-Horton. Their outstanding ’28 class features three kids that hit sub-18 as freshmen. Add in a frontrunner such as Cooper Flick and you’ve got a squad that checks all the boxes.

Region 19

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Charlevoix
#19 Traverse City St. Francis
#20 Harbor Springs

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Charlevoix	38
2	Traverse City St. Francis	68
3	Harbor Springs	70
4	Elk Rapids	141
5	Grayling	168
6	Roscommon	174
7	Boyne City	179
8	Kalkaska	187
9	Standish-Sterling	214
10	Cheboygan	219
11	Mancelona	241
12	Tawas	342

Top Athletes

Hunter Eaton – his exploits elucidated here!

William Ready – one lone man returns from the Glad state title squad. The stage shouldn’t be too large for the junior, as he dropped a 15:52 gem at MIS this past November.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Hunter Eaton	Charlevoix
2	11	William Ready	Traverse City St. Francis
3	11	Ryder Hopkins	Charlevoix
4	12	Matthew Solomon	Charlevoix
5	10	Grant Corlew	Harbor Springs
6	12	Qwynn Darnell	Elk Rapids
7	11	Carter Toensfeldt	Fairview
8	12	Nicholas Trader	Fairview
9	11	Isaac Dionne	Boyne City
10	10	Harper Mullet	Traverse City St. Francis
11	11	Maxwell Drenth	Charlevoix
12	10	Liam Mahaffy	Grayling
13	12	Adam Ferguson	Harbor Springs
14	10	Owen McGlone	Kalkaska
15	12	Henry Kruzel	Harbor Springs
16	11	Dex Nance	Traverse City St. Francis
17	11	Evan Civinskas	Roscommon
18	11	Jake Klemmer	Roscommon
19	11	Finn Parish	Boyne City
20	12	Max Vroman	Harbor Springs

Region 20

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Benzie Central
Top-10 Hart
#18 Reed City
#23 Lake City

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Benzie Central	53
2	Hart	61
3	Reed City	90
4	Lake City	111
5	Manton	139
6	Leroy Pine River	167
7	Kingsley	233
8	Manistee	238
9	Shelby	248
10	McBain	256
11	White Cloud	282
12	Harrison	300
13	Mason County Central	305
14	Houghton Lake	417

Top Athletes

Robert Dykhouse – picked a great time to seriously drop some time, which ended up gaining him some very impressive results. A 15+ second personal best at Benzie led to his 2^nd straight State Finals appearance, which then became his first ever sub-16 and All-State.

Eli VanPoortfliet – outstanding freshman fall ended in a multitude of consecutive sub-17’s and gave way to a track season where he blasted the #10 D3 freshman 3200m time.

Paul Saladin – finished the fall with his two fastest times of the year, momentum that bled into a track season where he dropped 15+ sec. in the 1600m (6 in the final week!) to grab the final podium spot at State.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Robert Dykhouse	Manton
2	10	Eli VanPoortfliet	Benzie Central
3	12	Paul Saladin	Reed City
4	10	Silas Ackley	Hart
5	12	Caiden Helsel	Lake City
6	12	Jackson Schaub	Benzie Central
7	10	Tristan Hernandez	Kingsley
8	11	Cage Edingfield	Benzie Central
9	10	Abraham Kiaunis	Reed City
10	12	Wyatt Vanpoortfliet	Benzie Central
11	11	Aiden Schaner	Hart
12	10	Tanner Dozier	Reed City
13	10	Grant Ackley	Hart
14	12	Connor Helsel	Lake City
15	12	Jack Helsel	Manton
16	12	Jack Slotman	Hart
17	11	Mason Opalewski	Hart
18	11	Nathan Lenington	Leroy Pine River
19	11	Pascal Miller	Hart
20	12	Kaden Worch	Manistee

Region 21

Top 27 Teams

#15 The Potter’s House
#16 Holland Black River
#21 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
#27 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Holland Black River	87
2	The Potter’s House	89
3	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	100
4	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	116
5	Montague	130
6	Lakeview	178
7	Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian	179
8	Saranac	197
9	Belding	200
10	Kent City	214
11	Delton-Kellogg	259
12	Ravenna	287
13	North Muskegon	324

Top Athletes

Jeryn Frisbie – Frisbie has improved greatly under Coach Carlson’s tutelage, moving from a sophomore that missed out on MIS to a junior that barely missed a podium spot in D2.

Barrett Nance – darkhorse candidate to make some noise in D3. Dropped serious time on the track, over 20 sec. in the 1600m and 7 sec. in the 800m, both events where he was able to hit the D3 podium.

Jonas Ballard – coming on as a player in the D3 scene. Nearly halved his finishing place in cross (78^th to 41^st), then grabbed 10^th place in the 3200m, his first individual qualifier ever.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Jeryn Frisbie	Belding
2	11	Barrett Nance	North Muskegon
3	11	Jonas Ballard	Holland Black River
4	12	Noah Raeth	Montague
5	12	Edward Mugisha	The Potter’s House
6	10	Nolan Kessler	Montague
7	11	David Castrejon	Newaygo
8	11	Micah Kuiper	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
9	11	Cooper Tiffany	Lakeview
10	10	Casper Banner	Holland Black River
11	10	Quinn Hare	Belding
12	11	Owen Sytsema	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
13	12	Isaac Johnson	Holland Black River
14	11	Caleb Swiney	The Potter’s House
15	11	Levi Schimmel	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
16	12	Reuben Anderson	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
17	11	Josiah Scholma	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
18	11	Landon Madden	Delton-Kellogg
19	12	Isaac Struck-VanderHaak	The Potter’s House
20	11	Mattias Tuls	The Potter’s House

Region 22

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Saugatuck
#14 Buchanan

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Saugatuck	20
2	Buchanan	57
3	Schoolcraft	114
4	Bangor	127
5	Hartford	160
6	Watervliet	165
7	Parchment	177
8	Constantine	189
9	Bloomingdale	231
10	Fennville	237

Top Athletes

Sawyer Monroe – like many of his Trailblazer teammates, had a breakout State performance. Monroe’s was to the tune of a 30+ second personal best and 33^rd place finish.

Jackson Bowman – just a consistent monster as a freshman, nearly always in the 17-flat vicinity. Excels in the longer events, evidenced by his 12^th ranked D3 freshman 3200m.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Sawyer Monroe	Saugatuck
2	10	Jackson Bowman	Saugatuck
3	12	Liam McBeth	Buchanan
4	11	Marcus Silva	Saugatuck
5	11	Grant Rehkopf	Saugatuck
6	9	Sam Casiano	Watervliet
7	12	Alessandro Avila	Constantine
8	12	Sammy Gamboa	Saugatuck
9	11	John Keser	Buchanan
10	11	Aiden Mcdonald	Hartford
11	12	Jack Sherwood	Buchanan
12	10	Ira Brown	Saugatuck
13	12	Jacob Kuntz	Buchanan
14	10	Ashton Skinner	Saugatuck
15	9	Reese Devisser	Schoolcraft
16	12	Eli Martin	Schoolcraft
17	11	Josaias Robles	Hartford
18	12	Ace Drewyor	Schoolcraft
19	11	Xavier Pompey	Coloma
20	10	Lucas Winter	Parchment

Region 23

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Hanover-Horton
Top-10 Jonesville
Top-10 Jackson Lumen Christi

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Hanover-Horton	69
2	Jonesville	75
3	Jackson Lumen Christi	87
4	Brooklyn Columbia Central	172
5	Centreville	173
6	Olivet	207
7	Union City	223
8	Onsted	224
9	Sand Creek	248
10	Quincy	256
11	Napoleon	270
12	Homer	275
13	Hillsdale	277
14	Bronson	288
15	Springport	416
16	Galesburg-Augusta	438

Top Athletes

Caleb Blonde – doubled down on his 4^th place freshman 3200m finished and found his way into the top-5 at November’s State Finals. Caleb ended his sophomore cross campaign with sub-16’s in six of his final nine races.

Clint Couchman – incredible progression occurred from the start of cross to the end of track. Clint began his freshman year as a high-17 kid and ended it as the 4^th place finisher in the 3200m. Strikingly similar to Blonde, a serious candidate to move into D3 contention in the coming years.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Caleb Blonde	Jonesville
2	10	Clint Couchman	Brooklyn Columbia Central
3	11	Cooper Flick	Hanover-Horton
4	12	Nicholas Fowler	Jonesville
5	12	Gibson Shore	Jackson Lumen Christi
6	12	Ben Gautsche	Union City
7	11	Logan Youngman	Hillsdale
8	10	Will Hulin	Centreville
9	11	Chad Tyson	Hanover-Horton
10	11	Rocky Bolton	Jackson Lumen Christi
11	10	Chris Durfey	Onsted
12	12	John Edler	Homer
13	11	Avery Morrow	Jackson Lumen Christi
14	12	Zach Hassenzahl	Hanover-Horton
15	11	Silas Daniels	Sand Creek
16	11	Collin Fucile	Jonesville
17	10	Ashton Potwin	Jonesville
18	12	Wyatt Vowell	Brooklyn Columbia Central
19	10	Wyatt Hassenzahl	Hanover-Horton
20	11	Ethan Huff	Homer

Region 24

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Stanton Central Montcalm
#12 Pewamo-Westphalia
#17 Bath

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Stanton Central Montcalm	48
2	Pewamo-Westphalia	66
3	Bath	77
4	Montrose	130
5	Laingsburg	135
6	Chesaning	137
7	Ovid-Elsie	138
8	Otisville LakeVille	169
9	New Lothrop	250
10	Perry	253

Top Athletes

Gage Hoffman – just covered the man!

Owen Poppema – found a new gear in October, whittling his times down from the 17 min. range to 16:15 by State, which earned Poppema a 28^th place finish in D3.

John Kowatch – track season gives thought to an All-State candidate come fall. Subtracted >10 sec. from his freshman 1600m best and earned a 10^th place finish in D3’s 800m.

Noah Devereaux – Laingsburg standout has placed in the top-6 here for the past 3 years.

Tyler Leach – consistently a mid-16 figure in 2024, save for one race – his 16:12, major PR and 26^th place finish in D3.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Gage Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm
2	10	Owen Poppema	Bath
3	11	John Kowatch	Pewamo-Westphalia
4	12	Noah Devereaux	Laingsburg
5	12	Tyler Leach	Otisville LakeVille
6	10	Wyatt Roberts	Otisville LakeVille
7	12	Sylus Wilson	Stanton Central Montcalm
8	11	Wyatt Werner	Pewamo-Westphalia
9	11	Charlie George	Pewamo-Westphalia
10	12	Kyler Fertig	Stanton Central Montcalm
11	10	Johnny Coston	Stanton Central Montcalm
12	10	Tate Smith	Bath
13	11	Nolan Mitchell	Pewamo-Westphalia
14	11	River Fox	Bath
15	11	Jaxon Hemgesberg	Chesaning
16	10	Eli Hobson	Montrose
17	12	Joshua Miller	Ovid-Elsie
18	10	Austin Hodges	Laingsburg
19	12	Evan Rolston	Stanton Central Montcalm
20	12	Cole Maier	Chesaning

Region 25

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Ithaca
#11 Caro
#24 Pigeon-Laker

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Ithaca	43
2	Caro	62
3	Pigeon-Laker	91
4	Sanford-Meridian	118
5	Midland Bullock Creek	132
6	Reese	172
7	Cass City	211
8	St. Louis	213
9	Beaverton	214
10	Remus Chippewa Hills	267
11	Carrollton	270
12	Hemlock	329
13	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	333

Top Athletes

Landen Styka – Yellowjacket featured here!

Luke Herron – Caro Tiger is 2 for 2 in terms of top-10 finishes here, but what a difference a year makes. Whereas he was on the high side of 17 as a freshman, he spent championship season beating down the doors of a sub-16 en route to a 20^th place D3 finish.

Jayden Fox – had to be satisfying for the Charger to earn a return trip to D3’s Track Finals. A 10:03 at Regionals got him there, 25+ seconds faster than anything he’d run as a sophomore or freshman.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Landen Styka	Ithaca
2	11	Luke Herron	Caro
3	12	Jayden Fox	Saginaw Valley Lutheran
4	11	Evan Olson	Pigeon-Laker
5	11	Marshall Brandt	Midland Bullock Creek
6	12	Jacob Mankey	Ithaca
7	9	Jacob Daisy	Caro
8	11	Evan MacLaren	Ithaca
9	10	Remyngton Clish	Sanford-Meridian
10	10	Kale Miklovic	Pigeon-Laker
11	12	Alex Rodriguez	St. Louis
12	12	Thad Whitmore	Ithaca
13	9	Jackson Ransford	Caro
14	12	Gage Spencer	Beaverton
15	9	Walter Haag	Pigeon-Laker
16	10	Christopher Shemes	Ithaca
17	9	Zeke Rickwalt	Caro
18	12	Wesley Haines	Reese
19	12	Logan Brawt	Sanford-Meridian
20	11	Xander Huckins	Reese

Region 26

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Lansing Catholic
#13 Ann Arbor Greenhills
#22 Leslie
#25 Rochester Hills Lutheran NW

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Lansing Catholic	39
2	Ann Arbor Greenhills	93
3	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	110
4	Leslie	111
5	Plymouth Christian Academy	114
6	Algonac	138
7	Almont	181
8	Clawson	242
9	Charyl Stockwell Academy	253
10	Madison Heights Bishop Foley	276
11	Stockbridge	276
12	University Liggett	303
13	Communication Media Arts	415
14	Detroit Osborn	440

Top Athletes

Noel Lorenzen – the defending champion here, who owned the fastest freshman mark of any D3 kid in the 3200m and was the 2^nd ranked D3 freshman at MIS (21^st place).

Lucas Gates – racing through the hills of St. Francis Retreat Center surely paid off at season’s end for this rising senior. After many efforts in the high-16’s, busted out a stunning 16:17 at State.  

Everett Beach – tons of focus on the 3200m this past track season and to a bit of success. Busted through into the 9’s at Bluejay, earned top-4 finishes in the CAAC White and Region 30.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Nole Lorenzen	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
2	12	Lucas Gates	Lansing Catholic
3	11	Everett Beach	Lansing Catholic
4	12	Emmanuel Mehari	Plymouth Christian Academy
5	10	Grady Richey	Lansing Catholic
6	11	William Gancer	Stockbridge
7	12	Julian Walker	Algonac
8	11	Kenneth Mangles	Leslie
9	9	Isaac Cox	Plymouth Christian Academy
10	12	Henry Beck	Ann Arbor Greenhills
11	10	Simon Reed	Plymouth Christian Academy
12	11	Naveen Kulkarni	Ann Arbor Greenhills
13	11	Téo Krumm	Lansing Catholic
14	12	Owen Beindit	Algonac
15	10	Jack Songer	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
16	12	Blaise Demko	Lansing Catholic
17	11	Finn Korte	Lansing Catholic
18	10	Oscar Wordell	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
19	11	Cooper Schmelter	Leslie
20	10	Carson Potter	Lansing Catholic

Region 27

Top 27 Teams

#26 Erie Mason

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Erie Mason	67
2	Grass Lake	80
3	Blissfield	81
4	Clinton	113
5	Adrian Madison	113
6	Monroe St. Mary CC	114
7	Ottawa Lake-Whiteford	146
8	Ida	196
9	Detroit Northwestern	278

Top Athletes

Christian Craanen – quite a November run for this SMCC runner. Asserted himself early at MIS and even outkicked a few to finish 14^th, the fastest freshman in D3 and 3^rd fastest 9^th grader on the day. The next week, proved it no fluke with another sub-16 at Shepherd.

Trenton Fetter – another athlete putting in the work to make himself a D3 contender. From his sophomore to junior track seasons, dropped 25 seconds in the 1600m and 36 of ‘em in the 3200m. The payoff being an All-State finish in the 1600m.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Christian Craanen	Monroe St. Mary CC
2	12	Trenton Fetter	Adrian Madison
3	10	Michael Weidmayer	Blissfield
4	11	Joseph Colaluca	Erie Mason
5	10	Noah Sills	Blissfield
6	10	Phineas Totten	Monroe St. Mary CC
7	12	Luke Stanley	Ida
8	12	Connor Sherwood	Grass Lake
9	12	Paul McClure	Adrian Madison
10	10	Caleb Healey	Erie Mason
11	10	Weston Albright	Erie Mason
12	11	Austin Strand	Clinton
13	12	Emmet Van Cleave	Grass Lake
14	9	Grant Rasor	Ottawa Lake-Whiteford
15	11	Zachary Taylor	Clinton
16	11	Connor Boteler	Grass Lake
17	9	Haiden Bennett	Clinton
18	12	Jackson Carner	Erie Mason
19	11	David Mills	Erie Mason
20	11	Zack Buttigieg	Grass Lake