Regional Previews: Division One Girls

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 Divisions 2-4, these are pretty set in terms of full teams and feeder middle schools. Of course, there are cities that don’t really use athletic.net (Ann Arbor) or their middle schools randomly feed into their high schools (Plymouth-Canton). Then are those whose students go to one high school or the other based on where an athlete lives. There’s even some districts that let families decide and don’t care about geography. Long story short, if you’re feeling underrated because I didn’t include an incoming freshman, the season starts soon enough anyway and it won’t matter.

Anyhow, here are your D1 Girls 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 2 – six teams in the top-26. Quite a wide-ranging group of contenders! You’ve got Up North squads (Traverse City Central & West), Tri-Cities folks (Bay City Western, Dow, and Midland), and even a team from Metro Detroit (Hartland). Many of these teams are concentrated within the same spots in the rankings, and there could be a few that’ll be driving home a considerable distance while disappointed.

Region 7 – four teams ranked between 19^th and 27^th, battling for two spots. With the addition of Northville, this region was greatly strengthened. Royal Oak, Novi, and White Lake Lakeland returned almost everyone, so unsure why Northville and Farmington had to move here.

Intriguing Battles

Region 1 – three teams in contention for the final qualifying spot. Of the trio of Forest Hills Northern, Hudsonville, and Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, the Huskies probably have the most complete team. They’ve got a low stick in Prinsen and return five girls that were sub-20:40. Hudsonville has the front-runners and Ottawa Hills has the depth, but each would have to strengthen their weakness to get to FHN’s level.

Region 2 – four teams in the vicinity of the 3^rd spot. The projections have Hartland and Traverse City West a bit above the rest of the field. But the next four, eight ranking spots and 25 points between the teams of Traverse City Central, Midland Dow, Bay City Western, and Midland. Based on last year and track, it appears there will be a solid pack of girls from the 19:30-20:15 range. Whomever immerses the most amount of girls in that pack or places girls ahead of it will likely advance.

Region 5 – Pioneer vs. Saline. I know the projections show a bit of a gap between the two, but that always seems to tighten by season’s end. The two teams, nearly always elite, become calloused to the competition against one another, usually to their benefit after the trek down US-12 to MIS. In 2024, Saline won 5 of the 6 meetings between the two, then at the end of the year, was D1 runner-up. Ann Arbor Pioneer returns every scorer, Saline has to replace a few. Either way, expect the gap between the two to be in the single digits by late October.

Region 6 – five teams within reasonable distance, contending for three spots. What this region may lack in strong, state-contending teams, they make up for it in pure chaos. Last year’s version wasn’t that, but 1^st place Northville and 3^rd place Farmington move up to Region 7. Livonia Churchill progressed through track season. Ann Arbor Huron, Salem, and Plymouth only lose one scorer from last fall’s race. And Farmington Hills Mercy is listed in the region on athletic.net and not the MHSAA site, so who knows what’s going on there.

Region 7 – five teams in the running for two spots. Last October, Royal Oak was able to use a little home course magic, advancing on their 6^th runner. Novi, solidly in second in 2024, returns their regional champ, thus the Wildcats will likely only need to worry about scoring four. Walled Lake Northern could benefit from some freshman additions. Then White Lake Lakeland and Farmington are commonly two squads that always exceed ranking expectations.

Region 8 – Adams vs. Rochester. Many of the Rochester girls had a late-season surprise, paving the way for Oakland County and Regional wins, along with a 4^th spot at MIS. A few move on, most notably Lucy Cook. But enough remain in order to remain in contention against a Rochester Adams squad that brings back three of their top-four and adds a potentially impactful freshman.

Region 9 – Romeo vs. the field. At last autumn’s MAC Red, Macomb County, and Regional meets, Romeo was able to score a perfect 15 points on the field. Even their 6^th and 7^th runners came in 6^th and 7^th place (is there a term for this? Kinda feels like the differentiation between a no-hitter and a perfect game). Can it happen again? A little less likely, but not Romeo’s fault, the rest of the region has improved a bit.

Region 1

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Rockford
#11 Jenison
#24 Forest Hills Northern

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Rockford	40
2	Jenison	64
3	Forest Hills Northern	109
4	Hudsonville	120
5	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills	125
6	Grand Haven	138
7	Grandville	213
8	Greenville	233
9	Muskegon Mona Shores	234
10	Muskegon Reeths-Puffer	234
11	Grand Rapids Northview	293

Top Athletes

Daisy Cox – Rockford junior on the bounce back

Cassie Karasinki – rapidly rising Hudsonville junior

Gracelin Martin – Greenville senior has set her mind towards lofty goals and achieved many, dropping over 100 sec. from her freshman year

Paige McMeans – made a massive leap from 9^th to 10^th grade, perhaps most evident here at Region 1, where she moved up 44 places from 54^th to 10^th.

Chloe Purwin – any time you can place in an OK Red distance event, you’ve set the course towards a solid cross season. Purwin was 5^th in the conference 1600m, her second straight scoring finish in the event

Jillian Lewakowski – in track, we got to see what she was capable of fully healthy, her 5:10 in the 1600m ranking #15 amongst Michigan freshmen girls.

Willa Prinsen – another transformative season, Willa’s junior year taking her from mid-20’s to mid-19’s and her first state qualifier

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Daisy Cox	Rockford
2	11	Cassie Karasinski	Hudsonville
3	12	Gracelin Martin	Greenville
4	11	Paige McMeans	Jenison
5	11	Chloe Purwin	Hudsonville
6	10	Jillian Lewakowski	Rockford
7	12	Willa Prinsen	Forest Hills Northern
8	10	Morgan Sanders	Rockford
9	12	Macy Guikema	Jenison
10	10	Jaclyn Charbauski	Forest Hills Northern
11	9	Camryn Gervais	Grand Haven
12	9	Stella Walker	Rockford
13	10	Keagan Mulka	Rockford
14	10	Maddy Aleisa	Jenison
15	12	Cianah Budnik-Ramos	Grand Haven
16	9	Emma Storey	Jenison
17	11	Madeleine Hengeveld	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
18	10	Cecelia Wojciakowski	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
19	12	Jersi Bilek	Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
20	12	Ellery Horness	Muskegon Mona Shores

Region 2

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Traverse City West
#14 Hartland
#18 Traverse City Central
#22 Bay City Western
#23 Midland Dow
#26 Midland

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Traverse City West	70
2	Hartland	85
3	Traverse City Central	117
4	Midland Dow	132
5	Bay City Western	133
6	Midland	142
7	Grand Blanc	186
8	Highland-Milford	215
9	Davison	225
10	Lapeer	271
11	Mt. Pleasant	280
12	Holly	282
13	Saginaw Heritage	373
14	Alpena	390
15	Flushing	462
16	Swartz Creek	489

Top Athletes

Emilia Garces – was just featured!

Tessa Mascari – titanicly elite.

Elliana Neuer – one of those taking a lengthy trip to showcase her skills.

Maddie Lindley – precipitous drops at the end of cross set a fire that lasted through track, as Lindley broke 5:00 and 11:00 and placed 12^th in the D1 1600m.

Kaitlyn Berg – only lost twice during her 8^th grade season, then ran a 18:52 at Shepherd’s PROM to cap it.

Ava Goodman – had been on the cusp of it for the majority of two seasons, was finally able to slip into the 18’s at MITCA.

Abby Veit – all three of her high school seasons have featured times in the 18’s.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Emilia Garces	Midland Dow
2	11	Tessa Mascari	Traverse City West
3	12	Elliana Neuer	Hartland
4	11	Maddie Lindley	Holly
5	9	Kaitlyn Berg	Midland
6	11	Ava Goodman	Hartland
7	12	Abby Veit	Traverse City West
8	12	Nevaeh Polovina	Davison
9	10	Emma McLaughlin	Midland
10	9	Autumn Luick	Midland Dow
11	12	Sophia Nunnery	Hartland
12	11	Jaclyn Suderman	Bay City Western
13	9	Anika Feist	Midland
14	12	Bailey Wenzlick	Traverse City West
15	10	Ariana Rajah	Traverse City Central
16	9	Cecelia Jacobson	Traverse City Central
17	11	Jillian Broyles	Highland-Milford
18	12	Sienna Cobb	Traverse City Central
19	9	Grace Meyers	Bay City Western
20	10	Jessa Skonieczny	Mt. Pleasant

Region 3

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Holland West Ottawa
#12 Zeeland East
#13 Portage Central

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Holland West Ottawa	51
2	Zeeland East	69
3	Portage Central	72
4	Byron Center	148
5	Zeeland West	177
6	Portage Northern	195
7	Forest Hills Central	226
8	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix	248
9	Caledonia	250
10	Battle Creek Lakeview	252
11	East Kentwood	260
12	Lowell	304
13	Kalamazoo Central	324
14	Mattawan	329

Top Athletes

Ava Porras – a MIXC favorite over the years

Adalyn Raab – one fast chix.

Ainsley Kelm – good to see Portage Northern represented!

Avery Scott – at home here at Portage

Ava Lawrence – East Kentwood ain’t just a track powerhouse.

Olivia Stacy – has a penchant for running her best at the end of the year, this past version featuring a few sub-19’s

Collette Wierks – intro cross season for this multi-faceted track star was nothing but a success – top-5 efforts in Region 1 and the OK Red, quite a few mid-18 efforts

Meredith Cook – not just a contributor to the excellent Chix 4×8 squads, she’s got three top-15 regional finishes as well.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Ava Porras	Holland West Ottawa
2	10	Adalyn Raab	Zeeland East
3	10	Ainsley Kelm	Portage Northern
4	10	Avery Scott	Portage Central
5	12	Ava Lawrence	East Kentwood
6	12	Olivia Stacy	Portage Northern
7	11	Collette Wierks	Holland West Ottawa
8	12	Meredith Cook	Zeeland East
9	9	Hailey Sieler	Forest Hills Central
10	12	Taryn DiLaura	Zeeland East
11	10	Gracie Carlisle	Portage Central
12	11	Lyla Dowling	Holland West Ottawa
13	12	Lilah Yoder	Forest Hills Central
14	10	Mary Dolbow	Holland West Ottawa
15	10	Julia Welc	Portage Central
16	12	Kailey Mann	Byron Center
17	11	Ella Wierks	Holland West Ottawa
18	10	Reese Haglund	Holland West Ottawa
19	12	Megan Kuzma	Zeeland East
20	12	Rhea Mouw	Portage Central

Region 4

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Brighton
Top-10 Okemos
Top-10 Ann Arbor Skyline

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Brighton	37
2	Okemos	57
3	Ann Arbor Skyline	61
4	Dexter	161
5	Grand Ledge	165
6	East Lansing	187
7	Mason	189
8	Howell	222
9	South Lyon East	223
10	South Lyon	224
11	Holt	309
12	Jackson	378
13	Lansing Waverly	410
14	Lansing Everett	430

Top Athletes

Rachel Smith – maybe gonna be featured soon?

Lucia Llanes – highly talented sophomore that progressed fast last year

Lydia LaMarra – bulldogs always make their way onto this list

Ella Lorenz – and Ella might be the next one to be on here for awhile

Aviana Skinner – has been continually moving forward, especially evident with her D1 finishes – 111^th as a sophomore to 26^th this past fall.

Gabriella Fugazzi – cross season was cut short, but Fugazzi made up for it in track, hitting PB’s in the 800m and 1600m.

October Harns – drastic change between her regular season and championship seasons. Low-19’s throughout much of the year, then flipped a switch in late October, grabbing 5^th in Region 2 and barreling towards 18-flat at MITCA.

Becca Van Lent – unfortunately wasn’t able to complete her cross season, but definitely finished her track one. Contributor to Skyline’s 11^th place 4×8 team and ran a few sub-2:20’s on her own.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Rachel Smith	Okemos
2	10	Lucia Llanes	Brighton
3	12	Lydia LaMarra	Ann Arbor Skyline
4	10	Ella Lorenz	Brighton
5	12	Aviana Skinner	Grand Ledge
6	11	Gabriella Fugazzi	Okemos
7	12	October Harns	Okemos
8	11	Becca Van Lent	Ann Arbor Skyline
9	12	Juliet Lewis	Brighton
10	12	Courtney Lince	Brighton
11	12	Taylor Wiegand	Brighton
12	12	Maizie Cavanaugh	Brighton
13	11	Kodie Snyder	Dexter
14	11	Isla Tharp	Ann Arbor Skyline
15	11	Irie Scrase	Ann Arbor Skyline
16	12	Fiona Whitmyer	Okemos
17	12	Lydia Jagger	Grand Ledge
18	9	Kylie Karfonta	South Lyon
19	10	Ruby Petee	Mason
20	12	Morgan Christopher	Brighton

Region 5

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-10 Saline

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	30
2	Saline	49
3	Brownstown Woodhaven	99
4	Gibraltar Carlson	126
5	Temperance Bedford	129
6	Monroe	198
7	Dearborn	225
8	Ypsilanti Lincoln	255
9	Wyandotte Roosevelt	286
10	Allen Park	289
11	Southgate Anderson	299
12	Belleville	305
13	Ypsilanti Community	341
14	Dearborn Fordson	366
15	Detroit Cass Tech	404
16	Detroit Martin Luther King	483

Top Athletes

Natasza Dudek – could be very high on the 50 Tickets

Hana Boggess – rotisserie chicken legs.

Sienna Klemmer – would be the #1 runner on many, many teams

McKinley Jones – one of two outstanding young Hornets

Savannah Staton – two of two outstanding young Hornets

Charley McKay – downriver’s finest

Lilli Schlack – past two seasons have taken a similarly successful pattern. Start in the 20’s and move your way down to the 18’s by season’s end. Place top-10 here and highly in the SEC Red as well.

Audrey Grosteffon – undefeated as an 8^th grader in SEC middle school action, Zone 2 winner as well.

Katarina Munson – one of the key factors in the Hornet rise to the MIS podium. Her 18:37 at State, a 30+ second personal best.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Natasza Dudek	Ann Arbor Pioneer
2	12	Hana Boggess	Ann Arbor Pioneer
3	10	Sienna Klemmer	Ann Arbor Pioneer
5	10	McKinley Jones	Saline
4	10	Savannah Staton	Saline
6	10	Charley McKay	Brownstown Woodhaven
7	12	Lilli Schlack	Saline
8	9	Audrey Grosteffon	Temperance Bedford
9	11	Katarina Munson	Saline
10	11	Nina Moore	Ann Arbor Pioneer
11	11	Iva Ravindra	Temperance Bedford
13	12	Eleanor Grant	Wyandotte Roosevelt
14	12	Bridget Kerber	Ann Arbor Pioneer
15	10	Adelynn Turck	Saline
16	11	Sophie Roth	Saline
17	10	Annabelle Chan	Brownstown Woodhaven
18	11	Hope Noal	Brownstown Woodhaven
19	9	Ada Cain	Gibraltar Carlson
20	11	Adrianna Zub	Allen Park

Region 6

Top 27 Teams

None.

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Salem	65
2	Ann Arbor Huron	70
3	Livonia Churchill	87
4	Plymouth	92
5	Farmington Hills Mercy	92
6	Livonia Stevenson	145
7	Livonia Franklin	170
8	Canton	193
9	Dearborn Heights Crestwood	237
10	Detroit Renaissance	273
11	Wayne Memorial	361
12	Westland John Glenn	376

Top Athletes

Annabeth Hazlewood – lauded for her consistent splits at MIS in ’23. She was a bit more aggressive in 2024, hitting the mile in 5:44 en route to a match of her personal best – 18:35. A multi-faceted racer!

Mackenzie Dicken – first cross season went about as well as possible, five straight sub-20’s to close it off, including a 19:12 at State.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Annabeth Hazlewood	Salem
2	12	Mackenzie Dicken	Plymouth
3	12	Nora Gerzema	Farmington Hills Mercy
4	12	Rianna Radulescu	Livonia Churchill
5	12	Leena Shelgikar	Ann Arbor Huron
6	12	Becca Jud	Salem
7	11	Samantha Bartell	Salem
8	10	Sadie Bohnsack	Ann Arbor Huron
9	10	Mira Shelgikar	Ann Arbor Huron
10	11	Julie Schuessler	Livonia Churchill
11	10	Ainslie Carter	Farmington Hills Mercy
12	12	Rachael Halkey	Livonia Churchill
13	12	Caroline LaPointe	Plymouth
14	10	Elizabeth Gerzema	Farmington Hills Mercy
15	10	Lucy Morrow	Livonia Franklin
16	9	Olivia Kelly	Livonia Stevenson
17	12	Mia Fernandez	Canton
18	12	Kinsey Nordbeck	Livonia Franklin
19	10	Zoe Bossmann	Ann Arbor Huron
20	12	Natalie Workman	Livonia Churchill

Region 7

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Northville
#19 Novi
#21 Walled Lake Northern
#25 Royal Oak
#27 White Lake Lakeland

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Northville	38
2	Walled Lake Northern	103
3	Novi	110
4	Royal Oak	121
5	White Lake Lakeland	131
6	Farmington	140
7	Bloomfield Hills	176
8	Birmingham Seaholm	206
9	Berkley	208
10	Walled Lake Central	252
11	Beverly Hills Groves	360
12	North Farmington	362
13	Walled Lake Western	363
14	West Bloomfield	437

Top Athletes

Katelynn Egli – becoming one of the more multi-tooled Michigan distance girls

Alexandra Scappaticci – KLAA and Zone 3 middle school champ. May quickly be acquainted to the 5k distance, as she ripped a 18:23 at MITCA.

Colette Lozo – becoming known for her late-season tears. Closed 2024 with four of her final seven races at 18:57 or faster.

Paige Rohda – unfortunately unable to finish her cross season. Undaunted by setback, she attacked the 3200m in track, earning a trip to East Kentwood via a wise, patient 11:25 at Region 8.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Katelynn Egli	Novi
2	9	Alexandra Scappaticci	Northville
3	11	Colette Lozo	Northville
4	10	Paige Rohda	Berkley
5	11	Allie Gallagher	Walled Lake Northern
6	12	Kierra Magner	Farmington
7	11	Olivia Jenney	Bloomfield Hills
8	12	Addison Herr	Bloomfield Hills
9	10	Eliana Fredrick	Walled Lake Northern
10	12	Annabelle Beloiu	Northville
11	9	Brynn Somers	Northville
12	10	Naya Abu Yasin	Northville
13	11	Jane Meinecke	Royal Oak
14	12	Molly Kate Coates	Northville
15	11	Emma Engalan	Northville
16	11	Katelyn Parrish	Farmington
17	11	Maya Pletzer	White Lake Lakeland
18	11	Anna Macdonald	Royal Oak
19	11	Emily Alt	Walled Lake Northern
20	10	Alexandra Green	Birmingham Seaholm

Region 8

Top 27 Teams

#15 Rochester Adams
#17 Rochester
#20 Clarkston

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Rochester	56
2	Rochester Adams	59
3	Clarkston	71
4	Lake Orion	120
5	Oxford	129
6	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	137
7	Troy	154
8	Utica Ford	230
9	Troy Athens	263
10	Warren Mott	330
11	Waterford Kettering	343
12	Auburn Hills Avondale	372
13	Waterford Mott	394
14	Sterling Heights Stevenson	406
15	Warren Cousino	427

Top Athletes

Ella Abraham – learned XC lessons last year, ready to apply them this fall.

Leah Corby – more runs in the 17’s possible?

El McMahan – probably in the middle of a 70 mile week rn

Audrey Hamilton – has finished in the top-8 all of her years here

Avery DeGrendel – moved from 17^th here in her first season to 9^th here in 2024, her first sub-19 ever.

Taryn Moore – as Bigelow leaves, another standout comes to the program. Taryn was 3^rd in Oakland County last year and got her first taste of the 5k with a 18:54 at MITCA.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Ella Abraham	Rochester
2	12	Leah Corby	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
3	11	El McMahan	Rochester Adams
4	12	Audrey Hamilton	Troy
5	11	Avery DeGrendel	Clarkston
6	9	Taryn Moore	Oxford
7	12	Taylor Parsons	Rochester
8	10	Ava Thomas	Rochester Adams
9	10	Charlotte Jones	Rochester
10	12	Cecilia Kreiter	Rochester Adams
11	9	Jessica Soldan	Rochester Adams
12	11	Addison Brigham	Clarkston
13	11	Linda Lopez	Lake Orion
14	11	Natalie Meldrum	Lake Orion
15	11	Kendal Russette	Clarkston
16	11	Tessa Kozlowski	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
17	9	Annabelle Shaw	Clarkston
18	12	Gianna D’Angelo	Utica Ford
19	9	Aryana Givans	Rochester
20	11	Annie Roraff	Rochester

Region 9

Top 27 Teams

Top-10 Romeo
#16 Utica

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Romeo	19
2	Utica	64
3	Macomb Dakota	95
4	Fraser	116
5	Port Huron Northern	132
6	Chippewa Valley	155
7	Grosse Pointe South	182
8	Utica Eisenhower	184
9	L’Anse Creuse North	213
10	Anchor Bay	303
11	St. Clair Shores Lakeview	338
12	St. Clair Shores Lake Shore	395

Top Athletes

Natalia Guaresimo – writeup potentially extremely soon?

Annie Hrabovsky – Anakin!

Ella Goodsell – breakout star

Siene Muraszewski – working hard toward lifelong goals

Emmerson Clor – junior year was full of adversity, may her senior year be smooth sailing

Brooke McFarland – the 20’s as a freshman, the 19’s as a sophomore, the 18’s as a junior. There’s gotta be more to come.

Emma Brown – closed her cross season in a similar fashion to McFarland, ripping massive personal bests here and at State, ending with a 18:46

Reese Rosbolt – probably the only sub-19 girl in state history to not be on her varsity squad. But the long-awaited opportunity awaits!

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Natalia Guaresimo	Romeo
2	11	Annie Hrabovsky	Romeo
3	12	Ella Goodsell	Romeo
4	12	Siene Muraszewski	Utica
5	12	Emmerson Clor	Romeo
6	12	Brooke McFarland	Utica
7	11	Emma Brown	Utica
8	11	Reese Rosbolt	Romeo
9	12	Lidia Clancy	Macomb Dakota
10	9	Grace Mathers	Chippewa Valley
11	11	Alice Foley	Fraser
12	12	Jacalyn Yakel	Utica Eisenhower
13	12	Samantha Langolf	Port Huron Northern
14	11	Aubrey Rizzo	Macomb Dakota
15	11	Maggie Baginski	Utica Eisenhower
16	12	Katelyn Frazier	Fraser
17	11	Lilianna Peace	Chippewa Valley
18	12	Kate Molloy	Fraser
19	10	Emma Stone	Utica
20	11	Haley Sharp	Port Huron Northern