Regional Previews: Division One Boys

Finally done with typing out 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.

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. I wanted to get these all done before meets begin. The 50 Tickets will likely conclude over the weekend, the Top Tens will be done throughout the week. On a similar timeline to previous summers with a much more time to enjoy my other interests!

Anyhow, here are your D1 Boys predictions.

Toughest Regions

Region 2 – three teams in the top-10, two other top-22 teams on the outside looking in. Already a pretty tough region with powers such as Traverse City Central and West, Saginaw Heritage, etc. Add in what could be the best Midland team we’ve seen in years, plus a traditionally strong Milford team making the unusual trek up north. A very deserving team could be sitting at home in early November.

Region 3 – six teams in the top-20. Probably the most absurd set of ranked teams I’ve ever seen in my seven years of intensely following the sport. Not the most star-powered ever, but five teams ranked between #11 and #20: Lowell, Portage Central, East Kentwood, Forest Hills Central, and Kalamazoo Loy Norrix. On the west coast, the percentage of high-performing D1 schools has to be at an all-time high.

Intriguing Battles

Region 1 – the third spot, likely between Forest Hills Northern and Jenison. Forest Hills Northern brings forth a senior-laden team, Jenison will be picking up the pieces left behind from their 2024 senior-laden squad. The Huskies look to have a little better depth, but on the other hand, many of the Wildcats are untested in big-time varsity races.

Region 2 – Midland vs. Milford for the win. It appears that that the Mavericks and Chemics are a bit ahead of the rest of the quality teams in this field. I can affirmatively say that this may be the first time ever that these two schools will face off for a regional distance running championship. Both advanced to State last year, Midland will hope to return to prove it was not a fluke and to improve on their 27^th place finish. Milford will hope to prove their greatness ain’t just on hilly courses.

Region 4 – Brighton vs. Ann Arbor Skyline for the win. Both were qualifiers last year, Brighton winning by a massive margin, 50+ points over the rest of the field. Ann Arbor Skyline was spurred by Zeke Lafferty, who ran a massive PR (then broke 4:30 in track – more in store?) to a surprise qualifier. The Bulldogs lose their top-3 finishers while the Eagles bring back all but one. The projections believe that the Skyline depth, especially through five, will be the deciding factor, although that decision is one point, basically a coin flip.

Region 5 – Pioneer vs. Saline for the win. The age-old battle. There have always been tales told, hearts broken, friendships shattered over competitions between teams at Stadium & Main and to the south. Just like football, the winner of these matches is likely to make serious noise on the bigger stage. The 2024 season saw a sweep by Saline, a team that then went onto finish 2^nd in Division 1. But as rivalries go, when one team experiences breakthroughs, the other responds, Ann Arbor Pioneer placing 4^th in the D1 4×8 and Beckett Crooks winning the 3200m. The projections find this competition very field-dependent – races with more mid-16 types might favor Saline’s depth, races with a higher proportion of high-15 kids might favor Pioneer’s extreme strength. At the State level, who knows what could happen.

Region 6 – Churchill vs. Canton for the third spot. It’ll be a rebuilding season for the two teams, both losing a considerable chunk of their scorers from their top squads last fall. Canton appears to be a bit stronger up front, bringing back Pengelly and Dusseau, while Livonia Churchill returns Wojtkowicz from their top-five. The unknown is how the rest of the spots respond to varsity pressure. Most runners rise to occasion, but some more than others. As with Pioneer and Saline, the gap grown by Canton’s top-two is just slightly ahead of Charger depth, and this is essentially a coin flip.

Region 7 – Walled Lake Northern vs. White Lake Lakeland for the third spot. Is it me or does this region just feel empty without Milford? Usually, there’s some sort of exploits where a one team wins the LVC, another won a league dual, the forgotten team was out of mind by the regional, but that team won the regional on their sixth runner. Anyhow, the Knights and Eagles are faced with a new challenge: Northville at the front. White Lake Lakeland, the defending champion, always outperforms the projections and has a Gavin Johns capable of breaking up the Mustang pack. Walled Lake Northern returns four of their top-five. The projections see the Knight depth at 2-4 being a significant factor, though once again this will likely be a close battle.

Region 1

Top-27 Teams

#13 Grand Haven
#26 Rockford

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Grand Haven	63
2	Rockford	78
3	Forest Hills Northern	92
4	Jenison	93
5	Grandville	127
6	Hudsonville	128
7	Grand Rapids Northview	170
8	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills	226
9	Greenville	246
10	Muskegon Mona Shores	310
11	Grand Rapids Union	314
12	Muskegon Reeths-Puffer	320
13	Wyoming	403
14	Muskegon	450

Top Athletes

Luka Hammond – writeup on the horizon.

Caden Livermore – locked horns with Hammond in an epic D1 1600m.

Aron Gal – an under the radar Buc contributor over the years.

Preston VanOeffelen – those fast 800’s gotta have some residual effect toward cross. Grew from the potential he showed as a sophomore, hitting 1:55 twice, the final one earning a 6^th place in D1.

Hayden Lafferty – just truckin’ along, getting better from race to race. 2024 seemed to be a season of gradual improvements, finally ending with a PR of 16:10.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Luka Hammond	Grand Haven
2	11	Caden Livermore	Grandville
3	12	Aron Gal	Grand Haven
4	12	Preston VanOeffelen	Greenville
5	12	Hayden Lafferty	Rockford
6	11	Josiah Derksen	Rockford
7	12	Caleb TeBrake	Grand Rapids Northview
8	11	Bradley Smies	Hudsonville
9	12	Nolan Wenglikowski	Jenison
10	10	Chase Sherman	Jenison
11	10	Luke Bultman	Rockford
12	12	Gabriel Williams	Forest Hills Northern
13	12	Philip Chamberlain	Forest Hills Northern
14	12	Kelton Hoover	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
15	12	Rhys Holmes	Grand Rapids Northview
16	12	Jacob McDaniel	Grandville
17	12	John Truong	Forest Hills Northern
18	12	Kasen Todtz	Grand Haven
19	9	Benjamin Ratke	Grand Haven
20	10	Carter Cooke	Jenison

Region 2

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Milford
Top-10 Midland
Top-10 Traverse City West
#14 Traverse City Central
#22 Saginaw Heritage

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Milford	60
2	Midland	65
3	Traverse City West	83
4	Traverse City Central	120
5	Saginaw Heritage	129
6	Holly	188
7	Grand Blanc	196
8	Davison	209
9	Alpena	235
10	Hartland	243
11	Mt. Pleasant	292
12	H.H. Dow	333
13	Flushing	387
14	Swartz Creek	395
15	Lapeer	440
16	Bay City Western	480

Top Athletes

Kyle O’Rourke – writeup also on the horizon

Caleb Keller – TCC kid who by now is used to long regional treks.

Liam Wierzba – coming off the heels of a fiery track season.

Cameron Cochran – embraced his final few weeks of the season, dropping personal bests at State and at MITCA.

Todd Tobin – 17:37 opener at Possum Hollow left many intrigued what was to come, finished the season as one of the better freshmen in D1.

Alexander Allen – been awhile since the days of the Smiths and Mitchell Day. Allen appears determined to join them in Alpena lore, blasting a 15:39, finishing in the top-5 here and in the Big North.

John Blaskowski – a Heritage standout for a few years, looking to make a return trip to MIS. Big gains in the 3200m this spring are a sign that it’s possible

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Kyle O’Rourke	Milford
2	12	Caleb Keller	Traverse City Central
3	11	Liam Wierzba	Traverse City West
4	11	Cameron Cochran	Midland
5	10	Todd Tobin	Milford
6	10	Alexander Allen	Alpena
7	12	John Blaskowski	Saginaw Heritage
8	12	Jack Steen	Traverse City Central
9	12	Hayden Murray	Traverse City West
10	12	Andrew Worsley	Midland
11	11	Broden Ladd	Holly
12	12	Bastien Beaubien	Milford
13	12	Logan Bellinger	Midland
14	10	Johnathan Elsea	Mt. Pleasant
15	12	Aidan Simrau	Traverse City West
16	10	Finn-Frost Grayson	Traverse City West
17	11	Matthew Wortley	Saginaw Heritage
18	12	Luke James	Midland
19	12	Dylan Doggett	Milford
20	11	Logan Gessford	Midland

Region 3

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Kalamazoo Central
#11 Portage Central
#12 Lowell
#17 East Kentwood
#18 Forest Hills Central
#19 Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
#27 Holland West Ottawa

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Kalamazoo Central	59
2	Portage Central	117
3	Lowell	123
4	East Kentwood	149
5	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix	153
6	Forest Hills Central	158
7	Holland West Ottawa	166
8	Caledonia	179
9	Zeeland West	189
10	Battle Creek Lakeview	230
11	Byron Center	250
12	Mattawan	264
13	Portage Northern	360
14	Zeeland East	396

Top Athletes

Jackson Lam – was just featured!

Samuel Baker – expect big things in November

Andrew Wright – from both Sam and his Andrew

Justin Johnson – developing rapidly

Ben Romero – let’s see that potential blossom

Marshall Huhn – blossomed during sophomore year

Cooper Byrne – has transformed over the past few years, moving from a freshman that was always over 18:00 to a senior looking to break through into the 15’s.

Ty Billings – has contributed mightily to Giant exploits of the past few years, clutch running recently during their regional 4×8 win and last fall, where they won the SMAC and this very Region.

Owen Fisher – Mattawan senior has moved from 67^th to 38^th to 14^th here in his three years

Noah Johnston – took the disappointment of not qualifying in cross and turned it into a track campaign where he dropped nearly 20 sec. in the 3200m. Darkhorse All-State candidate.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Jackson Lam	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
2	11	Samuel Baker	Kalamazoo Central
3	12	Andrew Wright	Kalamazoo Central
4	11	Justin Johnson	East Kentwood
5	11	Ben Romero	Forest Hills Central
6	11	Marshall Huhn	Lowell
7	12	Cooper Byrne	Lowell
8	12	Ty Billings	Kalamazoo Central
9	12	Owen Fisher	Mattawan
10	12	Noah Johnston	Caledonia
11	11	Matii Tarekegn	East Kentwood
12	10	Karson Lewis	Battle Creek Lakeview
13	12	Keagan Smith	Zeeland West
14	12	Nicolas Morale -Sanchez	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
15	11	Tristan Zhang	Portage Central
16	12	Elijah Thompson	Kalamazoo Central
17	10	Marcus Essling	Portage Central
18	12	Owen Gifford	Portage Central
19	12	Gavin O’Meara	Forest Hills Central
20	11	Memphis Connor	Byron Center

Region 4

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Ann Arbor Skyline
Top-10 Brighton
#21 Grand Ledge

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Ann Arbor Skyline	59
2	Brighton	60
3	Grand Ledge	99
4	Okemos	132
5	Dexter	143
6	Howell	150
7	East Lansing	179
8	South Lyon	233
9	Holt	246
10	South Lyon East	261
11	Jackson	291
12	Mason	361
13	Lansing Waverly	384
14	Lansing Everett	415

Top Athletes

Jack MacGregor – last fall’s winner, coming back for more

Ian Morgan – this year’s region a little closer to home

Zach Wyderko – another tough runner from a program known for them

Benjamin Rottier – track saw further ascendancy in the 3200m. Tons of sub-10’s, including a CAAC Blue victory.

Coen Hill – timeline rapidly progressed as a sophomore. 18:05 opener became a 16:05 closer, a top-10 finish here along the ride.

Blake Kulesza – while the cross State Finals may not have gone the way he’d hoped, the track ones did – contributor to a Brighton 4×8 squad that shocked the MIXC predictions, finishing 3^rd.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Jack MacGregor	Howell
2	12	Ian Morgan	Okemos
3	12	Zach Wyderko	Brighton
4	12	Benjamin Rottier	Grand Ledge
5	11	Coen Hill	Dexter
6	11	Blake Kulesza	Brighton
7	12	Liam Preisser	East Lansing
8	10	Oskar MacArthur	Ann Arbor Skyline
9	10	Rylen Richey	Grand Ledge
10	12	Zeke Lafferty	Ann Arbor Skyline
11	12	Mitchell Cory	Brighton
12	12	Bruno Cifaldi	Ann Arbor Skyline
13	11	Matthew Guikema	Ann Arbor Skyline
14	12	Malcolm Cesario	Okemos
15	10	Rem Piper	Holt
16	10	Martin Gehrke	Ann Arbor Skyline
17	10	Brendan Williams	Brighton
18	11	Nolan Lounds	Grand Ledge
19	11	Simon Shutt	Okemos
20	10	Nikhil Ball	South Lyon East

Region 5

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-10 Saline

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	38
2	Saline	39
3	Brownstown Woodhaven	92
4	Temperance Bedford	106
5	Monroe	196
6	Allen Park	210
7	Wyandotte Roosevelt	236
8	Gibraltar Carlson	268
9	Dearborn Fordson	271
10	Dearborn Edsel Ford	284
11	Dearborn	292
12	Ypsilanti Community	308
13	Southgate Anderson	322
14	Ypsilanti Lincoln	354
15	Detroit Cass Tech	391
16	Belleville	392
17	Lincoln Park	586
18	Taylor	594
19	Detroit Martin Luther King	595
20	Melvindale	617

Top Athletes

Kamari Ronfeldt – elite even when battling sickness

Beckett Crooks – fresh off his immaculate final lap at East Kentwood

Jacob Szalay – a young Hornet featured already

Brennan Larusso – and an experienced Hornet

Mourad Algahmi – definitely has moved past being a darkhorse All-State candidate. His 15:14 summer 5k on the fast Allen Park streets leaves many in wonder what he’ll throw down in the fall

Theo Sacks-Thomas – was part of that Pioneer track renaissance, hitting a 4:20 at MITCA and placing in the highly-competitive SEC Red

Pierce Scheffler – Downriver League champ hopes to lead his Warriors back to MIS, a place where he busted through into the 15’s.

Dane Hieronimus – twice top-10 here, has spent a good part of the past two years right on the 16 min. mark

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Kamari Ronfeldt	Ann Arbor Pioneer
2	12	Beckett Crooks	Ann Arbor Pioneer
3	11	Jacob Szalay	Saline
4	12	Brennan Larusso	Saline
5	10	Mourad Algahmi	Dearborn Fordson
6	12	Theo Sacks-Thomas	Ann Arbor Pioneer
7	12	Pierce Scheffler	Brownstown Woodhaven
8	12	Dane Hieronimus	Temperance Bedford
9	10	Wesley Rogan	Saline
10	11	Cameron Varner	Temperance Bedford
11	11	Carlos Basulto	Saline
12	11	Jack Klein	Saline
13	12	Quinn Davis	Ann Arbor Pioneer
14	12	Alex Vazquez	Brownstown Woodhaven
15	11	Noah Amori	Wyandotte Roosevelt
16	12	Thomas DeJesus	Ann Arbor Pioneer
17	11	Vincent Jones	Brownstown Woodhaven
18	11	Walker Ledbetter	Ann Arbor Pioneer
19	11	Jacob Cole	Saline
20	10	James Gage	Saline

Region 6

Top-27 Teams

#15 Salem
#20 Plymouth

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Salem	42
2	Plymouth	63
3	Canton	92
4	Livonia Churchill	93
5	Ann Arbor Huron	122
6	Detroit U-D Jesuit	169
7	Livonia Stevenson	211
8	Detroit Renaissance	246
9	Livonia Franklin	286
10	Wayne Memorial	301
11	Westland John Glenn	304
12	Ferndale	338
13	Dearborn Heights Crestwood	384
14	Detroit Mumford	442

Top Athletes

Aiden Pengelly – writeup soon!

Lucas LaPointe – fulfilling the yearly tradition of a Plymouth kid being getting a ticket

Steven Dusseau – stupendously reliable, almost all of his 2024 efforts in the mid-16’s, until a final few moving toward 16-flat.

Adrian Clarke – initial season saw rapid progress, starting north of 17 and finishing south of 16.

Jack Hanner – based on his improvement over four laps this spring (4:43 to 4:31), we can expect further gains in the fall.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Aiden Pengelly	Canton
2	12	Lucas LaPointe	Plymouth
3	12	Steven Dusseau	Canton
4	12	Adrian Clarke	Plymouth
5	11	Jack Hanner	Salem
6	12	Hudson Wojtkowicz	Livonia Churchill
7	11	Austin Mercado	Salem
8	12	Daniel Niehaus	Plymouth
9	12	Jaden Ding	Salem
10	12	Max Frentner	Salem
11	12	John Niemenski	Salem
12	12	Tommy Buckalew	Westland John Glenn
13	11	Tyler Bjorklund	Livonia Churchill
14	11	Justin Mkrtumian	Detroit U-D Jesuit
15	12	Parker Szymczak	Salem
16	11	Owen Dalebout	Salem
17	12	TJ Conley	Ann Arbor Huron
18	10	Lucas Brumo	Livonia Stevenson
19	12	Tobin Collins	Canton
20	12	Joey Brake	Livonia Churchill

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Northville
#23 Novi

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Northville	16
2	Novi	86
3	Walled Lake Northern	123
4	White Lake Lakeland	129
5	Royal Oak	156
6	Detroit Catholic Central	163
7	Farmington	218
8	Bloomfield Hills	223
9	Beverly Hills Groves	253
10	West Bloomfield	264
11	Walled Lake Central	296
12	North Farmington	332
13	Brother Rice	351
14	Berkley	355
15	Birmingham Seaholm	362
16	Walled Lake Western	461

Top Athletes

Ben Hartigan – clutch anchor legging and clutch State performances for two straight years

Brandon Cloud – silently one of the better runners from the Michigan junior class

Ryan Stojov – probably underrated on here, no way to project just how much his track improvement will carry over to cross

Lucas Mullan – had one of the better springs of any track freshman. 5^th in the New Balance freshman mile, 3^rd in the freshman 800m. He’ll have some great seniors to learn from in his initial foray into cross.

Gavin Johns – championship season was his time, with a runner-up in the LVC, top-5 regional finish, and top-50 spot at State.

Ethan Hertza – an under the radar Mustang who’s moved from a freshman barely breaking 20:00 in his opener to one that’s on the cusp of breaking into the 15’s

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Ben Hartigan	Northville
2	11	Brandon Cloud	Northville
3	12	Ryan Stojov	Northville
4	10	Lucas Mullan	Northville
5	12	Gavin Johns	White Lake Lakeland
6	12	Ethan Hertza	Northville
7	12	Nolan Collins	Brother Rice
8	11	Trevor Baptist	Novi
9	11	Musa Kay	West Bloomfield
10	11	Briggs Warren	Novi
11	12	Finn Gammerath	Walled Lake Northern
12	12	Soma Sato	Novi
13	12	Gavin Tisch	Detroit Catholic Central
14	11	Devin Lau	Farmington
15	12	Alex Hamilton	North Farmington
16	9	Ben Sims	Farmington
17	11	Jack Lewis	Northville
18	11	Nathan Bruss	Walled Lake Northern
19	10	Brady Glon	Detroit Catholic Central
20	12	Brenden Humitz	White Lake Lakeland

Region 8

Top-27 Teams

#16 Clarkston
#24 Rochester

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Clarkston	67
2	Rochester	76
3	Oxford	101
4	Troy	110
5	Lake Orion	140
6	Rochester Adams	154
7	Troy Athens	169
8	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	180
9	Utica Ford	193
10	Sterling Heights Stevenson	240
11	Warren Cousino	349
12	Auburn Hills Avondale	353
13	Waterford Kettering	414
14	Warren Mott	439
15	Waterford Mott	450
16	Sterling Heights	497

Top Athletes

Nate Linden – the last of this Athens resurgence

Ryan Barnes – talented as they come

Evan Owczarek – by the numbers, may have had the most dramatic time drops of anyone that entered the 15’s in 2024. Evan’s PR as a sophomore was a 18:24.

Max Houvener – moved up nearly 20 spots here at Region 8 to help his Dragons earn a State qualifier. Was in the at/near/under 16 in his final four races.

David Dubeck – another one with dramatic drops. Largely unable to compete as a sophomore, but transformed into a reliable 16-flat (or 15:59.8) kid when needed.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Nate Linden	Troy Athens
2	12	Ryan Barnes	Clarkston
3	12	Evan Owczarek	Rochester
4	12	Max Houvener	Lake Orion
5	12	David Dubeck	Clarkston
6	12	Dylan Pascoe	Rochester
7	10	Cooper McNaughton	Clarkston
8	9	Avery Clinton-Barnett	Oxford
9	12	Cayden Canham	Oxford
10	11	Jesse Reed	Rochester Adams
11	10	Ricardo Guajardo	Lake Orion
12	12	David Mann	Sterling Heights Stevenson
13	12	Aaron Hemstreet	Warren Cousino
14	10	Aidan Schwalbach	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
15	10	Lucas Campbell	Rochester
16	9	Joseph Leigh	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
17	10	Asa Konwinski	Troy
18	12	Isaac Clark	Troy
19	11	Zach Shaffer	Utica Ford
20	12	Dean Gallucci	Utica Ford

Region 9

Top-27 Teams

Top-10 Romeo
#25 Macomb Dakota

Proj. Place	Team	Score
1	Romeo	29
2	Fraser	82
3	Macomb Dakota	89
4	Utica	108
5	Utica Eisenhower	161
6	Warren DeLaSalle	170
7	Chippewa Valley	199
8	L’Anse Creuse North	217
9	Anchor Bay	246
10	Port Huron Northern	260
11	Grosse Pointe South	277
12	St. Clair Shores Lakeview	302
13	Roseville	435
14	Warren Woods Tower	464
15	St. Clair Shores Lake Shore	473
16	Port Huron	504

Top Athletes

Harper Wesley – your defending champ

Gavin Soviar – possible future champ, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. MS Regional Zone 3 champ who was sub-11 for a majority of his 8^th grade races.

Owen Perry – first cross season as a junior saw him rapidly learn the sport all the way to a 3^rd place Macomb County finish.

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Harper Wesley	Utica
2	9	Gavin Soviar	Fraser
3	12	Owen Perry	Romeo
4	12	Luke Allen	Romeo
5	9	Rio Hrabovsky	Romeo
6	12	Charlie Curtis	Utica
7	10	Xavier Solgot	L’Anse Creuse North
8	12	James Brickel	Romeo
9	9	Ripley Clor	Romeo
10	12	Lance Edghill	Fraser
11	9	Finley Clor	Romeo
12	12	Anthony Frei	Utica Eisenhower
13	12	Andrew Scheloske	Macomb Dakota
14	12	Aaron Osterman	Anchor Bay
15	12	Joseph Kaleto	Macomb Dakota
16	11	Carson Hlavin	Romeo
17	12	Jacob Giovannini	Macomb Dakota
18	12	Oliver Davis	Macomb Dakota
19	10	Cameron Martin	Fraser
20	12	Malcolm Richardson	Warren DeLaSalle