It’s been a consistent theme with the boys so far here, coming into their own as a junior in track
Brighton’s Bulldogs always seem to do this, after a few seasons of heavy mileage, hard work, growing together, they reach a point where it all meshes together
For Brady, it was most notably dropping his 800m from 2:10 to 2:00 and his 3200m from 9:47 to 9:33
He has the experience of being there in big races, the hyped dual between Brighton and Caledonia needed many pieces to execute, and Brady was a solid 6th man for their squad
His times and ratings didn’t match his early season prowess, but he still snuck under 17:00 at State
As one of a few captains, he’ll be essential in the team’s quest for more glory and I’m confident he’ll be up for the task
Also, whomever created this Brighton website should be proud of themselves. What a great way to get the captains to tell their backstory. Also loved all the info in the various tabs. Clean and well put together!
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Brady Matuszewski
17:16.7
190.4
Mustang
Cass Benton
31-Aug
11
Brady Matuszewski
17:10.2
192.9
Averill
Possum Hollow
11-Sep
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:29.7
198.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:58.7
183.1
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:26.1
184.3
Gabriel Richard
Hudson Mills (South)
16-Oct
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:42.1
184.0
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:48.5
185.8
4 Meadows
Huron Meadows
29-Oct
11
Brady Matuszewski
16:59.5
178.2
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Brady Matuszewski
170.7
Brighton/Romeo
Huron Meadows
2-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
164.8
Brighton/Churchill
Nankin Mills
8-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
177.0
Brighton/Canton
Cass Benton
12-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
178.3
Brighton/Howell
Huron Meadows
19-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
164.9
Brighton/Pinckney
Hudson Mills (North)
22-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
166.3
Brighton/Milford
Huron Meadows
29-Sep
10
Brady Matuszewski
177.3
Brighton/Plymouth
Cass Benton
3-Oct
10
Brady Matuszewski
166.3
Brighton/Northville
Huron Meadows
10-Oct
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Brady Matuszewski
168.0
South Lyon
Island Lake
9
Brady Matuszewski
177.4
Averill
Kensington
9
Brady Matuszewski
173.6
Spartan
Forest Akers
9
Brady Matuszewski
173.7
Jefferson
Sterling State Park
9
Brady Matuszewski
174.6
Mott Fall Classic
Hess Hathaway
9
Brady Matuszewski
177.7
Portage
Portage West MS
9
Brady Matuszewski
176.7
Gabriel Richard
Hudson Mills (South)
9
Brady Matuszewski
177.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
9
Brady Matuszewski
184.7
4
DeWitt HS
9
Brady Matuszewski
176.2
D1 State
MIS
It’s taken awhile, but Sam is beginning to show the promise she put forth as a young runner
But that’s not entirely her fault, as her 2020 track season was canceled and her 2021 season ended in a walking boot
With a more careful approach by her coaches, she blossomed this past spring, especially in the mid-distances
As mentioned in the Scheffler writeup, she was part of a trio of Downriver girls racing under 2:17 at the Downriver League Championship, where she finished 2nd
At season’s end, she had three sub-2:20 800s to her name, culminating in a 2:16 at State to finish 9th
It’s not as if the shorter races were it, she also ran 11:15 in early May, and I bet if she raced it a month later, she’d be screaming down towards the 11:00 barrier
With all these bullet points describing her track season, it might seem as if she’s not had any cross success, that ain’t the case, she’s a 3x State Qualifier, 3x Top-10 in the Downriver League, and twice All-Wayne County
That said, expect her to contend for the latter two crowns this coming fall
Now we’re getting to the fun part! In previous years, what I’ve done is list the top teams, top individuals. Prior to last summer, I’d write and write and write, then never finish my writings before the season started. In 2021, I made the decision to just list the top teams and not add any creative input. I’m going to bridge that gap this year. The best of the best are covered in the 50 Tickets, the fastest runners on the best teams will be covered in their Top 10s. In these previews, I want to write just a tiny bit about everyone else. Maybe it’s only a sentence, but y’all deserve even the tiniest bit of recognition.
These projections include incoming freshmen. This is a necessary step in the previews, however there are some unknown areas. A major example from this region are smaller, private middle schools. Obviously, kids going to Royal Oak Shrine MS will likely go to Royal Oak Shrine HS. But how about Southgate’s St. Pius? Their HS could be Cabrini, could be Gabriel Richard, maybe Divine Child? I’ll ignore those unknowns, process the ones that make sense, but as a result, there will be cases of freshmen that I miss, and that may skew the projections. If you know of a case outside of the traditional progression, let me know!
Where: Memorial Park, Royal Oak. This will definitely be the most “urban” regional. Located on the corner of 13 Mile and Woodward, miles away from the iconic Hans… I’ll just stop right there. As with anything in southern Oakland County, it’s fairly flat. The park itself does have a few rises, but nothing that I would consider a hill.
We have a course map! From their pre-regional in 2020:
2020 Boys: Riverview Gabriel Richard (State Place in 2021 – 5th), Royal Oak Shrine (16th), Lutheran Westland (23rd)
2020 Girls: Rochester Hills Lutheran NW (3rd), Allen Park Cabrini (13th), Royal Oak Shrine (8th)
Top 25 Boys Teams: Royal Oak Shrine (Top 10), Marine City Cardinal Mooney (Top 10), Lutheran Westland (22nd), Allen Park Cabrini (24th)
Top 25 Girls Teams: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (Top 10), Rochester Hills Lutheran NW (Top 10), Royal Oak Shrine (17th)
(As stated earlier, the shoutouts and anecdotes here will be anyone in the Top 15 isn’t on a top team)
Christopher Russelburg – Put it all together in track season, nailing PB’s at both the 1600m and 3200m at State (4:30/10:05).
Alex Meszaros – Defending CHSL C/D and Regional Champion. Russelburg has the times, Alex has the experience, we might see a great duel in four months.
Tom Shafer – Showed much promise as a freshman, breaking 18:00 at both Gabriel Richard and the MIAC Championship.
TJ Donnan – MIAC Champion in both the 1600m and 3200m. One of my favorite customers at the store, a humble man with a great attitude and burgeoning talent.
Merrick Michaelson – Frankel Jewish Academy doesn’t run much, but when they do, Merrick makes it count. Two consecutive state meet qualifications.
Isaac Zammit – Ran a massive PB to close last year, a 18:35 in the CHSL C/D meet at Willow.
Luke Douglas – Showed signs of breakthroughs last year, sub-19 at Spencer Park, Gabriel Richard, then nearly broke 18:00 at State.
Ava Teed – Junior has twice been All-State, twice Top-3 in this region. Will this be the year she breaks through? Had an astounding track season where she reached as low as 11:17 for the 3200m and finished Top-8 in both the 1600m and 3200m.
Erika Van Loton – Regional champ here in 2020, finished 2nd in both 2019 and 2021. Is redemption a possibility?
Natalie Gibbs – Rounded into form last October, grabbed a medal at the Oakland County meet, then turned that into an All-State selection.
Helana Napiorkowski – It was a long road, but she finalllly broke 21:00 late last fall. Had many consistent performances in track, running multiple mid-12 times in the 3200m.
Michaela Kurth – We love the improvement throughout the year, as she started 2021 with multiple 24:00+ performances and closed it with an 11th place finish here and a sub-22 at the MIAC Championship.
Natalie Malczyk – In the spring, she doubles as a sprinter/jumper. 15’4 was good enough to place 2nd at the MIAC Championship.
Tess Tillman – As with Kurth, massive time drops late. 25:00+ at the Clawson Watermelon led to multiple sub-22’s in championship season.
These have been moving a little slower lately because I’m in the final stages of going through incoming freshmen, rounding out the Top 10s, and assembling the regions together. Later in the week, I’ll get cranking again.
A newcomer to the cross community, Mia made an immediate impact in her sophomore year
One could see the talent in middle school, where she broke 13:00 late in her 8th grade year, but a global pandemic and a broken foot led to zero results for a good 1.5 years
During her freshman track season, it appeared she was putting that injury behind, continually dropping time in the 1600m until she reached 5:32 at season’s end
Last fall is where Mia truly blossomed, and her progression throughout the season was palpable, major drop, plateau, major drop
Many of those major dips coming late: Bluejay, OK White 4, and the State Meet
Though her track times don’t jump off the page like some of the others, I think they speak to a greater strength, despite “only” running 5:26 (6 seconds faster than 2021), Mia can still run in the low-18’s
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Mia Bateson
19:55.7
131.1
Under the Lights (GRSC)
South Christian HS
27-Aug
10
Mia Bateson
19:17.2
137.3
OK White 1
Gainey Fields
8-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:57.1
126.0
Bredeweg
Macatawa Bay MS
11-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:21.9
139.0
Ottawa Hills
Riverside Park
17-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:50.8
137.1
OK White 2
Riverside Park
22-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:54.4
143.2
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
25-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:34.0
147.7
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:38.6
139.8
OK White 3
Brookside GC
6-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:49.4
147.5
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:18.0
154.0
OK White 4
South Christian HS
20-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:32.7
143.1
1 Allendale
Allendale HS
30-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:19.3
150.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Courtney, Ransom, and now Parks
The Allens have been a great family to the mid-Michigan running community, contributing to state titles, All-Americans, academic All-Americans, and Parks is doing a great part of continuing that legacy
As I’ve said before, living up to expectations has the risk of being devastating, but these kids I’m writing about have found a way to perform time and time again
Parks stepped onto the Ithaca team and had an immediate impact, qualifying for State as a freshman, being a top-3 runner on a team that’s finished top-10 in the state the past two years
He himself has a penchant for crushing that Shepherd course and coming through at MIS
His season best the past two years is at Shepherd
11th and 12th place at MIS in those years
I feel he really put it all together this spring, just look at these progressions: 1600m 4:39 > 4:23, 3200m 9:59 > 9:33
In conclusion, he’s reaching even another level, I look forward to him and Coach Merchant having a fun fall on their hands
