SUMMER PREVIEW
Last Year
Summer
Mid-Season
Final Projections
The Result
Boys
- St. Louis (D3 Runner-Up)
- Ithaca (11th)
- Midland Bullock Creek (21st)
Girls
- Caro (6th)
- Ithaca (9th)
- St. Louis (21st)
Once again, super accurate on top-two and a darkhorse sneaks in for 3rd.
Top 27 Teams
Boys
Top Ten – Ithaca
#25 – St. Louis
#26 – Pigeon-Laker
Girls
Top Ten – Ithaca
#20 – Midland Bullock Creek
Projected Scores
Boys
| Place | Team | Projected Score |
| 1 | Ithaca | 43 |
| 2 | St. Louis | 105 |
| 3 | Pigeon-Laker | 111 |
| 4 | Sanford-Meridian | 116 |
| 5 | Midland Bullock Creek | 119 |
| 6 | Caro | 141 |
| 7 | Reese | 152 |
| 8 | Sandusky | 189 |
| 9 | Cass City | 218 |
| 10 | Saginaw Valley Lutheran | 229 |
| 11 | Carrollton | 299 |
| 12 | Millington | 313 |
Girls
| Place | Team | Projected Score |
| 1 | Ithaca | 31 |
| 2 | Midland Bullock Creek | 70 |
| 3 | Caro | 86 |
| 4 | Sanford-Meridian | 90 |
| 5 | St. Louis | 107 |
| 6 | Saginaw Valley Lutheran | 155 |
| 7 | Cass City | 156 |
| 8 | Millington | 225 |
| 9 | Carrollton | 272 |
Top Runners
Boys
| Place | Grade | Name | Team |
| 1 | 12 | Landon Pestrue | St. Louis |
| 2 | 11 | Landen Styka | Ithaca |
| 3 | 12 | Tyler Heal | Sanford-Meridian |
| 4 | 12 | Miingen Bertrand | Ithaca |
| 5 | 12 | Brayden Sweeney | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 6 | 12 | Cade Truemner | Pigeon-Laker |
| 7 | 10 | Luke Herron | Caro |
| 8 | 9 | Christopher Shemes | Ithaca |
| 9 | 12 | Jacob Moore | Caro |
| 10 | 11 | Jacob Mankey | Ithaca |
| 11 | 9 | Remyngton Clish | Sanford-Meridian |
| 12 | 10 | Evan Olson | Pigeon-Laker |
| 13 | 11 | Jayden Fox | Saginaw Valley Lutheran |
| 14 | 11 | Hayden Shattuck | St. Louis |
| 15 | 11 | Alex Rodriguez | St. Louis |
| 16 | 11 | Duane Davis | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 17 | 12 | Colin Kuhn | St. Louis |
| 18 | 10 | Marshall Brandt | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 19 | 11 | Thad Whitmore | Ithaca |
| 20 | 11 | Blake Darnell | Bad Axe |
| 21 | 11 | Logan Brawt | Sanford-Meridian |
| 22 | 12 | Brent DeSaegher | Ithaca |
| 23 | 9 | Kale Miklovic | Pigeon-Laker |
| 24 | 10 | Robby Samborn | Saginaw Valley Lutheran |
| 25 | 10 | Evan MacLaren | Ithaca |
50 Tickets post didn’t even mention the ginormous improvement in the 1600m. 4:54 through two years of HS to 4:23 as a junior.
From late October on, he was a new person. Coming into the all-TVC meet, Styka held a personal best of 16:42. His last four races were all faster, including a 16:10 at State. The iron was still hot during track, where he firmly established himself as one of D3’s best, placing 3rd in the 3200m.
Silently a candidate to make some major noise in November. Along with an All-State finish, had a couple jaunts into the low-16’s in the fall. The 4:24 1600m is intriguing, especially considering his sophomore best was 4:44.
Finishing one spot off the D3 podium may have been disheartening, but dude had a day. Six second personal best and a far cry from the mid-17’s that were present at the end of his sophomore year.
Wasn’t just satisfied moving past the 17’s, his 3200m track season showed more is in the cards. Placed 10th in a wild Region 30 race, his 10:02 still good enough to advance to State.
Came from the start of his career running in the 20’s to one, 30+ races later, busting through into the 16’s. One of those breakthroughs was at Laker’s home invite, another here on the regional stage.
Appears to be the next Tiger that’ll figure prominently in D3. At the XC State Finals, he was 6th amongst all freshmen and his 3200m time ranks 7th when filtered the same way.
Girls
| Place | Grade | Name | Team |
| 1 | 12 | Kaya Vrable | Caro |
| 2 | 9 | Khloe Lehnst | Ithaca |
| 3 | 9 | Averie Stefanovsky | Caro |
| 4 | 10 | Pyper Braun | Pigeon-Laker |
| 5 | 11 | Myleigh Hephner | Ithaca |
| 6 | 10 | Makinna Foglesong | Ithaca |
| 7 | 11 | Mattie Gagne | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 8 | 10 | Mikenna Nagel | Sanford-Meridian |
| 9 | 9 | Isabelle Strand | Ithaca |
| 10 | 12 | Maddie Huysentruyt | Sandusky |
| 11 | 9 | Sarah Nothstine | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 12 | 12 | Abby Dice | St. Louis |
| 13 | 10 | Haley Fitzgibbon | Sanford-Meridian |
| 14 | 10 | Olivia Hooper | Pigeon-Laker |
| 15 | 9 | Charlee MacLaren | Ithaca |
| 16 | 9 | Lily LaFave | Sanford-Meridian |
| 17 | 11 | Braylee Rice | Reese |
| 18 | 10 | Emily Beethe | Saginaw Valley Lutheran |
| 19 | 11 | Alexis Fabbro | Vassar |
| 20 | 9 | Samantha Skym | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 21 | 9 | Amelia Dawe | Ithaca |
| 22 | 11 | Aubrey Zarnke | Pigeon-Laker |
| 23 | 11 | Emma Fisher | Reese |
| 24 | 12 | Autumn Fransen | Midland Bullock Creek |
| 25 | 11 | Makenna Gwisdalla | Bad Axe |
In spite of a career of surgeries and setbacks, Kaya finds a way to keep coming back stronger. With two fully functional hips, she rattled off times of 5:18 and 11:17. Both were massive personal bests, setting the stage for a memorable senior year.
Cross country was a steady trickle of improvement, track was a downpour. Her 5:25 1600m ended up as the #8 time across all of D3’s freshmen girls.
’23 track campaign showed evidence that a coming storm was rumbling. But wow, I don’t think many could’ve predicted a move into the mid-19’s.
Incredibly consistent for a young freshman. All but two of her races were in the 20’s. One of the exceptions was the overall TVC meet, where Makinna juuust barely dipped her toes into the 19’s.
Shepherd’s course must be a sweet spot for Gagne, as she PR’ed here each of the past two years and ripped off two state qualifiers as well.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 