Blog

SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 16^th Place – Division 2 State (XC)
• 2^nd Place – SMAC Championship (XC)
• 4^th Place – Region 13 (XC)
• 5^th Place – Division 1 State 1600m
• SMAC 3200m Champion
• 2^nd Place – SMAC 1600m



Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Elena Figueroa	18:52.1	St. Joseph	141.3	Lakeview	10-Sep
10	Elena Figueroa	18:45.7	St. Joseph	142.8	Ottawa Hills	16-Sep
10	Elena Figueroa	19:26.5	St. Joseph	139.5	SMAC West 1	21-Sep
10	Elena Figueroa	18:30.2	St. Joseph	143.6	Cougar Falcon	24-Sep
10	Elena Figueroa	19:06.0	St. Joseph	130.0	Berrien County	1-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	19:21.6	St. Joseph	130.5	SMAC West 2	5-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	18:41.1	St. Joseph	142.6	Portage	8-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	19:11.7	St. Joseph	131.4	Rock n Run	13-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	18:37.9	St. Joseph	144.7	SMAC Championship	22-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	18:56.8	St. Joseph	135.4	Region 13	29-Oct
10	Elena Figueroa	19:05.3	St. Joseph	136.6	Division 2 State	5-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Elena Figueroa	20:34.3	St. Joseph	128.2	St. Joseph	24-Aug
9	Elena Figueroa	20:00.4	St. Joseph	123.9	Harper Creek Optimist	28-Aug
9	Elena Figueroa	19:14.1	St. Joseph	141.3	Lakeview	11-Sep
9	Elena Figueroa	18:52.5	St. Joseph	148.8	Ottawa Hills	17-Sep
9	Elena Figueroa	19:52.0	St. Joseph	121.7	SMAC West 1	22-Sep
9	Elena Figueroa	19:06.8	St. Joseph	139.1	Cougar Falcon	25-Sep
9	Elena Figueroa	18:55.7	St. Joseph	127.1	Berrien County	2-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	20:03.8	St. Joseph	118.7	SMAC West 2	6-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	19:29.5	St. Joseph	134.2	Portage	9-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	19:55.8	St. Joseph	119.1	Rock n Run	14-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	20:03.0	St. Joseph	120.3	SMAC Championship	23-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	19:40.4	St. Joseph	120.5	Region 3	29-Oct
9	Elena Figueroa	19:32.1	St. Joseph	126.3	Division 1 State	6-Nov

The Rundown

From start to finish, Elena’s sophomore year was a marvel to see. Her cross country season commenced with a sub-19 win at Lakeview, then her track season was complete after a 4:52 at the Division 1 1600m. As a freshman, she had given us hints of that talent, racing to sub-19 first at Riverside Park, then pulling off a Berrien County victory in a similar time. During her championship season in ’21, she was able to roll off a slew of 19-min. efforts, but not quite as quick as her performances earlier in the year. Perhaps it was a year’s growth, perhaps lessons learned, either way, she raced in a much more consistent manner as a sophomore, nearly matching her PB in the SMAC Championship, moving into the top-5 in Region 13, and then notching her first All-State ever. And that was all before her great track seasons, where she set PBs in all events, displaying range across the board. With another year of her Bears near the top of Division 2 and Gail Vaikutis to train with, expect the same streak of elite results.

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW
MID-SEASON
REGIONAL PROJECTIONS
THE RESULT

Girls

1. Romeo (2^nd)
2. Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (19^th)
3. Macomb Dakota (16^th)

Boys

1. Romeo (8^th)
2. Port Huron Northern (15^th)
3. Fraser (25^th)

Top 27 Teams

Previous years had top-25 teams, but there’s 27 (and sometimes more) team qualifiers and what does it hurt to add another two?

Girls

Romeo (Top 3), Macomb Dakota (25^th), Rochester Hills Stoney Creek (27^th)

Boys

Romeo (5^th), Anchor Bay (25^th)

(If your team isn’t listed in the images above or the scores below, you probably don’t have five returners, at least on ol’ athletic.net. I’m sure many of these teams will fill out their rosters by late October)

Projected Scores

Place	Girls Team	Score
1	Romeo	24
2	Macomb Dakota	82
3	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	84
4	Fraser	99
5	Grosse Pointe South	142
6	Grosse Pointe North	159
7	Port Huron Northern	258
8	Anchor Bay	261
9	Chippewa Valley	268
10	St. Clair Shores Lakeview	279
11	Utica Eisenhower	296
12	L’Anse Creuse	330
13	L’Anse Creuse North	341

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Romeo	45
2	Anchor Bay	97
3	Macomb Dakota	108
4	L’Anse Creuse North	130
5	Port Huron Northern	154
6	Grosse Pointe South	188
7	Grosse Pointe North	188
8	Chippewa Valley	208
9	Fraser	218
10	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	238
11	L’Anse Creuse	276
12	St. Clair Shores Lakeview	319
13	Utica Eisenhower	334
14	Warren Woods Tower	412
15	Warren DeLaSalle	444
16	Roseville	515

Top Runners

I’m making a slight change for the Division 1 folks. Previous regional writeups had the top finishers, even if they were mentioned in the Top 10’s or 50 Tickets. Because so many Division 1 kids make up the top 50 returners (which makes sense, since D1 covers about 60% of the state), I’ll write about a few runners beyond those 50. This will hopefully extend a bit more coverage towards more deserving athletes. Some of the 50 have been covered, others will get their own post. Check the Summer Preview page or keep checking back until next Thursday for those.

Mariah Belmont, Macomb Dakota

Was able to compete a little bit during the fall, even missing a month of the season. Helped her Cougars qualify for State, placing 18^th over here in Region 9. Come track we saw her back to her former self, at AAU Junior Olympics, placing 3^rd in the 17-18 2k steeple and 4^th in the 3k.

Grace Grupido, Fraser

I love how well-rounded she’s become. During her freshman track season, concentrated more on the longer distances, winning the MAC White 1600m and running 11:18 in the 3200m. As a sophomore, it was more of the shorter stuff, qualifying for State in the 800m, lowering her personal best by 10 seconds and winning the MAC White, Region 10, and Macomb County titles.

Leah Corby, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek

The rare link to a summer road race! Leah was the OVERALL female winner at Kayla O’Mara, running 18:15. Okay, I know XC isn’t run on the roads, but that course ain’t flat.

Jack DeWaele, Chippewa Valley

We saw the precursors during cross, where he whittled his time down to the mid-16’s by the end of the season. But man, the real eye opener came during track, where his 9:32 3200m (in less than ideal conditions, mind you) was a 38 sec. personal best.

Dylan Penberthy, L’Anse Creuse North

In his late season surge, Dylan was able to: win Marysville, set a massive PB here (15:47), place top-10 in Macomb County and the MAC, then found a way to place 30^th at State to cap it off. For what it’s worth, my state projections had him 64^th. I love those that prove the projections wrong.

Carter Fox, Macomb Dakota

Wholesale change between his sophomore and junior years. Whereas in 10^th grade, he went sub-18 on three occasions, in 11^th grade he was there on all but one race. And by there, I mean, he was in the 16’s for a majority of the year, including a 16:25 here.

Tyler Brothers, Utica Eisenhower

Closed his junior fall with seven consecutive sub-17’s, including a 16:18 at Goodells over here in Region 9. His ability to rise to the occasion came through in this spring’s Region 10, where he and his Eagle teammates came out of nowhere to make it in the 4x800m.

Zachary Rubicz, Anchor Bay

After being unable to complete his sophomore year of cross, made it all the way through his junior year. A junior year that featured his first sub-17 ever and a top-10 finish in Macomb County.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW





2022 Results

Meet	Division	Place
Pete Moss	Small	1st of 8
Spartan	White	6th of 31
Bluejay	Gold	5th of 11
Portage	D4	2nd of 18
Northern Michigan	Small	5th of 8
Region 28		1st of 6
Division 4 State		2nd of 27



Top Returners

Malaki Gascho

Battled back from injury to contribute to the Cardinals’ 2^nd place finish at State. Notched his 2^nd consecutive All-State in the process. Track gives more of a glimpse, especially in the 3200m, his 9:48 (and 4^th spot at State) showing he’ll be a frontrunner in D4.

Blake Fox

Has spent two consecutive years in the 16’s, capped off with two All-State finishes.

Jeremiah Witt

First season of cross as a sophomore featured two sub-18’s to close. But like many, look to track, where marks such as a 10:19 in the 3200m suggest an athlete that can drop significant time.

Dusty Layman

Set six personal bests during his junior season, and by the end of it had dropped nearly three minutes from his sophomore best.

Potential Newcomers

Drake Fulton

An athletic junior that apparently ran 19:30 at the Timberfest this past weekend on very little training.