Blog

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 13^th Place – Division 3 State (XC)
• 2x All-State (XC)
• 4^th Place – Region 24 (XC)
• 7^th Place – Division 3 State 800m
• 4x All-State (Track)

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Whitney Werner	18:51.5	Pewamo-Westphalia	144.2	Happy Acres	27-Aug
10	Whitney Werner	19:55.8	Pewamo-Westphalia	134.4	Yellowjacket	31-Aug
10	Whitney Werner	19:30.0	Pewamo-Westphalia	132.0	Marauder	7-Sep
10	Whitney Werner	18:49.4	Pewamo-Westphalia	144.5	Sparta	17-Sep
10	Whitney Werner	19:26.7	Pewamo-Westphalia	130.4	CMAC 1	21-Sep
10	Whitney Werner	19:05.7	Pewamo-Westphalia	130.4	Josh Lott	24-Sep
10	Whitney Werner	19:13.8	Pewamo-Westphalia	127.1	Pewamo-Westphalia	28-Sep
10	Whitney Werner	19:16.8	Pewamo-Westphalia	132.1	DeWitt	1-Oct
10	Whitney Werner	19:14.1	Pewamo-Westphalia	125.6	Apples 2 Apples	6-Oct
10	Whitney Werner	19:18.2	Pewamo-Westphalia	131.3	Greater Lansing	15-Oct
10	Whitney Werner	19:28.1	Pewamo-Westphalia	124.6	Region 14	29-Oct
10	Whitney Werner	19:20.5	Pewamo-Westphalia	134.2	Division 3 State	5-Nov
10	Whitney Werner	18:39.0	Pewamo-Westphalia	138.3	MITCA	12-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Whitney Werner	20:09.8	Pewamo-Westphalia	117.7	Yellowjacket	2-Sep
9	Whitney Werner	19:41.0	Pewamo-Westphalia	127.3	Marauder	8-Sep
9	Whitney Werner	19:33.3	Pewamo-Westphalia	122.9	CMAC (Fowler)	22-Sep
9	Whitney Werner	19:24.2	Pewamo-Westphalia	123.6	Webberville Spartan	25-Sep
9	Whitney Werner	19:37.4	Pewamo-Westphalia	123.9	Pewamo-Westphalia	29-Sep
9	Whitney Werner	19:00.0	Pewamo-Westphalia	139.0	Bluejay	2-Oct
9	Whitney Werner	20:12.3	Pewamo-Westphalia	114.9	CMAC 2	5-Oct
9	Whitney Werner	19:10.9	Pewamo-Westphalia	129.0	Apples 2 Apples	7-Oct
9	Whitney Werner	19:06.2	Pewamo-Westphalia	118.9	CMAC 3	20-Oct
9	Whitney Werner	20:44.9	Pewamo-Westphalia	124.7	Region 24	29-Oct
9	Whitney Werner	19:16.6	Pewamo-Westphalia	126.5	Division 3 State	6-Nov
9	Whitney Werner	18:54.5	Pewamo-Westphalia	139.5	MITCA	13-Nov

The Rundown

When you run for others, it becomes much easier to generate great efforts of your own. For Whitney, this comes in a few categories. During the fall, as her Pewamo-Westphalia team has racked up consecutive top-10 finishes in Division 3, Whitney has led the Pirate pack with top-15 placings. Whether on relays or on her own, she’s contributed to 16 points in the Division 3 Track Finals, aiding the Pirates in their consecutive top-5 finishes. Of course, she can lay waste to the above theory, each of the past two years running personal bests at MITCA. Come late season, look for Whitney as she’s at the front of what looks to be another excellent P-W outfit.

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW
MID-SEASON
REGIONAL PROJECTIONS
THE RESULT

Girls

1. Grand Traverse Academy (11^th)
2. Buckley (10^th)
3. Leland (7^th)

Boys

1. Mason County Eastern (7^th)
2. Frankfort (10^th)
3. Pentwater (15^th)

My boys projections were consistent all year for the top two, Eastern and Frankfort. But for the third spot, it was Leland. Then Buckley. Then Pentwater. And hey, I was right for once! But to be right, a kid such as Mitch Daniels stepped up in a big way. Leland’s girls pulled off a great late season surge, coming through here, then finishing the highest of any girls team from the Division 4 M-22 area.

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

Buckley (8^th), Mason County Eastern (10^th), Frankfort (20^th)

Boys

Mason County Eastern (8^th), Maple City Glen Lake (11^th), Frankfort (14^th), Pentwater (16^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	Buckley	44
2	Mason County Eastern	45
3	Frankfort	75
4	Bear Lake-Onekama	104
5	Grand Traverse Academy	123
6	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	140
7	Pentwater	183

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Mason County Eastern	68
2	Maple City Glen Lake	80
3	Pentwater	91
4	Frankfort	94
5	Leland	134
6	Mesick	134
7	Bear Lake-Onekama	146
8	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	162
9	Grand Traverse Academy	221

Top Runners

Thought I’d give a review of some of the top returners in each region. Returners means no incoming freshman (you’ll get your days in the sun). If you’re gonna be in the 50 Tickets (did I forget Aiden this year?), you’ll get a full writeup there. If you’re on a top team and you’re projected highly here, you hit the jackpot! Yes, I’m writing a bit less than previous years, but I think I’ve learned my lesson in that I need to conserve energy and brainpower for all divisions and regions. Typically by August, I’m rushing to get these done. This time around, hopefully all regions get the same amount of coverage.

Aiden Harrand, Buckley

A victory here would be her third consecutive regional championship. Full writeup coming in a few weeks!

Ella Knudsen, Leland

Sophomore season was only ~20-25 seconds faster than her freshman year, though that doesn’t tell half the tale. Ella went from 5^th to 3^rd here, the real momentous jump was her 44^th to 15^th place advancement at State.

Lucy Shoup, Mason County Eastern

On top of the quantum leap from her 9^th to 10^th grade years, Lucy also racked up a few honors. A WMD Championship, 8^th place at Class D, 4^th place here, and an All-State.

Lauren Niedzielski, Mason County Eastern

Mentioned her final three races in the Top Tens post a few weeks ago. To gain a greater appreciation for that, consider Lauren’s best coming into October was nearly 23 minutes.

Abe VanDuinen, Pentwater

Top-5 finish here and a 35^th place at State were both far and away his bests at each juncture. Those high placings likely helped kickstart Abe into a spring where he ended with an All-State in the 1600m.

Alex Tyndall, Mason County Eastern

His 3200m personal best (and it’s not one of those anomalies, dude was 9:5x on multiple occasions) doesn’t just impress in the small school scene, he’s also #35 amongst all 9^th and 10^th graders in the state of Michigan.

Colebrook Sutherland, Maple City Glen Lake

An extremely condensed cross season with a major highlight – 16:55 here, good for 4^th place. Track may be more of an indicator of his fitness, a 4:37 1600m placing 14^th at Division 4 State.

Mason Sinke, Bear Lake-Onekama

Placed 2^nd here as a true freshman, but unfortunately missed the 2021 season. That year off was no deterrent from another runner-up finish this past fall.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

2022 Results

Meet	Division	Place
Hesperia	Green	1st of 4
Pete Moss	Small	2nd of 8
Buckley		1st of 9
Evart Wildcat	Small	2nd of 14
Oakridge	Small	1st of 4
Cecil Burch		2nd of 7
Pentwater Falcon		1st of 5
Chris Grabowski		3rd of 12
Hart & Sole		3rd of 6
WMD Championship		1st of 3
Class D		4th of 16
Region 29		1st of 7
Division 4 State		7th of 27

Top Returners

Alex Tyndall

Incredible progress from freshman to sophomore year evident in both cross, but perhaps more significantly, track. His 9:50 in the 3200m ranked 8^th overall in D4, but the real kicker was his 5^th place finish in that event at the State Finals.

Peter Hybza

At Region 29, was able to cut his place in half and drop a minute from 2021’s time. 18:19 to 17:18 and 18^th place to 9^th.

Luke Niedzielski

Eleventh grade year was his first on the cross team. Normally that’s an adjustment and hope you’re ready to go for regionals. Luke was sub-19 by the end of September, which turned into a 17:37 to nab 14^th in Region 29.

Ron Hassenbank

Okay, I know Buckley is a quick course but STILL. His 18:00 to finish as MCE’S fifth man was out of nowhere!

Henry Malburg

Clear early on that Henry was in line for a special sophomore season. At Pete Moss, he finished almost 3 minutes faster than his 2021 self, which then extended towards an 18:22 personal best at Regionals.

Clay Shoup

Coming in as MCE’s 6^th man in Region 29, his 20^th place was almost 10 spots better than the previous year. And although the victory was in hand through 5 guys, he sure displaced a ton of fellow competitors to grow their margin.

Potential Newcomers

Milo Shoup

Boasted 7^th place finishes in both the 1600m and 3200m at West Michigan MEGASTAR. The 3200m especially giving hope that he can adjust to the HS distance.