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The Regional Previews: Division 4, Region 30

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW
MID-SEASON
REGIONAL PROJECTIONS
THE RESULT

Girls

  1. Breckenridge (22nd)
  2. Farwell (21st)
  3. Beal City (18th)

Boys

  1. Michigan Lutheran Seminary (24th)
  2. Breckenridge (26th)
  3. Beal City (27th)

Normally a strong mix of teams, the Region 30 squads didn’t fare so well at the state level in 2022, which may be why the MHSAA shifted Carson City and Everest Collegiate to this regional. But why are we calling it regionals anymore? Clarkston is NOWHERE NEAR Chippewa Hills.

I’d surely like an explanation as to why they have to pass by two regions that are closer before settling on a place closer to Traverse City than Metro Detroit.

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

Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (11th), Breckenridge (12th), Vestaburg (23rd), Beal City (24th)

Boys

White Cloud (15th), Breckenridge (18th), Beal City (27th)

(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

PlaceGirls TeamScore
1Breckenridge59
2Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart61
3Vestaburg108
4Beal City118
5Clarkston Everest Collegiate139
6St. Charles157
7Saginaw Nouvel198
8Big Rapids Crossroads Academy205
9Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary218
10Carson City-Crystal232
11Fulton248
12White Cloud250

PlaceBoys TeamScore
1White Cloud53
2Breckenridge53
3Beal City65
4Carson City-Crystal113
5Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary116
6Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart134
7St. Charles175

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, 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.

Amelia Thompson, Big Rapids Crossroads Academy

Unfortunately was not able to compete during the latter part of the season. Which is sad given that’s a time of year where she brings her best, to the tune of two All-States. Amelia got through the track season, which gives hope that she’ll be able to complete her senior year.

Abigail Davis, Vestaburg

Freshman to sophomore gains most evident during track, where her 5:31 gave her a 12th place finish in Division 4 after barely running the event at all as a freshman.

Jacqueline Morton, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

She’s been top-10 each of the past two years, quite a change from her 9th grade self who didn’t even get a chance to run at Regionals.

Ally Schmitz, Breckenridge

Initial high school season stretched into November and featured times in the mid-21’s. Track shows faster times could be in store, her 5:53 1600m placed her 4th in the MSAC.

Owen Patton, Vestaburg

The preseason rankings and projections probably underrate 800m specialists. Owen underwent a drastic rise in his mid-distance efforts this spring, graduating from a 1:58 kid to a 1:53 stud. I believe more is in store there, but the ability to train at a faster pace will greatly impact his summer training and cross performance. I wouldn’t be at all shocked if he’s in contention as he enters the infield at MIS.

Oh, and I should probably mention he’s been All-State twice on the grass. 28th as a sophomore, then 8th this past year.

Sawyer Stoneman, Breckenridge

Brought it during the fall, placing 3rd in the MSAC, 4th here, and top-50 at State. Respectively, all were the best finishes in his career. Then dominated during the spring, capturing the Mid-Michigan title in the 3200m while setting his personal best of 10:25 earlier in the month.

Coleson Cruzan, White Cloud

Underwent a massive transformation during track, especially in the 1600m, dropping 30+ seconds from his 2022 best.

Kristian Coon, Carson City-Crystal

9th grade year began with a widely varying efforts, alternating between 19’s and as high as 21’s. The season ended with two consecutive sub-18’s.

Rodney Iamurri, Saginaw Nouvel

Remarkable consistency across venues and from year to year. Sub-18 each of his two MIS appearances and 8th at Regionals either here or at Wagener Park.

Carter Follett, Merrill

His first 16 races at the high school level were all 20+ min. affairs. From September 10th on, he’s 100% been below that mark. That includes an 18:05 here, moving up from 19 places from his sophomore season to nab his first state qualifier ever.

Isaac Humm, Breckenridge

Has moved up each year at Regionals, from 17th to 10th to 6th.

Carson Foondle, White Cloud

The Indians moved up to Division 3 for a year and Carson stepped up his game with it, coming through with a 3200m under 11:00 during track.

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The Top Tens: Division 1 Boys #9

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

2022 Results

MeetDivisionPlace
Milford2nd of 18
SpartanElite10th of 20
Mott Fall Classic2nd of 21
Hansons1st of 34
Oakland County2nd of 35
OAA Red1st of 6
Region 81st of 17
Division 1 State4th of 27

Top Returners

Bryce Nowik

Read the writeup here!

Andrew Floros

In his nearly twenty races leading into his junior year, Andrew hit the 16-min. mark a grand total of zero times. During that junior year, he was there in almost 90% of his races.

Jaxson Nowik

Took an exceptionally good freshman track season and turned it into a sophomore cross season full of mid-16 efforts, grabbing All-County and top-100 at State.

Cayden DeGrendel

The State Finals may not have gone his way, but pretty much everything else in the ’22-’23 season had, including reducing his personal best from 18:20 to 16:32.

Joshua Ellingsworth

Busted out a sub-18 for the very first time, kicking off his October at the Hansons Invite. And the ball’s been rolling downhill since, ending up with a Oakland County 800m victory.

Braden Waechter

Sub-18 in his final three races and at the end of it all, knocked 75+ seconds off his freshman best.

Ryan Barnes

His fall was solid for a freshman, hovering around the 18’s all the way. Flashed a lil’ potential during track, not just barely creeping under 5:00, blasting through it with a 4:51.

Potential Newcomers

Blake Robison

May be a year away from contributing, but extra depth is never a bad thing. Consistently in the 12’s all year, then slipped under 12:00 in Zone 3.

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The Top Tens: Division 1 Girls #9

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

2022 Results

MeetDivisionPlace
Bredeweg5th of 19
SpartanElite9th of 19
Allendale FalconBig1st of 8
PortageD110th of 31
OK Red Conference2nd of 8
Region 13rd of 13
Division 1 State10th of 28

Top Returners

Valerie Beeck

Continually impressed by her range and ability to mow people down. At Track State, it seemed like she caught at least 5 teams in her anchor leg that led to a school record.

Addy Smith

Gained considerable strength in the offseason, shifting her 1600m best from 5:34 to 5:22. Extrapolate that to cross and you have a girl capable of getting down under 19:00.

Cianah Budnik-Ramos

9th grade year began in the 20-21 range, then ended with sub-20’s in two of her final three races. And let’s be honest, if MIS ran as fast as it used to, she’d have been well under it there too.

Abi Albright

Has come so far in such a small amount of time. 25:00 opener in the fall of ’21, already sub-20 as a sophomore. And if you take a peek at her track season, I think more improvement is in store.

Payton Hosley

Throughout her career, has put together 10+ sub-20 races and contributed at MIS to the Bucs last two top-15 finishes.

Gracey Barry

Gracey may not have run as quickly in 2022 as she did in 2021, but her contributions at the regional stage were much more meaningful, moving up from 60th to 36th.

Laurel Tolliver

Three consecutive years in the 20’s and just had her best 3200m season yet, hitting a new best of 12:18.

Lily Frendt

During both of her seasons, varsity for Grand Haven during their State Finals runs. Although her MIS performance last fall wasn’t as speedy as the previous one, she still raced into the 20’s as she did as a freshman.

Eleanore Mitchell

Another one of those junior girls who commenced their career in the 22-24 min. range but has ended the past two seasons in the mid-20 range.