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GIRLS

Bloomfield Hills and Clarkston move over from regions 8 and 9 to show up at the top here.  The shuffling makes sense adding to this region, but I still don’t understand taking a top team out of region 8 when it’s probably the weakest region to begin with.  Anyhow, Bloomfield Hills returns their entire squad from their 16^th place finish last year.  Clarkston is quite the opposite, losing four of their top seven, but still having enough depth as a program to reload on the fly.  There are some other teams that are traditional powers (Lakeland, Milford) and others that are on the come up (Hartland).  That battle for 3^rd should be fun.

Ranked Teams: Bloomfield Hills (14), Clarkston (18)

Highest Rated

• Maryam Sheena, Walled Lake Western

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• Mia Patria, Clarkston

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• Andrea Ruiz, Holly

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• Chloe Wall, Waterford Kettering

When you think Waterford running, to me it’s always been Mott.  I’m glad Kettering is stepping up this year.  Chloe was above 20, even above 21 for much of last season.  She dropped under 20 at her conference meet, then ran 19:48 this tough Hess Hathaway course.  She continued on that trajectory in track, going 5:12/11:08.

• Mattie Drennan, Clarkston

For the past two years, Mattie has been a solid contributor on either JV or outside the top 5.  Her breakout race came at the Algonac regional last year, an 18:45 to finish 7^th.  Clarkston will need her to stay near that level to continue with their recent success.

• Rylee Lukes, White Lake Lakeland

Rylee was able to finish 13^th at regionals her first two years in high school, but last year was 18^th.  She really redeemed herself the next week in a PR performance of 19:04 at MIS.  Her 47^th place finish there was her best in her career.  She also ran some of her best 800s this spring, with 3 sub-2:25 races.

Career achievement/improvement

• Skylar Grubb, Highland Milford

I’m a fan of Milford’s lack of racing on a training basis (maybe not a rating basis!).  Other than her coaches and fellow athletes, it would’ve been tough to tell that Skyler had a major improvement in her.  Beginning at River Rat Open, her last four races were sub-20.  To put in perspective, her best time in 2017 was 21:46.

Darkhorse

• Abbey Carvey, Farmington

I know Coach Auer likes his kids flying under the radar, but this is too obvious a selection.  I considering manipulating the numbers to reflect Abbey’s improvement in track, but decided against it, keeping the same formula for everyone.  She figured something out in the middle of XC and it resulted in a superb track season, 2:14/5:14.  What that leads to in cross, I don’t know, but my personal opinion (and I never use personal opinion on these) is she’s top 6 here.

BOYS

Poor Brother Rice.  They’re in the hunt in region 8, where Bob Stark can work his regional magic.  Unless he goes all Dumbledore on us, they’re probably too far back.  Clarkston moves right down the street and should be the clear favorite, they lose fan favorite Shawn Slater and Sprague, but they have youngsters ready to step up.  Highland-Milford and Hartland are two teams that are a bit more pack-based.  Sure, Hartland has Hough, but they should have a fairly interchangeable 2-7.  Milford unfortunately lost one of their top 7 to the mountain biking circuit, but they’re so loaded that they’re still a top-10 team according to these numbers.

Ranked Teams: Clarkston (2), Highland-Milford (10), Hartland (14)

Highest Rated

• Brendan Favazza, Clarkston

Profile.  TullyRunners.  (TullyRunners ratings are 26 pts lower than mine)

• Peter Baracco, Farmington

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• Riley Hough, Hartland

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• Justin Hill, Walled Lake Central

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• Hunter Fougner, Waterford Mott

I know Hunter wants another shot at the State Meet.  His season was going very well up to that point, he had set a PR of 16:08 but arguably had better performances at Mott Fall Classic and Oakland County.  That road to redemption began in track, where he was able to go 4:25/9:36.

• Akshay Reddy, Walled Lake Central

The Reddy family probably feels the same way about States.  Akshay has improved his standing every year, from 160^th to 98^th to 40^th.  Walled Lake Central had the team accomplishment last year, now time to move into that All-State realm.  Reddy has the track profile of someone capable of this, having gone 1:57.1 (although in my mind, he has the body of a miler).

• Nathan Sesti, Clarkston

Nathan is third on the list of those looking for a better State result.  He had some eye-catching times, sub-16 three times, probably most impressively at Jackson.  On the track, he’s established himself as more of a mid-distance kid, this spring he went 1:59/4:27.

Career achievement/improvement

• Ryan Kachnowski, Walled Lake Western

Ryan’s sophomore season was moving in a positive direction, a huge PR at Coaching Legends followed by a solid performance at Oakland County.  But then his regional race went poorly, a disappointing 18:42.  Redemption occurred last fall, his 16:49 on this tough track was good enough to hit an individual qualifier.  Love this kid’s dedication, he made the trek over to Macomb County to camp with us this week.

Darkhorse

• Andrew Sesti, Clarkston

Andrew is one of the Clarkston youth ready to step on the scene.  He already did in track, where he placed 6^th in the Oakland County 3200m with a 9:44.  He quietly came on at the end of October, but nothing to that level.

GIRLS

Calvin Christian’s girls have been regional champs for seven consecutive years, expect that to continue.  They have girls who will be at the front here, their whole varsity squad is solid, and I may even have them a bit underrated.  The region itself is fairly standard, you have three top-25 teams, but not much drama for that third spot.  Kent City loses Lauren Freeland, but returns the rest of their varsity runners from a team that finished 7^th last year.  Black River brings some freshmen into the mix, which should vault them from the fifth place they finished last year.

Ranked Teams: Grandville Calvin Christian (3), Kent City (11), Holland Black River (23)

Highest Rated

• Layla Martini, Kent City

Layla came onto the scene as a freshman, finishing 7^th here and running a 19:33 at Portage.  She improved on that last year, dropping her PR down to 19:05, then finishing 3^rd here, and 18^th at MIS.  Also knocked out top-10 finishes at Bluejay, Portage, and Sparta.  On the track, she seemingly focused on the 1600/3200.  In that 3200, she was able to place 7^th at State Finals.

• Isabella Lindsay, North Muskegon

Spent some time in North Muskegon a few months ago, and what a gorgeous little place to run.  Isabella has definitely benefitted from this as she’s been a 3x All-State runner.  Her best finish came in 2017, where she placed 8^th.  Her best time came last season, a 18:55 at Pete Moss.

• Catherine Kortman, Grandville Calvin Christian

Catherine made some nice improvements toward the end of last year.  Starting with Shepherd’s Bluejay Invite, she dropped below 20:00 in six consecutive races, hitting her PR (19:24) in the process.  State Meet didn’t go so hot, but it appears she’s back on track this summer, hitting 19:02 in a road race last weekend.

Career achievement/improvement

• Abby Ignasiak, Kent City

Table time!

Race	Freshman time	Junior time
Kent City Long Lake	26:25	21:47
Central Montcalm	25:06	21:18
Sparta	25:04	21:16
Portage	23:31	20:40
Regionals	23:20	19:30

17^th place at States last year as well.  Go Abby.

Darkhorse

• Kate Witvliet, Grandville Calvin Christian

A few coaches will send me messages, Grandville’s coach being one of them.  I love it when a coach is confident in their kid, that added confidence and positivity definitely increases one’s chance at success.  Kate is finally healthy after battling some injuries during XC.  She was able to run 5:33/11:56 this spring.  One of the reasons Calvin Christian may be underrated.

BOYS

As on the girls’ side, the team race here doesn’t have much intrigue.  Calvin Christian should repeat as regional champs; Kent City will be able to rebuild while showing new blood the state meet experience.  Covenant Christian hasn’t qualified since 2015, with their numbers, they may have someone come out of nowhere.  Their athlete:enrollment ratio might be the highest of any D3 school.

Ranked Teams: Grandville Calvin Christian (10), Grand Rapids Covenant Christian (17)

Highest Rated

• Luke Witvliet, Grandville Calvin Christian

If he weren’t the highest rated returner in this region, Luke would be a candidate for most improved.  He lowered his personal bests in track and XC.  18:38 to 17:00 in cross and then 11:18 to 10:04 on the track.

• Adam Wolffis, Montague

Montague moves over from the Benzie region, Adam should acquit himself well over here.  He finished 12^th there last year, running a personal best of 16:48.  Like Witvliet, he made some leaps on the track going from 11:02 to 10:17 and 5:21 to 4:54.

• Zach Schwarz, Grand Rapids Covenant Christian

Zach’s regional race didn’t go so well last year, so I’m sure he’s chomping at the bit for another crack at it.  His season started to pickup mid-September, hitting the mid-17s on most of his races.  His best race came at Otsego Bulldog, a 17:07 effort.  If he runs at that level, he’ll definitely finish top-5 here.

Career achievement/improvement

• Ethan Vink, Grand Rapids Covenant Christian

Table time!

Race	Freshman Time	Junior Time
Kent City Long Lake	23:50	17:53
Sparta	22:16	17:25
Allegan Tiger	20:52	18:32
Kent Ottawa	20:58	18:01

And he made it out as an individual last year.  Go Ethan.

Darkhorse

• Emerald Lawrence, North Muskegon

Like a few others in this region, Emerald dropped some considerable time on the track.  11:08 to 10:19 in the 3200m.  Last year was his first season of cross, as a 10^th grader he was able to qualify, placing 11^th.

GIRLS

Bloomfield Hills Marian has been on a nice little roll the last year or so.  They were a surprise to me during the middle of last XC season, at States they finished 21^st.  Their 4×8 team pulled off the win at Oakland County.  They return everyone from that varsity squad, most importantly, the talented duo of Erin Siver and Maya Harb.  Detroit Country Day might be that surprise this year, I believe they’re bringing in three freshmen that could make an impact.  And of course, Linden and Notre Dame Prep are always successful.

Ranked Teams: Bloomfield Hills Marian (18), Linden (25)

Highest Rated

• Jennifer Ohlsson, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

Already profiled here.

• Claire Thomson, Clawson

As JFTMichigan pointed out earlier, Claire might be the best Clawson runner since the Schultz’s were running down 14 Mile.  This spring, she won Freshman Oakland County in the 800m and finished 2^nd in the 1600m.  She was 9^th in this race and broke 20:00 at MAC Championships.

• Erin Siver, Bloomfield Hills Marian

Siver, like Thomson, was one of the better freshmen girls in Oakland County.  She was pretty solidly in the 20’s until a breakout performance at the River Rat Open meet (although at Willow, not a race easy to run fast at).  She finished 10^th here, then had another sub-20 effort at States.  On the oval, she showed some 800m potential, a 2:21.2 PR, which was good for 6^th at Oakland County.

• Maya Harb, Bloomfield Hills Marian

A year into the Marian program, Harb was a bit ahead of Siver for much of last year.  Projections have Siver ahead this year, not by much, but wouldn’t be shocked if they run races together at the front.  Harb improved from an already great freshman year, dropping her PR by 35 seconds.  She’s a bit more distance-oriented on the track, having run many 3200m races at or near 12:00.

Career achievement/improvement

• Raegan Lauinger, Goodrich

Over the past 2 seasons, Raegan has been a steady performer for Goodrich.  Both years, she’s been top-20 at Greater Flint and top-10 at Regionals.  She’s been second fiddle for Jillian Lange for a while, but now is her time to shine.

Darkhorse(s)

• Country Day freshmen girls

These girls (Sophie Endrud, Alexandra Williams, Tanisha Khare) all were under 13:10 at the COMSAC meet last October.  I’ve heard people say that course runs fast, I’m not going to go about rating middle school times, so it remains to be seen how much they can impact this region.

BOYS

The boys side is essentially a five team race between some programs that have had success over the past few years.  Goodrich is the clear leader, they may not have the depth as they had last year, but they might have a bit better frontrunning ability.  Notre Dame Prep and Lake Fenton have both had runners come out of nowhere, so I wouldn’t count either out, but both will need one or two runners to step up.   All in all, a solid region featuring some borderline top-25 teams.

Ranked Teams: Goodrich (9), Linden (24)

Highest Rated

• Tyler Buchanan, Linden

Already profiled here.

• James Ohlsson, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

Notre Dame Prep hits a good chunk of your bigger meets, so James is one you’ll see often this year.  He racked up a win at Averill last year and finished 2^nd in the region.  His PR of 16:07 was set in 2017 and he may have broken it last season if MIS was in working condition.

• Carter Lauinger, Goodrich

Carter was humming along last season sort of at the same pace he was the previous year, then dropped a 16:36 to win at Larry Steeb.  The MHSAA meets didn’t go as hot as that one did, but he was still able to improve his standing here, moving up from 16^th to 11^th.

• Gabe Trudeau, Goodrich

Gabe also had a breakout race at Larry Steeb, as the freshman was able to finish in 16:51.  He had a few other races in the low 17’s, a 6^th place finish at Kayla O’Mara and a 17:14 at MIS stand out.

Career achievement/improvement

• Jack Rankin, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

Jack has been under 17:00 in each of his three years in high school.  He was able to set a PR at the always quick Gabriel Richard course and qualify for States for the second consecutive year.

Darkhorse

• Peter Papapolymerou, Cranbrook-Kingswood

Peter’s polymers produced a pretty powerful track season, where he showed some mid-distance ability, but also range.  1:58/4:46/10:42. It’s not that he was bad in XC, as he popped an 18:00 at Coaching Legends, but one must believe he has much more potential.