Blog

(Covered bridge?  Now I have a reason to visit Centreville.)

GIRLS

Both Otsego and Holland Christian are ranked here, both very high.  Holland Christian has the frontrunners in Fiene and Kuipers, but Otsego should be able to prevail because of the sheer strength of their mid-pack runners.  Hamilton, on the backs of some upcoming freshmen, has a good chance of making it out as well.  Allegan and Zeeland East could be there as well, but they’ll both need one more runner to step up.

Ranked Teams: Holland Christian (6), Otsego (7)

Highest Rated

• Gillian Fiene, Holland Christian

Already profiled here.

• Michelle Kuipers, Holland Christian

Michelle and Gillian should be at the forefront of any major meet this year.  Kuipers had a few outstanding performances last year, namely at Otsego Bulldog (11^th) and States (9^th).  The season was a continuation in her improvement, as she broke 20:00 for the first time as a sophomore, then 19:00 as a junior.  Her track season leads you to believe there’s more of that coming.  She ran similarly in the 800 to her 10^th grade year, but dropped almost 20 seconds in her 1600m.

• Kaylee Thompson, Niles

Niles might run the most races of any school in the state.  Kaylee ran 17 times last year, and normally you’d expect some breakdown at the end of the season.  Not exactly the case, she spent all but one race in October under 20:00.  Her best performances were both here (4^th) and Portage (16^th).  As with Kuipers, she was able to set some personal bests during track, 5:16/11:50.

• Claudia Stachura, Otsego

Like many others, Claudia was able to run her best race of the year at the Otsego Bulldog Invite, going 19:11, pretty impressive for a freshman.  She broke 20:00 one other time, at regionals, where she was able to place 11^th.  Her track times indicate that she may be able to be more consistent in her sophomore campaign, as she was able to break 12:00 for the 3200m several times.

Career achievement/improvement

• Sasha Mills, Allegan

As a freshman, Sasha spent much of the year on a gradual progression, starting in the 23-min. range and finishing in the high 21’s.  Last season, she was barely over 20:00 in her best race, a 20:06 at Otsego Bulldog.  She was in the 20’s a few other times as well, such as her 23^rd place here in 20:56.

Darkhorse

• Hannah Richmond, Paw Paw

Hannah’s track season played out similarly in the 1600m, but very differently in the 3200m.  Her 11:43 was a 17 second drop from 2018, that time was good for 2^nd in her region.  She just snuck under 20:00 last year, expect her to be well under that mark this season.

BOYS

For a few years, ever since I’ve been back in the game, I’ve been impressed by the Berrien Springs program.  They’re moving up to Division 2 this year, and although the road will be tougher, still have a great shot of making it to MIS.  Not always the case, but where there’s money, there’s good XC teams.  Berrien Springs isn’t a wealthy area at all, they’re in the bottom 1/3^rd of Michigan cities in income, yet they’ve pulled together a consistent program.  Speaks volumes about their coaching and hard-working kids.

Ranked Teams: Otsego (3), Holland Christian (11), Berrien Springs (17)

Highest Rated

• Shawn Little, Dowagiac Union

Already profiled here.

• Hunter Zartman, Otsego

The past two years have seen Hunter at or near that 16:00 barrier quite a few times.  In 2017 he was able to crack it, running 15:55 at Otsego Bulldog.  Both years, he’s been All-State.  Made the #quantumleap in the 800 this spring, bettering his personal best by 4+ seconds (1:54.9).  His 1600m time suggests that wasn’t just a chance occurrence, as he had almost a 10 second drop in that event.

• Jack Leman, Edwardsburg

Jack had a few setbacks in track, talking to him, he seemed to be raring to go with summer training.  Expectations are high with this one, he finished 3^rd here last year and 23^rd at States.  Come October, he was at or below 16:30 with regularity.  He should be there again.

• Ashton Sheline, Berrien Springs

Ashton had a sensational freshman year, which saw him go sub-17.  Last season wasn’t necessarily a marked improvement in pure time, but he did establish a level of normalcy.  That normalcy was normal enough to win his region (D3) and finish All-State.  He made some leaps in track, too, getting down to 10:13.

Career achievement/improvement

• Jonah Maichele, Paw Paw

Jonah showed some serious improvement after a sophomore year for which there are only four results.  He PRed at Otsego Bulldog in 16:43, sure, that’s always fast, but he did manage to qualify as an individual as well.

Darkhorse

• Colin Mulder, Otsego

Hard to think of a guy projected 5^th here as flying under the radar, but Mulder has potential to be on that podium in November.  He showed some exceptional long-distance ability in track, coming on strong to break 10:00 multiple times.  Given the way Otsego develops talent, he could explode.

 

Hey, I’m back.  Expect more of these in the coming days.

GIRLS

Last year, Clare placed 7 girls in the top 20 on their way to a regional championship over Shepherd.  This year, look for Shepherd to potentially do the same, largely in the same manner.  The battle between the two should be extremely close, Shepherd’s strength up front may be the deciding factor.  Reese is a team that would excel on the State level, but is hurt by the small size of a regional meet.  They have some strong 4^th-7^th runners, but their impact is minimized in this format.

Ranked Teams: Shepherd (4), Clare (7), Bad Axe (17), Reese (19)

Highest Rated

• Ariel Warner, Shepherd

When you have a solid middle school program that promotes the sport, you occasionally find a gem.  Warner could possibly be a gem.  She showcased some speed this track season, running multiple 62-63s and 2018’s cross season was dotted with multiple sub-12 times.  Seems losing Amber Gall won’t be much of an issue!

• Jelena Prescott, Bad Axe

Jelena has been All-State her past 2 years, her best finish being 13^th in 2017.  They’ve moved her all around the state, once at Algonac, once at Delta College, once here.  And she’s managed to come through each time.  Apparently, she’s running triathlons this summer, as good of training you’ll find for the rigors of XC.

• Madde Skeel, Shepherd

Madde has broken 20:00 in both of the past two years.  Her breakout performance last year came at this meet, where she ran 19:37 to finish 7^th.  Track saw more PRs, where she was able to attain 5:32/12:07.

Career achievement/improvement:

• Kameron Haag, Clare

Prescott and Haag are the two seniors projected in the top 20.  Kameron has finished 12^th twice, as a junior and as a freshman.  Her sophomore year, they sent Clare all the way up to Benzie, where she ran a 19:42, her lifetime PR.  She’s a good bet to crack the top 10 this year.

Darkhorse

• Amelia Gouin, Shepherd

I tried hard to search for a candidate from another school, but Amelia’s track season was too good to not mention.  Much progress was made from her freshman campaign, most notably in the 800, where she was able to knock out a 2:20.

BOYS

Yami is gone, but Caro keeps ticking.  Perhaps they have more athletes, I only have six in my records, but those six are good enough to run for any D3 school.  Shepherd is coming into yet another year where they’ll likely be a top-10 team.  Shepherd’s depth may make this a close competition, they’ll need contributions (as always, seemingly a broken record when talking about team contests) from their 5^th-7^th, especially if Caro is lacking in numbers.  I should also mention that this region is absolutely stacked.  Why is it that schools in the middle of the state with equal enrollment seem to produce better programs than those closer to metro Detroit?  Sandusky, Clare, Bad Axe, Sanford-Meridian.  Three of these schools will undeservingly spend their Novembers contemplating what happened at regionals and wishing for an easier draw.

Ranked Teams: Caro (7), Shepherd (9), Sanford-Meridian (14), Sandusky (19), Clare (20), Bad Axe (25)

Highest Rated

• Logan Brown, Caro

Logan didn’t have the greatest regional race last year, finishing 16^th in 17:11.  He redeemed himself the next weekend, finishing 15^th at States.  That’s a rare accomplishment.  It wasn’t his only sub-17 rodeo either, as he had gone 16:42 at Bath and 16:58 at Thumb Area.

• Trey Plichta, Sanford-Meridian

Trey is the highest returner from last year’s senior-dominated race.  He finished 3^rd in a personal best of 16:31.

• Kevin Wilson, Caro

Like Logan Brown, Kevin Wilson was able to make up for a regional performance with a solid State Meet.  His 17:10 at MIS was good for 43^rd.

Career achievement/improvement

• Nick McArdle, Cass City

Coming into regionals, Nick had somewhat of a middling season.  He had a great race at Wagener Park, finishing 16^th in 17:02, but only made a little progress from 2017.  Nick then proceeded to break 17:00 here, coming through with a 12^th place finish.  Love performances on the big stage.

Darkhorse

• Greison Mcleod, Hemlock

Greison had himself his best track season yet.  He registered two major PRs, 4:51 and 10:35.  When you register two PRs, it registers in my mind as someone who can register more PRs come cross.