GIRLS
Allen Park Cabrini (where a young Matt was confirmed and dominated the Dad’s Club softball league) moves down from Division 3 to Division 4. I’m sad to see enrollment continues to drop, but this is good for their XC prospects. They qualified for States last year, finishing 23rd. The move down, along with returning 4 of their top 5 puts them in good position to return. They’re headed by Lily Heath, who broke 21:00 as a freshman. She continued that with a fine track season, going 5:43/12:54. Watch out for both Angel and Ania Ghazzawi. They both showed some 800m ability in track.
Plymouth Christian Academy finished 11th at Division 4 States last year and return 3 of their top 5. Emily Cameron narrowly missed an All-State selection by 5 seconds. She spent much of her season in the 20’s and broke 20 once. Both Emily and Nicole Reinhart were in the 13’s in the 3200m this spring, extrapolated to XC, they should see some improvement.
Clarkston Everest Collegiate returns of all of their top 5 and 6 of their top 7 from a team that finished 25th last year. Avery Hergott and Theresa Waller are two that would have qualified individually even if Everest didn’t make it. Erin Booms is a freshman who had some 800m success and should be due for improvement.
Ellie Kendell is easily the class of the region. She’s profiled here and will likely defend her regional crown from last year.
I’m assuming that Emmakate Zanoli, who ran for Oakland Christian MS last year, will run for Auburn Hills Oakland Christian this year. She ran 13:27 at the Hansons Invite last year.
Katherine Mutschler finished 16th last year and I have her projected at 16th this year. While a worthy position, there are reasons for optimism, as she ran a 2:43 800m this spring.
BOYS
Ethan Rice and Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest are both projected to finish first here. Rice, son of Oakland’s coach, finished 3rd here last year and 1st in 2017. He had a solid track season in line with previous years. Two kids that dropped some time in track are Max Drummelsmith and Austin West. Both nearly broke 5:00 in the 1600m. I have RHLNW ranked #18 in Division 4.
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian qualified both Timothy Dupree and Luke Messing last year. I’d watch out for Ethan McFarland, who dropped a 5:41 mile this spring. Certainly a time not in line with his 20:45 best from XC. I wouldn’t be shocked if he sneaks into the top 20 here.
Lutheran Westland finished 14th in Division 4 last year. They’re losing their top 3 from last year. While they may not have a front runner, they have depth and are returning a full squad. Logan Betke is a candidate to move up into their top spot, as he dropped 75 seconds from his 3200m PR.
Plymouth Christian Academy is a mainstay in the Division 4 scene. They have three top runners, but only 4 returners. I’m sure they’ll reload, but as of now, I can’t project them making it to Brooklyn. However, I did look into scoring 4 runners deep:
If they can find a fifth runner, they’ll be in the mix.
Both Dylan Ortiz and Cian Dotson could be close with Rice. Dotson, to me, looks like an untapped talent. Only shows results from two XC races last year and went 2:08 in the 800m this spring. I know 800m has little comparison to XC, nevertheless, it seems as if Dotson is young in the sport.
I’ve helped William Hoover and family at the store and he appears to be a runner looking to improve. He did drop his PR by over a minute last year and went 2:05 a few months ago.
