Category: 2020 Previews

The List.

37. Julia Finley, Belding

Again, the well-detailed and always informative (Coach) John Carlson, offered this:

• Went from 22:36 her first race to 18:39 PR at regionals at Uncle John’s Cider Mill
• Took first place 5x in 2020
• Set a PR by 36 seconds and broke 19 at Benzie Central
• Broke 19:00 5x
• PRed this season by 55 seconds
• Improved from 79th to 23rd at finals and dropped 69 seconds (finished 3 seconds out of the top 15)
• Loves to go to the front and race to win

37. Jamin Thompson, Caledonia

• Seemingly every athlete featured lately has a level of stability and Jamin is no different, staying under 17:00 the entire season
• That strength early resulted in some notable accomplishments, 3^rd at Spartan and 1^st at Otsego
• Josh Oom and Thompson will likely be one of the better duos in Division 1, or at least, Caledonia will have one of the better 2^nd runners in the division
• Career-wise, Jamin has notched a few honors as well, twice top-5 in his region and twice top-3 in the OK Red

The List

38. Nathan Lott, Webberville

• Turned in one of the better freshmen seasons in 2018 and continued that with considerable drops in times
• PR “only” fell from 16:41 to 16:21, but the races were much faster early and the accomplishments much more notable
• Among those: wins at Saranac, Holly, Linden, and Regionals, 3^rd at State, 2^nd at Class D
• Finishing 3^rd last year, keeping on that same improvement track, should be in contention for the D4 crown

38. Briana Vojinov, Brownstown-Woodhaven

• Part of a young Woodhaven team that looks to shake up the paradigm a bit this fall
• Once again, consistent, but improving to some solid performances late
• 18:44 at Wayne County was obviously her best finish, but most impressive might be back to back performances at Regional and State
• The improvement really stands out, consider she didn’t break 20 at all as a freshman and in her first race of the year, a warm and fair course at the Meadows, sub-20

The List.

39. Olivia Millen, Salem

Olivia is a great runner and friend. She loves the quick speed, and she sure is good at it. She always strives for more and has high goals that we all believe one day she could reach. She’s super funny and always down for an adventure. She is truly an amazing person.

REAGAN JUSTICE, SALEM

• Olivia is a girl I’d term a true racer, she’s fairly good early in the season, and pretty darn good late
• 2019 and 2018 have taken a similar pattern, times in the 19’s early (ratings in the high 130’s), then gradually speeding up late
• Twice All-Region and two victories at Gabriel Richard
• In a Salem team that looks to finally put it all together, we know Olivia will be there in October/November

39. Connor Joyce, Hartland

• Connor is another example of that improvement track
• From his freshman year to now, he’s steadily dropped more than 2:00 from his season averages
• 2019 was especially special, spending much of the fall in the 16’s after not reaching that level at all in previous years
• No real stand out race, but an All-Region finish after finishi… NOT EVEN RUNNING VARSITY the previous two years had to feel incredible
• Connor battled some minor injuries during what would’ve been his indoor season, but has been putting in major strength work the past few months