Category: Regional Previews

GIRLS

Some teams may be ranked lower, but benefit from XC scoring. Pewamo-Westphalia is ranked lower than St. Louis, not by much, but should score better in many meets, especially those with larger fields. Their 6^th and 7^th girls (heck, even their 8^th is likely better than all but Hart’s in D3) will contest with the 3^rd runner of many teams. Bailey Droste, Julia Esch may not be All-State, but will be integral in a push for the 2^nd spot at MIS. The same holds true for Ithaca in their clash with Stockbridge. Two top-15 teams battling for that last spot. Ithaca can likely put 6 runners before Stockbridge’s 4^th. Of course, beginning in a few weeks, we will see if that’s true.

Ranked Teams: St. Louis (2), Pewamo-Westphalia (3), Ithaca (10), Stockbridge (13)

Highest Rated

• Lani Bloom, Ithaca

Profile.

• Rylee Tolson, Stockbridge

You can’t complain much about a freshman campaign that ends up in an All-State honor. Rylee had a few other great races as well, her 18:45 at regionals stands out the most. I believe she’ll give Bloom quite a race. 2:21/5:02/10:48 shows that she’s not just an XC girl.

• Libby Munderloh, St. Louis

Libby has the potential to be there as well. She boasts similar PRs to Rylee, a 18:42 at Bath. She showed the ability to match that performance often, most importantly an 8^th place (19:16) performance at States. Tolson is ahead here because of her track prowess, although Libby did show hints at her speed, running 62.4/2:24.

• Mikenna Borie, St. Louis

ANOTHER girl with an outstanding freshman year. I don’t think I could do my own laundry as a freshman and these girls are out running their hearts out for 5ks. Like Munderloh, Mikenna showed her strength in a 19:53 at Bath. She topped out at 19:23 and also finished All-State.

Career achievement/improvement

• Caleigh Winters, Potterville

Caleigh’s 2018 season was by far the best of her career. Let’s put it this way: her freshman and sophomore year, she hadn’t finished in the top-15 in her region. Her junior year, she was 12^th in the State. She broke 20:00 four times, the best of those being a 19:43 at Greater Lansing and a 19:55 at MIS.

Darkhorse

• Cailey George, Pewamo-Westphalia

I hadn’t rated jamborees or many league competitions and I threw out anyone with one result from last year. Cailey isn’t listed in my ratings for XC, but I’d expect her to run this year. She was a 2:29/5:40 girl in track and has run mid-20’s her first two years in the sport. Her comeback gives the team some scary stability.
BOYS

I love this absolute war for the third spot.

Also, P-W on top. Them and Shepherd. Every single year.

Ranked Teams: Pewamo-Westphalia (3), St. Louis (11), New Lothrop (18), Leslie (21), Potterville (24)

Highest Rated

• Hayden Germain, Pewamo-Westphalia

Hayden had a real breakthrough at Bath this year, then continued from there. You know it’s gonna be a good season when you PR before you even begin to think about peaking. When late October finally rolled around, Hayden was there. 9^th at Greater Lansing, 16:11 (3^rd here), and then 7^th at MIS. He made a quantum leap in the 800 this spring, running 1:58.5 when his previous best had been over 2:05.

• Ashton Walker, Pewamo-Westphalia

At his absolute best, Ashton is Pewamo’s fastest runner. He ran a lifetime PR at regionals last year, a 15:58. Unfortunately, the next week didn’t go as well, but he was still able to hang on for 14^th place. On the track, he was right there with Hayden and even showed some mile chops, going 4:28. As is, they’re separated by less than a second in these here ratings.

• Zach Wright, Potterville

Potterville makes the leap from D4 to D3 and Zach will be leading that charge. A junior now, his first two years ended in All-State performances. I still have him projected to get there, but it’ll be a bit tougher road. There are some indicators he can hang with the P-W studs, a 16:34 at Carson City, 4:27 on the track.

Career achievement/improvement

• Micah Beauregard, Stockbridge

Micah has put in back to back solid years for Stockbridge. Each of the years, he’s been able to break 17 consistently in races. 2018 didn’t see him hit a PR, but he knocked out a second straight top-20 finish at MIS. He’s more of a mid-distance guy on the track, having gone under 2:00/4:25 in the last two springs. Hopefully those track times pay off on the XC course this fall.

Darkhorse

• Dylan Marr, St. Louis

One thing I really liked about this region are the sheer number of non-seniors. All but one of the projected places between 11-20 are juniors or younger. Higher variability, more chances for breakout performances. Little Dylan ran 5:02/10:52 in track this spring. Last fall, he was 2^nd at Scottie Classic, 5^th at Greater Lansing, and 2^nd at Carson City.

GIRLS

My original rankings at the beginning of summer included Brighton’s Jordyn Libler.  She competed in a few races at the beginning of last year, and thus had an overall rating.  But then no track results and no XC races after mid-September.  My assumption would then be that she’s not running (but my hope, as always, is that she’s running happily and healthily).  That said, Brighton is still a top-15 team without her, and should be the favorite over very good DeWitt and Pinckney squads.  Howell surprisingly grabbed that final spot last year, and they’re in position to do the same, a pack-driven team.  This is a very tough region for individuals, my guess is a girl will have to run under 19:45 to have a chance.

Ranked Teams: Brighton (7), DeWitt (16), Pinckney (19)

Highest Rated

• Vivi Eddings, Pinckney

Vivi stepped up on the big stage to both PR and finish All-State last year.  Her 18:32 was an 8 second personal best and is actually more impressive given the conditions.

• Anna Delgado, East Lansing

Cue up another, “how good is this freshman?” question.  I tend to think Greater Lansing has a reputable course, that’s where Anna ran a 12:02.  DeWitt as well, a 12:04.  She ran similar times on the track, including a 5:36 mile.  Many others in this field have faster track times, but training with high schoolers vs. middle schoolers often leads to lower times.

• Laura O’Brien, Ann Arbor Skyline

Laura was 6^th here last year, running her personal best, a 19:05.  She followed that up with a slightly better race, 19:13 at MIS.  Expect to see her move up quite a bit this year, an 11:12 in track suggests she can break into the 18’s easily if she continues to put in work.

Career achievement/improvement

• Kaitlyn Hynes, DeWitt

Kaitlyn makes it here because of her improvement from her freshman to sophomore season.  She had a solid freshman year, knocking on the 20:00 door, but never breaking it.  She smashed through last year, running 18:54 on this very course in late September.  She didn’t match that time, but ran a series of steady performances, culminating in a 24^th place finish at MIS.

Darkhorse

• Abbie Draheim, East Lansing

So many good candidates here, Draheim has so much potential though.  She’s showed flashes, taking home the wins at Holly, 2017 regionals, running 18:27.  Didn’t complete last season, but then showed us more in track, going 5:05 for the 1600m.

BOYS

You’ll find a similar circumstance for individuals on the boys’ side.  To even have a chance, one will need to be under 16:45, if not 16:30.  Of course it doesn’t help that the boys from Dexter and Brighton will be occupying many of those spots.  Brighton may have the higher overall rating, but Dexter has slightly better depth.  Pinckney and Skyline will be another great battle, I personally hope both place 4 runners in the top 20.  And poor Holt, they’d probably win Region 8.

Ranked Teams: Brighton (1), Dexter (3), Ann Arbor Skyline (11), Pinckney (13), Holt (20)

Highest Rated

• Zachary Stewart, Brighton

My profile.  TullyRunners.

• Jack Spamer, Brighton
• Alex Penski, Holt

Both here.

• Adugna Moritz, Holt
• Nathan Larson, Dexter
• Owen Huard, Dexter

All here.

• Andrew Lane, East Lansing

We’ve seen some steady drops from Andrew the past few years.  His best time came from the East Lansing Invite (I don’t believe I rated that one), a 15:47.  He had another sub-16 performance at Bredeweg and a 4^th place finish here.  He dropped a decent amount of time in his 1600/3200’s as well, notably going from a 9:53 to 9:30.

• Gavin White, Pinckney

Relative to his other races, Gavin struggled a bit at MIS, but don’t let that diminish an otherwise remarkable sophomore campaign.  A few results stand out, a 16:12 at Pete Moss, a 10^th place finish at Coaching Legends, and a 16:16 at this regional (13^th).  He has very similar track times to Lane, having gone 4:27/9:30 this spring.

• Thomas Young, Ann Arbor Skyline

Young and Hobbs Kessler could easily be interchangeable, I have them rated only a second apart.  Thomas’s 2017 had a quick end, having not run after September, he wasn’t able to show us much.  2018 was a different tale, he opened up with a 16:05 at Bath (more than a minute PR), then reliably ran near that time. the rest of the season.  Like White, he had a strong regional race, finishing 10^th.

Career achievement/improvement

• Andrew Etherington, Pinckney

Andrew came out late in his freshman year and even his sophomore year, waited until Coaching Legends to break 20:00.  He finished his sophomore year on a high note and then had a solid track season, going 4:56.  He must have really piled on the miles last summer, because he began the season with a 1:30 PR at Pete Moss, then continued that progression to a 16:30 to end the year, finishing 17^th in this region.

Darkhorse

• Seth Read, Dexter

After countless years of running track, Seth had some great breakthroughs in 2019.  He went from 2:09 to 2:00 and 4:42 to 4:21. One can only imagine a similar drop would have occurred in the 3200m.  It’s not as if Seth is a bad or even average XC runner, he had a few races in the high-16’s last year.  He’s definitely good but looks to take it to another level.  If he can break 16 like he’s capable of, Dexter has a real shot of winning it all.

(Not many iconic pictures of DeWitt out there.  They do have a very good girls team, as we’ll find out later.)

GIRLS

I always love seeing regions where it looks like there will be a competition for third place.  Last year, Potterville and Saranac duked it out, Potterville winning out.  Potterville has moved up to Division 3, Saranac is still here, but I’ve got Morrice in that spot this year.  Morrice finished 9^th last year, but it looks as if they’re adding some freshmen.  That third place will likely come down to those freshmen, especially if they can place ahead of Saranac’s 3^rd or 4^th runners.

Ranked Teams: Lansing Christian (3), Fowler (19)

Highest Rated

• Madison Volz, Lansing Christian

Mistakenly thought I had covered Madison in the top 30, but she’s juuust outside of that top 30.  So you’re getting four girls in this section.  She had quite the end to last cross season, PRing in 18:10 at Apples to Apples.  One of the reasons she’s a little underrated is her times at Regionals/States, but the results are there, 1st in her region and 2nd in the State.

• Lexi Kinnas, Lansing Christian

Lexi has had a very good first two years for the Pilgrims.  Two consecutive top-20 finishes at the State meet and two years spending time under 20:00.  A very low variance last year too, in the big meets she hovered around that 20:00 mark in just about every one.

• Ashlyn Kephart, Lansing Christian

Incoming freshman has broken 13:00 all three years in middle school.  Her best result came last October, a 12:44 at Apples to Apples.  I’ve said it a thousand times, hard to project freshmen, but one has to marvel at her consistency.

• Adrianne Rector, Dansville

As a freshman last year, Adrianne was able to show great improvement as the year went on.  She began the year running in the 22-23 min. range, but as October rolled around, progressed down to 20-21.  A few results stand out, such as her top-10 finishes at Larry Steeb, Apples to Apples, and regionals.

Career achievement/improvement

• Hayley Lademann, Morrice

Gotta love a girl who’s qualified in 15^th place the past two years, both by margins of under 5 seconds.  This year, she finally has a team capable of supporting her.  While the PRs haven’t been fruitful, she has finished top-100 at MIS the past two seasons.

Darkhorse

• Olivia Datema, Fowler

Give credit to Olivia, she ran a ton of races last season, 17 are listed online.  She hung in there and by the time regionals came around, she was able to break into the 21’s.  Her track times indicate she may still be on the rise, as she was able to go 6:03/13:17.  Neither are out of this world, but show someone definitely capable of being in the high 20’s or low 21’s on a fair course.

BOYS

Quite surprising the Saranac/Morrice battle is so tight given the rankings.  What likely makes it so is the strength of Morrice’s 2-4, at least relative to others.  Between Dansville and Whitmore Lake, Whitmore Lake will hope for a gap between their 5^th runners, while Dansville will hope their incoming freshmen are the real deal, as they’ve got two who have run sub-12.

Ranked Teams: Saranac (7), Morrice (13)

Highest Rated

• Nathan Lott, Webberville

Nathan was one of the more impressive freshmen in the state last year.  He ran solidly for most of the season, dotting some mid to low 17’s.  The big breakthroughs came in late October, his 16:41 at Class D gave him a 3^rd place finish.  That was followed up by 2^nd here and 27^th at States.  His ability really showed on the track, where a 10:06 3200m was 3^rd at State Finals.

• Grayson Rasmus, Saranac

Grayson had a great freshman season, similar to Lott, even a little bit faster.  In that 2017 campaign, he set his lifetime PR of 16:26 and finishing 21^st in the state.  Last year was a bit tougher, but he still managed a top-5 regional finish.  Signs of life were abundant in track, as he dipped under 10:00 at the Greater Lansing meet and finished 6^th at States in that same event.

• Caleb Rivers, Morrice

At the head of Morrice’s solid pack is Caleb Rivers.  Like Rasmus, he didn’t run as fast as his 2017 freshman season, but he was able to establish a bit more consistency.  After not breaking 18:00 in September, he finished under that line in 4 of 6 races in October/November.  The best performance was probably at States, a 17:36.

Career achievement/improvement

• Clay Rinna, Whitmore Lake

After being above 19:00 during his freshman year, Clay has been in the mid to low 17’s the past two years.  His best time came as a sophomore, a 17:24, but his best regional performance and first time qualifying came last year, where he was 11^th.  He, along with his Whitmore Lake teammates, move down from Division 3 to Division 4 for this go round.

Darkhorse

• Joseph Kadlubowski, Dansville

Joseph isn’t listed on Dansville’s roster yet, but it’s hard to believe that someone who has run three years in their middle school program won’t run in high school.  His past two years, he’s been in that mid-11 to 13 min. range.  His best time comes from last fall, a 11:28 at Apples to Apples.  Also ran a 14:30 4k for the USATF regional, throw that in a converter and it spits out 18:23.  Bottom line, if he runs for Dansville, he’s likely top-12 at least.