Category: Regional Previews

(Disregard the BlueJay Invite thing, this is just a cool pic)

GIRLS

Region 30 is stacked in both races.  But you’re not gonna get more competitive than the top 2 teams in a Division duking it out in a regional.  Beal City benefits from a huge youthful infusion.  Sacred Heart is the old guard, hoping to hold onto a regional title that’s been theirs for a while.  I’ve said this before, it’s hard to project how freshmen adjust.  They’re highly variant and I’ve tried to keep expectations conservative.  In the winter, I believe I’ll rate the larger middle school meets (but not post results, just too young of an age to have it publicized) in order to get a better projection.  Long story short, Beal City might be very good.  I’m sure we’ll know by the beginning of October.

Ranked Teams: Beal City (1), Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (2), Carson City-Crystal (14)

Highest Rated

• Kaylee Locke and Tailor Onstott, Beal City

What was in the water in Beal City around 2004/2005?  Kaylee and Tailor seemingly ran with each other, cruising at the front of many races.  Who is truly better, I’m sure we’ll find out in a few weeks.  We do know that they’re capable of running a quality 5k, evidenced by their 19:20s run at Shepherd’s PROM.

• Desiree McConnell, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

Is this the last of the McConnells?  What a family.  Desiree had her best finish at MIS last year, 6^th place (but had been All-State the previous two years).  She’s been top-10 at this region in all three years too.

Career achievement/improvement

• Allyson Stevens, Carson City-Crystal

Allyson has been a model of consistency for Carson City.  In the last three years at regionals, she’s finished 12^th, 12^th, and 11^th.  You don’t see many blowup races either, which is an underrated luxury.

Darkhorse

• Rachal Weber, Beal City

Hard to call last year’s 5^th place regional finish (and 17^th at States) a darkhorse, but let’s not forget Rachal in the midst of those freshmen.  I’m not sure what happened early, but a switch seemingly turned on at Shepherd’s John Bruder Classic, from then on, she ran 10 straight races with a top-10 finish.  Her most impressive mark from track was probably her 5:39, but she showed strength in the 800 and 3200 as well.

BOYS

Thank the heavens that Breckenridge was moved out to the Thumb or this might eclipse Region 34’s girls’ race.  Two intriguing battles here, both for the title and for that third spot.  Carson City had about as good of a track season from their distance kids, so much that I believe they have an outside chance of challenging Breckenridge and East Jordan.  Sacred Heart has a great top three, if they can find two others to step up, they’ll be there as well.  Both Beal City and Montabella can place 4 in the top-20.  If that doesn’t happen, Montabella has a slight edge on the strength of their 3^rd-5^th runners.

Ranked Teams: Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (3), Carson City-Crystal (4), Beal City (11), Montabella (12)

Highest Rated

• Coleman Clark, Carson City-Crystal

Coleman is your defending regional champ, winning in 16:28.  His main competition would have been Mason Sumner.  They’ll have plenty of battles, including one a week later.  Coleman didn’t finish outside of the top 7 in any race last year.  His best races came at Greater Lansing (16:27, 7^th) and States (16:22, 5^th).  On the track, he was state champion in the 3200 and had multiple sub-9:50 results.

• Reginald Richmond, White Cloud

The team battle isn’t the only strength in this region.  Reginald finished 10^th in the D4 State Finals last November and he’s likely an underdog in his region.  He dropped time late, mainly running in the 17’s throughout September and early October, ending up with two 16:4x times at regionals and States.

• Brock Lynch, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

Brock had a similar season to Reginald, but Reginald was a little faster at his peak.  Still, Brock was 5^th here and 20^th at States.  Numerous other accomplishments abound, including 7^th at Class D and 11^th at Portage.  I haven’t mentioned that he’s now only a sophomore.

Career achievement

• Jared Moore, Vestaburg

As a freshman, Jared waited until his very last race to break 20:00.  As a sophomore, that milestone happened in only his second race.  He had a few performances in the 18’s, most notably at Carson City and at this region, where he was able to go 18:19.  More than a 1:30 improvement in a year.

Darkhorse

• Matthew Novak, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

Like Lynch, Matthew was able to break 17 late into the season, first dropping under that mark at Class D, then running his personal best, a 16:56 here at regionals.  His State meet didn’t go as well, but his track season did.  Matt’s 9:59 was a solid 47 second improvement from last year, and may be enough to vault him into 2^nd here.

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

Profile.

• Mia Patria, Clarkston

Profile.

• Andrea Ruiz, Holly

Profile.

• 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

Profile.

• Riley Hough, Hartland

Profile.

• Justin Hill, Walled Lake Central

Profile.

• 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.