Hard to fathom that I’ve been penning these Summer Previews for now, 7 years. Just as in the past, I’ll have the 50 best returners, then as time rolls on, the Regional Previews and Top Ten Teams.
Differing from the past is the format. Individual posts for each region and ticket are a TON OF WORK. Instead, I’ll be knocking off the 50 Tickets with sets of 10 and Regional Previews by their division and gender. Hopefully with these methods, I’ll be finishing on time and actually spending effort detailing what could be some great regional battles.
Anyhow, starting with the girls (they run first this year), your 50 Tickets to Brooklyn. These celebrate our top-50 returners – based on the 2024 XC season, 2025 track season, projected improvement, and a tiny bit of my own opinions.
(Also, first time ever that I’ve included Upper Peninsula folks in these! I know they’re not running at MIS, but they’re still representatives of Michigan)
6th Place – 2024 Division 1 State 7th Place – 2023 Division 1 State 2x Team State Champion 2024 Macomb County Champion
Track
10th Place – 2025 Division 1 State 800m & 1600m 8th Place – 2025 Division 1 State 4×8 5th Place – 2025 MITS DMR
Her Championship Season
Was a ferocious culmination to what’s been building over the past few years. She’s been featured here a few times, once focused on her astonishing early growth, the other amazed that it’s still progressing. With all that accelerated growth and continued progress, the payoff was bound to come.
For Natalia, that started in early October at Portage. The prior year, she had slipped under 18:00 at Jackson, but failed to get there the rest of the season. Her 17:54 on the rolling Portage hills was a return back to that form, a form she wouldn’t relinquish the rest of our regular season. A week later, a personal best and her first ever Macomb County win. Two weeks past, a chill sub-18 in preparation for State. Then at MIS, a masterpiece of a race. In true Romeo fashion, she laid back early, 11:32 at two, team state title likely in firm grasp, but individual glory lying ahead. Over the next mile, she caught 4, in 10th at three. Over the next tenth, she caught 4 more, a blistering 4:38 pace over those 172m, moved into 6th, and blasted through with a lifetime best – 17:40.
This fall, one more chance to prove she can keep it rolling.
Time to get cracking on these regional previews. As with the 50 Tickets, these are a bit condensed compared to past years. I found the writing was getting excessive, repetitive, and more work than the actual season. But still, regional projections are in order. I thought I’d highlight a few of the battles, tough regions, and outstanding individuals.
Compared to Divisions 2-4, these are pretty set in terms of full teams and feeder middle schools. Of course, there are cities that don’t really use athletic.net (Ann Arbor) or their middle schools randomly feed into their high schools (Plymouth-Canton). Then are those whose students go to one high school or the other based on where an athlete lives. There’s even some districts that let families decide and don’t care about geography. Long story short, if you’re feeling underrated because I didn’t include an incoming freshman, the season starts soon enough anyway and it won’t matter.
Anyhow, here are your D1 Girls predictions. Similar to the 50 Tickets, these are based on last year’s XC season and track seasons, projected improvements, and a few bits of subjective shuffling.
Toughest Regions
Region 2 – six teams in the top-26. Quite a wide-ranging group of contenders! You’ve got Up North squads (Traverse City Central & West), Tri-Cities folks (Bay City Western, Dow, and Midland), and even a team from Metro Detroit (Hartland). Many of these teams are concentrated within the same spots in the rankings, and there could be a few that’ll be driving home a considerable distance while disappointed.
Region 7 – four teams ranked between 19th and 27th, battling for two spots. With the addition of Northville, this region was greatly strengthened. Royal Oak, Novi, and White Lake Lakeland returned almost everyone, so unsure why Northville and Farmington had to move here.
Intriguing Battles
Region 1 – three teams in contention for the final qualifying spot. Of the trio of Forest Hills Northern, Hudsonville, and Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills, the Huskies probably have the most complete team. They’ve got a low stick in Prinsen and return five girls that were sub-20:40. Hudsonville has the front-runners and Ottawa Hills has the depth, but each would have to strengthen their weakness to get to FHN’s level.
Region 2 – four teams in the vicinity of the 3rd spot. The projections have Hartland and Traverse City West a bit above the rest of the field. But the next four, eight ranking spots and 25 points between the teams of Traverse City Central, Midland Dow, Bay City Western, and Midland. Based on last year and track, it appears there will be a solid pack of girls from the 19:30-20:15 range. Whomever immerses the most amount of girls in that pack or places girls ahead of it will likely advance.
Region 5 – Pioneer vs. Saline. I know the projections show a bit of a gap between the two, but that always seems to tighten by season’s end. The two teams, nearly always elite, become calloused to the competition against one another, usually to their benefit after the trek down US-12 to MIS. In 2024, Saline won 5 of the 6 meetings between the two, then at the end of the year, was D1 runner-up. Ann Arbor Pioneer returns every scorer, Saline has to replace a few. Either way, expect the gap between the two to be in the single digits by late October.
Region 6 – five teams within reasonable distance, contending for three spots. What this region may lack in strong, state-contending teams, they make up for it in pure chaos. Last year’s version wasn’t that, but 1st place Northville and 3rd place Farmington move up to Region 7. Livonia Churchill progressed through track season. Ann Arbor Huron, Salem, and Plymouth only lose one scorer from last fall’s race. And Farmington Hills Mercy is listed in the region on athletic.net and not the MHSAA site, so who knows what’s going on there.
Region 7 – five teams in the running for two spots. Last October, Royal Oak was able to use a little home course magic, advancing on their 6th runner. Novi, solidly in second in 2024, returns their regional champ, thus the Wildcats will likely only need to worry about scoring four. Walled Lake Northern could benefit from some freshman additions. Then White Lake Lakeland and Farmington are commonly two squads that always exceed ranking expectations.
Region 8 – Adams vs. Rochester. Many of the Rochester girls had a late-season surprise, paving the way for Oakland County and Regional wins, along with a 4th spot at MIS. A few move on, most notably Lucy Cook. But enough remain in order to remain in contention against a Rochester Adams squad that brings back three of their top-four and adds a potentially impactful freshman.
Region 9 – Romeo vs. the field. At last autumn’s MAC Red, Macomb County, and Regional meets, Romeo was able to score a perfect 15 points on the field. Even their 6th and 7th runners came in 6th and 7th place (is there a term for this? Kinda feels like the differentiation between a no-hitter and a perfect game). Can it happen again? A little less likely, but not Romeo’s fault, the rest of the region has improved a bit.
Gracelin Martin – Greenville senior has set her mind towards lofty goals and achieved many, dropping over 100 sec. from her freshman year
Paige McMeans – made a massive leap from 9th to 10th grade, perhaps most evident here at Region 1, where she moved up 44 places from 54th to 10th.
Chloe Purwin – any time you can place in an OK Red distance event, you’ve set the course towards a solid cross season. Purwin was 5th in the conference 1600m, her second straight scoring finish in the event
Jillian Lewakowski – in track, we got to see what she was capable of fully healthy, her 5:10 in the 1600m ranking #15 amongst Michigan freshmen girls.
Willa Prinsen – another transformative season, Willa’s junior year taking her from mid-20’s to mid-19’s and her first state qualifier
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Daisy Cox
Rockford
2
11
Cassie Karasinski
Hudsonville
3
12
Gracelin Martin
Greenville
4
11
Paige McMeans
Jenison
5
11
Chloe Purwin
Hudsonville
6
10
Jillian Lewakowski
Rockford
7
12
Willa Prinsen
Forest Hills Northern
8
10
Morgan Sanders
Rockford
9
12
Macy Guikema
Jenison
10
10
Jaclyn Charbauski
Forest Hills Northern
11
9
Camryn Gervais
Grand Haven
12
9
Stella Walker
Rockford
13
10
Keagan Mulka
Rockford
14
10
Maddy Aleisa
Jenison
15
12
Cianah Budnik-Ramos
Grand Haven
16
9
Emma Storey
Jenison
17
11
Madeleine Hengeveld
Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
18
10
Cecelia Wojciakowski
Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
19
12
Jersi Bilek
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
20
12
Ellery Horness
Muskegon Mona Shores
Region 2
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Traverse City West #14 Hartland #18 Traverse City Central #22 Bay City Western #23 Midland Dow #26 Midland
Maddie Lindley – precipitous drops at the end of cross set a fire that lasted through track, as Lindley broke 5:00 and 11:00 and placed 12th in the D1 1600m.
Kaitlyn Berg – only lost twice during her 8th grade season, then ran a 18:52 at Shepherd’s PROM to cap it.
Ava Goodman – had been on the cusp of it for the majority of two seasons, was finally able to slip into the 18’s at MITCA.
Abby Veit – all three of her high school seasons have featured times in the 18’s.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
10
Emilia Garces
Midland Dow
2
11
Tessa Mascari
Traverse City West
3
12
Elliana Neuer
Hartland
4
11
Maddie Lindley
Holly
5
9
Kaitlyn Berg
Midland
6
11
Ava Goodman
Hartland
7
12
Abby Veit
Traverse City West
8
12
Nevaeh Polovina
Davison
9
10
Emma McLaughlin
Midland
10
9
Autumn Luick
Midland Dow
11
12
Sophia Nunnery
Hartland
12
11
Jaclyn Suderman
Bay City Western
13
9
Anika Feist
Midland
14
12
Bailey Wenzlick
Traverse City West
15
10
Ariana Rajah
Traverse City Central
16
9
Cecelia Jacobson
Traverse City Central
17
11
Jillian Broyles
Highland-Milford
18
12
Sienna Cobb
Traverse City Central
19
9
Grace Meyers
Bay City Western
20
10
Jessa Skonieczny
Mt. Pleasant
Region 3
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Holland West Ottawa #12 Zeeland East #13 Portage Central
Olivia Stacy – has a penchant for running her best at the end of the year, this past version featuring a few sub-19’s
Collette Wierks – intro cross season for this multi-faceted track star was nothing but a success – top-5 efforts in Region 1 and the OK Red, quite a few mid-18 efforts
Meredith Cook – not just a contributor to the excellent Chix 4×8 squads, she’s got three top-15 regional finishes as well.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
12
Ava Porras
Holland West Ottawa
2
10
Adalyn Raab
Zeeland East
3
10
Ainsley Kelm
Portage Northern
4
10
Avery Scott
Portage Central
5
12
Ava Lawrence
East Kentwood
6
12
Olivia Stacy
Portage Northern
7
11
Collette Wierks
Holland West Ottawa
8
12
Meredith Cook
Zeeland East
9
9
Hailey Sieler
Forest Hills Central
10
12
Taryn DiLaura
Zeeland East
11
10
Gracie Carlisle
Portage Central
12
11
Lyla Dowling
Holland West Ottawa
13
12
Lilah Yoder
Forest Hills Central
14
10
Mary Dolbow
Holland West Ottawa
15
10
Julia Welc
Portage Central
16
12
Kailey Mann
Byron Center
17
11
Ella Wierks
Holland West Ottawa
18
10
Reese Haglund
Holland West Ottawa
19
12
Megan Kuzma
Zeeland East
20
12
Rhea Mouw
Portage Central
Region 4
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Brighton Top-10 Okemos Top-10 Ann Arbor Skyline
Aviana Skinner – has been continually moving forward, especially evident with her D1 finishes – 111th as a sophomore to 26th this past fall.
Gabriella Fugazzi – cross season was cut short, but Fugazzi made up for it in track, hitting PB’s in the 800m and 1600m.
October Harns – drastic change between her regular season and championship seasons. Low-19’s throughout much of the year, then flipped a switch in late October, grabbing 5th in Region 2 and barreling towards 18-flat at MITCA.
Becca Van Lent – unfortunately wasn’t able to complete her cross season, but definitely finished her track one. Contributor to Skyline’s 11th place 4×8 team and ran a few sub-2:20’s on her own.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
10
Rachel Smith
Okemos
2
10
Lucia Llanes
Brighton
3
12
Lydia LaMarra
Ann Arbor Skyline
4
10
Ella Lorenz
Brighton
5
12
Aviana Skinner
Grand Ledge
6
11
Gabriella Fugazzi
Okemos
7
12
October Harns
Okemos
8
11
Becca Van Lent
Ann Arbor Skyline
9
12
Juliet Lewis
Brighton
10
12
Courtney Lince
Brighton
11
12
Taylor Wiegand
Brighton
12
12
Maizie Cavanaugh
Brighton
13
11
Kodie Snyder
Dexter
14
11
Isla Tharp
Ann Arbor Skyline
15
11
Irie Scrase
Ann Arbor Skyline
16
12
Fiona Whitmyer
Okemos
17
12
Lydia Jagger
Grand Ledge
18
9
Kylie Karfonta
South Lyon
19
10
Ruby Petee
Mason
20
12
Morgan Christopher
Brighton
Region 5
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Ann Arbor Pioneer Top-10 Saline
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Ann Arbor Pioneer
30
2
Saline
49
3
Brownstown Woodhaven
99
4
Gibraltar Carlson
126
5
Temperance Bedford
129
6
Monroe
198
7
Dearborn
225
8
Ypsilanti Lincoln
255
9
Wyandotte Roosevelt
286
10
Allen Park
289
11
Southgate Anderson
299
12
Belleville
305
13
Ypsilanti Community
341
14
Dearborn Fordson
366
15
Detroit Cass Tech
404
16
Detroit Martin Luther King
483
Top Athletes
Natasza Dudek – could be very high on the 50 Tickets
Lilli Schlack – past two seasons have taken a similarly successful pattern. Start in the 20’s and move your way down to the 18’s by season’s end. Place top-10 here and highly in the SEC Red as well.
Audrey Grosteffon – undefeated as an 8th grader in SEC middle school action, Zone 2 winner as well.
Katarina Munson – one of the key factors in the Hornet rise to the MIS podium. Her 18:37 at State, a 30+ second personal best.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
10
Natasza Dudek
Ann Arbor Pioneer
2
12
Hana Boggess
Ann Arbor Pioneer
3
10
Sienna Klemmer
Ann Arbor Pioneer
5
10
McKinley Jones
Saline
4
10
Savannah Staton
Saline
6
10
Charley McKay
Brownstown Woodhaven
7
12
Lilli Schlack
Saline
8
9
Audrey Grosteffon
Temperance Bedford
9
11
Katarina Munson
Saline
10
11
Nina Moore
Ann Arbor Pioneer
11
11
Iva Ravindra
Temperance Bedford
13
12
Eleanor Grant
Wyandotte Roosevelt
14
12
Bridget Kerber
Ann Arbor Pioneer
15
10
Adelynn Turck
Saline
16
11
Sophie Roth
Saline
17
10
Annabelle Chan
Brownstown Woodhaven
18
11
Hope Noal
Brownstown Woodhaven
19
9
Ada Cain
Gibraltar Carlson
20
11
Adrianna Zub
Allen Park
Region 6
Top 27 Teams
None.
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Salem
65
2
Ann Arbor Huron
70
3
Livonia Churchill
87
4
Plymouth
92
5
Farmington Hills Mercy
92
6
Livonia Stevenson
145
7
Livonia Franklin
170
8
Canton
193
9
Dearborn Heights Crestwood
237
10
Detroit Renaissance
273
11
Wayne Memorial
361
12
Westland John Glenn
376
Top Athletes
Annabeth Hazlewood – lauded for her consistent splits at MIS in ’23. She was a bit more aggressive in 2024, hitting the mile in 5:44 en route to a match of her personal best – 18:35. A multi-faceted racer!
Mackenzie Dicken – first cross season went about as well as possible, five straight sub-20’s to close it off, including a 19:12 at State.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Annabeth Hazlewood
Salem
2
12
Mackenzie Dicken
Plymouth
3
12
Nora Gerzema
Farmington Hills Mercy
4
12
Rianna Radulescu
Livonia Churchill
5
12
Leena Shelgikar
Ann Arbor Huron
6
12
Becca Jud
Salem
7
11
Samantha Bartell
Salem
8
10
Sadie Bohnsack
Ann Arbor Huron
9
10
Mira Shelgikar
Ann Arbor Huron
10
11
Julie Schuessler
Livonia Churchill
11
10
Ainslie Carter
Farmington Hills Mercy
12
12
Rachael Halkey
Livonia Churchill
13
12
Caroline LaPointe
Plymouth
14
10
Elizabeth Gerzema
Farmington Hills Mercy
15
10
Lucy Morrow
Livonia Franklin
16
9
Olivia Kelly
Livonia Stevenson
17
12
Mia Fernandez
Canton
18
12
Kinsey Nordbeck
Livonia Franklin
19
10
Zoe Bossmann
Ann Arbor Huron
20
12
Natalie Workman
Livonia Churchill
Region 7
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Northville #19 Novi #21 Walled Lake Northern #25 Royal Oak #27 White Lake Lakeland
Alexandra Scappaticci – KLAA and Zone 3 middle school champ. May quickly be acquainted to the 5k distance, as she ripped a 18:23 at MITCA.
Colette Lozo – becoming known for her late-season tears. Closed 2024 with four of her final seven races at 18:57 or faster.
Paige Rohda – unfortunately unable to finish her cross season. Undaunted by setback, she attacked the 3200m in track, earning a trip to East Kentwood via a wise, patient 11:25 at Region 8.
Audrey Hamilton – has finished in the top-8 all of her years here
Avery DeGrendel – moved from 17th here in her first season to 9th here in 2024, her first sub-19 ever.
Taryn Moore – as Bigelow leaves, another standout comes to the program. Taryn was 3rd in Oakland County last year and got her first taste of the 5k with a 18:54 at MITCA.
Hard to fathom that I’ve been penning these Summer Previews for now, 7 years. Just as in the past, I’ll have the 50 best returners, then as time rolls on, the Regional Previews and Top Ten Teams.
Differing from the past is the format. Individual posts for each region and ticket are a TON OF WORK. Instead, I’ll be knocking off the 50 Tickets with sets of 10 and Regional Previews by their division and gender. Hopefully with these methods, I’ll be finishing on time and actually spending effort detailing what could be some great regional battles.
Anyhow, starting with the girls (they run first this year), your 50 Tickets to Brooklyn. These celebrate our top-50 returners – based on the 2024 XC season, 2025 track season, projected improvement, and a tiny bit of my own opinions.
(Also, first time ever that I’ve included Upper Peninsula folks in these! I know they’re not running at MIS, but they’re still representatives of Michigan)
Name: Jonah Workman School: East Grand Rapids Grade: 12th
Personal Records
5k (XC) – 15:17 Mile – 4:15 3200m – 9:06
Grade
Name
Time
Team
Rating
Meet
Date
Year
11
Jonah Workman
15:17.1
East Grand Rapids
208.3
Division 2 State
2-Nov
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:38.2
East Grand Rapids
201.3
Region 12
26-Oct
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:21.9
East Grand Rapids
206.1
OK White Championship
16-Oct
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:54.8
East Grand Rapids
199.7
Portage
5-Oct
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:51.2
East Grand Rapids
205.9
OK White 2
2-Oct
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:30.4
East Grand Rapids
208.2
Bluejay
28-Sep
2024
11
Jonah Workman
15:52.4
East Grand Rapids
202.2
OK White 1
18-Sep
2024
11
Jonah Workman
16:10.8
East Grand Rapids
205.1
Spartan
13-Sep
2024
11
Jonah Workman
16:15.5
East Grand Rapids
200.5
Bath
7-Sep
2024
Grade
Name
Time
Team
Rating
Meet
Date
Year
10
Jonah Workman
15:56.3
East Grand Rapids
195.2
Division 2 State
4-Nov
2023
10
Jonah Workman
16:35.6
East Grand Rapids
191.5
Region 12
28-Oct
2023
10
Jonah Workman
15:58.6
East Grand Rapids
195.5
OK White Championship
18-Oct
2023
10
Jonah Workman
16:07.9
East Grand Rapids
194.4
Portage
7-Oct
2023
10
Jonah Workman
15:33.7
East Grand Rapids
202.8
Bluejay
30-Sep
2023
10
Jonah Workman
15:54.9
East Grand Rapids
198.7
Ottawa Hills
15-Sep
2023
10
Jonah Workman
16:13.9
East Grand Rapids
198.7
Under the Lights v2
25-Aug
2023
Grade
Name
Time
Team
Rating
Meet
Date
Year
9
Jonah Workman
16:38.1
East Grand Rapids
188.3
D2 State
5-Nov
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:31.9
East Grand Rapids
185.0
Region 12
29-Oct
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:21.8
East Grand Rapids
185.4
Northview
19-Oct
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:04.0
East Grand Rapids
194.7
Portage
8-Oct
2022
9
Jonah Workman
17:18.2
East Grand Rapids
189.9
OK White 3
5-Oct
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:21.0
East Grand Rapids
189.0
Otsego Bulldog
1-Oct
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:31.9
East Grand Rapids
184.7
Cougar Falcon
24-Sep
2022
9
Jonah Workman
17:54.3
East Grand Rapids
162.2
OK White 2
21-Sep
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:58.6
East Grand Rapids
185.5
Spartan
16-Sep
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:49.9
East Grand Rapids
185.4
Bath
10-Sep
2022
9
Jonah Workman
16:55.2
East Grand Rapids
187.0
OK White 1
7-Sep
2022
9
Jonah Workman
17:12.1
East Grand Rapids
181.6
Portage Early Bird
19-Aug
2022
Accolades
XC
5th Place – 2024 Division 2 State 2nd Place – 2024 OK White Championship & Region 12 3x State Qualifier 2022 Division 2 Team State Champion
Track
3rd Place – 2025 Division 2 State 3200m 14th Place – 2025 Division 2 State 1600m 3x Division 2 State 3200m qualifier 2025 OK White 3200m Champion
His Breakout Race
His performances at MIS have been outstanding that I need to pick two. One set the stage for a fairly consistent theme throughout his career: the ability to bring it on the pressure-packed days. The other, the start of this new level where he’s been racing.
Heading way back to the ’22 season, Workman’s East Grand Rapids squad was locked in a tight battle for the D2 crown. The Pioneers, Pinckney, and Chelsea were the three main contenders in what was projected to be one of the closer team races since I’ve been doing this. Big stage for a little freshman, but how does he go out and race? One of his higher ratings of the season, in front of Pinckney’s 3rd, stuck to Chelsea’s 4th, enough guts to eke out a 5-point margin.
Fast forward to 2024. Jonah had broken through into the 15’s as a sophomore, returned there many times as a junior. The fastest he’d covered a course had been a 15:21, set weeks earlier at the always fast Riverside Park. With an opportunity to prove that fitness on a greater stage, Jonah executed a patient race, hitting the mile in 7th, moving up two spots from then on, placing 5th. A 4 second personal best, 15:17, a meaningful foray into future stardom.
The momentum kept on with a 3rd place finish in D2’s 3200m. As far as I can see, it ain’t letting up.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 