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: Annie Hrabovsky School: Romeo Grade: 11th
Personal Records
5k (XC) – 17:28 1600m – 4:57 3200m – 10:30
Grade
Name
Time
Team
Rating
Meet
Date
Year
10
Annie Hrabovsky
17:28.3
Romeo
164.6
MITCA
9-Nov
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
17:46.8
Romeo
158.1
Division 1 State
2-Nov
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
17:42.9
Romeo
158.4
Region 9
26-Oct
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
17:48.9
Romeo
158.7
Macomb County
12-Oct
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
18:28.9
Romeo
149.0
Portage
5-Oct
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
18:30.5
Romeo
144.2
MAC Red Championship
25-Sep
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
18:02.4
Romeo
156.9
Jackson
21-Sep
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
19:19.9
Romeo
136.7
MAC Red 1
4-Sep
2024
10
Annie Hrabovsky
18:57.5
Romeo
154.2
Early Bird Open
29-Aug
2024
Grade
Name
Time
Team
Rating
Meet
Date
Year
9
Annie Hrabovsky
17:28.7
Romeo
165.1
Division 1 State
4-Nov
2023
9
Annie Hrabovsky
18:17.5
Romeo
163.2
Region 9
27-Oct
2023
9
Annie Hrabovsky
19:09.9
Romeo
131.4
MAC Championship
21-Oct
2023
9
Annie Hrabovsky
17:54.8
Romeo
161.1
Macomb County
14-Oct
2023
9
Annie Hrabovsky
17:53.2
Romeo
158.3
Jackson
23-Sep
2023
Accolades
XC
11th Place – 2024 Division 1 State 4th Place – 2023 Division 1 State 2x Team State Champion 2023 & 2024 Region 9 Champion 2023 Macomb County Champion
Track
5th Place – 2025 Division 1 State 3200m 7th Place – 2024 Division 1 State 3200m 20th Place – 2025 Division 1 State 1600m 2025 Region 10 & MAC Red 3200m Champion
Her Breakout Race
When you enter the stage as a highly anticipated freshman, then proceed to race with a wisdom above your years, it’s hard to call anything a breakout race. But I think back to Annie’s debut at Jackson and her subsequent race at Macomb County. Both races proved that she’d be a force for a while, a girl you could constantly count on.
Cautious with her long-term future, why race her super early as a freshman? A valid thought in 2023. Plus, who can doubt Coach Buslepp, who’s seemingly pushed all the right buttons in his coaching career. In late September of that season, Hrabovsky made her debut, pacing herself early, then letting it rip late. If she could run 18:02 without getting aggressive early, what would the end result be? Three weeks later at Macomb County, we saw a bit of an answer. Facing off against the 3x County Champ, there was less room for patience early. On a muddy, wet Eastwood Beach track, Hrabovsky pulled away from the field with a 10+ second victory, her 17:54 earning her first HS championship win ever.
Since then, there’s been two regional cross wins, tons of sub-17’s, All-States on the oval and grass, and everything she showed in those first few weeks.
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 3 & 4, these are a bit more solid in terms of predicting which incoming freshmen are going where and all regions have a full assortment of teams.
Anyhow, here are your D2 Boys 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 12 – five teams in the top-25. Think of it this way, normally teams ranked in the 20’s would have a good chance of being the third qualifier. Grand Rapids South Christian and Portland, ranked 24th and 25th, are projected to be nearly 50 points above 3rd place.
Region 13 – five teams ranked within 11 spots. The positive aspect is that all of these spots are up for grabs, no prohibitive favorite. The negative, living near the Lake Michigan coast means you’re in a D2 hotbed.
Region 14 – four teams in the top-24. Alma and Parma Western are probably out of reach for DeWitt or Williamston, as the former are teeming with talent. Early on, it appears that the Hornets will be stronger up front, while the Panthers lose a ton, but have depth that could step up.
Intriguing Battles
Region 11 – five teams competing for two spots. Sparta and Allendale are projected to be neck and neck for 2nd and 3rd, but Holland, Hudsonville Unity Christian, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central are close behind. Sparta appears to be the strongest through all spots, Allendale extremely tough through three. It appears a bubble of kids will be around that 17:45-18:00 range on this quick course, if a team is able to put five ahead of the front end of that, they’ll have an excellent shot of moving on.
Region 12 – East Grand Rapids vs. Grand Rapids Christian, with a potential Forest Hills Eastern spoiler? The separating factor between the former two and Forest Hills Eastern appears to be the stronger depth of the first two. On the other hand, the Hawks have produced runners such as Henry Dixon and Aiden Sullivan, not to mention their team title two years ago. They can develop talent to move up in the field. Grand Rapids Christian appears to be stronger through four, East Grand Rapids deeper through seven. The Pioneers closed cross hard, but had a subpar spring. The Eagles return four kids who ran at least 4:40/10:20 this past spring.
Region 13 – top-3 teams separated by a mere 9 points. Between Three Rivers, Otsego, and Richland Gull Lake, the separating factor appears to be the work of the Wildcats’ 3rd and 4th kids. Last fall, Jonah Zietlow slipped under 17:00 in the clutch and this spring, David Kore showed he can potentially be one of D2’s better milers in future years. Last year, Three Rivers dethroned Otsego in both their dual meet and in the Wolverine Conference. For years, that’s been Otsego’s spot. Maybe the kick in the teeth the Bulldog program needed? We’ll see.
Region 16 – Fenton vs. Pinckney for the win, Lake Fenton vs. Country Day for the final qualifier. We get a little move down to D2 from Fenton. The Tigers go from finishing 6th in Region 4 to being in the drivers seat early here. Pinckney’s Pirates have been traditionally strong here, but they lose 3 of their top-4. Detroit Country Day and Lake Fenton have very similar makeups. The Blue Devils are quick through three, the Yellowjackets can hang with their top-two. DCD’s depth seems a bit faster. Thus, it’ll likely be a contest of which pack steps up on this tough Linden course.
Region 18 – Adrian vs. Chelsea. Each team returns pretty much everyone from 2024’s regional squad. Among those returners, Chelsea brings back five that placed in front of Adrian’s four. But the Maples add a Parker Smith (last name sound familiar?) that won the MS Lenawee County title last fall.
Region 10
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Cedar Springs #14 Howard City Tri-County #20 Petoskey
Owen Metzger – has always been a fixture here, all three years in the top-10, the past two in the top-3.
Mitchell Dunlap – momentum began toward the end of his 9th grade year and hasn’t let up since. Sub-16 halfway through last year then his first state qualifier.
Aden Ashworth – making steady progress, especially evident on the track, where he improved his speed and dropped over 10 sec. from his previous 1600m best.
Jack Estelle – his improvement may best by symbolized by what occurred in early November, a move from 218th place in D2 to 73rd, over 1.5 minutes better on the MIS track
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
12
Ronnie Silveira
Allendale
2
11
Mason Hill
Allendale
3
12
Owen Metzger
Sparta
4
11
Mitchell Dunlap
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
5
12
Aden Ashworth
Allendale
6
12
Jack Estelle
Hopkins
7
12
Landon Gerritsma
Holland Christian
8
12
Carson Wood
Sparta
9
10
Aiden Lambers
Holland
10
11
Graeson Decker
Hudsonville Unity Christian
11
11
Cole Coffman
Holland Christian
12
12
Riley Hart
Holland Christian
13
10
Kash Moored
Hopkins
14
9
Zach Diller
Holland Christian
15
11
Alex Ten Haken
Hudsonville Unity Christian
16
9
Grant Lampen
Holland Christian
17
11
Kellen Chalupa
Allegan
18
10
Caelen Gray
Holland
19
9
Zander Stewart
Holland Christian
20
10
Macen White
Holland Christian
Region 12
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 East Grand Rapids Top-10 Grand Rapids Christian Top-10 Forest Hills Eastern #24 Grand Rapids South Christian #25 Portland
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
East Grand Rapids
42
2
Grand Rapids Christian
49
3
Forest Hills Eastern
76
4
Grand Rapids South Christian
122
5
Portland
123
6
GR West Michigan Aviation
172
7
Wayland Union
195
8
Grand River Preparatory
231
9
Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg
232
10
Ionia
240
11
Lake Odessa Lakewood
274
12
Hastings
342
13
Battle Creek Pennfield
396
Top Athletes
Jonah Workman – writeup coming soon… very soon?
Sean Ryan – another big drop in the 1600m might be the ticket towards greatness in the fall, his 4:23 ranking 9th amongst D2 returners.st
Steven Zawacki – had shown signs as a freshman, capitalized on those as a sophomore. Dropped as low as 15:39, placing 18th in all of D2
Micah Becker – blossomed late, ripping two consecutive sub-16’s to close the year. Looks to be one of the better #2 men in the state.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
12
Jonah Workman
East Grand Rapids
2
12
Sean Ryan
Grand Rapids Christian
3
11
Steven Zawacki
Forest Hills Eastern
4
10
Micah Becker
East Grand Rapids
5
12
Jack Edison
East Grand Rapids
6
12
Micah Small
Grand Rapids Christian
7
12
Asher Jager
GR West Michigan Aviation
8
10
James Scholten-Holcomb
Grand Rapids Christian
9
10
Ashton Fink
Grand Rapids Christian
10
12
Shephard Bower
Forest Hills Eastern
11
12
Thad VanderLaan
Grand Rapids South Christian
12
12
Andrew Feldpausch
Portland
13
12
Owen Moore
Portland
14
11
Josiah Rozema
Grand Rapids South Christian
15
12
Tyler VanKuiken
East Grand Rapids
16
12
Cooper Donovan
Forest Hills Eastern
17
11
Lucas Aardema
East Grand Rapids
18
10
Liam DeWitt
Portland
19
11
Thomas Fisher
East Grand Rapids
20
12
Sam Hillary
East Grand Rapids
Region 13
Top 27 Teams
#15 Three Rivers #17 Otsego #19 Richland Gull Lake #21 Edwardsburg #26 Plainwell
Caiden Caswell – fresh off a track season that further validated his cross one. Personal bests in the 1600m and 3200m, including breaking 10:00 in early May.
George Scupham – over the years, has been known for his late-season bursts. As a sophomore, that was getting under 17:00 late. A junior, racing to a significant 16:07 PR at MIS.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Abraham McHugh
Marshall
2
12
Donovan Ryan
Plainwell
3
11
Caiden Caswell
Vicksburg
4
12
George Scupham
Edwardsburg
5
12
Kenny Sheffer
Otsego
6
12
Cooper Gardner
Battle Creek Harper Creek
7
12
Hiro Nguyen
Plainwell
8
11
Christian Ayres
Battle Creek Harper Creek
9
12
Charlie Brauer
Three Rivers
10
12
Gavin Markucki
Richland Gull Lake
11
12
Trent Hansen
Plainwell
12
11
Christopher Vogt
Paw Paw
13
12
Benjamin Morales
Sturgis
14
12
Reece Howes
Three Rivers
15
11
Hunter Smith
Vicksburg
16
11
Gunnar Djerf
Otsego
17
11
Connor Beebe
Berrien Springs
18
12
Finn Tauren
Richland Gull Lake
19
9
John Brickley
Niles
20
12
Clark Erwin
Marshall
Region 14
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Alma Top-10 Parma Western #16 DeWitt #23 Williamston
Bryce Cahoon – in late May, recaptured the form he’d found in the middle of cross, grabbing 15th in the D2 3200m.
Brett Magnus – absolute consistency from Magnus late, racing between 16:05-16:20 from Saginaw County to MITCA.
Seth Betzold – may have been an under the radar All-State candidate after cross, but not so much after track. Bay County 3200m champion and 10th in all of D2 in the same event.
Cole McCraw – had the race of his life at State, a 15:49, missing the podium by one spot. I always love these scenarios where confidence is built through an amazing race, but there’s still a step to take. Judging off his track season, McCraw worked to move up that one spot (or more).
Cole Wisniewski – made the most of his return to full-time competing, his races at Gabriel Richard, State, and MITCA two years in the making, each significantly lower than the 16:44 he ran as a freshman.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
10
Gavin Katic
Fenton
2
11
Cole McCraw
Pinckney
3
12
Cole Wisniewski
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
4
10
Gerard Gilmour
Fenton
5
12
Brodie Licata
Lake Fenton
6
11
Omar Elbashir
Detroit Country Day
7
10
Ethan Bray
Detroit Country Day
8
10
Gerard Gilmore
Fenton
9
11
Cooper Steckroth
Lake Fenton
10
12
Shondell Warren
Oak Park
11
10
Jackson Butts
Lake Fenton
12
9
Matthew Mcfall
Pinckney
13
12
Nate Sandula
Pinckney
14
11
Noah Neuman
Pinckney
15
12
Jake Yono
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
16
9
Alex Hagerty
Pinckney
17
9
John Rochowiak
Pinckney
18
11
Jackson Defina
Fenton
19
10
Henry Golembiewski
Fenton
20
12
Bela Matyus
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
Region 17
Top 27 Teams
#22 Macomb Lutheran North
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Macomb Lutheran North
48
2
St. Clair
65
3
Grosse Pointe North
67
4
Yale
95
5
Marysville
121
6
Croswell-Lexington
146
7
Armada
174
8
Detroit University Prep
270
9
Harper Woods
307
10
Detroit East English
314
11
Warren Lincoln
324
12
Harper Woods Chandler Park
370
13
Detroit Southeastern Tech
393
Top Athletes
Joshua Macri – underwent a transformation in track, coming from 2:14/4:38/10:10 to 1:59/4:25/9:38. State qualifier in the long distance events and definitely a contender to medal at MIS this fall.
Xavier Roman – stunning difference between his 10th and 11th grade years. Moved up 16 places here and dropped 80 seconds from his personal best.
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: Jackson Lam School: Kalamazoo Loy Norrix Grade: 12th
12th Place – 2024 Division 1 State 2024 Region 3 Champion 3rd Place – 2024 SMAC Championship
Track
3rd Place – 2025 Division 1 State 1600m 2025 Region 3 1600m Champion 2nd Place – 2025 SMAC Championship 1600m & 3200m 7th Place – 2025 MITS 1600m
You Know I Dig His Improvement
The seeds of that improvement were sown during the ’24 track season. Although Lam was on a solid trajectory to that point, those spring months solidified his status as one to watch over the final years of his high school career. Four laps is where he’s found the most success on the track, that year slipping under 4:20 and grabbing his first state qualifier in the event.
The foundation was then laid for a cross season that greatly trumped anything he’d thrown down thus far. Jackson debuted the season with his fastest opener ever, a 16:10, more than a minute quicker than he’d ever began a season. Jackson and Portage, always D1 State previews, both were top-10 finishes (he’d averaged 50th place between the two as a sophomore). His first championship win at Region 3. Then the magnum opus, moving up 186 places at MIS, placing 12th in all of D1.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 