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: Kaylie Livingston School: Whitmore Lake Grade: 11th
2024 Division 4 State Champion 2nd Place – 2023 Division 4 State 2x Region 33 Champion 2x MIAC Champion
Track
2024 & 2025 Division 4 State 3200m Champion 2024 Division 4 State 4×8 Champion 2nd Place – 2025 Division 4 State 1600m 6x All-State
Her Specialty
Any distance from 3200m and above.
Competing in a championship race – indoor, outdoor, on the grass, on the track, Kaylie has a nearly perfect track record in race from 3200m and above. The lone blemish was still a successful one, a runner-up finish in the 2023 D4 XC Finals, still one that helped earn her Trojans a trophy. Since that point, it’s been win after win. Back-to-back on the track, this latest one by 10+ seconds over her D4 brethren. Against the entire state during indoor of ’24, perhaps one of her more herculean efforts. And most relevant here, her first cross state title, a dominant win last November that once again helped her Whitmore Lake team attain a state title.
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 Division 4, Division 3 is a bit easier in terms of finding who will be going to what school. Returning roster sizes are a bit larger and the feeder middle schools are easier to follow.
Anyhow, here are your D3 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 20 – four teams in the top-23. Projections show a little gap between #18 Reed City and #23 Lake City, the latter of which who’d likely be a favorite to make it out in a few other regions. A positive point for the Trojans is that they return everyone from their varsity regional squad, which placed 4th behind Reed City. But it’ll be tough with the ‘Yotes bringing back everyone but Gus.
Region 21 – five teams in the top-28. Which means that two teams, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian and Montague may be on the outside looking in. A point in the favor of those two is that there aren’t any projected superstar teams, which increases the chance of an upset.
Region 23 – three top-10 teams. Potentially next to impossible anyone beyond Hanover-Horton, Jonesville, or Jackson Lumen Christi to make it out.
Region 26 – four teams in the top-25. And heck, Plymouth Christian Academy is close by at #34. With Lansing Catholic’s strength, 1st is probably out of the question.
Intriguing Battles
Region 20 – Benzie Central vs. Hart for the victory. Since 2017, both Benzie Central and Hart have been at the forefront of this region. The Pirates have won quite a bit, but have missed out on crowns for the past two seasons because of Benzie and Reed City exploits. Hart has reloaded with the venerable Ackley family, both Silas and Grant successfully handling a freshman year and ready to improve as sophomores. The Huskies are exceptionally strong up front, bringing back four underclassmen that broke 17:00 at some point in 2024.
Region 21 – Holland Black River vs. The Potter’s House for the win. Mentioned above that these two are favorites, but not clear cut above the rest. Regardless, the projections have Holland Black River as 2 points ahead of The Potter’s House, despite the Pumas holding a better D3 ranking. TPH has a bit stronger depth in their 4th and 5th runners, Black River a stronger top-three.
Region 23 – Jackson Lumen Christi, Jonesville, and Hanover-Horton for the win. Not often you get THREE elite teams in one region. Jackson Lumen Christi is the defending champion here, though the Titans will have to replace their outstanding two low sticks. Tying for 3rd here and advancing on their sixth runner (Jacob Gray) were the Jonesville Comets. They’re a young squad, bringing back all but one varsity runner. Coming in as the favorite are the other Comets, the tradition-laden Hanover-Horton. Their outstanding ’28 class features three kids that hit sub-18 as freshmen. Add in a frontrunner such as Cooper Flick and you’ve got a squad that checks all the boxes.
Region 19
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Charlevoix #19 Traverse City St. Francis #20 Harbor Springs
William Ready – one lone man returns from the Glad state title squad. The stage shouldn’t be too large for the junior, as he dropped a 15:52 gem at MIS this past November.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Hunter Eaton
Charlevoix
2
11
William Ready
Traverse City St. Francis
3
11
Ryder Hopkins
Charlevoix
4
12
Matthew Solomon
Charlevoix
5
10
Grant Corlew
Harbor Springs
6
12
Qwynn Darnell
Elk Rapids
7
11
Carter Toensfeldt
Fairview
8
12
Nicholas Trader
Fairview
9
11
Isaac Dionne
Boyne City
10
10
Harper Mullet
Traverse City St. Francis
11
11
Maxwell Drenth
Charlevoix
12
10
Liam Mahaffy
Grayling
13
12
Adam Ferguson
Harbor Springs
14
10
Owen McGlone
Kalkaska
15
12
Henry Kruzel
Harbor Springs
16
11
Dex Nance
Traverse City St. Francis
17
11
Evan Civinskas
Roscommon
18
11
Jake Klemmer
Roscommon
19
11
Finn Parish
Boyne City
20
12
Max Vroman
Harbor Springs
Region 20
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Benzie Central Top-10 Hart #18 Reed City #23 Lake City
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Benzie Central
53
2
Hart
61
3
Reed City
90
4
Lake City
111
5
Manton
139
6
Leroy Pine River
167
7
Kingsley
233
8
Manistee
238
9
Shelby
248
10
McBain
256
11
White Cloud
282
12
Harrison
300
13
Mason County Central
305
14
Houghton Lake
417
Top Athletes
Robert Dykhouse – picked a great time to seriously drop some time, which ended up gaining him some very impressive results. A 15+ second personal best at Benzie led to his 2nd straight State Finals appearance, which then became his first ever sub-16 and All-State.
Eli VanPoortfliet – outstanding freshman fall ended in a multitude of consecutive sub-17’s and gave way to a track season where he blasted the #10 D3 freshman 3200m time.
Paul Saladin – finished the fall with his two fastest times of the year, momentum that bled into a track season where he dropped 15+ sec. in the 1600m (6 in the final week!) to grab the final podium spot at State.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
12
Robert Dykhouse
Manton
2
10
Eli VanPoortfliet
Benzie Central
3
12
Paul Saladin
Reed City
4
10
Silas Ackley
Hart
5
12
Caiden Helsel
Lake City
6
12
Jackson Schaub
Benzie Central
7
10
Tristan Hernandez
Kingsley
8
11
Cage Edingfield
Benzie Central
9
10
Abraham Kiaunis
Reed City
10
12
Wyatt Vanpoortfliet
Benzie Central
11
11
Aiden Schaner
Hart
12
10
Tanner Dozier
Reed City
13
10
Grant Ackley
Hart
14
12
Connor Helsel
Lake City
15
12
Jack Helsel
Manton
16
12
Jack Slotman
Hart
17
11
Mason Opalewski
Hart
18
11
Nathan Lenington
Leroy Pine River
19
11
Pascal Miller
Hart
20
12
Kaden Worch
Manistee
Region 21
Top 27 Teams
#15 The Potter’s House #16 Holland Black River #21 Grand Rapids Covenant Christian #27 Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Holland Black River
87
2
The Potter’s House
89
3
Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
100
4
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
116
5
Montague
130
6
Lakeview
178
7
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian
179
8
Saranac
197
9
Belding
200
10
Kent City
214
11
Delton-Kellogg
259
12
Ravenna
287
13
North Muskegon
324
Top Athletes
Jeryn Frisbie – Frisbie has improved greatly under Coach Carlson’s tutelage, moving from a sophomore that missed out on MIS to a junior that barely missed a podium spot in D2.
Barrett Nance – darkhorse candidate to make some noise in D3. Dropped serious time on the track, over 20 sec. in the 1600m and 7 sec. in the 800m, both events where he was able to hit the D3 podium.
Jonas Ballard – coming on as a player in the D3 scene. Nearly halved his finishing place in cross (78th to 41st), then grabbed 10th place in the 3200m, his first individual qualifier ever.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
12
Jeryn Frisbie
Belding
2
11
Barrett Nance
North Muskegon
3
11
Jonas Ballard
Holland Black River
4
12
Noah Raeth
Montague
5
12
Edward Mugisha
The Potter’s House
6
10
Nolan Kessler
Montague
7
11
David Castrejon
Newaygo
8
11
Micah Kuiper
Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
9
11
Cooper Tiffany
Lakeview
10
10
Casper Banner
Holland Black River
11
10
Quinn Hare
Belding
12
11
Owen Sytsema
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
13
12
Isaac Johnson
Holland Black River
14
11
Caleb Swiney
The Potter’s House
15
11
Levi Schimmel
Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
16
12
Reuben Anderson
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
17
11
Josiah Scholma
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
18
11
Landon Madden
Delton-Kellogg
19
12
Isaac Struck-VanderHaak
The Potter’s House
20
11
Mattias Tuls
The Potter’s House
Region 22
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Saugatuck #14 Buchanan
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Saugatuck
20
2
Buchanan
57
3
Schoolcraft
114
4
Bangor
127
5
Hartford
160
6
Watervliet
165
7
Parchment
177
8
Constantine
189
9
Bloomingdale
231
10
Fennville
237
Top Athletes
Sawyer Monroe – like many of his Trailblazer teammates, had a breakout State performance. Monroe’s was to the tune of a 30+ second personal best and 33rd place finish.
Jackson Bowman – just a consistent monster as a freshman, nearly always in the 17-flat vicinity. Excels in the longer events, evidenced by his 12th ranked D3 freshman 3200m.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Sawyer Monroe
Saugatuck
2
10
Jackson Bowman
Saugatuck
3
12
Liam McBeth
Buchanan
4
11
Marcus Silva
Saugatuck
5
11
Grant Rehkopf
Saugatuck
6
9
Sam Casiano
Watervliet
7
12
Alessandro Avila
Constantine
8
12
Sammy Gamboa
Saugatuck
9
11
John Keser
Buchanan
10
11
Aiden Mcdonald
Hartford
11
12
Jack Sherwood
Buchanan
12
10
Ira Brown
Saugatuck
13
12
Jacob Kuntz
Buchanan
14
10
Ashton Skinner
Saugatuck
15
9
Reese Devisser
Schoolcraft
16
12
Eli Martin
Schoolcraft
17
11
Josaias Robles
Hartford
18
12
Ace Drewyor
Schoolcraft
19
11
Xavier Pompey
Coloma
20
10
Lucas Winter
Parchment
Region 23
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Hanover-Horton Top-10 Jonesville Top-10 Jackson Lumen Christi
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Hanover-Horton
69
2
Jonesville
75
3
Jackson Lumen Christi
87
4
Brooklyn Columbia Central
172
5
Centreville
173
6
Olivet
207
7
Union City
223
8
Onsted
224
9
Sand Creek
248
10
Quincy
256
11
Napoleon
270
12
Homer
275
13
Hillsdale
277
14
Bronson
288
15
Springport
416
16
Galesburg-Augusta
438
Top Athletes
Caleb Blonde – doubled down on his 4th place freshman 3200m finished and found his way into the top-5 at November’s State Finals. Caleb ended his sophomore cross campaign with sub-16’s in six of his final nine races.
Clint Couchman – incredible progression occurred from the start of cross to the end of track. Clint began his freshman year as a high-17 kid and ended it as the 4th place finisher in the 3200m. Strikingly similar to Blonde, a serious candidate to move into D3 contention in the coming years.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
11
Caleb Blonde
Jonesville
2
10
Clint Couchman
Brooklyn Columbia Central
3
11
Cooper Flick
Hanover-Horton
4
12
Nicholas Fowler
Jonesville
5
12
Gibson Shore
Jackson Lumen Christi
6
12
Ben Gautsche
Union City
7
11
Logan Youngman
Hillsdale
8
10
Will Hulin
Centreville
9
11
Chad Tyson
Hanover-Horton
10
11
Rocky Bolton
Jackson Lumen Christi
11
10
Chris Durfey
Onsted
12
12
John Edler
Homer
13
11
Avery Morrow
Jackson Lumen Christi
14
12
Zach Hassenzahl
Hanover-Horton
15
11
Silas Daniels
Sand Creek
16
11
Collin Fucile
Jonesville
17
10
Ashton Potwin
Jonesville
18
12
Wyatt Vowell
Brooklyn Columbia Central
19
10
Wyatt Hassenzahl
Hanover-Horton
20
11
Ethan Huff
Homer
Region 24
Top 27 Teams
Top-10 Stanton Central Montcalm #12 Pewamo-Westphalia #17 Bath
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Stanton Central Montcalm
48
2
Pewamo-Westphalia
66
3
Bath
77
4
Montrose
130
5
Laingsburg
135
6
Chesaning
137
7
Ovid-Elsie
138
8
Otisville LakeVille
169
9
New Lothrop
250
10
Perry
253
Top Athletes
Gage Hoffman – just covered the man!
Owen Poppema – found a new gear in October, whittling his times down from the 17 min. range to 16:15 by State, which earned Poppema a 28th place finish in D3.
John Kowatch – track season gives thought to an All-State candidate come fall. Subtracted >10 sec. from his freshman 1600m best and earned a 10th place finish in D3’s 800m.
Noah Devereaux – Laingsburg standout has placed in the top-6 here for the past 3 years.
Tyler Leach – consistently a mid-16 figure in 2024, save for one race – his 16:12, major PR and 26th place finish in D3.
Luke Herron – Caro Tiger is 2 for 2 in terms of top-10 finishes here, but what a difference a year makes. Whereas he was on the high side of 17 as a freshman, he spent championship season beating down the doors of a sub-16 en route to a 20th place D3 finish.
Jayden Fox – had to be satisfying for the Charger to earn a return trip to D3’s Track Finals. A 10:03 at Regionals got him there, 25+ seconds faster than anything he’d run as a sophomore or freshman.
Noel Lorenzen – the defending champion here, who owned the fastest freshman mark of any D3 kid in the 3200m and was the 2nd ranked D3 freshman at MIS (21st place).
Lucas Gates – racing through the hills of St. Francis Retreat Center surely paid off at season’s end for this rising senior. After many efforts in the high-16’s, busted out a stunning 16:17 at State.
Everett Beach – tons of focus on the 3200m this past track season and to a bit of success. Busted through into the 9’s at Bluejay, earned top-4 finishes in the CAAC White and Region 30.
Place
Grade
Name
Team
1
10
Nole Lorenzen
Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
2
12
Lucas Gates
Lansing Catholic
3
11
Everett Beach
Lansing Catholic
4
12
Emmanuel Mehari
Plymouth Christian Academy
5
10
Grady Richey
Lansing Catholic
6
11
William Gancer
Stockbridge
7
12
Julian Walker
Algonac
8
11
Kenneth Mangles
Leslie
9
9
Isaac Cox
Plymouth Christian Academy
10
12
Henry Beck
Ann Arbor Greenhills
11
10
Simon Reed
Plymouth Christian Academy
12
11
Naveen Kulkarni
Ann Arbor Greenhills
13
11
Téo Krumm
Lansing Catholic
14
12
Owen Beindit
Algonac
15
10
Jack Songer
Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
16
12
Blaise Demko
Lansing Catholic
17
11
Finn Korte
Lansing Catholic
18
10
Oscar Wordell
Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
19
11
Cooper Schmelter
Leslie
20
10
Carson Potter
Lansing Catholic
Region 27
Top 27 Teams
#26 Erie Mason
Proj. Place
Team
Score
1
Erie Mason
67
2
Grass Lake
80
3
Blissfield
81
4
Clinton
113
5
Adrian Madison
113
6
Monroe St. Mary CC
114
7
Ottawa Lake-Whiteford
146
8
Ida
196
9
Detroit Northwestern
278
Top Athletes
Christian Craanen – quite a November run for this SMCC runner. Asserted himself early at MIS and even outkicked a few to finish 14th, the fastest freshman in D3 and 3rd fastest 9th grader on the day. The next week, proved it no fluke with another sub-16 at Shepherd.
Trenton Fetter – another athlete putting in the work to make himself a D3 contender. From his sophomore to junior track seasons, dropped 25 seconds in the 1600m and 36 of ‘em in the 3200m. The payoff being an All-State finish in the 1600m.
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: Marek Butkiewicz School: Kalamazoo Hackett Grade: 12th
2025 Division 4 State Champion 6th Place – 2024 Division 4 State 2024 & 2025 Region 32 Champion 2025 SAC Champion
Track
2024 & 2025 Division 4 State 3200m Champion 2024 & 2025 Division 4 State 4×8 Champion 2025 Division 4 State 1600m Champion 7x All-State 4th Place – 2025 MITS 1600m & 3200m
His Championship Season
What do I even pick? Winning ways from track, his first state title on the grass, or his sophomore breakout spring. Victories are the theme of any championship writing about Marek.
His ability began to flash in the spring of ’23, the then freshman surprising many pundits with a 9:41 3200m in early May, a mark that laid the foundation for a 3rd place finish in D4’s 3200m. Opportunities laid ahead for big performances in meets that mattered.
A sophomore fall validated his freshman performances, winning Region 32, freefalling toward the low-16’s, and placing 6th in D4 cross. Always an endurance-based athlete, Marek found new ability in the mid-distances, contributing to the dominant Hackett 4×8 squad, eventually gaining a speed that vaulted him from merely good to D4 elite. The true coming out party came at 2024’s track State Finals, where Butkiewicz kicked off a winning Irish 4×8, dropped 3 sec. from his 1600m to place 2nd, and dropped 8 sec. from his 3200m to win it all. A win that was a precursor to the many victories we saw this past season.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 