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    • Teams to Watch in Michigan High School Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country Finals
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    Teams to Watch in Michigan High School Girls’ and Boys’ Cross Country Finals

    Pabio Posted on

    Nick Lundberg
    | Special to The Detroit News

    The state finals will be held this weekend at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn for the boys and girls teams. Here are some teams and individuals who have a solid chance of becoming state champions.

    Division 1

    The Clarkston Boys

    After finishing its regional competition with the best overall score in Division 1, the Clarkston boys cross country team is preparing for the biggest competition of the season coming up this weekend at the state finals .

    Head coach Kevin Breen has already spoken openly about its top riders, mentioning that they always show up to the competition, and they proved it once again this past weekend. Among the top Division 1 runners for the 5,000 meters that begins this weekend, two Clarkston runners were in the top 30.

    Junior Ryan Barnes was the No. 1 runner all season for Clarkston, but senior Cayden DeGrendel showed up with the team’s best overall time, clocking 15:36:70.

    Qualified for states as a team, Breen and his boys look to cap off a strong season with a state championship.

    More: Michigan high school cross country rankings: week of October 28

    Girls of Rochester

    Throughout her career, Rochester girls cross country senior Lucy Cook was a star for his team. She continued to perform at a different level alongside the juniors Ella Abraham, helping his team qualify for states.

    Among all runners qualifying for the Division 1 5,000 meters, Cook ranks third overall with a time of 17:21:60, while Abraham follows eighth with a time of 17:47:70.

    Head coach Amy Oppat hopes his team’s best can play to their strengths to give the team the best chance of making some noise at the national finals.

    Division 2

    Boys Dearborn Divine Child

    Senior Divine Child Colin Murray placed in the top five in the 5,000 meters with a record time of 15:23:15. He also finished first at the regional level, beating everyone in the competition. Those efforts helped his team qualify for states as a whole, not just individually.

    For Divine Child, the second straight regional performance helped propel the team to its fourth straight appearance in the state finals. In addition to Murray’s efforts, Divine Child saw two other senior runners Tamer Zahr (17:29.59) and Nicolas Nakic finish consecutively by two hundredths of a second respectively 12th and 13th.

    Daughters of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

    St. Mary’s senior Méa D’Agostino finished his best race this year about a minute and a half from the top in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:45:50.

    Although it has been 20 years since St. Mary’s reached the state finals in cross country on both the boys and girls side, the program has a rich history. St. Mary’s has been named league champion more than 20 times, Catholic champion more than 10 times, Catholic runner-up twice, regional champion five times and has appeared in nine state finals.

    The team will not compete at states this season as it failed to qualify, but D’Agostino will aim for a top ranking to help return the program to relevance at the state level.

    More: Michigan high school girls cross country rankings: week of October 28

    Division 3

    Northwest Rochester Hills Lutheran Boys

    Led by a first year student Nole LorenzenThe Northwest Rochester Hills Lutheran boys will rely heavily on the high school freshman runner to turn in a strong performance this weekend at states.

    Outside of the qualifying races for the 5,000 meters, Lorenzen sits just outside the top 20 with a time of 16:11:40. He came close to this personal best on several occasions, with his best finish at the regional level finishing just two seconds off his best.

    After his first place finish at the regional competition, Lorenzen will look to represent his entire team as Lutheran Northwest did not qualify for states.

    Girls of St. Clair Shores Lakeview

    Although the team itself did not qualify for states, one sophomore stood out Kamryn Salladay made his mark. Her personal best this season of 18:20:84 puts her in the top 10 in the 5,000 meters.

    Similar to Lutheran Hills Northwest, she will be the only runner representing her school. Lakeview hopes the 10th grader can make some noise for its program.

    Division 4

    Royal Oak Sanctuary Boys

    After a strong start to 2024, the Shrine boys’ cross country team and its head coach Faith Luddy qualified as a team for the state finals. His best runner, junior Abenezer Ceronahas a personal best of 15:43:1 which places him fourth in all of Division 4 in the 5,000 meters.

    While Cerone’s individual numbers are impressive, Luddy emphasized earlier in the season that all of his boys will need to work together in order to improve on their 15th-place finish at the U.S. last year, during which the injury bug has relatively hit the team. hard.

    The summer work helped Shrine stay on task this season and put himself in a positive position to win the title with healthy legs.

    Girls of Lake Whitmore

    With three personal bests from ranked runners all in the top 15 in the 5,000 meters, Whitmore Lake is looking to go all the way after qualifying for states as a team. Second year student Kaylie Livingston, and juniors Carina Burchi And Elodie Weaver all were able to run under 19:30, with Livingston leading all Division 4 runners with a time of 17:46:20.

    Nick Lundberg is a freelance writer.

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