Regional Meets Produce 50+ XC State Meet Qualifiers
From Division 1 to Division 4, over 50 Blue Water Area athletes and four full teams qualified for the cross-country state finals on Nov. 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. Here is a recap of each division/location from our coverage area.
Friday, Oct. 30, 2026
Anchor Bay
Going 13/15, Brandon Ziehmer and Sebastian Azar of Anchor Bay both ran new personal best times of 16:18 and 16:20, respectively. While Ziehmer has been to the state meet before, this will be Azar's first trip.
Port Huron Northern
Grant Davis finished right in between the Anchor Bay qualifiers, taking 14th in 16:19, his personal best. It's also Davis' first individual state meet qualifier in cross country.
*Worth noting is the D1 regional performance by meet winner Xavier Solgot of Lanse Creuse North: he ran a 14:55 to become the fastest high school runner in Macomb County, surpassing the 14:57 that Thomas Westphal of Anchor Bay ran as runner-up at the Division 1 state finals in 2023, and the 14:59 run by Morgan Beadlescomb (Algonac). Those are big comparisons, considering Westphal has been the Big 10 Runner of the Week multiple times, was Big 10 Freshman of the Year, and is the top MSU cross country runner. Beadlescomb also earned All-American status for MSU within the NCAA and is now running professionally, having competed at the Olympic Trials. A 14:50 won the D1 state meet last year, so running that time completely solo (and factoring in Columbus' hill), Solgot is definitely in the mix for the championship title.
North Branch's Charlie Fields ran a huge personal best of 16:27 to finish 12th at a tough regional and become the first boys' state cross country qualifier in 30 years: the last time the Broncos sent a runner to MIS was 1996.
Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026
The Columbus Park D2 regional covered the largest number of Blue Water Area teams, and we saw a big shakeup this year with the introduction of several new schools, including Holly, who went 1-2 in both the girls' and boys' races. To put the times into perspective, last year a 19:40 won for girls, and a 21:24 got an individual qualifier. This year, two girls were sub-18, with the winner running 17:36, and girls had to run almost sub-20 to make the state finals: a 20:03 was the last spot. Last year that was fourth place. The boys' winner last year was 16:18, with a qualifier of 17:37 or lower. This year, the winner ran 15:44, and it took a 17:04 to make the state finals individually. Last year, 17:04 was 11th.
Armada
The Tigers qualified two girls, Layla Tedder and Claire Albrecht. Tedder ran her personal best by close to half a minute to finish eighth in 19:48; it's been a banner season for the freshman. Albrecht returns to the state finals for the second year, taking the last individual qualifier spot in 15th (20:03) with a sprint finish to the line.
Cros-Lex
Connor Pepin and Madelyn Barkley each earned a spot on the start line for the Pioneers, with both dropping massive amounts of time over the last year. Pepin took fourth in the boys' race (16:26); last year he didn't go below 17:09. Barkley was 14th in 20:01, surpassing her previous personal best of 20:28 by 27 seconds and coming so close to a sub-20 5K.
Lutheran North
Joshua Macri returns to the state meet with a third-place regional finish of 16:12, looking to earn another All-State finish. He has been the fastest runner in the Blue Water Area time-wise for three straight years.
The LHN girls' team repeated as regional champions, with Samantha Whitlam and Chloe Boright going 6-7 in 19:26 and 19:31, respectively. The rest of the team qualifiers are as follows:
11: Avery Stallmann, 19:57.
16: Lucy Gump, 20:07.
30: Evelyn Buckley,21:19.
33: Ariana Macri, 21:36.
77: Annie McMahon, 23:28.
Marysville
The Viking boys finished second as a team with 84 points. Caleb McBride and Brendan Koza both finished in 16:46, with McBride in 8th and Koza in 9th. Weston Rutallie was 20th in
17:26, Dawson Smith 25th in 17:57, Jeremy Johnson 28th in 17:59, Brennan Simmons 54th in 19:04, and Erich Sylvia 59th in19:28.
Richmond
Mason Pietrykowski is 3-for-3 on his state meet qualifications, punching another ticket to MIS with a 13th-place finish in 16:59.
St. Clair
Ethan Kreger and Griffin Kreger both qualified for the Saints: Ethan placed tenth in 16:49, while Griffin was 12th in 16:57, a new personal best.
Yale
The Bulldogs were third, scoring 111 points and sending another team to the state meet. Led by Brady VanConant's PR of 16:30 in sixth, several other runners had their season or personal bests as well.
15: Noah Miller, 17:04. PB
22: Logan Carrier,17:39. PB
36: Brian May,18:25.
40: Boone Sklba,18:32. PB
45: Thomas Schweihofer, 18:44.
47: Steven Foltz,18:50.
Saige Cole was the lone qualifier from the girls' team, running her best of 19:07 to take fourth. With her PR set at the state meet last fall, it's likely that she'll see a sub-19 minute race before the season's end.
Algonac
Kadence Ager ran 20:44 and placed 12th to qualify for her second trip to MIS. Ager recently added her name to the top-25 times list at Algonac, cementing her as one of the fastest Muskrats in school history as a sophomore.
Almont
Colton Grzyb ran a huge personal best - almost 40 seconds - to qualify for his first state finals in his four-year career. Finishing 15th, Grzyb was the fastest D3 boy from our coverage area.
Taylor Stanczak was eighth in 20:01, her personal best and oh-so-close to the sub-20 club. She ran her personal best at the state finals last year, so it's likely she'll see that time on the finish line clock soon.
New Haven
Doug Grishkevich snagged one of the last individual qualifying spots for New Haven, running 17:28 to finish 19th.
Emma Reimer was ninth in 20:12, punching her very first ticket to the state finals. For a runner who finished 40th last year and has seen close to two and a half minutes of improvement since 2025, it will be exciting to see what happens on Saturday as this senior closes out her career.
Led by a personal best by Micah Arlow in third (17:04) and Liam Knuth's 17:29 in fifth, Cardinal Mooney had their entire boys' team qualify, which is only six runners, by placing second to Royal Oak Shrine.
16: Dominic DeVeny,18:31, PB.
27: Xavier Zammit,19:44.
31: Liam Guyor, 20:22.
57: Wyatt Welsh, 25:58.
Austin Catholic's Gavin Bowers took fourth place in 17:12.
The Mooney Cardinals' Paige Arlow ran her best of 21:45 to place eighth and qualify for the state finals in her first season of cross country.
Cassidy Bowers won her first regional championship in 19:53 for Austin Catholic and will seek D4 All-State honors for a second year, having placed 19th last year. Her teammate Rose O'Connor also earned a second trip back to MIS, running 23:02 and earning one of the last qualifying spots in 18th.
The Dryden Cardinals are sending three individuals to the state meet: Claire Wright, Ella Gustner, and Levi Fitchett. Wright was sixth in 21:11, Gustner was ninth in 21:29, and Fitchett was seventh in the boys' race in 18:16.
Memphis' Tucker Gascoyne (in the above photo in a green sweatshirt) became the first Yellowjacket cross country qualifier since 2021, placing 10th in 18:22. Last season, Gascoyne's best was a 20:57, so he's seen a lot of improvement.
The Michigan Cross Country State Finals take place this Saturday, November 7, at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. You can find all the information at MHSAA.com or linked here.
Any athletes interested in competing at the MITCA Meet of Champions on November 14 can register for participation on their website. It's a great day filled with last-chance PRs and a great racing atmosphere. If you're hoping to be part of the ELITE division, you MUST register by noon on Nov. 9. All other regular registrations are due by noon on Nov. 13. Don't wait!
