It’s time for the 2025 Girls Outdoor Track and Field Season Preview! I’m excited about sunshine and warm breezes…ok, probably snow, hail, freezing rain, gusting wind, etc., but I AM excited to get back out watching Blue Water Area athletes achieve amazing things. Over the last few months, I’ve been looking at results from last year’s outdoor season to compile the predictions and probable performances for this year. The statistics used to write the season preview include BWAC, MAC, and Catholic High School League results, Blue Water Area meets such as the Marysville Invitational, Muskrat Invitational, Blue Water Meet of Champions, Thumb Meet, and Macomb County Meet, and of course Regional and State Finals qualifying and placements.
A couple of notes about the process:
Consistency is king: when looking at so many performances across a months-long time frame, there had to be consistent participation and placement throughout the season to get a feel for the performance or improvement potential.
I didn’t include incoming freshmen (last year’s 8th graders) as sometimes they end up participating in a different spring sport or they don’t come out for track in high school.
I didn’t factor in the majority of PRs from any meets last year that were hand-timed for the preview, nor will I use them for top times and marks lists this season. When you see PRs for everyone across the board by huge margins, especially in sprint events, that’s a sign that the times are usually inaccurate. With the requirement of FAT timing for state meet qualification, it’s a more reliable standard.
Early qualifying marks add a new dynamic to reporting on racing for this year: athletes can now meet a state-meet qualifying mark earlier than regionals, which will likely change the landscape of Michigan track and field. An EQ is defined by the MHSAA as “an athlete who achieves the mark in any round of a valid pre-qualified event which meets the proper standards (FAT TIMED and 6+ teams) is qualified to participate in the LP finals in that event”.
Finally, I will miss someone who deserves a nod or mention: with such a large amount of data across a long period, it is inevitable. I cross-check and reference and scour athletic.net repeatedly, but Blue Water Running is just me, I work a full-time job during the day (which includes wrangling some kindergartners) and I do this for free, so sometimes, things get missed. I’m human. Also, my apologies if I mispronounce or misspell your name or incorrectly type a time or mark.
Alright, let’s get into the season ahead!
SPRINTS
100 Meters/200 Meters
The 2024 graduation of North Branch’s long-dominant Grace Clemens leaves a significant hole in the BWAC sprints, but fellow Bronco Aubree Deshetsky was second only to Clemens in the few meets in which she entered the 100-meter dash, with a best of 13.45. Deshetsky also was part of the North Branch school record-breaking BWAC/Regional championship 4x100 team, so she has experience in the 100.
Penelope McNutt of Imlay City was only a freshman in 2024. Still, she was consistently in the 13-second range in the 100-meter dash, with several sub-13-second times and a pretty impressive list of achievements: she won multiple duel meets, the Bad Axe Hatchet Invitational, and was second to only Clemens in most of her runner-up finishes, including regionals. She was one of only nine girls to make it to the D2 state meet as a ninth-grader, so she has a year of experience and growth behind her and a wide-open field in which to make her mark as a sophomore. St. Clair’s Ashuna Johnson has run 13.5 in the 100 as well.
Almont’s Lola Battaglia was fourth at the BWAC championships in the 100/200-meter sprints last year. Along with several invitational podium finishes, she was the D3 regional champ in the 200 and second in the 100, qualifying her for the state meet, where she ran her 200 PR of 26.65.
Armada’s Cristina Semian and Allison Mansfield saw major improvements in their sprint speeds over the winter, with Semian dropping a 29-second best outdoors to an indoor-state qualification of 27.22. Mansfield dropped from 29 to 27.78.
Yale’s Madeline Sepsey and Julia Ferguson were fast freshmen, finishing 5th and 6th in the BWAC in the 200 in 2024. Cros-Lex’s Ava Oleski was second in 27.75 and part of the BWAC champs’ 4x200 relay: any of the three could challenge in this event.
Port Huron High’s Malencia Price had a productive winter competing indoors for the Motor City Track Club. She qualified for the MITS championship sprints in the 200 meters with a best of 26.35. Her first high school season was her sophomore year, so she has made significant progress in a short time. Anchor Bay’s Brooklyn Shadley has run 13.5 in the 100 and 27.7 in the 200.
400 Meters
As in the 100 and 200, Price saw major improvements in the 400: she dropped her personal best from 70 seconds outdoors to 61.2 seconds indoors - with two extra turns. Semian and Mansfield also saw significant time drops in the 400-meter dash indoors. Price and Semian are closely matched in the 400, with times of 61.02 and 61.74, respectively, but won’t race head-to-head outside of invitational competition, as Price is a D1 athlete and Semian competes in D2. Mansfield and Semian both ran a 69-second best outdoors in 2024 and Mansfield dropped into the 62s indoors, which shows significant promise for the outdoor season to be even faster.
Iyanna Brown of Anchor Bay was only a freshman last year when she took her 400 times from a 65 to a 62, taking third by season’s end at the Macomb County Championships. She also served as a 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400 relay leg.
Aubrey Sargent of St. Clair has run in the 63-second range, Armada’s Brooklyn Khon and Yale’s Madeline Sepsey in the 61s, and Armada’s Claire Sniesak had an open 400 best of 63.62 and has state meet experience in the 4x4 and 4x8. Cros-Lex’s Elizabeth Stanfield tipped into the 64s as a freshman and chipped in on 4x400 relay events.
While Yale’s Sadie Dykstra doesn’t often compete in open sprint events, she won the 200 meters three out of four times she raced it, the 400 both times she gave the one-lap sprint a try (including a victory against Grace Clemens), and was also a part of the Bulldogs’ undefeated 4x400-meter relay, which took fifth at the state meet.
MID-DISTANCE/DISTANCE
800 Meters
Aubree Deshetsky of North Branch doesn’t run the open 800 very often, but she has the athletic versatility to do well should she focus on the event. In her only attempt in 2024, she ran 2:39 but had a freshman best of 2:27.
Port Huron Northern’s Haley Sharp, Isabella Nestle, Samantha Langolf, and Miley Caughel formed the Blue Water Track Club and all have raced the open 800: Sharp has an indoor best of 2:44, Nestle an outdoor best of 2:39, Caughel has gone 2:40 indoors/2:37 outdoors, and Langolf 2:41 indoors. Marysville’s Addison Stevens ran a 2:41 to win the MAC Gold last season.
Algonac’s Kate Bennett won her D3 regional meet the last two years in a row (PR of 2:34) and has qualified for the state meet in this event for three, so she has solid experience. St. Clair’s Aubrey Sargent has dipped her toes into the 800 a few times over the last two seasons with a best of 2:37 but hasn’t raced it consistently. Brooklyn Khon of Armada ran 2:28 open and was part of the Tigers’ state-qualifying 4x800 the last two years.
Cros-Lex’s Eva Thompson is mainly a 1600/3200 runner, but has enough speed to easily put down mid or sub-2:20s: she could be utilized in the event to score points in BWAC competitions.
Samantha Whitlam of Macomb Lutheran North was only a freshman when she won the Catholic High School League, was second at regionals, and was one of only a handful of ninth graders to run at the state meet in the event. She has a best of 2:21. She was also fifth in the 400 at the Macomb County Championships in 63.5. She spent a lot of the winter racing indoors so that should benefit her outdoor racing as well.
1600 Meters
Will Eva Thompson break the 5-minute barrier this year? All signs point to yes: when pushed by the best in the state at the D2 finals, she ran a lifetime best of over ten seconds to clock in at 5:01, taking sixth place and earning all-state honors. Her only second-place finishes all season in this event were to Goodrich’s Kamryn Lauinger at the North Branch Invitational and regionals, but Thompson’s state placement and PR bested Lauinger by the post-season. Thompson broke the BWAC record (5:12) and won the Marysville Invitational and Blue Water Meet of Champions.
Alannah Wessel of (MACH) set a new indoor PR of 5:08 and is the fastest in the Blue Water Area outside of Thompson, but Thompson didn’t dip under 5:10 until the state finals. As a home-schooled student, Wessel is not eligible to participate in regionals so it’s unlikely she and Thompson will race, but it would be an interesting match-up to see these two go head-to-head. Alannah's sister Faith has an 800-meter best of 2:38 and a 1600-meter best of 5:38 from this indoor season.
PH Northern has several distance girls who have been running all indoor season and any of them could dip their toes in the mile this year: Samantha Langolf ran her first indoor attempt at the 1600 this winter, taking 15th in 5:41, which bests her outdoor PR by ten seconds. Haley Sharp ran 5:35 as a freshman last year.
Emma Reimer of New Haven High School has shown immense improvement this season, running a new best by almost a full minute over last year’s outdoor time with a PR of 5:36 - she finished behind Bennett in the 800 to earn a spot at D3 states. Dryden’s Cara Prusakiewicz’s 5:47 is faster than her outdoor best of 5:54, so she’s on track to see growth in this event as well: she scratched at regionals, so we haven’t yet seen her on the state track stage. Almont’s Laila Evola won her D3 regional in 5:50 and was in the top 21 places at the D3 state meet. She also has PRs of 2:42 in the 800 and 12:57 in the 3200.
3200 Meters
Thompson is the defending BWAC champion and record holder (11:34) also and was first in every 3200 she entered all season until regionals, where she was runner-up to Lauinger. She claimed the last all-state spot in 8th (PR 11:02) at the state finals. Sub-11 minutes? That’s the only question left to be answered. Her teammate Brynn Hurley won several BWAC duel meets and was on the podium at the Blue Water Meet of Champions and the Marysville Invitational with a PR of 12:20 (and 5:47 in the mile).
Lillian Rutallie of Marysville was undefeated in duel meet competition and won the MAC Gold Championship: her 2024 PR is 12:48 but she has run 12:19. Langolf has run a 12:21 and has a podium finish at the Anchor Bay Invitational and MAC White Champs, while Sharp went 12:42 and both are now on the top performance list for cross country after a stellar fall distance season..
Other distance mentions:
Stella Behnan, Cardinal Mooney: 2:43 (800), 5:48 (1600), 12:36 (3200)
Charlotte O’Brien, Imlay City: 2:43 (800), 5:59 (1600).
Evelyn Buckley, MLN: 2:44 (800), 5:53 (1600), 12:46 (3200).
Ella Thornton, St. Clair: 2:44 (800), 5:57 (1600).
Avery Stallmann, MLN: 2:46 (800), 12:44 (3200).
100/300 Hurdles
Sadie Dykstra of Yale has dominated the hurdling events since coming on the scene as a freshman, but last season she added state champion to her continuing list of achievements, winning the D2 state finals in the 300 hurdles (45.00) along with placing as the runner-up in the 100 hurdles (15.19). Dykstra was undefeated in every single hurdle event she ran the entire season before states. Dykstra’s teammate Keirra Taube finished second only to her the entire season, including regionals. Her bests are 15.77 in the 100s and 47.50 for the 300s.
Allie Markel of Marine City narrowly missed qualifying for the state meet, finishing third to Dykstra and Taube in her best of 50.19. She won the Muskrat Classic Invitational in both hurdling events and was a podium finisher in the MAC Blue. Mariah Turner was third at the Marysville Invitational in 49.99 in the 300 hurdles for Port Huron High. In D4, Dryden’s Caila Fitchett ran 51.97 and was fourth in her regional.
RELAYS
Due to graduated students and relay leg changes, it’s not always possible to predict relay times or teams, but the preview is based on any returning runners and last season’s fastest times.
4 x 100 Relay
North Branch 51.06
Aubree Deshetsky, Rowan Conley, ??
Losing all-state sprinter Clemens as an anchor leg along with graduated senior Sarah Munro, can this relay rebuild upon last year’s school record, regional championship, and state-qualifying run? Deshetsky has some serious speed, but replacing Clemens in a relay is a tough rebuild.
Almont 53.1
Genesis Fisher, Lauren Webster, Lola Battaglia,?
The Raiders won the Blue Water Meet of Champions and their D3 regional in this event but also lost a relay leg to graduation. With Webster as the only senior this year, they might have enough experience and depth to find another runner to sub in for consistent success this season.
Yale 54.13
Sophie Mongelli, Natalie Korotko, Arielle Runnals, Rori Cowhy
They took first at the Marysville Invitational and all the runners are returning as juniors.
Port Huron Northern 54.5
Ava Gonser, Addison Cruciano, Summer Nofs, Kate VanHowe
The Huskies have their work cut out for them in D1 competition, but their team is young and has a fast league and regional to pull down their times.
4 x 200 Relay
Armada 1:52.08
Claire Sniesak, Brooklyn Khon, Cristina Semian, ?
Fourth at regionals, but two athletes have been dropping steady 200 PRs during the indoor season (Semian and Mansfield). Combine that with Khon/Sniesak or other athletes returning from last year and this relay could contend for a league title.
Marysville 1:53.71
Katherine Gwisdala, Jenna Ebenhack, ??
Second in the MAC Gold but losing two members to graduation (including the speedy Carlee Woolum), the Vikings have some rebuilding to do.
Cros-Lex 1:55.48
Melody Persig, Ashston Temple, Ava Oleski,?
This relay won the BWAC meet last year and only lost one relay member.
Yale 1:55.11
Sophie Mongelli, Rori Cowhy, Natalie Korotko, Elizabeth Ford
Young underclassmen lead the way here, and if you sub in any of the Bulldog’s big sprint stars, you have an even faster relay.
Port Huron Northern 1:55.24
Olivia Hill, Addison Cruciano, Summer Nofs, Sophie Harris
Fifth at the Blue Water Meet of Champions, all runners return.
Anchor Bay had a 4x100 at 53.3 and a 4x200 at 1:54, but in D1, that’s several seconds off the top team times for their region. Dryden went 52 and 1:49, which is exceptional for D4, but graduated almost their entire relay, including several all-state athletes like Olivia Reynolds.
4 x 400 Relay
Yale: 4:06.99
Keirra Taube, Julia Ferguson, Madeline Sepsey, Sadie Dykstra
The indisputable favorite is Yale here as they were mostly untouchable all season: the closest anyone got was within two seconds, and that was Goodrich, which had a state champ (Layla Jordan/800 meters) on their team. They won the BWAC (and set the league record), every invitational, regionals, and they were undefeated until the state finals, where they took fifth in 4:06. Two of their members were just freshmen so that 4:06 will probably drop by this year’s end.
Armada 4:18
Brooklyn Khon, Claire Sniesak, Cristina Semian, ?
Khon and Sniesak return and both were all-state in this event as freshmen: paired with Semian and Allison Mansfield, who have both gone 62 or under indoors, this relay just got a bit more interesting.
Marine City 4:24
Allie Markel, Mattison Marlatt, Claire Karczewski,
With a time drop of more than half a minute throughout the season, this team won the Blue Water Meet of Champions and returned three of the relay. Karczewski has run a 64-second open 400 too.
4 x 800 Meter Relay
Cros-Lex 9:46
Brynn Hurley, Eva Thompson, ??
The Pioneers’ 4x800 relay won the BWAC in a new record time (10:02), then reset their school record in a scorching regionals race, taking second in 9:46. The loss of Abby Barkley and 800-meter specialist Morgan Newton to graduation leaves a big question mark: will they be able to fill the hole with some of their up-and-coming cross country freshmen?
Armada 10:01
Brooklyn Khon, Claire Sniesak, ??
The Tigers’ 4 x 800 relay team faces the same graduation issue as Cros-Lex: they lost two members of their relay, including their fastest 800 runner (Ava Baltierra). They just squeaked into the state finals by hitting an AQ at regionals, but they also have a lot of refiguring to do in this relay.
St. Clair 10:42.71
Ella Thornton, Molly McNabb, Aubrey Sargent,?
As MAC Gold Champs, they only lose one relay leg. The Saints always have a consistent distance program and have several girls who made huge improvements in their running during the cross country season.
Macomb Lutheran North 10:47
Bella LaPerriere, Evelyn Buckley, Avery Stallmann,?
Recorded relay times don’t tell the whole story: each member listed above has run close to a 2:40 or under, and that’s without Samantha Whitlam, who clocked a 2:22 as a freshman in the open 800 and could offer a solid contribution in this relay. All but LaPerriere are just sophomores.
Marysville 10:47
Joselyn Chapman, Lydia McBride, Addison Stevens, ?
Substantial time improvements in 2024 and underclassmen: anything is possible.
Port Huron Northern 10:50
Miley Caughel, Brooklyn Schott, Haley Sharp, Isabella Nestle
More young blood in this relay, and there’s also Samantha Langolf to consider, who has been running all winter with Caughel, Sharp, and Nestle as part of the Blue Water Track Club, qualifying for states in the DMR. These ladies had monster jumps in their cross country times, so it’s not a stretch to say this distance crew could see this relay time drop significantly.
Yale 10:55.37
Ceclia Ford, Isabelle Goulding, Lillian Bender, Lauren Fowler
Same story here as MLN, PHN, and St. Clair: lots of cross country distance improvement and underclassmen that have moved up with experience.
FIELD EVENTS
Long Jump
Adding to her hurdles titles, Dykstra was state champion in the long jump and has a best of 18’-2.75”. She was undefeated all year, including the Yale Relays, BWAC Championships, Marysville Invitational, Goodrich Invitational, Regionals, and the Blue Water Meet of Champions. Teammate Taube tried the long jump for the first time indoors and jumped an impressive 17’-4”, which ranked her in the top ten statewide for the indoor season: it remains to see if she will add this to her regular meet rotation with only four events in which to compete.
PHH’s Price is here again: she qualified for indoor track and field states and has a best of 16’-6”.
High Jump
Yale’s Keirra Taube is the defending BWAC Champ and league record-holder with an outdoor best of 5’4”, but won the indoor state title outright with a first-attempt clearing of 5’-6”. As regional champ and D2 state runner-up, she finished undefeated in all regular season jumps but one, bested only by the eventual D4 state champion, Olivia Findlay of Marlette. She’s put in the work all winter with the Michigan Racers Track Club, so look for 5’8”+ on the horizon.
In D1, Alysia Goudelock of NB Anchor Bay had a season-best in the high jump of 5’ outdoors in 2024 but had already surpassed that height at the beginning of the indoor season, jumping 5’-2” and winning a LAB indoor meet, maintaining her spot on the top-ten indoor list. She was third at her regional and looking to make her first outdoor state meet appearance as a senior this year.
Cros-Lex’s Ava Oleski finished second to Taube at the BWAC championships and jumped 5’-0” several times. Richmond’s Brianna Pauley and Armada’s Valeria Ricossa have both jumped consistently in the upper four-foot range, with Ricossa hitting five feet. Grace Askew of St. Clair hit 4’-11” and placed second in the MAC Gold.
Shotput/Discus
Janae Hudson’s (Marysville) domination of throwing ended with her state championship and graduation in 2024, so the shotput and discus are once again anyone’s game. Deshetsky of North Branch won the BWAC shotput last year in 37’-7.75” and set a new record in the BWAC disc in 127’-1. She was second only to Hudson at regionals and looks to be the area’s heavy favorite in both throwing events: she finished fifth in shot put and sixth in discus to earn all-state honors.
Another North Branch thrower, Katie Gill won the discus at the Thumb Meet of Champs with a PR toss of 110’-1”. To round out the top three BWAC throwers is Katelyn Welter of Cros-Lex, who was second in both events at the BWAC Championships and has bests of 32’-4” and 110’. Showing promise in the shot put is Riley Agee of Armada, who was sixth at the Macomb County Championship with a throw of 33’-2”. Her twin sister Haylee won the county JV meet in the discus in 85’-7”. For the MAC Red, Korin Hutton of Anchor Bay has a shot put best of 35’ and a discus PR of 101’.
Pole Vault
Almont’s Madison Niedermaier is the returning BWAC champion with a best of 8’-9”: she also won the Davison Twilight Invitational. Imlay City’s Kendal Donahue was second in the BWAC to Niedermaier, vaulting her best of 8’-3”. Autumn Pratt of Macomb Lutheran North and Jessica Peters of North Branch both have personal bests of 8’ and were third and fourth at regionals, just missing a state qualifying jump. Maitlynn Ullenbruch of Port Huron Northern has only competed in pole vault a handful of times and has a best of 8’-0”, while Lilylynn Martin of Almont has a PR of 7’-8”. Paige Sheldon of Marysville has a vault best of 8’-6”. Avery Havercamp of Marine City won the MAC Blue with a vault of 8’.
I can’t wait to get back out there and see all of you running, jumping, and throwing. You can find results and articles on bluewaterrunning.org and our social media sites throughout the season. You can follow Blue Water Running on Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also check out photo albums of meets that will be linked through the website and download and share them to help spread the word about Blue Water Running’s mission, which is to feature and celebrate the achievements of high school and collegiate cross country and track/field athletes from our area.
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