These have been moving a little slower lately because I’m in the final stages of going through incoming freshmen, rounding out the Top 10s, and assembling the regions together. Later in the week, I’ll get cranking again.
A newcomer to the cross community, Mia made an immediate impact in her sophomore year
One could see the talent in middle school, where she broke 13:00 late in her 8th grade year, but a global pandemic and a broken foot led to zero results for a good 1.5 years
During her freshman track season, it appeared she was putting that injury behind, continually dropping time in the 1600m until she reached 5:32 at season’s end
Last fall is where Mia truly blossomed, and her progression throughout the season was palpable, major drop, plateau, major drop
Many of those major dips coming late: Bluejay, OK White 4, and the State Meet
Though her track times don’t jump off the page like some of the others, I think they speak to a greater strength, despite “only” running 5:26 (6 seconds faster than 2021), Mia can still run in the low-18’s
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Mia Bateson
19:55.7
131.1
Under the Lights (GRSC)
South Christian HS
27-Aug
10
Mia Bateson
19:17.2
137.3
OK White 1
Gainey Fields
8-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:57.1
126.0
Bredeweg
Macatawa Bay MS
11-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:21.9
139.0
Ottawa Hills
Riverside Park
17-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:50.8
137.1
OK White 2
Riverside Park
22-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:54.4
143.2
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
25-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:34.0
147.7
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:38.6
139.8
OK White 3
Brookside GC
6-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:49.4
147.5
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:18.0
154.0
OK White 4
South Christian HS
20-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:32.7
143.1
1 Allendale
Allendale HS
30-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:19.3
150.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Courtney, Ransom, and now Parks
The Allens have been a great family to the mid-Michigan running community, contributing to state titles, All-Americans, academic All-Americans, and Parks is doing a great part of continuing that legacy
As I’ve said before, living up to expectations has the risk of being devastating, but these kids I’m writing about have found a way to perform time and time again
Parks stepped onto the Ithaca team and had an immediate impact, qualifying for State as a freshman, being a top-3 runner on a team that’s finished top-10 in the state the past two years
He himself has a penchant for crushing that Shepherd course and coming through at MIS
His season best the past two years is at Shepherd
11th and 12th place at MIS in those years
I feel he really put it all together this spring, just look at these progressions: 1600m 4:39 > 4:23, 3200m 9:59 > 9:33
In conclusion, he’s reaching even another level, I look forward to him and Coach Merchant having a fun fall on their hands
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 