2022 Team Rankings – Week Four

Two massive meets drive a ton of change, as do the west side showings at Sparta and Ottawa Hills. The next six weeks will be very intriguing, with new favorites and contenders emerging at a rapid pace.

• The rankings are comprised of meets listed here (except for Huron, which went live after I calculated all these)
• These meets are either invites or jamborees, containing 75 or more competitors on each side (with a few exceptions).
• The HOBBS KESSLER RULE is in effect, where I eliminate the bottom third of one’s ratings, using the best two-thirds of an athlete’s season. The reason for this is the assumption that runners will not race all out in every race
• A weighted average is then taken, with more recent meets given a higher weight.
• All the teams in a Division are then scored as if it’s an XC meet
  • This is not a State Meet Projection, if there’s five teams in a Region deserving of a top-25 spot, they’re all in here
  • This may underrate teams with weaker depth, but I can’t wrap my head around any other ranking method
• For the UP, I combined all divisions. Once we get a few weeks in, I plan on separating into the three divisions.
• For reference, the WEEK THREE RANKINGS
• Remember that these are for FUN, they’re 100% UNBIASED, cross country isn’t scored on paper, and only you can determine where your season goes.

Rank	Boys Team	Score	Region	Change
1	The Potter’s House	34	31	0
2	Johannesburg-Lewiston	134	28	0
3	Petoskey St. Michael	245	28	0
4	Harbor Springs	280	28	-1
5	Adrian Lenawee Christian	318	34	1
6	Hillsdale Academy	326	34	0
7	Mason County Eastern	337	29	0
8	Whitmore Lake	416	33	0
9	Three Oaks River Valley	593	31	-1
10	Concord	604	32	-10
11	Frankfort	617	29	0
12	Royal Oak Shrine	621	36	-4
13	Kalamazoo Hackett	622	32	-5
14	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	629	36	1
15	Carson City-Crystal	661	33	3
16	Holland Calvary Christian	668	31	2
17	Battle Creek St. Philip	672	32	2
18	Lutheran Westland	708	36	-1
19	Ubly	715	35	2
20	Novi Christian Academy	724	33	-2
21	Brown City	791	35	0
22	Morenci	819	34	-1
23	Mayville	826	35	-2
24	Breckenridge	838	30	15
25	East Jackson	861	34	-2

Concord: On Saturday, the Yellowjackets went to Mendon and came away with second place. In fact, among teams eligible for MHSAA competition, they finished 1^st. Going back to last year, Adair Artis has been a reliable figure, he was able to get on the stand at MIS. Isaac Waldron and Cole Bates both returned to the form they showed last year, and those three helped carry Concord to a top-10 ranking. The boys now have a 10 day stretch of no racing before they begin Big 8 competition.

Rank	Girls Team	Region	Score	Change
1	Whitmore Lake	33	157	-2
2	Hillsdale Academy	34	159	0
3	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28	236	2
4	Unionville-Sebewaing	35	289	0
5	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	36	345	-2
6	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36	391	1
7	Kingston	35	432	-3
8	Beal City	30	469	2
9	Harbor Springs	28	485	1
10	Royal Oak Shrine	36	487	1
11	Libertas Christian	31	493	-4
12	Buckley	29	513	-12
13	Farwell	30	527	2
14	Ubly	35	530	1
15	Breckenridge	30	542	1
16	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	30	548	4
17	Leland	29	555	-1
18	The Potter’s House	31	573	1
19	Grand Traverse Academy	29	598	3
20	Pittsford	34	615	1
21	Kalamazoo Hackett	32	629	1
22	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	31	656	1
23	Clarkston Everest Collegiate	33	657	-4
24	Mason County Eastern	29	668	-4
25	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	29	680	3

Whitmore Lake: Early on in the misty morning hills of Springfield Oaks, the Trojans put on a masterful performance. Experienced junior Natalie Meadows ran a season best, a green Elodie Weaver joined her as well. They owe their lower ranking to Sofia Robertson, who began the year in the 24’s, spent a brief amount of time in the 23’s, and now owns a 22:12 personal best. With all that youth, the necessary balance is present on the other end, Brooke Craven, a senior who has competed in three State Finals. Some may wonder, why Whitmore Lake over Hillsdale here? In a smaller field at Holly, the 5^th runner matters less. These rankings are compiled using every single full D4 team.

Rank	Boys Team	Score	Region	Change
1	Hart	148	20	0
2	Saranac	296	21	-1
3	Traverse City St. Francis	316	19	1
4	Hanover-Horton	358	23	-1
5	Pewamo-Westphalia	376	24	-1
6	Reed City	394	20	2
7	St. Louis	454	25	-2
8	Ithaca	464	24	0
9	Benzie Central	479	20	2
10	Elk Rapids	547	19	0
11	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	570	21	0
12	Stanton Central Montcalm	643	21	-1
13	Clare	657	19	1
14	Leslie	693	23	0
15	Bath	706	24	0
16	Dansville	765	26	0
17	Saugatuck	814	22	-2
18	Kent City	869	21	-5
19	Jonesville	887	23	-16
20	Bronson	893	23	-8
21	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	893	21	-20
22	North Muskegon	906	21	4
23	Constantine	910	22	6
24	Sanford-Meridian	917	25	-3
25	Monroe St. Mary CC	935	27	4

St. Louis: The Sharks have captured the past two State titles, though they’ve sorta laid low to begin the season. This past week, they’ve put that feeling to rest, narrowly losing to Ithaca by a point at the TVC 10 opener, then placing 4^th in the White Division at Forest Akers. I’ve noted Ben March, who’s put together a great three race stretch, you should also look to Dylan Marr, who ran a 17:36 season best at Stratford Woods.

Rank	Girls Team	Score	Region	Change
1	Traverse City St. Francis	186	19	0
2	Pewamo-Westphalia	198	24	0
3	Jackson Lumen Christi	222	23	0
4	Hart	256	20	0
5	Elk Rapids	289	19	0
6	Caro	362	25	-3
7	Leslie	368	23	-1
8	Lansing Catholic	392	24	2
9	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	449	21	2
10	Kalamazoo Christian	489	22	0
11	Benzie Central	497	20	-1
12	Onsted	548	23	1
13	Monroe St. Mary CC	606	27	0
14	Ithaca	619	24	0
15	Charlevoix	644	19	0
16	Stanton Central Montcalm	674	21	0
17	Kent City	732	21	-2
18	Schoolcraft	780	22	-4
19	Sandusky	781	25	-10
20	St. Louis	810	25	3
21	Grass Lake	832	27	3
22	Union City	840	23	-3
23	Laingsburg	856	24	3
24	Ovid-Elsie	891	24	1
25	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	893	21	-3

Caro: As shouted out in the Holly review, the Tiger girls had themselves a day at Holly. Each of their girls had their best effort of the season. Even freshman Lexi Wegner, getting under 23:45 for the first time. All in all, they finished 3^rd in the D3 race, battling against many Division 2 teams, some of those teams among the better ranks of that division.

Rank	Boys Team	Score	Region	Change
1	Forest Hills Eastern	211	12	-3
2	Chelsea	225	18	0
3	East Grand Rapids	231	12	2
4	Adrian	251	18	1
5	Pinckney	300	16	-12
6	Grand Rapids Christian	380	11	1
7	Otsego	450	13	1
8	Dearborn Divine Child	466	18	1
9	St. Johns	494	14	1
10	Petoskey	556	10	-1
11	Freeland	561	15	2
12	Sparta	596	10	0
13	Holland Christian	615	11	3
14	St. Clair	676	17	1
15	Yale	678	17	-1
16	Wayland Union	723	12	1
17	Frankenmuth	758	15	3
18	Allendale	789	11	-2
19	Marshall	834	12	1
20	Clio	847	15	1
21	Grand Rapids South Christian	904	12	0
22	Alma	922	15	-7
23	Linden	956	16	1
24	Mason	956	14	1
25	Flint Powers Catholic	957	15	-3

Forest Hills Eastern: Athletes such as Alex Parker, Brendan Hoving, Liam Hinman, Henry Dixon, and Cooper Jacobsen are to thank for this great ranking. Aiden Sullivan ain’t bad either. But those five band together for the most formidable pack in Division 2. On any day, it could be one of the five in the 2^nd spot, one of the five in the 6^th spot. No matter which you way you slice it, they’ll be displacing a ton of folks. The Hawks have obliterated fields at Under the Lights, OK Gold, and Sparta. Now we wait for a massive showdown in a few weeks at Otsego.

Rank	Girls Team	Score	Region	Change
1	East Grand Rapids	74	12	0
2	Grand Rapids Christian	197	11	0
3	Otsego	228	13	0
4	Forest Hills Eastern	273	12	-2
5	Zeeland East	283	11	1
6	St. Joseph	328	13	1
7	Spring Lake	360	11	-7
8	Goodrich	391	16	1
9	Alma	467	15	0
10	Frankenmuth	533	15	-3
11	GR West Michigan Aviation	543	12	-11
12	Grand Rapids South Christian	549	12	1
13	Shepherd	550	15	3
14	DeWitt	575	14	6
15	St. Johns	579	14	3
16	Chelsea	627	18	0
17	Freeland	647	15	2
18	Petoskey	696	10	0
19	Owosso	715	14	2
20	Sparta	716	10	1
21	Tecumseh	791	18	-4
22	Hudsonville Unity Christian	794	11	2
23	Monroe Jefferson	813	18	-7
24	Cadillac	842	10	3
25	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	849	18	1

Spring Lake: The Laker girls had their best showing of the year at Sparta (seems to be a common theme here), where they finished just behind Forest Hills Eastern. Two freshmen have stepped up their game over the past few weeks, Alexis Kotkowicz with a dramatic drop to 20:25 and Megan Guczwa who is trending towards those 20’s. Add in names that’ve been around awhile such as Lily Parker, Lexie Ruffing, Katie Riemersma, and Bea Reeser, now you’ve got an outfit 100% capable of a top-10 finish at MIS. We’ll see them this weekend at the Autumn Sunrise meet, where they should fit right in with some of the D1 teams and directly compete against Zeeland East.

Rank	Boys Team	Score	Region	Change
1	Northville	179	6	0
2	Grand Haven	297	1	-2
3	Plymouth	328	6	1
4	Portage Central	333	3	1
5	Brighton	340	4	0
6	Romeo	471	9	-1
7	Clarkston	515	8	-9
8	Detroit Catholic Central	527	7	0
9	Forest Hills Central	543	3	-1
10	Saline	553	5	-1
11	Ann Arbor Skyline	553	4	2
12	Port Huron Northern	557	9	-15
13	Zeeland West	644	1	1
14	Traverse City Central	676	2	8
15	Walled Lake Northern	683	7	-4
16	Troy	721	8	-14
17	Jenison	742	1	3
18	Kalamazoo Central	766	3	-3
19	Utica	797	8	6
20	Saginaw Heritage	805	2	5
21	Rockford	813	1	3
22	Ann Arbor Pioneer	875	5	-11
23	White Lake Lakeland	881	7	6
24	Caledonia	883	3	NR
25	Oxford	903	8	-4

Grand Haven: Seth Norder and Nolan Clark will always provide two low figures for the Buccos. Necessary for a podium spot are the efforts of everyone else, and Spartan gave a good picture as to how they can rise to the big stage. Ben Held and Logan Vining both were sub-17 for the first time this fall. Aron Gal did everything other than fold under the pressure. Carson Berko and Roman Smith held down the fort as well. All in all, a 2^nd place finish when filtering for only Michigan teams, a field that’ll be similar to major races down the line.

Rank	Girls Team	Score	Region	Change
1	Holland West Ottawa	179	1	-1
2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	195	5	1
3	Brighton	314	4	-1
4	Romeo	369	9	-2
5	Saline	390	5	2
6	Okemos	448	2	-1
7	Walled Lake Northern	501	7	-6
8	Ann Arbor Skyline	507	4	0
9	Northville	510	6	4
10	Oxford	514	8	1
11	Traverse City West	516	2	-4
12	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	547	9	0
13	Macomb Dakota	571	9	3
14	Jenison	612	1	0
15	Dexter	629	4	4
16	Forest Hills Central	728	3	-1
17	Canton	732	6	1
18	H.H. Dow	739	2	-5
19	Portage Central	756	3	0
20	Grand Haven	769	1	-6
21	Utica	781	8	1
22	Byron Center	802	3	1
23	Forest Hills Northern	815	3	1
24	Traverse City Central	830	2	6
25	Zeeland West	837	1	1

Walled Lake Northern: When Ava Kurczewski has the day of her career, the whole Knight team benefits. Friday’s race at Spartan was her first sub-20 effort in two years, and over 1:15 faster than any mark she had as a sophomore. Just behind her, Madelyn Gordon was definitely pulled along, racing to her fastest effort of the year. Further along, Emma Doyle broke 21:00 for the first time in her young career. Walled Lake Northern has emerged as a favorite for the ol’ Oakland County Meet, coming up very soon over at Possum Hollow.

Rank	Boys Team	Score	Division
1	Marquette	28	1
2	Houghton	103	1
3	Sault Ste. Marie	113	1
4	Painesdale-Jeffers	147	2
5	Negaunee	166	1
6	Gladstone	175	1
7	Ironwood	201	2
8	Escanaba	233	1
9	Dollar Bay	256	3
10	Stephenson	270	3

Houghton: Last Wednesday, over across the Portage Canal, the Gremlins defeated a field of five teams. Senior Cyrus Hamlin has run in the 18’s in each year of his career, his performance there was the closest he’s ever been to gravitating into the 17’s. His 18:09 was a 14 second personal best.

Rank	Team	Score	Division
1	Marquette	42	1
2	Houghton	66	1
3	Negaunee	153	1
4	Munising	155	3
5	Sault Ste. Marie	160	1
6	Hancock	163	2
7	Escanaba	181	1
8	Calumet	220	1
9	Gladstone	256	1
10	Ironwood	273	2

Sault Ste. Marie: Saturday, Cassandra Gallagher and the rest of her Blue Devil teammates traveled down I-75 to the northern reaches of Oakland County. She put in one of the better races that any girl in the UP has run thus far. Her 20:17 was a 30+ second personal best and a far cry from the girl who had a tough time breaking 22:00 as a freshman and sophomore.