Best Jump Crews: Boys Week One

(Yes I’m copying the same intro from yesterday. I felt it was well-written and being my own boss, I have those kinda perks)

You know, I could wait until mid-April to release these. Nearly all teams would have a meet or three under their belt, they’d be an accurate representation of the entire state. But who wants to wait that long? Surely not myself. This extended rest period is good for the soul, but I’ve laid dormant for too long.

To review, these “best crews” were started last year to try to recognize the best teams in each event area, whether that’s the jumps here, or sprints or throws elsewhere. Last year’s version was more complex and relied on having three participants in each event. I’ve changed things a bit this year, mostly to ease the process on my end and have the ability to include more teams.

Here’s the process:

Over the winter, I created my own version of World Athletics Tables, but for Michigan athletes. These are based on times/marks from the 2022 Outdoor Season throughout the US.

GIRLS TABLES

BOYS TABLES

There are two guidelines for being included. Your mark has to be from this outdoor season and it has to be better than the Regional Additional Qualifying Mark. Marks from this season are taken from the athletic.net performance lists. There will likely be some instances where someone has run a time, but it’s not included on that list. I can’t help that! Please contact the necessary folks to get your name on there.

For each event, with a maximum of four athletes, those scores are added together. Then within a category, those events are added together. There is some scaling done for relays and more than four athletes included if you’re especially dominant in an event, but we’ll get to those in time.

Here’s an example of Rockford’s girls:

Grade	Name	Feet	In.	Total	Team	Points	Event
10	Ashley Williams	15	7.5	187.5	Rockford	339.98	Long
10	Greta Caprathe-Buczek	5	7	67	Rockford	497.37	High

Since girls run first in 2023, they were posted yesterday. Here are the boys:

Bay City Western’s Colton Whyte was Michigan’s best middle school high jumper last spring. One might think he’d need a warmup period, a few weeks adjustment before sticking his nose in at the HS level. False. Colton traveled down the road to SVSU and took home 1^st place on the first day of the season. 6’2 might not mean much now, but I’m anxious to see where he’s at in two months.

D1 Rank	Team	High	Long	Score
1	Canton	833	448	1281
2	East Kentwood	377	392	769
3	Traverse City West	377	362	740
4	Fraser	377	361	738
5	Bay City Western	405	0	405
6	Northville	405	0	405
7	Rockford	0	394	394
8	Grand Blanc	0	381	381
9	Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills	0	380	380
9	Grand Haven	0	380	380

What a team contributor Nate Bolley is for Whitehall. He was a part of their three sprint relays that competed at the 2022 State. He can even move up to an 800 if you need him. But individually, his 20’10” opener in the long jump puts him on track to make noise in Division 2 in that event, 21’+ efforts often placing one on the medal stand. Whatever happens, I know he’ll be an integral part of an always successful Viking team.

D2 Rank	Team	High	Long	Score
1	Whitehall	726	373	1099
2	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	0	733	733
3	Charlotte	0	638	638
4	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	405	0	405
4	Monroe Jefferson	405	0	405
6	Milan	0	363	363
7	Ortonville Brandon	0	352	352
8	Richland Gull Lake	349	0	349
9	Clio	0	338	338
10	Alma	335	0	335
10	Flint Kearsley	335	0	335
10	North Branch	335	0	335
10	Owosso	335	0	335
10	Saginaw Swan Valley	335	0	335

Karson Tocco plays a similar role to Bolley, a jack of all trades on Clare, another traditional power. He excels in the longer sprints, attaining a Regional Championship in the 200m. That title came after missing qualifying in the long jump at those same Regionals. 2023 is off to a wonderful start however, as he grabbed the D3/D4 title at SVSU. Seven of the top eight finishers in the D3 long jump were seniors, that medal stand and that title are completely up for grabs.

D3 Rank	Team	High	Long	Score
1	Hillsdale	377	355	732
2	Montague	698	0	698
3	Chesaning	335	284	619
4	Hart	321	290	610
5	Lakeview	377	0	377
6	Clare	0	359	359
7	Grandville Calvin Christian	349	0	349
8	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	0	348	348
9	Reed City	335	0	335
10	Harrison	0	334	334

Over in Ypsi at 2022’s Huron Relays, Anthany Buford leapt 20+ feet on his initial jump of his high school career. Automatically a contender in D4, he carried those 20+ efforts to the State Finals, where he placed 2^nd, jumping 22’0. Ten months later, he’s back where he started, only adding nearly two feet to that initial effort. Peck’s Alex Affer is still there and don’t look past Fairview’s Landon Galea, these three should be heavy favorites to place high in a few months’ time.

D4 Rank	Team	High	Long	Score
1	Detroit Frederick Douglass	0	423	423
2	McBain Northern Michigan Christian	293	0	293
3	Holland Calvary Christian	0	291	291