Best Hurdle Crews: Girls Week Three

Finally here with the last of the event area. Now I should be able to establish a consistent rhythm. Jumps, Vault, Hurdles, Distance, Throws, Sprints – on a two week cycle.

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. Their purpose is to compare across events. Here are the boys tables:

BOYS TABLES

GIRLS 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. Relays are scaled to match their importance within a meet. Often, at the state level, teams score more points from a relay than they would with four individuals running that event, so they’re given a bit more importance here. Here’s an example of (no shocker) one of the better early season crews:

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Event	Points
12	Nonah Waldron	13.71	Oak Park	100h	528
11	Morgan Roundtree	14.56	Oak Park	100h	477
10	Carrie VanNoy	15.25	Oak Park	100h	435

These include anything listed on athleticnet as of 10pm WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

As told in Jeff Hollobaugh’s excellent Michtrack Newsletter (which also features an interview from Nonah Waldron), Maya Rollins has hurdling genes. Her father competed for Barbados and was a MAC Champion at Eastern Michigan. So it’s no shocker when she opens with a 14.53, a two year PB in the making. She was running similar times at 2021’s Regionals, where she captured a Regional Championship. It didn’t work out at the state level, but I’m sure that fire runs deep to make a dent in the D1 standings.

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Event	Points
12	Nonah Waldron	13.71	Oak Park	100h	528
11	Morgan Roundtree	42.64	Oak Park	300h	518
11	Morgan Roundtree	14.56	Oak Park	100h	477
10	Carrie VanNoy	15.25	Oak Park	100h	435

D1 Rank	Team	100h	300h	Total
1	Oak Park	1440	518	1958
2	Ypsilanti Lincoln	698	820	1518
3	East Kentwood	714	731	1445
4	Detroit Cass Tech	442	425	866
5	Plymouth	364	397	761
6	Oxford	362	389	751
7	Portage Central	364	363	727
8	Northville	357	363	720
9	Byron Center	328	362	690
10	Ann Arbor Pioneer	478	0	478
11	Port Huron Northern	426	0	426
12	Walled Lake Central	410	0	410
13	Highland-Milford	0	385	385
14	Jackson	0	383	383
15	Traverse City West	0	351	351
16	Caledonia	351	0	351
17	East Lansing	0	341	341
18	Auburn Hills Avondale	338	0	338
19	Zeeland East	337	0	337
20	Lake Orion	334	0	334

It’s been a career of steady improvement, dropping time down into the 48’s as a freshman, the 47’s as a sophomore, and now opening with a 47.64. Annabelle Densmore has shown her April form is not her June form, and if that’s the case in 2023, she’ll make some serious noise. The two-time CAAC White Champ finished 9^th at the D2 State Finals last year and early returns suggest she’s capable of graduating to that medal stand.

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Event	Points
11	Leila Wells	16.29	Chelsea	100h	372
11	Leila Wells	51.16	Chelsea	300h	318
9	India Barney	17.22	Chelsea	100h	315

D2 Rank	Team	100h	300h	Total
1	Chelsea	687	318	1006
2	Freeland	592	366	958
3	Grand Rapids Christian	646	298	944
4	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	371	372	743
5	Charlotte	285	401	686
6	Mason	358	302	659
7	Hopkins	318	314	632
8	Hastings	308	306	613
9	Kingsley	570	0	570
10	Vicksburg	376	0	376
11	Clio	350	0	350
12	Wayland Union	340	0	340
13	Three Rivers	337	0	337
14	Ogemaw Heights	335	0	335
15	Tecumseh	329	0	329
16	Shepherd	323	0	323
17	Portland	318	0	318
18	Frankenmuth	317	0	317
19	Gaylord	0	314	314
20	Grand Rapids South Christian	0	310	310

Undefeated as an 8^th grade hurdler, Greater Lansing Champ, GLAC Champ, the question is how would it translate to higher barriers and longer distances? Thus far, no difference for Olivet’s Emily Peters. She’s had two efforts in the 300s, both sub-50, her best being a 47.66. Looking back to 2022, a comparable mark would likely place at D3 State. Obviously there’s much time between now and then, but the intrigue is high here.

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Event	Points
9	Emily Peters	47.66	Olivet	300h	401
9	Emily Peters	17.22	Olivet	100h	315
10	Sophia Pell	52.19	Olivet	300h	294
12	Alyssa Kennedy	18.17	Olivet	100h	258
12	Megan Neitzel	18.36	Olivet	100h	246
10	Sophia Pell	18.39	Olivet	100h	245

D3 Rank	Team	100h	300h	Total
1	Olivet	1064	695	1759
2	Clare	857	512	1369
3	Pewamo-Westphalia	663	698	1361
4	Remus Chippewa Hills	300	309	608
5	Erie Mason	288	319	608
6	Hillsdale	598	0	598
7	Hanover-Horton	264	326	590
8	Quincy	265	301	566
9	Lansing Catholic	257	307	564
10	Saugatuck	265	257	522
11	Bath	309	0	309
12	Grand Traverse Academy	277	0	277
13	Lawton	276	0	276
14	Manistee	0	267	267
15	Caro	264	0	264
16	Bronson	0	264	264
17	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	0	257	257
18	Ottawa Lake-Whiteford	0	256	256
19	Mason County Central	0	251	251
20	Ida	0	250	250

Molly Brown was in the same boat as Peters last year. She qualified for D4 State in both the high and low hurdles, grabbing 4 points in the 300h. Molly had a string of 2^nd place finishes – Cascades Conference, Region 36, Lenawee County. If April is any indicator, she’s primed to turn a few of those into victories. Her 16.23 opener is a half second faster than any mark in 2022.

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Event	Points
10	Rebecca Moeller	53.65	Deckerville	300h	260
10	Aubree Moeller	18.21	Deckerville	100h	255
10	Rebecca Moeller	18.24	Deckerville	100h	254
10	Aubree Moeller	54.71	Deckerville	300h	235

D4 Rank	Team	100h	300h	Total
1	Deckerville	509	495	1004
2	Morenci	380	556	936
3	Mason County Eastern	514	244	758
4	Fowler	404	349	753
5	Addison	375	352	728
6	Portland St. Patrick	323	351	674
7	Dryden	257	294	551
8	Mayville	272	242	514
9	St. Charles	234	238	472
10	Frankfort	222	237	458
11	Fulton	229	209	438
12	Indian River Inland Lakes	0	347	347
13	Pittsford	302	0	302
14	Mio Ausable	0	269	269
15	The Potter’s House	0	256	256
16	Fairview	255	0	255
17	Brethren	0	253	253
18	International Academy of Flint	0	244	244
19	Genesee	0	225	225
20	Marcellus	217	0	217

And as the only Upper Peninsula team to qualify…

UP Rank	Team	100h	300h	Total
1	Sault Ste. Marie	511	285	796