Portage, our great bellwether for the season’s progress, has come and passed. There were many affirmations and a few surprises. You’ll see a bit more movement in these rankings this week, as more recent meets are weighed more, early season meets mean less and less.
If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:
The individual ratings take into account all the meets listed here. There are a few meets missing that I’ll link to, but pretty much any meet with a significant number of athletes will have been calculated. An individual’s rating takes their best 75% of rated races (rounding up, so 4 of 5, 5 of 6, etc.), weighs them with more recent races having a higher weight, then spits out a final rating. The team rankings score those individuals as if they were in a meet against their entire division.
As a result of taking into the entire season into account, the rankings will be more conservative and less reactionary than most. Putting together a great performance once will bring about a tiny bit of movement, doing so repeatedly will elicit much greater change.
There are a few changes from previous years:
- No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
- Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
- Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
- Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
- No more individual rankings posted to social media
- Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
- More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
- I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
- Posting these one division at a time
- If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive.
Unfortunately, the injury rule is in place, where if I don’t have a rating from the past month, that runner is taken out. If you’re willing to share (and I can understand why not – someone’s medical situation doesn’t have to be the public’s business) that your athlete or you yourself are healthy/injured, feel free. There are some exceptions based on situations that make sense. Hopefully these don’t rub salt in the wound of someone who’s already hurting.
Now I need to be serious for a minute. These are for fun. If you don’t like these fun rankings, you don’t need to participate, you don’t need to call me names, talk trash to your fellow competitors, or send rude emails. We good here? Enjoy.
WEEK THREE RANKINGS
WEEK FOUR RANKINGS
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK RANKINGS
Grand Rapids Christian
Week Three: Conquered a strong field at Benzie then turned around and routed a very competitive OK White. Showing much strength early with frontrunners and depth, could very well put all five girls on the podium.
Week Four: More of the same at Ottawa Hills from the Eagle girls. All scoring girls placed in the top-11, with Adia Sikkema and Lucy Waalkes pulling up in the top-20.
Championship Week: Otsego Bulldog is often the first D2 showcase of the season, this year being no different, with 6 of the top 15 ranked teams in appearance. Just as every other meet, the Eagles up front, making up half of the first 8 finishers. Senior Payton Holtz is peaking at the right time to close her career, hitting sub-19 in her past two invites.
Despite missing one of their top girls, won fairly convincingly at Portage. Naomi Nelson’s return to the 18’s didn’t hurt either.
Otsego
Week Three: Sadly, we won’t see the Bulldogs at a major Michigan invitational until Jackson, but when you have the opportunity to run at the legendary Detweiller Park, you take it. Their season is setting up very similarly to last year, a strong top four plus a solid fifth. Though it appears their 5th spot might be improved from 2022.
Week Four: Placed 7th of 61 in the Richard Spring Invite down in Peoria. Now I don’t know much about Illinois XC at the moment, but that field had some legendary and recognizable names – York, Neuqua Valley, Palatine, Downer’s Grove, etc. Illinois Speed Ratings uses a similar methodology, but a different scale. Without getting too deep into it, converting to my scale, Detweiller rates out to about a +69 (+75 for boys) for its 2.97-to-3-mile course (highly debatable distance!) To make a short story long, the Bulldogs ran better than they have this season, even missing Taylor Mitchell.
Championship Week: In her final Bulldog Invite, senior Megan Germain ran her fastest time at Otsego’s signature home meet. Her 18:29 was good for a 6th place finish, fast enough for three consecutive top-10’s, and clutch enough to grant her Bulldogs a 2nd place finish.
Wrapped up Wolverine Conference dual/tri meet action with another 7-0 record.
Goodrich
Week Four: Changed things up on us! The past few years, the Martians have been at Holly, this year they headed further west to East Lansing. And evidenced by their 3rd place finish in the Elite Division, an excellent decision. These girls get it done through their pack, going seven deep, displacing fools left and right.
Championship Week: The Martians marked Shepherd as their territory in prep for Regionals. A 23-point win in a D2-centric field, even with Kamy Lauinger having a rough go of it.
Kamy Lauinger more than made up for Bluejay, coming across the Greater Flint line in first. Her 18:18 was a massive PB and helped the Martians win the Overall title at Cummings Center.
East Grand Rapids
Week Four: After missing Under the Lights, Drew Muller has returned, to EGR’s benefit. Her 3rd spot at Ottawa Hills meant the Pioneers really had to only score four. Combine that with personal bests from Adeline Armstrong and Sadey Seyferth and you have this traditional power rising through the ranks.
Championship Week: Great through three and finding contributors further back. Rory Workman (I swear there are thousands of Waalkes, Workmans, Kuzmas, and VanderKoois up this way) has dropped more than a minute from her Under the Lights debut.
Faced some adversity mid-race, but the performances of their sophomores in the final miles led to a top-10 finish at Portage.
Zeeland East
Week Three: An easy victory in the OK Green was sandwiched between a 2nd place in their division at Under the Lights and a 5th at Bredeweg. Emma Drnek has come into her own this year, giving the Chix a formidable 1-2 combo.
Championship Week: Another OK Green victory to go with a bronze at Otsego Bulldog. Taryn DiLaura has been a key figure on their varsity outfit, breaking 20:00 in two of her past three races, nearly a minute quicker than her freshman form.
CC Kuras masterfully moved up over the course of the Portage hills, going from over 100th at the mile to 68th at the finish as the Chix placed 6th.
St. Joseph
Week Four: The rare case of having two low sticks and needing to score three. Among those three, you could have reliable seniors such as Jade Murdoch or Ceci Ruchti. Or perhaps freshmen that are coming along nicely such as Lydia Johnson or Lily Cummings. Like many West Coast teams, the Bears traveled to Ottawa Hills on Friday, coming away from Session 2 placing 4th of 18.
Championship Week: Make it 4 straight and 13 of the past 14. The Bears have truly established a Berrien County dynasty.
Won the tiebreak over ZE. Sophomore Beatrice Peruchetti didn’t run her fastest race ever, but delivered a performance right in line with many in her initial cross season, in the mid-21’s.
St. Johns
Championship Week: The Redwing top three can hang with anybody. For instance, in the first two CAAC Red Jamborees – Fletcher, Schafer, and Young combined for 17 points. That’s in two meets, folks. SJ has won each of those jamborees.
Skipped the weekend invites, but once again put together a dominating CAAC Red effort. Their 5th and 6th girls (Lily Sackrider and Sylvia Thomas) came in before any other team’s 4th runner as the Redwings rolled.
Holland Christian
Out of any team in the D2 Portage field, the Maroons exemplified the patient racing style best. 285 points at the mile, 253 through two, then 219 at the finish, grabbing the 4th spot. Experience executing a plan in big spots gives this team major sleeper vibes come late October.
Spring Lake
Championship Week: Bea Reeser has been ON IT all year. First, opening with her best debut ever, then parlaying that into a personal best she’s been waiting to snatch since her sophomore year. Twice 6th in the OK Blue Jamborees, contributing to Laker victories each time.
The Lakers brought it to a whole new level at Portage. Personal bests up front + season bests from their depth = a 3rd place finish amongst D2’s best.
Frankenmuth
Tuesday, the quick runnin’ Shepherd course was home to personal bests from Lucy Conzelmann and Kaitlyn Miller as the ‘Muth captured the TVC Red title.
| Place | Team | Region | Score | Champ Wk | Week 4 | Week 3 | Summer |
| 1 | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 | 66 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Otsego | 13 | 198 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | Goodrich | 15 | 282 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 4 | East Grand Rapids | 12 | 320 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 6 |
| 5 | Zeeland East | 11 | 386 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | St. Joseph | 13 | 419 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| 7 | St. Johns | 14 | 436 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| 8 | Holland Christian | 11 | 439 | 11 | 12 | 28 | 10 |
| 9 | Spring Lake | 11 | 452 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| 10 | Frankenmuth | 15 | 494 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| 11 | DeWitt | 14 | 536 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 14 |
| 12 | Ludington | 10 | 583 | 10 | 15 | 12 | 13 |
| 13 | Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg | 12 | 617 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 27 |
| 14 | Hudsonville Unity Christian | 11 | 638 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 |
| 15 | Linden | 16 | 651 | 20 | 26 | 24 | 20 |
| 16 | Owosso | 14 | 671 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 26 |
| 17 | Freeland | 15 | 674 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| 18 | Petoskey | 10 | 724 | 23 | 18 | 15 | 18 |
| 19 | Dearborn Divine Child | 16 | 725 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 19 |
| 20 | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 | 753 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 25 |
| 21 | Warren Regina | 17 | 758 | 16 | 20 | 19 | 34 |
| 22 | Croswell-Lexington | 17 | 772 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 29 |
| 23 | Alma | 15 | 782 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 |
| 24 | Pontiac Notre Dame Prep | 16 | 897 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 44 |
| 25 | Grand Rapids South Christian | 12 | 906 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 22 |
| 26 | Chelsea | 18 | 909 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 21 |
| 27 | GR West Michigan Aviation | 12 | 948 | 32 | 32 | 38 | 16 |
Forest Hills Eastern
Week Three: That’s two years in a row that the Hawks have put the state on notice with an Under the Lights masterpiece. All five scorers were sub-17 on that humid, late August night. With three of those capable of low-16’s or better, much pressure will be placed on other teams to close that gap.
Week Four: Missing Brendan Hoving and Liam Hinman at Sparta, the Hawks still emerged victorious, eking out a 6-point victory over the home team. Youngster Steven Zawacki stepped up in a major way – he’s dropped more than a minute since Under the Lights.
Championship Week: Lost in the TJ Hansen spectacle was the fact that FHE stole the show in the elite race. The field contained tons of top teams from all divisions, yet the Hawks still prevailed. Nearly putting four under 16-flat will tend to lead to those victories.
Another show of their deep team where anyone can pop an amazing race. Lately, Luke Ueland has shown a few of those. Two straight sub-17’s, the latest one a 16:48 at Portage that was a minute faster than his junior effort.
Allendale
Week Four: There were a few doubters last week with the Falcons’ #4 ranking. I think their effort at Spartan proved a few wrong. Three in the top-15, half the points of any other school in the White Division.
Championship Week: Even if Grand Haven had Seth Norder competing, the Allendale Falcons would’ve still won their home invite. If that ain’t a show of how impressive they’ve been of late, I don’t know what is.
Sandwiched between that outstanding Allendale Falcon race and a 3rd place at Portage was another OK Blue conference win.
East Grand Rapids
Week Three: Still missing a piece, but those who have competed have had success. That could come in the form of an Alex Thole, who pulled a massive upset at Under the Lights or a Jack Edison, who navigated his way into the 16’s for the first time ever at the OK White Jamboree.
Week Four: That piece has arrived. Ryan Brinker, with only one race under his belt in ’23 has already raced faster than he had to this point in the ’22 season.
Championship Week: It wasn’t just FHE taking it to those D1 boys, the Pioneers were right there with them. Jonah Workman was a workhorse, reaching wayyyy into the 15’s to sneak into the top-10.
As Davis Christy continues to come back into the form he displayed late last year, continue to expect EGR to be in the hunt for a podium spot. His 16:43 was a 20 sec. season best and 12 seconds faster than his Portage race from 2022.
Grand Rapids Christian
Week Three: Saw FHE throw down the gauntlet on a Friday night, then woke up Saturday and decided to match it. Winners of Pete Moss by 88 points, then put seven guys in the top-16 at a star-filled OK White Jamboree.
Week Four: Probably underrated here because of their cruise through Christian Schools and the fact that we’re comparing against the entire state. In actual competition, the Eagles are undefeated, finding another clear victory this past weekend at Ottawa Hills.
Championship Week: It’s not as strong as in past years, but you can’t help who you run against, you can only aim to win. Which the Eagles did at Otsego, completing the sweep from their boys and girls squads. Senior Dylan Clark with the big breakthrough, knocking 15 seconds off his previous best.
Won another OK White Jamboree, making it 3 for 3 on the season.
Pinckney
Portage victory couldn’t have happened without the efforts of their 4th-6th guys. Zach Newman, Parker Hays, and Kyle Osborne each ran significantly better than they had all season. All personal bests, all sub-17, all valuable contributors on the path to another Portage win.
Alma
Championship Week: Ali Kudmani’s return coincides with the Panthers’ 3 meet victory streak – in conference, at Bluejay against many teams they could see at State, and this week at Birch Run.
After taking the weekend off (but still meeting for their traditional long run!), the Panthers returned to action Tuesday, where they won the TVC Red title. Of their 11 athletes, 7 ran a personal best on the Shepherd course.
Adrian
Championship Week: Carter Fenner and Matthew Canales have been steady as they come, both trending towards the 16’s as the Maples have held their own in the SEC White and picked up a victory at Jackson.
The Nyack brothers brought their senior experience to Portage, filling in the 4th and 5th spots as the Maples snuck into the top-5.
Otsego
Championship Week: The Bulldogs were missing a few of their top boys at home, perhaps Jackson was a better show of their capabilities. On those rolling Ella Sharp hills, the Dawgs packed up between 16:39 and 17:02, placing right in the middle of a field complete with D1 teams.
Thanks to the presence of 16th-ranked Plainwell, the boys side of the Wolverine Conference is a bit tougher than the ladies. At the tail end of conference competition, one of the older rivalries in Michigan HS sports took place, the Bulldog Boys prevailing by a 5 point margin over Plainwell.
Marshall
Week Four: Even missing Kaiden Gore (their five guy) at Holly, the Redhawks triumphed in the D3 race. With five divisions there, you get a mix of D2 and D3 teams in the 3rd Division, but even if Marshall was in the 2nd Division this past weekend, odds are that they’d win. When you have four boys capable of going sub-17, many possibilities are on the table.
Championship Week: These past two years, Connor Griffith has been a kid hellbent on dropping time. From 10th to 11th grade, he stormed from the 18’s to the very low-17’s. Now he’s knocking on the door of the 15’s, hitting 16:05’s at both Stockbridge and Barney Roy.
Gotta appreciate schools that represent their area. Would’ve been easy to travel to Portage for all the hoopla, instead the Redhawks hosted the Calhoun County meet. Taking the first four spots, their boys captured the victory for an excellent kick off to their championship season.
Petoskey
Have been steadily dialing it in, moving down in the ranks these past few weeks. That descent has only been accelerated with the addition of Tommy Farley in the last two weekends.
| Rank | Team | Region | Score | Champ Wk | Week 4 | Week 3 | Summer |
| 1 | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 | 187 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Allendale | 11 | 230 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| 3 | East Grand Rapids | 12 | 264 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 | 268 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | Pinckney | 16 | 388 | 11 | 23 | 29 | 6 |
| 6 | Alma | 15 | 427 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | Adrian | 18 | 455 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| 8 | Otsego | 13 | 471 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 13 |
| 9 | Marshall | 12 | 489 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 15 |
| 10 | Petoskey | 10 | 514 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 9 |
| 11 | Holland Christian | 11 | 531 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 8 |
| 12 | Sparta | 10 | 577 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 17 |
| 13 | Gladwin | 10 | 616 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 12 |
| 14 | Frankenmuth | 15 | 626 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 21 |
| 15 | Spring Lake | 11 | 642 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 16 | Plainwell | 13 | 648 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 37 |
| 17 | Yale | 17 | 664 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 19 |
| 18 | Flint Powers Catholic | 15 | 696 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 25 |
| 19 | Fremont | 10 | 698 | 19 | 21 | NR | 14 |
| 20 | Hamilton | 11 | 713 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 16 |
| 21 | St. Clair | 17 | 735 | 24 | 14 | 14 | 31 |
| 22 | Clio | 15 | 788 | 21 | 24 | 17 | 28 |
| 23 | Chelsea | 18 | 841 | 23 | 20 | 23 | 7 |
| 24 | Parma Western | 14 | 846 | 22 | 27 | 25 | 27 |
| 25 | St. Johns | 14 | 921 | 26 | 30 | 28 | 34 |
| 26 | Shepherd | 15 | 935 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 33 |
| 27 | Flint Kearsley | 15 | 943 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 45 |
GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Gail Vaikutis
Week Three: Her 18-flat at Lakeview was a massive personal best and over 80 seconds faster than her 2022 performance. In track, she was able to display great speed and now we’re witness to her strength.
Week Four: Gail’s just out here stacking personal best after personal best. Similar conditions, similar courses, 22 second improvement from week to week. Gail now owns the fastest time AND best rating in Division 2.
Championship Week: A senior going out with wins all over the place. In conference, in county, and in her college decision, recently committing to Michigan.
The pack of four at the mile turned into a pack of three by two miles, and by the finish, Gail was the only one left standing.
Natalie VanOtteren
Week Four: Sub-18 at Ottawa Hills was the 3rd of her career and 40+ seconds faster than her ’22 effort on the banks of the Grand River.
Championship Week: Four straight wins for this Eagle senior. One of those was a 17:35 personal best at Cougar Falcon, another a 17:43 effort at the Otsego D2 Showcase.
Three years of competing at Portage. Three top-10 finishes, two sub-18’s, and a 16 second improvement from 2022 to 2023.
Elena Figueroa
Week Three: Right alongside Vaikutis at both their home invite and the PC Early Bird. Missed out on a great time at Lakeview, I hope for non-injury reasons. Regardless, her early season best is already an improvement from her sophomore year.
Week Four: Her first race in over three weeks, Elena hopped right back on the wagon with a 17:44 at Riverside. A minute faster than her 2022 effort there and a 35 second personal best.
Championship Week: A slight, ever so slight personal best at Cougar Falcon is still a personal best. 17:44.0 to 17:43.9 counts for me. Elena and Gail have gone 1-2 in both of the SMAC West meets along with Berrien County – all Bear victories.
Portage just another example of how even the fastest of the fast can improve. Her 18:41 last fall was among the best efforts of her sophomore year. Her 17:43 on Saturday is what we’ve come to expect. Funny how those expectations change over time.
Ava Schafer
Week Three: Adjusting very well to the high school scene. After taking her lumps with a second-place finish at Under the Lights, she’s ripped off two consecutive victories. All mid-18 efforts from this young freshman. The Redwings have some light racing in their future, so we’ll see how much she’s improved come late September at Shepherd.
Week Four: The Redwings took the weekend off racing and well, that looks to be to Ava’s benefit. Girl just blasted a 17:48 to capture the first CAAC Red Jamboree.
Championship Week: Stuck her nose right in there at Bluejay, heading out with the lead girls, coming through the mile in 5:34. Ava faded a bit, but got a good look of what she’ll need to do when similar runners race her in a month. Comparing against only D2 girls in that Elite section, Ava did place 1st of all 46, so she’s performing admirably against her competition.
Freshman just quietly winning another CAAC Red Jamboree. Excellent opportunity for some high-level racing this weekend over at Greater Lansing.
Katie Berkshire
Championship Week: Has been a barrier-busting season for Berkshire. She first slipped under 19:00 at the Mud Run of all places, then has ripped off three consecutive low-18 efforts at Cadillac, Shepherd, and Mancelona.
Impressed by her ability to recover. Three low-18 efforts in a seven day stretch. Bluejay, Mancelona, and then Portage.
Drew Muller
Week Four: Just announced her commitment to Virginia, a great institution for its education, history, and distance running (the Hoos are currently ranked #11). I’m sure Drew will contribute there as she does here, consecutive mid-18 efforts to begin her senior year.
Championship Week: I believe her trip to Shepherd was the first of her career, and that initial run through produced her best mark of the year, an 18:16.
Unfortunately had to drop out of the race this past weekend, but I’m sure this proud champ will be back for the upcoming championships.
Emma Hoffman
Championship Week: Think of all the success, all the accomplishments over Otsego’s past ~15 years. Three titles, a runner-up, plenty of state appearances. And atop of them all, time-wise, was Emma’s 18:03 from this past weekend.
Portage pace may have been a little quick early, as she fell back from 9th to 14th. But this sophomore has shown she can learn from midseason races and apply to bigger races down the stretch. This isn’t the last we’ll see of her.
Mary Richmond
Championship Week: Four years of races at Bluejay – all in the low-18’s, all in the top-15. The Frankenmuth senior has taken on a lighter load than in years past and should be ready to roll for the coming month.
The Mary Richmond senior year tour continued this week with the culmination of a historic TVC-8/Red career. By my count, four overall championships for this Tampa-bound senior.
Emma Drnek
Just when you thought she couldn’t go any lower – she does. 18:12 at Otsego Bulldog, another personal best in a season full of them. Back to the expectations mentioned earlier for Elena. If you had told me she’d run 18:29 at Portage, I’d have said that was an outstanding season. Scary that it was only her 3rd best time of the season.
Meghan Ford
Couldn’t be happier to mention this girl here. It’s been quite a four-year journey for Meghan, three All-States, a Greater Lansing title, plenty of finishes in the 17’s and 18’s. A great career.
| Rank | Grade | Name | Team | Region |
| 1 | 12 | Gail Vaikutis | St. Joseph | 13 |
| 2 | 12 | Natalie VanOtteren | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 3 | 11 | Elena Figueroa | St. Joseph | 13 |
| 4 | 9 | Ava Schafer | St. Johns | 14 |
| 5 | 10 | Katie Berkshire | Gaylord | 10 |
| 6 | 12 | Drew Muller | East Grand Rapids | 12 |
| 7 | 10 | Emma Hoffman | Otsego | 13 |
| 8 | 12 | Mary Richmond | Frankenmuth | 15 |
| 9 | 11 | Emma Drnek | Zeeland East | 11 |
| 10 | 12 | Meghan Ford | Mason | 14 |
| 11 | 12 | Emily Tomes | Grand Rapids Catholic Central | 11 |
| 12 | 10 | Ellie Scholma | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 13 | 12 | Logan Brazee | Otsego | 13 |
| 14 | 10 | Lilah Poel | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 15 | 11 | Sadey Seyferth | East Grand Rapids | 12 |
| 16 | 11 | Summer Brower | Ludington | 10 |
| 17 | 12 | Naomi Nelson | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 18 | 11 | Sophy Skeels | Adrian | 18 |
| 19 | 11 | Kamryn Lauinger | Goodrich | 15 |
| 20 | 12 | Jenna Pilachowski | Monroe Jefferson | 18 |
| 21 | 12 | Payton Holtz | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 22 | 11 | Natalia DeMea | Chelsea | 18 |
| 23 | 9 | Clara Kaczor | Freeland | 15 |
| 24 | 12 | Allison Kuzma | Zeeland East | 11 |
| 25 | 12 | Megan Germain | Otsego | 13 |
| 26 | 12 | Emma DeVries | GR West Michigan Aviation | 12 |
| 27 | 11 | Ezgi Kurt | Alma | 15 |
| 28 | 11 | Ava Crews | Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg | 12 |
| 29 | 12 | Addison Washler | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 |
| 30 | 10 | Natalie Foltz | Frankenmuth | 15 |
| 31 | 11 | Eva Thompson | Croswell-Lexington | 17 |
| 32 | 9 | Olivia Hollebeek | Holland Christian | 11 |
| 33 | 11 | Layla Jordan | Goodrich | 15 |
| 34 | 12 | Anastee Davis | Adrian | 18 |
| 35 | 9 | Caroline Randall | Hastings | 12 |
| 36 | 12 | Abby Young | St. Johns | 14 |
| 37 | 12 | Camille DeCola | Marshall | 12 |
| 38 | 10 | Samantha Brown | Clio | 15 |
| 39 | 9 | Jaelyn Ray | Pinckney | 16 |
| 40 | 9 | Eliana Stob | Holland Christian | 11 |
| 41 | 12 | Tatum Dykstra | Fruitport | 11 |
| 42 | 12 | Kyla Meyers | Spring Lake | 11 |
| 43 | 10 | Linnea Paige | Fremont | 10 |
| 44 | 9 | Johanna Mulder | Holland | 11 |
| 45 | 12 | Nora O’Leary | Petoskey | 10 |
| 46 | 12 | Clara Fletcher | St. Johns | 14 |
| 47 | 9 | Ayda Skeels | Adrian | 18 |
| 48 | 10 | Brooklynn Brown | Cadillac | 10 |
| 49 | 12 | Ellia Agar | Grand Rapids South Christian | 12 |
| 50 | 11 | Mea D’Agostino | Orchard Lake St. Mary’s | 16 |
BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
Connell Alford
Week Four: Week Three: Cross country is definitely his thing. Facing some fierce competition at Lamplighter, Connell laid down the hammer early en route to a large margin of victory.
Week Four: Unfortunately, couldn’t pull off the win at Spartan, but he did finish first amongst all Michigan competition. His 15:09 nearly matched the 15:06 from last year, and when you’re in the ballpark of your state-winning self, you know you’re in a good place.
Competed in his first SEC White Jamboree of the year, grabbing his third conference win in these past three years. A solid block of training setting up for the future showdowns in the coming months.
Moved up to the D1 race at Portage to test his fitness against the most populated division in Michigan (and some Ohio teams). Came away with a 3rd place finish, his third top-10 placing there.
TJ Hansen
Week Three: Just continuing and building from his track accomplishments. 15:39 at Under the Lights was a personal best, 15:13 at John Bruder was a massive personal best. It’s a shame Freeland is on the smaller side of D2 schools, we sadly avoid a matchup with Evan Loughridge at Holly.
Week Four: Of the 93 boys that ran at both John Bruder and Holly, only 22 ran faster at Holly. TJ was 0.5 seconds slower, showing his 15:14 through the sharp turns and hills at Springfield Oaks can be sub-15 on the right course on the right day.
An absolutely masterful performance at Bluejay, negative splitting to a 14:46. Let’s just put it this way – in early September, Shepherd hosted the Jeff Drenth Memorial COLLEGE meet. TJ’s 14:46 would have won that.
Quickly bounced back from Portage (and even Bluejay the week prior) to capture his third consecutive TVC-8/Red title in as many years as he’s been competing.
Evan Loughridge
Week Three: “Opener at Possum Hollow was a 20+ second win over a ton of talented D1 runners. He’ll be facing some potential D2 All-Staters this weekend at Holly.”
Week Four: 15 seconds at a mile, 30+ at two, and 36 at the finish, Evan’s 15:35 win at Holly was allll on his lonesome. For many that would be a mental grind, but it’s more of the same for this tough-minded kid. His performance on Saturday was over 25 seconds faster than what he raced to in 2022 and given how his October played out last year, big goals are there for the taking.
After working on their toughness at Bennett Park, the Pirates head toward Portage, the site of Evan’s junior breakout race. All indicators show he’s ready to shock us again.
While others left D2 for greener pastures, Evan stuck around with his Pirate teammates. The result is something that can never be taken away. A win for himself and a win for Pinckney, besting his long-standing personal record.
Solomon Kwartowitz
Week Four: Hung in there pretty well for his first real huge effort of the season. A 15:32 in Spartan Elite earned Kwartowitz a 7th place (5th amongst Michiganders) and a massive personal best.
Each year, Cranbrook takes the trip down to Indiana to run in the Culver Academies Invitational. Solomon’s 15:38 there was 40 seconds faster than where he was in 2022, coming back from injury. He placed a second behind Kyle Grove, who just ran a 15:17 at Lavern Gibson. My guess based on limited evidence is that Solomon is ready to head toward the very low-15’s.
Just as his training partner Ethan Pruzinsky, strategically broke away from the pack early at Possum Hollow. His competitors couldn’t make up the distance on the double hill and he had enough momentum on the lengthy downhill to secure a County title.
Alex Thole
Week Four: State Champions, national qualifiers, insane freshmen, talented underclassmen… Alex has won against them all and we’re only in mid-September. Three races, three wins, all considerably better than his 2022 best.
Over the past two years, Alex has surely benefitted from the BluejayBoost. First at the MITCA race, the home of his initial sub-16, the one that paved the way for the enormous success this year. Then again on Saturday, just a show of his progress, 30 seconds quicker than that breakthrough.
Busy week for Alex, nabbing his 2nd OK White win to go along with a 2nd place Portage finish.
Sean Pettis
Nestled in between his past two WMC Lakes wins was a 15:24 at Cougar Falcon, first amongst a bevy of potential All-Staters.
Busy week for Sean as well, winning his 3rd WMC Lakes jamboree, following it up with a 3rd place Portage placing.
Nate Carmody
The Haslett senior has laid low these past few weeks, nabbing his second consecutive win at DeWitt, which was his fourth sub-16 in a row.
Greater Lansing will be as competitive as ever and Nate should be right in the mix. As in past weeks, he’s been laying low on the major invites, just quietly throwing down a 25+ second win at the Country Mill Classic.
Jack Bidwell
Has won all but two of his races this year. Included in those wins have been two I-8 jamborees and a Calhoun County championship.
Braylon Petty
Hard to believe a school as close as Adrian hadn’t traveled to Jackson in three years. But Braylon showed that he remembered how to attack those long, gradual downhills, rolling to a 15:50 victory.
Back-to-back top-10’s at Portage for Braylon, his 15:49 also 5 seconds faster than his 2022 effort.
Noah Lambers
A look at how far Noah has come: between his Portage Invite as a sophomore and as a senior, he improved by over 150 seconds (18:14 to 15:36).
| Rank | Grade | Name | Team | Region |
| 1 | 12 | Connell Alford | Chelsea | 18 |
| 2 | 11 | TJ Hansen | Freeland | 15 |
| 3 | 12 | Evan Loughridge | Pinckney | 16 |
| 4 | 12 | Solomon Kwartowitz | Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood | 16 |
| 5 | 12 | Alex Thole | East Grand Rapids | 12 |
| 6 | 12 | Sean Pettis | Fremont | 10 |
| 7 | 12 | Nate Carmody | Haslett | 14 |
| 8 | 11 | Jack Bidwell | Marshall | 12 |
| 9 | 12 | Braylon Petty | Adrian | 18 |
| 10 | 12 | Noah Lambers | Holland | 11 |
| 11 | 11 | Simon Triezenberg | Grand Rapids Christian | 11 |
| 12 | 11 | Colin Murray | Dearborn Divine Child | 16 |
| 13 | 12 | Logan Ruffner | Riverview | 18 |
| 14 | 11 | Henry Dixon | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 |
| 15 | 10 | Jonah Workman | East Grand Rapids | 12 |
| 16 | 12 | Brendan Hoving | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 |
| 17 | 12 | Caleb Palmreuter | Gladwin | 10 |
| 18 | 12 | Elliott Sirianni | Clio | 15 |
| 19 | 12 | Gregory Janesak | Sparta | 10 |
| 20 | 10 | Ronnie Silveira | Allendale | 11 |
| 21 | 11 | Kilian Whalen | Allendale | 11 |
| 22 | 10 | Owen Metzger | Sparta | 10 |
| 23 | 11 | Alex Doneth | Mason | 14 |
| 24 | 12 | Liam Hinman | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 |
| 25 | 11 | Dylan Lydic | Haslett | 14 |
| 26 | 12 | Ryan Brinker | East Grand Rapids | 12 |
| 27 | 12 | Nolan Pinion | Lake Fenton | 16 |
| 28 | 11 | Dominic Lowrie | Battle Creek Harper Creek | 12 |
| 29 | 10 | Thomas Larson | Alma | 15 |
| 30 | 11 | Will Engbers | Holland Christian | 11 |
| 31 | 9 | Ezekiel Baltierra | Alma | 15 |
| 32 | 12 | Aiden Krueger | Niles | 13 |
| 33 | 12 | Paul Moore | Pinckney | 16 |
| 34 | 10 | Moises Salazar | Adrian | 18 |
| 35 | 11 | Nolan Inglis | DeWitt | 14 |
| 36 | 12 | David Murphy | Flint Powers Catholic | 15 |
| 37 | 11 | Nolan Longuski | Shepherd | 15 |
| 38 | 11 | Parker Tiethof | Allendale | 11 |
| 39 | 11 | Abatu Dykstra | Hamilton | 11 |
| 40 | 12 | Shane Izzard | Petoskey | 10 |
| 41 | 12 | Cooper Jacobsen | Forest Hills Eastern | 12 |
| 42 | 9 | Bryce Cahoon | Shepherd | 15 |
| 43 | 12 | Shay White | St. Joseph | 13 |
| 44 | 11 | Seth Mead | Gladwin | 10 |
| 45 | 12 | Brewer Snay | Macomb Lutheran North | 17 |
| 46 | 11 | Henry Cox | Plainwell | 13 |
| 47 | 12 | Ethan Sandula | Pinckney | 16 |
| 48 | 12 | Isaac Staib | St. Johns | 14 |
| 49 | 12 | Connor Griffith | Marshall | 12 |
| 50 | 12 | Luke Glasgow | Spring Lake | 11 |
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 
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