2024 Rankings: Week 3, Division 3

Race by race ratings, summer writeups, social media work, Excel, Word, Photoshop. Occasionally tedious, usually fun, but all leading to these – actual rankings!

If you’ve followed me over the past seven years (!), you know the gist of these and you know I’m always changing an aspect or three.

The individual ratings, which then are sorted into team rankings, take into account all the meets listed and linked here. An individual’s rating takes their best 2/3 of their rated races (rounding to the nearest whole number, so 3 of 5, 5 of 7, etc.). The races are weighed based on recency, field size, and competitiveness. The team rankings are compiled by combining all teams in a division into a hypothetical meet based on those individual ratings.

There are a few changes from last year:

• Coming back to rating weekday meets
  • Believe it or not, I’m still learning and I’ve figured out some ways to do these faster
  • I will be judicious in how many of these are performed
• Using the top 67% instead of last year’s 75%
  • More meets = a comparatively lower % that a runner will truly race all out
• Actual Upper Peninsula/Home School/other rankings
  • These more efficient methods mean I actually have data now and can post
• Writeups focused on the overall state of the division
  • Always a struggle here finding how much to write! Last year, I took up wayyy too much time writing about teams (who deserved the attention, but effort must be managed over here).  
  • I think this fall, I’ll briefly sum up how it’s looking like for the state title contenders, plus anything that catches my eye.

Similar to previous years:

• 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.
• One division at a time
  • I know I’d get lost sifting through every division in one post. Focusing on the smaller ones first gives attention to the divisions who might not receive as recognition as the more populated ones.

The below rankings are through Saturday’s meets.

These are for fun. And I do this for free. I’m positive toward every runner in the state. Abiding by that golden rule, you should reciprocate. Capisce? Enjoy.

Recap

Traverse City St. Francis is as good as advertised, perhaps even better. Benzie is probably the truest test of their abilities, where the Gladiators raced in the big division. Traverse City West, Frankenmuth, and Gladwin are all top teams in D1 and D2, TCSF was comfortably ahead of all three in their 3^rd place finish. Super low-sticks and the best depth.

But Ithaca and Jackson Lumen Christi are closer than I had anticipated. At John Bruder, the Yellowjackets had a massive 200+ point win in the small school division. The Titans are unbeaten on the team side, winning the small school division at Lakeview and besting all other Catholic teams at Michigan Catholic.

Looking Forward

A gigantic 40-team field in the D3/D4 race at Spartan. Top-27 D3 teams include: #2 Ithaca, #3 Lumen Christi, #9 Buchanan, #12 Hanover-Horton, #16 Benzie Central, and #22 Onsted.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Traverse City St. Francis	125	19	187.3
2	Ithaca	210	25	183.6
3	Jackson Lumen Christi	235	23	180.6
4	Saugatuck	266	22	175.2
5	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	316	21	174.7
6	Charlevoix	331	19	176.7
7	Pewamo-Westphalia	354	24	172.0
8	Lansing Catholic	377	26	170.0
9	Buchanan	390	22	169.7
10	Stanton Central Montcalm	424	24	173.0
11	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	489	21	166.7
12	Hanover-Horton	512	23	166.3
13	Jonesville	512	23	166.8
14	Reed City	512	20	168.7
15	Flat Rock	532	27	168.9
16	Benzie Central	552	20	162.3
17	Hart	554	20	161.9
18	Leslie	586	26	161.0
19	Holland Black River	725	21	157.6
20	Bath	729	24	158.8
21	Union City	754	22	157.4
22	Onsted	767	23	158.3
23	Montague	840	21	153.5
24	Ann Arbor Greenhills	853	26	151.9
25	Lake City	858	20	153.3
26	Blissfield	906	27	151.9
27	Sanford-Meridian	908	25	152.7

Recap

Lansing Catholic’s girls have been attacking the hills early on. First, a hoisting of the Bishop’s Cup in their Michigan Catholic win. Then, a trip down 96 to Kensington, placing an admirable 3^rd in the large school division (hint: they were the smallest school in that division). Pewamo-Westphalia and Traverse City St. Francis have stuck to their areas, the former dominatingly winning at Happy Acres, Marauder, and Yellowjacket. The Glads took to a little tougher competition at Pete Moss, though they still stuck their nose in to the tune of a 5^th place big school finish.

Looking Forward

Just as the boys, you have another great Spartan lineup. #6 Ithaca, #7 Benzie Central, #11 Chippewa Hills, #17 Onsted, #24 Grass Lake, and #27 Buchanan.Sadly, but understandably, LC, TCSF, and P-W will not face one another this time around.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Lansing Catholic	197	26	113.2
2	Traverse City St. Francis	230	19	111.9
3	Pewamo-Westphalia	230	24	113.7
4	Stanton Central Montcalm	273	24	116.1
5	Jackson Lumen Christi	279	23	105.0
6	Ithaca	319	25	101.7
7	Benzie Central	382	20	99.0
8	Leslie	394	26	98.0
9	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	497	21	89.7
10	Hart	543	20	84.0
11	Remus Chippewa Hills	560	20	83.3
12	McBain	593	20	83.8
13	Blissfield	599	27	89.7
14	Clare	608	19	82.6
15	Midland Bullock Creek	651	25	81.4
16	Ann Arbor Greenhills	732	26	75.0
17	Onsted	780	23	77.9
18	Saugatuck	781	22	73.4
19	Lake City	830	20	70.8
20	Boyne City	842	19	67.8
21	Grandville Calvin Christian	852	21	68.9
22	Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian	869	21	67.2
23	Laingsburg	883	24	65.6
24	Grass Lake	903	27	65.3
25	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	914	21	65.9
26	Union City	923	22	65.8
27	Buchanan	950	22	63.3

Individual Rankings

Recap

A little surprise there at the top. Gage Hoffman has been a name we’ve known for awhile, hitting top-10’s at State each of the past two years. But this unbeaten level is a new stratum. His 15:40 opener was his first sub-16 ever. Josh Slocum has the fastest time in the division, which means something even if the Buckley course is a little *suspect* (in last year’s regionals, runners that competed both there and MIS ran 30-40 seconds faster at Buckley). Gus Rohde has been a bit inconsistent, but one steady theme is that he’s better than last year, 15 seconds on average in comparable invites.

Looking Forward

Hoffman really trying his hand, this time in the elite field at Spartan. There will be Hansens and Murrays and Conners to chase after, amongst many other elite runners.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	11	Gage Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	203.8	24
2	12	August Rohde	Reed City	202.9	20
3	12	Josh Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis	202.6	19
4	11	Landen Styka	Ithaca	201.4	25
5	12	Miingen Bertrand	Ithaca	199.5	25
6	12	Isaiah Dinverno	Jackson Lumen Christi	197.5	23
7	11	Jacob Stanislawski	Flat Rock	196.8	27
8	12	Mitchell Hiatt	Onsted	196.0	23
9	12	Levi Kamps	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	194.2	21
10	11	Noah Devereaux	Laingsburg	193.8	24
11	10	Hunter Eaton	Charlevoix	193.6	19
12	11	Robert Dykhouse	Manton	193.0	20
13	12	Matthias Morse	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	193.0	21
14	12	Landon Pestrue	St. Louis	192.0	25
15	10	William Ready	Traverse City St. Francis	191.6	19
16	12	Leo Swager	Jackson Lumen Christi	191.1	23
17	12	Tyler Heal	Sanford-Meridian	189.7	25
18	10	Caleb Blonde	Jonesville	189.4	23
19	12	Landen Boulis	Hanover-Horton	188.1	23
20	10	Ryder Hopkins	Charlevoix	187.7	19
21	9	Owen Poppema	Bath	186.3	24
22	12	Nathan Vargo	Flat Rock	185.5	27
23	11	Jayden Fox	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	185.0	25
24	11	Tyler Leach	Otisville LakeVille	184.8	24
25	10	Logan Youngman	Hillsdale	184.6	23
26	11	Jacob Mankey	Ithaca	183.8	25
27	9	Nole Lorenzen	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	182.7	26
28	12	Robby Myler	Traverse City St. Francis	182.4	19
29	12	Ian Waddell	Blissfield	182.3	27
30	11	Lucas Gates	Lansing Catholic	182.1	26

Recap

Let’s be honest, the loss of Jessie Jazwinski really opened things up here. A number of names here were in the 50 Tickets, each girls’ odds of a title have increased. Kyah Hoffman probably has the early lead, with three consecutive low-18 wins to open things up. Betsy Skendzel has the quickest time in the division, but of course Buckley caveats apply. Eliza Bush patiently let others do the work early at Rambling Rock before pulling away in the final miles. And of course, Emmry Ross who’s nailed two top-5 finishes these past two years and a sub-18 already this fall.

Looking Forward

May be one of the rare instances where these two are in the same race, yet in a pack of girls. Both Eliza Bush and Kyah Hoffman will don their singlets for Spartan Elite. Where many will be paying attention to the bigger team picture, I’ll be seeing how these two stack up.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	12	Kyah Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	158.6	24
2	12	Eliza Bush	Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory	153.9	27
3	12	Betsy Skendzel	Traverse City St. Francis	151.7	19
4	12	Emmry Ross	Onsted	151.6	23
5	12	Whitney Werner	Pewamo-Westphalia	147.9	24
6	10	Kamryn Salladay	Lakeview	147.0	20
7	12	Lila Volkers	Kent City	145.0	21
8	11	Hope Miller	Blissfield	142.6	27
9	11	Bella LaFountain	Monroe St. Mary CC	141.6	27
10	11	Hailey Creisher	Leslie	138.9	26
11	10	Alyssa Kramer	Pewamo-Westphalia	137.7	24
12	12	Ashley Choponis	Stanton Central Montcalm	135.9	24
13	9	Elliana Max	Kent City	133.4	21
14	10	Isabelle Sliter	Fennville	132.2	22
15	10	Samantha Schroeder	Jackson Lumen Christi	128.4	23
16	10	Grace Wonch	Lansing Catholic	126.7	26
17	11	Mattie Gagne	Midland Bullock Creek	125.5	25
18	12	Ava Hathaway	Bronson	125.4	23
19	12	Kaya Vrable	Caro	125.3	25
20	12	Chloe Stalhood	Hillsdale	125.3	23
21	9	Isabelle Currie	Lansing Catholic	125.0	26
22	9	Caelyn Torry	McBain	124.9	20
23	10	Shelby Kuiper	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	124.6	21
24	9	Avery Kelly	Benzie Central	124.3	20
25	11	Grace Coston	Stanton Central Montcalm	123.2	24
26	10	Sophia Buzzelli	Clare	122.4	19
27	12	Nora Grossnickle	Benzie Central	122.1	20
28	10	Makinna Foglesong	Ithaca	120.4	25
29	9	Josie Bishop	Lansing Catholic	120.2	26
30	12	Mary Masserant	Traverse City St. Francis	119.2	19