2024 Rankings: UP, Homeschool, & Others – Week 3

That was a doozy of a title.

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.

These contain meets through Saturday. I think I have to get these out sooner considering that was 6 days ago.

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

Marquette has unequivocally been the best team in the UP thus far in 2024. Tbe Red n’ White boys threw up a perfect score at Wildcat, beat East Kentwood (LP Division 1 #13) at Queen City, then won using their JV squad at Marquette County.

Looking Forward

A host of teams will be coming down to the Lower Peninsula to compete. Munising, Gladstone, and Sault Ste. Marie to Holly, Rudyard and Marquette to Spartan. Obviously, I’m most excited for Marquette in the Spartan Elite race. The boys were 9^th this year and I think a top-5 finish is 100% within reach. Our neighbors north of the bridge shouldn’t be defined by the meets that they travel south for. Calumet’s Copper Kings are hosting an invite next week with four top-10 teams, Houghton being the highest-ranked squad.

All the Full Teams

Rank	Team	Score	Division	Top 5 Avg.
1	Marquette	23	UP 1	193.8
2	Sault Ste. Marie	57	UP 1	175.3
3	Houghton	139	UP 1	147.5
4	Painesdale-Jeffers	142	UP 2	143.7
5	Gladstone	184	UP 1	130.3
6	Rudyard	257	UP 2	119.8
7	Munising	267	UP 2	119.0
8	Calumet	297	UP 1	109.2
9	Ironwood	315	UP 2	106.8
10	Stephenson	320	UP 3	101.2
11	Dollar Bay	324	UP 3	102.5
12	Gwinn	330	UP 2	96.9
13	Ishpeming Westwood	348	UP 1	100.7
14	Escanaba	350	UP 1	96.8
15	Negaunee	359	UP 1	96.5
16	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	375	UP 2	93.6
17	Manistique	428	UP 2	73.4
18	Menominee	428	UP 1	75.6
19	Eben Jct. Superior Central	450	UP 3	74.6
20	Kingsford	483	UP 1	43.1
21	Hancock	523	UP 2	51.4

Recap

The past five Division 1 Champions have either been Houghton or Marquette and it appears they’re in for another place-by-place battle. At Queen City when filtering for UP-only teams, the Red n’ White prevailed by two points. However, six days later at Bill Fezzey, nearly the entire Gremlin team set a personal best.

Looking Forward

Those Marquette girls will be in the Green Division at Spartan. I can’t speak for the Ohio teams, but I can see them placing 4^th-6^th amongst Michigan teams in that D1-filled section. Houghton will be looking to build upon that excellent performance on September 5th when they compete at Calumet.

All the Full Teams

Rank	Team	Division	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Houghton	UP 1	46	92.9
2	Marquette	UP 1	47	92.4
3	Hancock	UP 2	117	62.9
4	Sault Ste. Marie	UP 1	133	58.2
5	Ewen-Trout Creek	UP 3	171	44.4
6	Negaunee	UP 1	195	37.1
7	Calumet	UP 1	245	18.4
8	Munising	UP 2	258	10.4
9	Kingsford	UP 1	265	8.8
10	Gladstone	UP 1	278	8.9
11	Ironwood	UP 2	285	5.7
12	Chassell	UP 3	294	-3.4
13	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	UP 2	297	-1.1
14	Baraga	UP 2	328	-6.8
15	Ishpeming Westwood	UP 1	384	-52.3
16	West Iron County	UP 2	404	-50.6
17	Manistique	UP 2	405	-87.7
18	Eben Jct. Superior Central	UP 3	479	-87.4

Individual Rankings

Recap

All results point to Gabe Litzner recovering from a tumultuous spring. Wins downstate at Birch Run, East Jordan, and Charlevoix. All well into the 15’s, even a 15:47 at Charlevoix’s famous Mud Run. Seppi Camilli has been just as much of a standout, keeping it closer to the vest at home, but also racking up two sub-16’s.

Looking Forward

We’ve got some intriguing races to look to from those above. Camilli in the Elite race at Spartan should be right in the mix with Seth Conner, Colin Murray, Ethan Powell, etc. Litzner in the 3^rd Division at Holly will be facing off against Jack Bidwell. You can make cases for everyone listed, Upper and Lower Peninsula, to run their best race of the season.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Gabe Litzner	Sault Ste. Marie	210.2	UP 1
2	12	Seppi Camilli	Marquette	208.5	UP 1
3	12	James Barch	Marquette	193.3	UP 1
4	11	Shea Armstrong	Sault Ste. Marie	190.2	UP 1
5	11	Peter Argeropoulos	Marquette	190.0	UP 1
6	11	Rorik Holmquist	Marquette	188.8	UP 1
7	12	Evan Balko	Marquette	188.3	UP 1
8	12	Kalvin Kytta	Chassell	188.1	UP 3
9	12	Chase Thomsen	Marquette	187.2	UP 1
10	12	Danny Goss	Munising	180.6	UP 2
11	12	Birk Seagren	Houghton	179.5	UP 1
12	10	Lucas Ballard	Marquette	178.6	UP 1
13	11	Steven Kirschner	Rudyard	167.8	UP 2
14	12	Evan Huyck	Sault Ste. Marie	166.9	UP 1
15	11	Benjamin Hemmer	Houghton	165.3	UP 1
16	11	Landon Larson	Painesdale-Jeffers	165.2	UP 2
17	12	Zach Smith	Ironwood	162.8	UP 2
18	11	Cameron Anderson	Painesdale-Jeffers	161.0	UP 2
19	12	Eli Hills	Sault Ste. Marie	158.3	UP 1
20	12	Trevor Nolan	Munising	153.7	UP 2
21	11	Canon Kuntze	Stephenson	152.5	UP 3
22	11	Daniel Bowerman	Sault Ste. Marie	150.9	UP 1
23	10	Andrew Junttila	Calumet	150.0	UP 1
24	9	Brandon Van Karsen	Houghton	144.9	UP 1
25	11	Adam Brandt	Sault Ste. Marie	143.9	UP 1
26	12	Joshua Guant	Dollar Bay	143.7	UP 3
27	12	Ben Gilroy	Manistique	141.7	UP 2
28	9	Branson Anderson	Painesdale-Jeffers	139.2	UP 2
29	11	Tyler Soderman	Gladstone	137.1	UP 1
30	11	Max Beauchamp	Gladstone	136.2	UP 1

Recap

Tessa Rautiola sure put a number on her previous personal best. Her 19:28 at Bill Fezzey was nearly 30 sec. better than her previous best, set at last fall’s D1 Finals. And for those that question the course, consider she ran well above 21:00 at the same race last September. Samantha Taylor will be looking to get back to her winning ways. The junior won the D3 finals in ’22, but placed 2^nd last year. That 19:24 opener was a dang good start on that quest. Talya Schreiber, who bested Taylor last year, has two sub-20 efforts under her belt, but no ratings (hopefully soon!)

Looking Forward

Oh, they’ll be soon. Taylor’s Newberry hosts the Tiffany Thorp Invite on Monday, where Pickford and Schreiber will be on hand.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Samantha Taylor	Newberry	133.2	UP 3
2	11	Tessa Rautiola	Houghton	121.7	UP 1
3	12	Monet Argeropoulos	Marquette	115.2	UP 1
4	9	Evelyn Grant	Marquette	106.0	UP 1
5	10	Abby Taylor	Newberry	105.2	UP 3
6	12	Aubrey Smith	Ironwood	104.2	UP 2
7	11	Ella Fure	Marquette	100.3	UP 1
8	12	Alisha Mabie	Escanaba	98.8	UP 1
9	9	Sela Niska	Houghton	95.7	UP 1
10	12	Roman Trevino Peterlin	Houghton	95.5	UP 1
11	10	Winley Brandt	Menominee	92.4	UP 1
12	12	Lily Ross	Houghton	91.3	UP 1
13	12	Marlee Plaxco	Negaunee	88.8	UP 1
14	12	Ella Keranen	Hancock	85.0	UP 2
15	9	Isabelle McCord	Sault Ste. Marie	84.7	UP 1
16	10	Regan Sporte	Sault Ste. Marie	81.6	UP 1
17	9	Maria Murvich	Kingsford	79.8	UP 1
18	12	Rayna Towles	Hancock	79.0	UP 2
19	12	Alyssa Shirkey	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	78.7	UP 2
20	11	Faith Cappaert	Stephenson	77.7	UP 3
21	9	Alena Pietila	Hancock	74.6	UP 2
22	9	Bree Besonen	Ewen-Trout Creek	71.9	UP 3
23	12	Chloe Miller	Marquette	70.9	UP 1
24	12	Maija Maki-Warne	Marquette	69.7	UP 1
25	11	Maya Carlson	Manistique	69.4	UP 2
26	10	Eryn Veverka	Marquette	65.1	UP 1
27	11	Nori Korsman	Negaunee	63.4	UP 1
28	11	Maija Keranen	Calumet	60.6	UP 1
29	11	Romi Mattson	Houghton	60.3	UP 1
30	11	Stephanie Jones	Sault Ste. Marie	59.8	UP 1

Homeschool & Other Teams

These are the homeschool squads, clubs, and the school teams that aren’t able to compete in the MHSAA Championships.

Boys

Rank	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	31	176.8
2	Capital Homeschool	53	171.4
3	North Trails	89	158.2
4	MACH	110	144.0
5	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	158	122.8
6	Butternut Homeschool	165	118.4
7	Christ the King	198	102.6
8	West Michigan Homeschool	210	89.6
9	Washtenaw Christian	246

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Luke Long	West Michigan Homeschool	213.0
2	12	Trent Taratuta	North Trails	191.6
3	12	Ezekiel Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	183.8
4	11	Vince Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	181.8
5	9	Abenezer Olson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	179.6
6	9	Leo Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	175.0
7	10	Evan Armstrong	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	173.9
8	12	Trevor Basch	Capital Homeschool	173.6
9	10	Brian Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	173.5
10	11	Ian Potts	MACH	173.2
11	9	Garrett Potts	MACH	170.4
12	12	Jack Ryan	Capital Homeschool	168.4
13	11	Benaiah Roby	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	168.3
14	12	Edward Fountain	Capital Homeschool	167.5
15	12	David Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	165.5
16	11	Isaac McAlvey	Capital Homeschool	163.7
17	10	Peter Kamp	Capital Homeschool	161.5
18	11	Carter Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	158.4
19	10	Thor Krantz	North Trails	156.7
20	12	Axel Krantz	North Trails	156.1
21	12	Sebastian Hornibrook	North Trails	154.1
22	9	Etienne Ruble	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	151.2
23	10	Tommy Skrobola	Christ the King	138.5
24	10	Joshua Snyder	MACH	136.3
25	10	Isaiah Homan	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	136.1
26	10	Trevor Thompson	Butternut Homeschool	134.2
27	11	Carson Bopp	North Trails	132.4
28	10	Patrick Monahan	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	131.0
29	11	Grady Oberlin	Butternut Homeschool	130.0
30	11	Tyson Crouse	Butternut Homeschool	128.4

Girls

Rank	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	35	72.2
2	Capital Homeschool	50	64.9
3	MACH	62	58.6
4	Christ the King	90	25.5

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	9	Alannah Wessel	MACH	132.9
2	10	Faith Wessel	MACH	104.0
3	12	Olivia Gust	North Trails	103.1
4	11	Abby Thompson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	97.6
5	11	Samantha Hundt	Capital Homeschool	95.7
6	11	Esther Hornibrook	North Trails	81.1
7	9	Ingrid Thomas	Washtenaw Christian	80.7
8	9	Micaela Cabello	Christ the King	78.9
9	11	Taylor Hill	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	75.2
10	10	Kimberly Siek	Berrien County Youth Track	73.0
11	9	Mercy Hibma	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	71.4
12	10	Belle Richardson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	59.7
13	9	Matti Vanderwey	Capital Homeschool	59.7
14	11	Maizy Minnaar	Capital Homeschool	57.3
15	11	Evelyn Jackson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	57.0
16	12	Maria Gergely	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	56.2
17	10	Eleri Raleigh	Capital Homeschool	56.0
18	10	Taylor Basch	Capital Homeschool	55.7
19	10	Rosie Stelwagen	West Michigan Homeschool	54.3
20	11	Josie Greene	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	52.4
21	12	Amber Watta	MACH	51.3
22	10	Alexis Graham	Christ the King	46.6
23	10	Juliana Prewett	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	42.4
24	12	Ava Patterson	Capital Homeschool	33.4
25	12	Livia Kuecken	Blue Water Christian Academy	31.0
26	10	Lauren Carothers	Christ the King	30.8
27	11	Lucy Spencer	Capital Homeschool	24.6
28	11	Jessica Bunnell	Berrien County Youth Track	22.2
29	10	Carolina Vidosh	MACH	9.0
30	10	Lauren Robinson	MACH	-4.1