2024 Rankings: Week 4, Division 3

The second weekend in September is always a relief. Typically two huge meets, now three with Ottawa Hills joining Holly and Spartan. Teams leaving the nest, taking on the best throughout the state. Very illuminating as far as rankings go, no doubt enlightening as well to a runner when they face great competition.

Week Three’s Rankings tell the tale of how these are created.

This week’s rankings contain meets through Saturday (9/14).

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 made the trek down US-31 to Grand Rapids for the early session at Ottawa Hills. The Glads sped around the Riverside track, with six boys crossing the line in under 17:00. All in all, TCSF placed 2^nd in a field full of D1 and D2 teams, including a few top-10 squads from the latter division.

We were greatly interested in how the White race at Spartan would turn out, given its lengthy list of ranked teams. At the time, three were in the top-10. At this time, there’s four, thanks to Hanover-Horton’s 3^rd place finish in the division. The winner ended up being the Titans of Lumen Christi, who put all five boys under 18 and all five boys in the top-22. Their ranking didn’t change, but if you notice the point total, they’re growing closer into claiming the 2^nd spot.

Looking Forward

Two top-10 matchups at two of our traditionally great mid-season meets. Cougar Falcon is back at the Eagles Nest, we’ll see Saugatuck and Lansing Catholic traverse the new Gainey course. At the Jackson area’s ancestral home, the two teams with momentum will face off, #3 Lumen Christi and #8 Hanover-Horton.

Top 27

Place	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.	Last Week
1	Traverse City St. Francis	103	19	190.3	1
2	Ithaca	215	25	185.0	2
3	Jackson Lumen Christi	218	23	183.1	3
4	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	338	21	175.2	5
5	Saugatuck	357	22	171.9	4
6	Charlevoix	360	19	176.7	6
7	Pewamo-Westphalia	374	24	172.2	7
8	Hanover-Horton	380	23	173.2	12
9	Lansing Catholic	419	26	169.4	8
10	Buchanan	441	22	168.9	9
11	Stanton Central Montcalm	461	24	173.2	10
12	Flat Rock	496	27	173.8	15
13	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	514	21	167.4	11
14	Jonesville	536	23	167.7	13
15	Reed City	549	20	168.7	14
16	Hart	625	20	161.3	17
17	Onsted	629	23	166.0	22
18	Benzie Central	633	20	161.6	16
19	Leslie	674	26	159.8	18
20	Bath	700	24	161.8	20
21	Holland Black River	727	21	159.7	19
22	Union City	731	22	159.4	21
23	Montague	803	21	157.0	23
24	Erie Mason	810	27	156.1	31
25	Sanford-Meridian	877	25	156.0	27
26	Ann Arbor Greenhills	905	26	152.6	24
27	Lake City	911	20	153.5	25

Recap

Similar to the boys, the White race at Spartan was loaded with top teams. Three in the previous week’s top-10, seven in the top-27. Of those three in the upper echelon, Benzie Central and Jackson Lumen Christi separated themselves from the field, each scoring under 100 points, with the Titans claiming the victory.

Not facing off, the top-three squads remain unchanged. However, we did receive Pewamo-Westphalia’s best team effort of the year, PRs from the front four Pirates in a sweeping Sparta win. Placing 4^th of 19 in the D1/2-centric field at Ottawa Hills, TCSF’s girls showed they can handle racing in a big crowd.

Looking Forward

We’ll see if the toughness translates for Lansing Catholic. The Cougars have spent a majority of their early season either at home or on the grueling Possum Hollow hills. Now they’re onto a faster, flatter track over at Cougar Falcon.

We’re a bit more populated than the other gender in terms of top matchups. Veterans Serving Veterans will offer up a platter of ranked teams, including #2 Traverse City St. Francis, #7 Benzie Central, #12 Clare, and #15 McBain. On the gentle hills of Sharp Park, you’ll have more elites – #5 Lumen Christi and #8 Leslie, not to mention Grass Lake & Onsted.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.	Last Week
1	Lansing Catholic	219	26	111.2	1
2	Traverse City St. Francis	223	19	114.7	2
3	Pewamo-Westphalia	224	24	117.0	3
4	Stanton Central Montcalm	273	24	117.3	4
5	Jackson Lumen Christi	274	23	107.5	5
6	Ithaca	327	25	102.4	6
7	Benzie Central	403	20	98.1	7
8	Leslie	430	26	97.5	8
9	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	491	21	91.3	9
10	Hart	502	20	87.9	10
11	Blissfield	625	27	89.7	13
12	Clare	629	19	82.8	14
13	Midland Bullock Creek	632	25	84.5	15
14	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	638	21	89.8	25
15	McBain	655	20	82.2	12
16	Remus Chippewa Hills	664	20	79.2	11
17	Saugatuck	666	22	81.8	18
18	Ann Arbor Greenhills	725	26	78.6	16
19	Onsted	728	23	84.0	17
20	Grass Lake	733	27	75.3	24
21	Grandville Calvin Christian	834	21	71.6	21
22	Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian	879	21	68.7	22
23	Boyne City	894	19	67.8	20
24	Sanford-Meridian	914	25	67.8	28
25	Laingsburg	923	24	67.1	23
26	Union City	933	22	69.1	26
27	Schoolcraft	937	22	65.4	35

Individual Rankings

Recap

Much movement in and around these individual rankings. Josh Slocum moved into first thanks to another outstanding race, this time at Riverside. Add his mid-15 performance to the one at Buckley and you’ve got a kid who’s making his case to be the favorite at State.

Gage Hoffman racked up another sub-16 equivalent with a 16:21 in the Elite section at Spartan. He went for it too, 7^th at the mile in 4:50, before slightly fading to a 16:21.

Mitchell Hiatt faded a little less. He sat in a similar position at the mile, moved to 4^th through two, before getting across the line in 9^th. Even with that move back a few spots, Hiatt stepped to a sub-16, an astounding effort under stressful conditions.

Looking Forward

Josh Slocum will again have an opportunity to run fast, now at Cadillac’s typically quick track. Perhaps he can pull teammate William Ready to another 15-min. performance? There will be D2 standouts as well in Bryce Cahoon, Seth Mead, Elijah Christensen. Mitchell Hiatt will likely have more favorable conditions at Jackson. Firmer ground, gradual downhills, and less oppressive heat. Plus, an Isaiah Dinverno to keep the pace honest.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	12	Josh Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis	205.3	19
2	11	Gage Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	204.4	24
3	12	Mitchell Hiatt	Onsted	204.0	23
4	11	Landen Styka	Ithaca	203.7	25
5	12	August Rohde	Reed City	202.8	20
6	11	Jacob Stanislawski	Flat Rock	201.7	27
7	12	Isaiah Dinverno	Jackson Lumen Christi	201.3	23
8	12	Miingen Bertrand	Ithaca	199.5	25
9	12	Levi Kamps	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	196.5	21
10	10	William Ready	Traverse City St. Francis	195.3	19
11	12	Matthias Morse	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	193.8	21
12	12	Leo Swager	Jackson Lumen Christi	193.6	23
13	10	Hunter Eaton	Charlevoix	193.6	19
14	12	Landen Boulis	Hanover-Horton	192.3	23
15	12	Landon Pestrue	St. Louis	192.0	25
16	11	Noah Devereaux	Laingsburg	191.4	24
17	12	Nathan Vargo	Flat Rock	190.8	27
18	12	Tyler Heal	Sanford-Meridian	190.7	25
19	11	Tyler Leach	Otisville LakeVille	190.5	24
20	10	Caleb Blonde	Jonesville	189.7	23
21	9	Owen Poppema	Bath	188.6	24
22	11	Robert Dykhouse	Manton	188.4	20
23	9	Nole Lorenzen	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	188.2	26
24	10	Ryder Hopkins	Charlevoix	187.7	19
25	10	Luke Herron	Caro	187.2	25
26	12	Owen Read	Traverse City St. Francis	186.1	19
27	12	Daniel Mandujano	Watervliet	185.1	22
28	10	Logan Youngman	Hillsdale	184.6	23
29	9	Christian Craanen	Monroe St. Mary CC	184.4	27
30	11	Jacob Mankey	Ithaca	183.9	25

Recap

Both Emmry Ross and Kyah Hoffman were right there with the D1 freshmen and Ohio studs in the Elite division at Spartan. Both faded a bit late, Hoffman a little before Ross, but each were able to find themselves in the top-10. Although she didn’t have as successful a race as the above two, Eliza Bush was still 11^th in the division on that hot day.

Grace VanderKooi’s debut occurred at Sparta, just on the high side of 19-flat. Whitney Werner was able to move up thanks to her 18:33, a personal best and first time in the 18:30’s since the end of her sophomore season.

Looking Forward

We’re pretty devoid of top matchups. That’s okay, Bluejay and Portage are on the horizon and these girls need to conjure all energy before ripping it again.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	12	Kyah Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	162.0	24
2	12	Emmry Ross	Onsted	159.3	23
3	12	Betsy Skendzel	Traverse City St. Francis	152.1	19
4	12	Whitney Werner	Pewamo-Westphalia	149.3	24
5	12	Eliza Bush	Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory	148.0	27
6	10	Kamryn Salladay	Lakeview	147.0	20
7	12	Lila Volkers	Kent City	145.4	21
8	11	Hope Miller	Blissfield	142.5	27
9	12	Grace VanderKooi	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	141.1	21
10	11	Bella LaFountain	Monroe St. Mary CC	141.0	27
11	10	Alyssa Kramer	Pewamo-Westphalia	140.8	24
12	11	Hailey Creisher	Leslie	140.0	26
13	12	Ashley Choponis	Stanton Central Montcalm	135.5	24
14	10	Samantha Schroeder	Jackson Lumen Christi	134.6	23
15	10	Isabelle Sliter	Fennville	134.2	22
16	9	Elliana Max	Kent City	133.4	21
17	12	Ava Hathaway	Bronson	131.3	23
18	11	Grace Coston	Stanton Central Montcalm	126.7	24
19	11	Mattie Gagne	Midland Bullock Creek	125.5	25
20	12	Kaya Vrable	Caro	125.4	25
21	9	Caelyn Torry	McBain	125.4	20
22	12	Chloe Stalhood	Hillsdale	125.3	23
23	10	Shelby Kuiper	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	124.6	21
24	10	Grace Wonch	Lansing Catholic	122.6	26
25	10	Sophia Buzzelli	Clare	122.4	19
26	12	Mary Masserant	Traverse City St. Francis	120.8	19
27	11	Ashlynn Harris	Bronson	120.6	23
28	10	Makinna Foglesong	Ithaca	120.4	25
29	12	Nora Grossnickle	Benzie Central	120.1	20
30	9	Isabelle Currie	Lansing Catholic	118.5	26