2024 Rankings: Week 4 – UP, Homeschool, & Others

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

Two years ago, we were extremely hyped at the prospect of Marquette coming into Spartan Elite and shocking the state. Finishing 14^th in 2022, perhaps our excitement was premature, the setting too large, or the Sentinels just had a poor day. Quietly, Marquette had a better day in 2023, placing 9^th. Then last Friday, the Sentinels truly shocked the state. They didn’t surprise this believer, but I’m sure many other heads were turned. Seppi Camilli up front with the big boys, five more behind him under 16:50. Third in the Elite division and truly a top-5 team in the two peninsulas.

Looking Forward

Marquette’s boys are in the Championship division at Roy Griak. Can the hits continue? Live scoring link – https://live.pttiming.com/xc-ptt.html?mid=7425

Rudyard, coming off a win earlier in the week at Tiffany Thorp, will cross paths with Munising at the latter’s home invite. Two top-three D2 teams in a little preview of what’s to come in a month.

All the Full Teams

Place	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.	Division
1	Marquette	22	196.3	UP 1
2	Sault Ste. Marie	56	177.8	UP 1
3	Houghton	142	149.8	UP 1
4	Painesdale-Jeffers	154	145.4	UP 2
5	Gladstone	164	138.7	UP 1
6	Munising	218	137.4	UP 2
7	Rudyard	280	120.1	UP 2
8	Calumet	333	109.5	UP 1
9	Dollar Bay	345	105.3	UP 3
10	Ishpeming Westwood	347	107.2	UP 1
11	Engadine	354	106.2	UP 3
12	Ironwood	359	106.0	UP 2
13	Gwinn	362	97.3	UP 2
14	Stephenson	362	101.5	UP 3
15	Negaunee	392	99.3	UP 1
16	Menominee	393	97.9	UP 1
17	Escanaba	404	96.3	UP 1
18	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	419	94.4	UP 2
19	Manistique	450	83.4	UP 2
20	Eben Jct. Superior Central	519	74.6	UP 3
21	Hancock	550	60.6	UP 2
22	Kingsford	557	38.8	UP 1
23	Powers North Central	582	-15.8	UP 1
24	Carney-Nadeau	685	-45.6	UP 3

Recap

Houghton’s Gremlins had their nasty little hand prints all over Calumet, their top-three girls going one, two, and three. In last week’s ranking, I thought Marquette’s girls could place 4^th to 6^th amongst Michigan teams in Spartan’s Green division. I didn’t anticipate 4^th overall! Of the top-20 girls in the race, only 4 hit a season’s best, one being the Sentinel frontrunner Ella Fure.

Looking Forward

Marquette’s girls will also be at Griak, racing 45 minutes later. I’ll be curious to see how Ewen-Trout Creek continues to move up. Yesterday, the Panthers defeated #3 Hancock and are clearly the top team in D3.

All the Full Teams

Rank	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.	Division
1	Marquette	51	91.2	UP 1
2	Houghton	51	94.4	UP 1
3	Hancock	126	64.4	UP 2
4	Sault Ste. Marie	143	58.7	UP 1
5	Ewen-Trout Creek	196	43.8	UP 3
6	Negaunee	214	38.9	UP 1
7	Munising	270	20.5	UP 2
8	Calumet	279	17.8	UP 1
9	Gladstone	285	15.8	UP 1
10	Escanaba	308	7.5	UP 1
11	Ironwood	311	9.2	UP 2
12	Kingsford	316	6.2	UP 1
13	Baraga	321	4.8	UP 2
14	Chassell	321	-1.8	UP 3
15	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	332	2.5	UP 2
16	Stephenson	413	-41.2	UP 3
17	Ishpeming Westwood	445	-55.2	UP 1
18	Manistique	455	-81.0	UP 2
19	Rapid River	458	-42.8	UP 3
20	West Iron County	470	-49.2	UP 2
21	Rudyard	508	-71.0	UP 2
22	Eben Jct. Superior Central	565	-87.4	UP 3

Individual Rankings

Recap

Sadly, we didn’t see Gabe Litzner race against Bidwell. But did Gabe really need anyone to push him? Litzner was one of four boys on the day to drop under 16:00 and he was the fastest of the bunch by several seconds. I guess we’ll have to wait until Bluejay to see his potential when chasing. Seppi Camilli was in an unfamiliar spot at Spartan and responded beautifully. He lowered his mark from last year by 45+ seconds, placed 5^th amongst Michiganders, and nearly ran a personal best on a less-than-ideal day.

Looking Forward

Sadly, even in Minnesota, conditions haven’t cooled much from last week. Still a great opportunity for Seppi Camilli to lower his personal best. The Griak course is similar to Spartan, perhaps a confidence boost from last week can spur him to seek something more aggressive?

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Gabe Litzner	Sault Ste. Marie	214.4	UP 1
2	12	Seppi Camilli	Marquette	209.8	UP 1
3	11	Rorik Holmquist	Marquette	194.7	UP 1
4	12	James Barch	Marquette	193.2	UP 1
5	11	Shea Armstrong	Sault Ste. Marie	192.3	UP 1
6	11	Peter Argeropoulos	Marquette	192.1	UP 1
7	12	Evan Balko	Marquette	191.8	UP 1
8	12	Chase Thomsen	Marquette	190.2	UP 1
9	12	Danny Goss	Munising	189.7	UP 2
10	12	Kalvin Kytta	Chassell	188.1	UP 3
11	12	Birk Seagren	Houghton	180.6	UP 1
12	10	Lucas Ballard	Marquette	178.6	UP 1
13	11	Beepsee Teeple	Marquette	177.5	UP 1
14	12	Mathew Tripp	Marquette	166.8	UP 1
15	12	Evan Huyck	Sault Ste. Marie	165.9	UP 1
16	11	Benjamin Hemmer	Houghton	165.3	UP 1
17	11	Cameron Anderson	Painesdale-Jeffers	164.6	UP 2
18	11	Landon Larson	Painesdale-Jeffers	164.3	UP 2
19	11	Steven Kirschner	Rudyard	163.7	UP 2
20	12	Zach Smith	Ironwood	162.7	UP 2
21	12	Eli Hills	Sault Ste. Marie	162.5	UP 1
22	12	Trevor Nolan	Munising	161.2	UP 2
23	11	Ben Kuhl	Marquette	158.4	UP 1
24	11	Daniel Bowerman	Sault Ste. Marie	153.7	UP 1
25	11	Canon Kuntze	Stephenson	150.9	UP 3
26	10	Andrew Junttila	Calumet	149.7	UP 1
27	9	Brandon Van Karsen	Houghton	148.9	UP 1
28	9	Jude Balding	Marquette	148.5	UP 1
29	11	Max Beauchamp	Gladstone	146.3	UP 1
30	12	Brayden Bourion	Menominee	146.0	UP 1

Recap

The flat, fast Canada Lakes Pathway was home to an eastern UP showdown on Monday. Talya Schreiber vs. Samantha Taylor, the two prior D3 champs. Schreiber won this round, each blazed into the low-19’s. These aren’t reflected in this week’s rankings, time not an advantage over here, but expect Schreiber to be at the front next time around.

Looking Forward

New vs. old, experienced senior vs. wide-eyed freshman. The El Harger Invite will see Ironwood’s Aubrey Smith, who yesterday attained her 2^nd win of her career and Engadine’s Molly McNamara, who is quickly learning how to run in the 20’s. Different divisions, but we don’t care, both of these girls are in contention now or will be in years down the road.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Samantha Taylor	Newberry	133.2	UP 3
2	11	Tessa Rautiola	Houghton	122.6	UP 1
3	11	Ella Fure	Marquette	108.3	UP 1
4	10	Abby Taylor	Newberry	105.2	UP 3
5	12	Alisha Mabie	Escanaba	104.3	UP 1
6	12	Aubrey Smith	Ironwood	104.2	UP 2
7	8	Molly McNamara	Engadine	100.8	UP 3
8	12	Roman Trevino Peterlin	Houghton	99.1	UP 1
9	12	Monet Argeropoulos	Marquette	98.6	UP 1
10	9	Sela Niska	Houghton	97.6	UP 1
11	9	Evelyn Grant	Marquette	96.1	UP 1
12	12	Lily Ross	Houghton	92.1	UP 1
13	12	Ella Keranen	Hancock	88.1	UP 2
14	9	Isabelle McCord	Sault Ste. Marie	86.9	UP 1
15	12	Marlee Plaxco	Negaunee	86.8	UP 1
16	9	Maria Murvich	Kingsford	82.3	UP 1
17	10	Winley Brandt	Menominee	82.1	UP 1
18	10	Regan Sporte	Sault Ste. Marie	81.6	UP 1
19	12	Chloe Miller	Marquette	81.1	UP 1
20	12	Alyssa Shirkey	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	80.8	UP 2
21	12	Rayna Towles	Hancock	78.9	UP 2
22	9	Alena Pietila	Hancock	75.0	UP 2
23	11	Faith Cappaert	Stephenson	74.8	UP 3
24	10	Eryn Veverka	Marquette	71.9	UP 1
25	12	Maija Maki-Warne	Marquette	71.8	UP 1
26	11	Maya Carlson	Manistique	71.3	UP 2
27	11	Stephanie Jones	Sault Ste. Marie	70.7	UP 1
28	9	Bree Besonen	Ewen-Trout Creek	69.3	UP 3
29	11	Nori Korsman	Negaunee	66.6	UP 1
30	10	Sylvia Aho	Chassell	64.9	UP 3

Homeschool & Other Teams

Homeschool, clubs, and teams not allowed to compete in MHSAA events. Perhaps that’s a little strong on wording, but I’m not sure why schools such as Kensington Woods, Christ the King, and Washtenaw Christian don’t compete at the MHSAA level. They’re clearly schools, they’ve been at it for awhile, and it’s not as if other charter-type or private schools can’t compete. Not stirring up controversy here, just curious on the reasoning!

Boys

Place	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	GRTC Peregrines	35	179.9
2	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	41	177.3
3	Capital Homeschool	68	172.0
4	North Trails	108	158.9
5	MACH	150	142.6
6	Butternut Homeschool	201	120.7
7	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	204	123.2
8	Christ the King	229	113.7
9	West Michigan Homeschool	265	88.9
10	Monroe Milers	289	69.7
11	Washtenaw Christian	302	57.8
12	Kensington Woods	309	46.1

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Luke Long	West Michigan Homeschool	208.6
2	12	Trent Taratuta	North Trails	193.2
3	12	Ezekiel Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	188.9
4	11	Caleb Willard	GRTC Peregrines	183.9
5	12	Keith Siek	Berrien County Youth Track	183.5
6	11	Brendan O’Donohue	GRTC Peregrines	182.5
7	9	Abenezer Olson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	182.5
8	11	Vince Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	181.8
9	12	Kaelan Miller	GRTC Peregrines	181.2
10	10	Anthony Schmitz	GRTC Peregrines	179.8
11	9	Leo Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	175.0
12	10	Evan Armstrong	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	174.0
13	10	Brian Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	173.1
14	12	Trevor Basch	Capital Homeschool	173.1
15	9	Eli Miller	GRTC Peregrines	172.0
16	12	Jack Ryan	Capital Homeschool	170.3
17	11	Benaiah Roby	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	169.5
18	11	Ian Potts	MACH	168.4
19	12	David Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	168.2
20	12	Edward Fountain	Capital Homeschool	165.2
21	9	Garrett Potts	MACH	162.9
22	10	Jacob Ziolkowski	GRTC Peregrines	162.9
23	10	Peter Kamp	Capital Homeschool	162.6
24	11	Carter Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	158.5
25	12	Axel Krantz	North Trails	158.4
26	9	Jackson Willard	GRTC Peregrines	158.4
27	10	Thor Krantz	North Trails	155.5
28	12	Sebastian Hornibrook	North Trails	152.4
29	12	Dominic Thomas	Capital Homeschool	151.2
30	9	Etienne Ruble	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	150.6

Girls

Place	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	GRTC Peregrines	20	123.7
2	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	75	72.1
3	MACH	102	58.8
4	Capital Homeschool	107	58.3
5	Christ the King	139	28.5
6	North Trails	144	-14.4
7	Monroe Milers	172	-14.3

Rank	Grade	Name	Rating	Team
1	10	Stephanie DiPiazza	164.9	GRTC Peregrines
2	12	Sinead Noonan	135.1	GRTC Peregrines
3	9	Alannah Wessel	129.5	MACH
4	9	Kate O’Donohue	113.4	GRTC Peregrines
5	12	Olivia Gust	106.4	North Trails
6	12	Maya Willard	105.7	GRTC Peregrines
7	10	Melanie Berna	99.4	GRTC Peregrines
8	10	Faith Wessel	98.8	MACH
9	11	Abby Thompson	96.6	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
10	11	Samantha Hundt	96.5	Capital Homeschool
11	11	Dorothy Wagenmaker	92.9	GRTC Peregrines
12	11	Evie Hakes	90.9	GRTC Peregrines
13	9	Ingrid Thomas	87.1	Washtenaw Christian
14	9	Micaela Cabello	84.1	Christ the King
15	11	Esther Hornibrook	83.4	North Trails
16	11	Taylor Hill	74.4	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
17	10	Kimberly Siek	73.0	Berrien County Youth Track
18	9	Mercy Hibma	72.3	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
19	10	Belle Richardson	59.9	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
20	11	Evelyn Jackson	57.0	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
21	12	Maria Gergely	56.3	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
22	12	Rebekah Gram	54.9	Monroe Milers
23	10	Rosie Stelwagen	54.4	West Michigan Homeschool
24	11	Josie Greene	53.1	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports
25	11	Maizy Minnaar	52.9	Capital Homeschool
26	10	Eleri Raleigh	52.8	Capital Homeschool
27	10	Taylor Basch	52.4	Capital Homeschool
28	10	Alexis Graham	50.7	Christ the King
29	12	Amber Watta	46.5	MACH
30	10	Juliana Prewett	42.4	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics