2024 Rankings: Division 1, Championship Season

Week 3

The above link contains the best explanation of the year.

Week 4
Mid-Season Projections – Boys
Mid-Season Projections – Girls

These rankings contain meets through Saturday (9/28). If a runner has had a rated race since September 1st, they’re included (sadly, I have to account for injured athletes). These are for fun and done for free. Enjoy!

Recap

It was a rough smooth two week stretch for Northville. The Mustangs handled business on their usual trip out of Michigan. Chicago in 2022, Roy Griak in 2023, then on September 21^st, a trip to the famed Blue River XC Course. For Michigan’s top-ranked team facing the best of Indiana, 24 total points and all five scorers under 16:10.

Meanwhile on that same date, many of the top-10 boys showed up to Jackson. Following a few weeks off, rested and ready to roll, Livonia Churchill was able to put three in the 15’s and have just enough from Wojtkowicz and Morche, claiming victory in a field as close to the D1 Finals as you’ll see in September.

Looking Forward

Whereas in previous weeks, the top teams went their separate ways, in early October, they’re now all entering the fray. Clarkston looks to be the Oakland County favorite, Canton and Livonia Churchill will duel at Willow (projections for both coming tomorrow), and Portage has:

#1 Northville
#2 Brighton
#3 Jenison
#6 Saline
#8 Kalamazoo Central
#9 Grand Haven
#10 Traverse City Central

Amongst many others.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.	Last Week
1	Northville	84	6	204.6	1
2	Brighton	254	4	197.4	3
3	Jenison	263	1	198.5	2
4	Canton	368	6	195.9	4
5	Livonia Churchill	391	6	194.6	7
6	Saline	412	5	192.7	6
7	Clarkston	429	8	192.9	5
8	Kalamazoo Central	456	3	192.4	21
9	Grand Haven	466	1	193.7	8
10	Traverse City Central	506	2	191.0	11
11	Ann Arbor Pioneer	541	5	193.6	NR
12	Portage Central	550	3	189.2	10
13	East Kentwood	556	3	190.8	9
14	Oxford	559	8	191.9	12
15	Forest Hills Central	609	3	189.9	17
16	Plymouth	633	6	188.9	13
17	Utica	679	9	188.3	18
18	Macomb Dakota	722	9	186.1	15
19	Rockford	742	1	185.0	14
20	Midland	775	2	185.1	16
21	Okemos	791	2	185.3	NR
22	Highland-Milford	806	7	187.9	19
23	White Lake Lakeland	811	7	183.7	20
24	Traverse City West	833	2	184.5	23
25	Caledonia	870	3	183.4	24
26	Salem	892	6	182.1	22
27	Dexter	973	4	183.5	25

Recap

It’s been all red and pink. I thought that Holland West Ottawa’s performance at FlashRock was the best of their year, the pink Panthers were able to outdo that at Otsego. Both were wins, the former against Indiana’s best, the latter containing seven WO girls under 19.

Setting the standard for the past 1.5 seasons has been Romeo, performing in this two week stretch in the same manner that the Bulldogs always have. A perfect score in the MAC Red Championship, preceded by placing six in the top-20 at Sharp Park.

Looking Forward

They’ve been flexing muscles separately all year long. Under the Lights, Holly, FlashRock, Jackson, Otsego, now a meeting. Romeo and Holland West Ottawa. This is as close to a State Final preview as you’ll find. The main question in comparing the two teams is Romeo’s 3^rd through 6^th vs. West Ottawa’s 2^nd through 6^th.  The numbers thus far have shown that Romeo’s pack is slightly ahead of West Ottawa. The race isn’t run on numbers.

Yes, there are other teams in the state. With the addition of Ella Abraham, Rochester’s Falcons have asserted themselves as the favorite in Oakland County. Everyone else in the top-10 is Portage.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.	Last Week
1	Romeo	82	9	150.5	1
2	Holland West Ottawa	133	1	149.1	2
3	Saline	235	5	140.0	3
4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	272	5	143.4	5
5	Brighton	290	4	135.6	4
6	Rockford	334	1	133.7	6
7	Okemos	413	2	133.3	12
8	Traverse City West	439	2	129.2	7
9	Rochester	474	8	129.0	16
10	Grand Haven	493	1	128.0	8
11	Portage Central	524	3	125.0	10
12	Midland Dow	530	2	134.2	9
13	Northville	538	6	124.6	11
14	Jenison	584	1	122.7	15
15	Utica	592	9	123.1	13
16	White Lake Lakeland	623	7	121.4	14
17	Dexter	634	4	120.8	20
18	Hartland	652	4	120.9	17
19	Ann Arbor Skyline	669	4	120.2	19
20	Rochester Adams	688	8	119.8	18
21	Macomb Dakota	779	9	116.0	21
22	Hudsonville	791	1	115.6	22
23	Clarkston	813	8	114.5	24
24	Bay City Western	853	2	115.3	NR
25	Traverse City Central	880	2	112.7	25
26	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills	915	3	110.9	23
27	Ann Arbor Huron	927	6	112.3	NR

Individual Rankings

Recap

Two weeks ago, we were heavily anticipating a Jackson Invite. Cooler early morning temps, Kyle O’Rourke traversing an easier, Aidan Pengelly assuring an honest pace. Neither of the two disappointed, neither did any of the field. Sharp Park was home to five of the six fastest D1 times in the State. O’Rourke pulled away in the second mile, creating enough of a gap to ensure a 15:08 victory. Carter Livermore has quietly been racking up outstanding races, he was 2^nd. Pengelly crushed his previous PR.

The lone man that didn’t run at Jackson and was able to break into that top-six was Seth Conner, whose 15:16 at Otsego showed that he’s a few weeks ahead of last year’s schedule.

Thankfully, we received a debut. Kamari Ronfeldt on the way back, taking no time in finding a win in the second SEC Jamboree. The Pioneer course isn’t the easiest ever, he was still able to cruise to victory in 15:46.

Looking Forward

Three separate spots for matchups: Oakland County, Wayne County, and Portage.

Kyle O’Rourke going for his first Oakland crown, hoping to use course knowledge to earn a victory.

Just as the teams will vie for points in the pack, Joey Rohmfeld and Aidan Pengelly will face off near the front. Of course, they’ll be joined by a Colin Murray. We saw Murray come back on the two at Rambling Rock, we’ll see if the D1 kids will alter their approach to attain a win.

And of course – Portage. Seth Conner riding the high of last week, perhaps Kamari Ronfeldt in the purple, Carter Livermore, Ethan Powell, and a gang of others.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	11	Kyle O’Rourke	Highland-Milford	216.5
2	10	Jack MacGregor	Howell	212.6
3	11	Aiden Pengelly	Canton	212.4
4	10	Kamari Ronfeldt	Ann Arbor Pioneer	211.4
5	12	Carter Livermore	Grandville	210.6
6	12	Ethan Powell	Northville	210.5
7	12	Seth Conner	Jenison	210.3
8	12	Alexander McArthur	Oxford	207.8
9	12	Joseph Rohmfeld	Livonia Churchill	207.3
10	12	Taye Levenson	Bloomfield Hills	207.3
11	11	Jackson Lam	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix	206.1
12	11	Ben Hartigan	Northville	206.0
13	12	Kian Schneeweis	Troy	205.6
14	11	Beckett Crooks	Ann Arbor Pioneer	205.0
15	10	Luka Hammond	Grand Haven	205.0
16	12	Nick Barretto	Northville	204.0
17	12	Tyler Brock	Brighton	203.2
18	12	Julian Linebaugh	Dexter	203.0
19	10	Ben Romero	Forest Hills Central	202.7
20	11	Ryan Barnes	Clarkston	202.5
21	11	Ian Morgan	Okemos	201.8
22	12	Ishaan Kundapur	Northville	201.7
23	12	James Cusick	Oxford	201.5
24	12	Ben Eisnor	Grand Haven	201.4
25	12	Lucas LaMilza	Macomb Dakota	201.1
26	12	Sawyer McCarthy	Forest Hills Central	200.9
27	11	Aron Gal	Grand Haven	200.8
28	10	Brandon Cloud	Northville	200.7
29	12	Parker Strelecki	Jenison	200.5
30	12	Evan Nickoles	East Kentwood	200.1

Recap

Winning wings were indeed spread, both in Indiana and Michigan. Sub-17’s at each, both contributions to a national top-10 ranking for Helen Sachs (it’s on MileSplit and you have to pay, such a racket. Just trust me).

Taking a careful approach and likely shooting for a November/December peak, Victoria Garces opened with a 17:17 at Cadillac, then followed with a 17:26 at Shepherd. Both were wins, both solidifying her status as one of Michigan’s top runners.

Always saving her best for the State Finals, Lucy Cook gave us a preview of her condition. Facing great competition from Natasza Dudek, Cook was able to summon just enough in Jackson’s finishing stretch to claim a win, 17:26.2 to 17:27.5.

Looking Forward

Going for four straight Oakland County crowns will be Lucy Cook. Finn, DaDamio, Belf, Goethals, Osika – none of those girls have won four County titles. Only one, Katie Boyles can make that claim. Lucy has always displayed patience while racing, a necessity to conquer the infamous double hill and emerge victorious. We’ll see if she can pull it off.

At Portage, Helen Sachs will be up to her usual shenanigans, laying waste to the field up front, hoping to set an example for her fellow Panthers looking to hit an upset. Freshmen that have already proved they can handle the sublime experience, Rachel Smith, McKinley Jones, and Natasza Dudek will gain even more of it on the star-studded Portage West MS grounds.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Helen Sachs	Holland West Ottawa	176.7
2	12	Victoria Garces	Midland Dow	170.5
3	9	Natasza Dudek	Ann Arbor Pioneer	167.2
4	9	Rachel Smith	Okemos	162.3
5	11	Natalia Guaresimo	Romeo	160.0
6	9	Emilia Garces	Midland Dow	159.0
7	11	Hana Boggess	Ann Arbor Pioneer	154.9
8	9	Sienna Klemmer	Ann Arbor Pioneer	154.5
9	9	McKinley Jones	Saline	154.0
10	12	Lucy Cook	Rochester	153.6
11	10	Daisy Cox	Rockford	152.9
12	12	Mallory Bigelow	Oxford	152.5
13	11	Lydia LaMarra	Brighton	152.1
14	10	Annie Hrabovsky	Romeo	151.7
15	12	Valerie Beeck	Grand Haven	151.4
16	12	Kaelin Hughes	Livonia Stevenson	150.5
17	10	Annabeth Hazlewood	Salem	149.9
18	12	Annie Alkema	Kalamazoo Central	148.9
19	9	Savannah Staton	Saline	148.8
20	12	Lillian Deskins	Romeo	148.2
21	12	Violet Hrabovsky	Romeo	146.8
22	12	Olivia Purdy	Romeo	145.8
23	10	Collette Wierks	Holland West Ottawa	144.9
24	11	Leah Corby	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	144.9
25	12	Emma Gunnett	Holland West Ottawa	144.8
26	11	Ava Porras	Holland West Ottawa	144.7
27	11	Emmerson Clor	Romeo	144.5
28	10	Tessa Mascari	Traverse City West	144.4
29	12	Isabelle Becker	Bay City Western	143.5
30	12	Corynn Gady	Saline	142.7