2025’s Best Throw Crews: Early April

Track is back, baby.

The Best Crews have been a thing around here for the past few years. They take their cues from USTFCCCA’s event squads and the World Athletics scoring system, combining the two ideas in order to compare Michigan’s teams against events in their common areas.

The goal of this is to help recognize the athletes and coaches that create cultures, history, and traditions in their respective event areas. Think about it like this: Minnesota always has great hockey, basketball hoops are nailed to Indiana barns, Texas churns out football talent, every Iowa boy has cauliflower ear. Where in Michigan does hurdling reign supreme? Is there a town where kids learn to shot put before they can tie their shoes?

2023’s explanation goes through much of it, but two things have changed for this year.

• the Boys 200m points have been re-mathed and edited, as previous versions sold short athletes such as Jeremy Dixon and Jake Machiniak when it came to season end rankings.
• instead of using a team’s top-four athletes to generate their total for an event, I’m using their top-three. Belleville’s hurdlers are the main reason for this, there’s no way they shouldn’t have been the top D1 squad last year. I feel this will better portray a team’s top athletes.

Here are the figures that show the points for each mark:

BOYS TABLES

GIRLS TABLES

In the past, I’ve struggled grasping exactly what I want to write about for each event or division. Thankfully, these early qualifiers make it easy! If you’ve qualified in the timeframe before your event area has been posted or in between those posts, you’ll get a little sentence or three.

These contain results uploaded to athletic.net by Tuesday (4/8) at 9PM.

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
12	Emma Young	116′ 6″	Livonia Churchill	422	Discus
12	Charlotte Minor	110′ 5″	Livonia Churchill	405	Discus
12	Charlotte Minor	34′ 4″	Livonia Churchill	393	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Livonia Churchill	393	828	1221
2	Jenison	499	440	940
3	Rockford	447	441	888
4	Zeeland East	787	–	787
5	Northville	385	397	782
6	Forest Hills Northern	761	–	761
7	Detroit Renaissance	386	374	760
8	Midland	448	–	448
9	Plymouth	430	–	430
10	Grosse Pointe South	–	410	410
11	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	404	–	404
12	Ypsilanti Lincoln	403	–	403
13	Howell	399	–	399
14	Holland West Ottawa	394	–	394
15	Brighton	–	393	393
16	East Lansing	387	–	387
17	Macomb Dakota	–	387	387
18	Grand Ledge	–	386	386
19	Bay City Western	380	–	380
20	Livonia Stevenson	379	–	379
21	Holly	379	–	379
22	Forest Hills Central	379	–	379
23	Novi	374	–	374
24	Monroe	373	–	373

Early Qualifiers

Ty Ellis, Grand Ledge

159′ 6″ Discus – Hillsdale Jack Beilfuss Invitational

Commonly, it’s taken Ellis a few meets to get in the groove. But not in 2025, as he ripped his best opener in the discus by 30 feet. This is what he normally throws at the end of the year, which gives great thought as to what might occur in two months.

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
12	Ray Glory Ejoyohak	186′ 2″	Beverly Hills Groves	514	Discus
12	Ryan Yoder	152′ 9″	Beverly Hills Groves	429	Discus
12	Colin Vincent	46′ 3″	Beverly Hills Groves	392	Shot Put
12	Ryan Yoder	45′ 4″	Beverly Hills Groves	385	Shot Put
12	Ray Glory Ejoyohak	45′ 3″	Beverly Hills Groves	384	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Beverly Hills Groves	1161	943	2104
2	Grand Ledge	780	1241	2021
3	Monroe	844	913	1757
4	Livonia Churchill	790	851	1641
5	Hudsonville	777	830	1607
6	Dexter	382	1155	1537
7	Midland	1318	–	1318
8	Warren DeLaSalle	810	417	1227
9	Byron Center	378	848	1225
10	Portage Central	450	404	854
11	Swartz Creek	822	–	822
12	Cedar Springs	817	–	817
13	Fraser	411	404	814
14	Caledonia	–	811	811
15	Livonia Stevenson	384	405	789
16	Saginaw Heritage	788	–	788
17	Lapeer	404	372	776
18	Rockford	391	382	773
19	Hartland	389	374	763
20	Harrison Twp. L’Anse Creuse	443	–	443
21	Grosse Pointe South	–	433	433
22	Detroit Catholic Central	432	–	432
23	Holt	–	427	427
24	Macomb Dakota	417	–	417
25	Rochester Adams	–	416	416

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
12	Ellianna Foley	38′ 4.5″	Coldwater	437	Shot Put
10	Marie Powers	35′ 8″	Coldwater	408	Shot Put
12	Ellianna Foley	104′ 8″	Coldwater	389	Discus
11	Danika Cox	31′ 11.5″	Coldwater	367	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Coldwater	1212	389	1601
2	Gladwin	782	353	1135
3	Hudsonville Unity Christian	770	360	1130
4	Otsego	743	359	1102
5	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	507	381	888
6	Plainwell	399	428	827
7	Sturgis	397	427	824
8	St. Clair Shores South Lake	399	394	793
9	Whitehall	789	–	789
10	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	380	395	775
11	Grand Rapids Christian	411	352	763
12	Hopkins	365	390	756
13	Holland Christian	381	359	740
14	Howard City Tri-County	357	368	725
15	Linden	356	369	725
16	North Branch	442	–	442
17	Chelsea	428	–	428
18	Portland	–	408	408
19	Shepherd	405	–	405
20	Flint Powers Catholic	395	–	395
21	Allegan	390	–	390
22	Owosso	390	–	390
23	Battle Creek Harper Creek	383	–	383
24	Gaylord	378	–	378
25	Charlotte	377	–	377

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
11	Jackson Reilly	49′ 10″	Coldwater	421	Shot Put
11	Jackson Reilly	147′ 4″	Coldwater	416	Discus
12	Garrett McVicker	48′ 7″	Coldwater	411	Shot Put
12	Alex Crabtree	43′ 8″	Coldwater	372	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Coldwater	1203	416	1618
2	Otsego	1194	407	1602
3	Wayland Union	803	794	1598
4	Hudsonville Unity Christian	1109	367	1477
5	Dearborn Divine Child	811	382	1193
6	Three Rivers	766	380	1146
7	Battle Creek Harper Creek	768	377	1145
8	Gaylord	878	–	878
9	Parma Western	453	375	827
10	Battle Creek Pennfield	386	423	809
11	Sparta	390	397	787
12	Haslett	786	–	786
13	Howard City Tri-County	381	387	768
14	Portland	364	374	738
15	Niles	734	–	734
16	Marshall	–	730	730
17	St. Joseph	427	–	427
18	Stevensville Lakeshore	412	–	412
19	Hamilton	404	–	404
20	Carleton Airport	395	–	395
21	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	–	393	393
22	Hopkins	393	–	393
23	Redford Union	389	–	389
24	Owosso	383	–	383
25	Flint Kearsley	–	382	382

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
12	Megan Mackinder	103′ 2″	Stockbridge	385	Discus
12	Megan Mackinder	31′ 9″	Stockbridge	365	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Stockbridge	365	385	750
2	Ann Arbor Greenhills	351	372	723
3	Kent City	344	369	714
4	Leslie	358	348	706
5	Quincy	–	702	702
6	Harrison	343	357	700
7	Hemlock	698	–	698
8	Montrose	582	–	582
9	Schoolcraft	449	–	449
10	Blissfield	408	–	408
11	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	400	–	400
12	Manton	392	–	392
13	Buchanan	388	–	388
14	Morley-Stanwood	387	–	387
15	Union City	–	380	380
16	Saugatuck	378	–	378
17	Burton Atherton	372	–	372
18	Holland Black River	368	–	368
19	Hesperia	367	–	367
20	Jonesville	–	364	364
21	Ottawa Lake-Whiteford	–	363	363
22	Reed City	359	–	359
23	Centreville	355	–	355
24	Ravenna	–	355	355
25	Hart	354	–	354

Early Qualifiers

Mason Brodie, Clinton

169′ 2″ Discus – Clinton Redwolves Invitational

It’s been a momentous week for Brodie, signing with Detroit Mercy, then ripping a 10+ foot personal best in his home invite. The senior hopes to get back on the medal stand in the discus, a feat he was able to accomplish in 2023.

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
12	Seth Schlicht	44′ 1″	Chesaning	375	Shot Put
11	Braden Burtch	43′ 11″	Chesaning	374	Shot Put
12	Seth Schlicht	130′ 2″	Chesaning	372	Discus
12	Brayden Florian	42′ 11.5″	Chesaning	366	Shot Put
11	Braden Burtch	120′ 1″	Chesaning	346	Discus

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Chesaning	1114	718	1833
2	Lawton	500	794	1294
3	Stanton Central Montcalm	774	393	1167
4	Napoleon	372	397	768
5	Ovid-Elsie	744	–	744
6	Hillsdale	366	367	733
7	Onsted	356	361	718
8	Clinton	–	471	471
9	Centreville	406	–	406
10	Montague	383	–	383
11	Hudson	374	–	374
12	Carrollton	370	–	370
13	Ithaca	359	–	359
14	Quincy	358	–	358
15	Kent City	358	–	358
16	Parchment	357	–	357
17	Leslie	–	355	355
18	Ida	354	–	354
19	Jonesville	354	–	354
20	Saugatuck	353	–	353

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
11	Jaylyn Sisco	95′ 0″	Beal City	362	Discus
10	Bryn Gilde	31′ 2.5″	Beal City	359	Shot Put
10	Bryn Gilde	93′ 9″	Beal City	359	Discus
12	Brianna Stack	91′ 9″	Beal City	353	Discus
10	Katelyn Schultz	29′ 1.5″	Beal City	336	Shot Put
10	Mady Stack	84′ 4″	Beal City	332	Discus
11	Jaylyn Sisco	28′ 0.5″	Beal City	324	Shot Put
12	Brianna Stack	27′ 7″	Beal City	319	Shot Put

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Beal City	1020	1074	2094
2	Decatur	672	334	1005
3	Petersburg-Summerfield	339	357	695
4	Athens	677	–	677
5	Lutheran Westland	–	402	402
6	Carson City-Crystal	383	–	383
7	Morrice	378	–	378
8	Southfield Christian	374	–	374
9	Morenci	–	363	363
10	Bridgman	353	–	353
11	Portland St. Patrick	352	–	352
12	Allen Park Cabrini	343	–	343
13	St Joseph Our Lady of the Lake Catholic	337	–	337
14	International Academy of Flint	320	–	320

Early Qualifiers

Oliver Long, Morrice

52′ 1″ Shot Put – Fowlerville Early Season Open

As a freshman, Long showed tremendous promise in the Shot Put, placing 4th in Division 4 and attaining the 2nd best mark across all of Michigan’s 9th graders. Last year, he built on that potential, earning a Division 4 Championship in the event. Whereas he peaked at 52′ last spring, he’s already begun his junior campaign at an even higher 53’+ mark.

Grade	Name	Mark	Team	Points	Event
11	Oliver Long	53′ 3″	Morrice	448	Shot Put
11	Oliver Long	139′ 0″	Morrice	394	Discus

Rank	Team	Shot Put	Discus	Total
1	Morrice	448	394	842
2	Breckenridge	836	–	836
3	Detroit Frederick Douglass	718	–	718
4	Hillsdale Academy	363	353	716
5	Allen Park Cabrini	340	359	699
6	Pentwater	348	339	687
7	Kingston	670	–	670
8	Marcellus	389	–	389
9	Muskegon Catholic Central	–	381	381
10	Britton Deerfield	–	370	370
11	Riverview Gabriel Richard	–	362	362
12	Eau Claire	–	348	348
13	Southfield Christian	346	–	346
14	Petersburg-Summerfield	335	–	335
15	Bridgman	331	–	331
16	Saginaw Arts and Sciences	324	–	324
17	Clarkston Everest Collegiate	324	–	324
18	Coleman	–	321	321