Author: mixcspeedratings

SUMMER PREVIEW

Last Year

Summer
Mid-Season
Final Projections
The Result

Boys

1. Traverse City St. Francis (D3 State Champs!)
2. Clare (6^th)
3. Charlevoix (15^th)

Girls

1. Traverse City St. Francis (2^nd)
2. Elk Rapids (3^rd)
3. Clare (23^rd)

Charlevoix’s boys slid up from their projected spot of fifth to grab a state berth. Always that one team!

Top 27 Teams

Boys

Traverse City St. Francis – Top Ten
Charlevoix – Top Ten

Girls

Traverse City St. Francis – Top Ten
Clare – Top Ten
#14 – Elk Rapids

Projected Scores

Boys

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Traverse City St. Francis	20
2	Charlevoix	63
3	Clare	106
4	Grayling	119
5	Elk Rapids	142
6	Kalkaska	172
7	Boyne City	186
8	Roscommon	203
9	Cheboygan	216
10	Standish-Sterling	267
11	Harrison	309
12	Tawas	338

Girls

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Traverse City St. Francis	34
2	Clare	76
3	Elk Rapids	82
4	Boyne City	137
5	Kalkaska	142
6	Cheboygan	155
7	Charlevoix	188
8	Grayling	201
9	Farwell	211
10	Standish-Sterling	256
11	Tawas	260
12	Harrison	354

Top Runners

Boys

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Hunter Eaton	Charlevoix
2	12	Josh Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis
3	12	Owen Read	Traverse City St. Francis
4	10	William Ready	Traverse City St. Francis
5	12	Robby Myler	Traverse City St. Francis
6	12	Lewis Walter	Traverse City St. Francis
7	12	Riley Pattinson	Traverse City St. Francis
8	10	Connor Schmidt	Clare
9	11	Qwynn Darnell	Elk Rapids
10	12	Joseph Carlson	Traverse City St. Francis
11	12	Tristan Demlow	Grayling
12	10	Ryder Hopkins	Charlevoix
13	11	Matthew Solomon	Charlevoix
14	10	Isaac Dionne	Boyne City
15	12	Max Ward	Elk Rapids
16	9	Owen Lewicki	Grayling
17	9	Owen McGlone	Kalkaska
18	12	David Dhaseleer	Charlevoix
19	11	Jacob Veurink	Charlevoix
20	11	Coltrane Paryani	Kalkaska
21	10	Maxwell Drenth	Charlevoix
22	9	Mathieu Moore	Grayling
23	10	Christian Villa-Bilton	Clare
24	10	Sutton Klaus	Clare
25	11	Andrew Partenio	Houghton Lake

Hunter Eaton

The sleeper of all sleepers. Following a cross season that ended in two sub-17’s, the freshman Eaton underwent significant growth to commence his track career. A 4:24 1600m ranked #5 amongst freshmen and #1 of anyone in D3/4.

Josh Slocum

Three-time top-6 finisher here, breaking 16:00 his last time out on this East Jordan course. Coming off another solid track season that ended on a really good note – 9:44 being good enough for 9^th at State.

Owen Read

Came up huge in the State Finals, finishing 15 spots better than his projection. That 33^rd place finish was probably his best race of the year, a necessary component of the Glads state title.

Girls

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Betsy Skendzel	Traverse City St. Francis
2	11	Brynne Schulte	Elk Rapids
3	10	Sophia Buzzelli	Clare
4	10	Molly Kate Hollandsworth	Traverse City St. Francis
5	12	Mary Masserant	Traverse City St. Francis
6	12	Isabelle Eppert	Farwell
7	11	Anna Pray	Elk Rapids
8	12	Hunter Shellenbarger	Elk Rapids
9	11	Delaney Little	Boyne City
10	10	Nico Triebold	Grayling
11	11	Paige Ritchie	Traverse City St. Francis
12	9	Hailee Bertels	Boyne City
13	11	Sarah Trojanowski	Traverse City St. Francis
14	10	Lauren Leis	Clare
15	9	Leah Leis	Clare
16	11	Myah Little	Kalkaska
17	12	Samantha Harke	Cheboygan
18	9	Aaliyah Hillier	Kalkaska
19	10	Emily Dunphy	Traverse City St. Francis
20	10	Elizabeth Letherer	Clare
21	9	Emma Kerr	Traverse City St. Francis
22	12	Maya Rohrer	Charlevoix
23	11	Tierney Hartman	Grayling
24	10	Catie Janisse	Roscommon
25	9	Ava Robinson	Clare

Betsy Skendzel

Brynne Schulte

Twice All-State, twice top-3 here, twice ending her seasons in the 18’s. And I think that 5:18 from track shows more could come.

Sophia Buzzelli

Great freshman cross results, among them an All-State and top-3 performances at each Jack Pine meet. What I’m really impressed by was her Team State quad. Relay win in the 4×8, then no lower than 3^rd in the 800m-3200m.

Molly Kate Hollandsworth

Came into herself during the last half of her freshman fall. Five of Molly Kate’s final six races were in the 19’s, including a 4-spot here.

Mary Masserant

Clearly a fan of this East Jordan course, because it’s been home to her season’s best during each year of her career. And from 2022 to 2023, she moved up 11 places from 16^th to 5^th.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 3200m – 11:03
• 5k (XC) – 18:11

• 26^th Place – D1 State
• Region 7 Champion
• 3^rd Place – Oakland County
• 2^nd Place – LVC
• 2x Top-10
• 17^th Place – D1 State 3200m
• LVC 3200m Champion
• 2^nd Place – Oakland County 3200m

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
11	Ava Alicandro	18:11.8	White Lake Lakeland	148.1	MITCA	11-Nov	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	18:36.3	White Lake Lakeland	142.6	Division 1 State	4-Nov	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	19:48.0	White Lake Lakeland	136.0	Region 7	27-Oct	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	19:19.5	White Lake Lakeland	136.8	LVC Championship	19-Oct	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	19:31.1	White Lake Lakeland	138.0	Oakland County	7-Oct	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	18:31.6	White Lake Lakeland	144.8	Bluejay	30-Sep	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	18:28.1	White Lake Lakeland	146.6	Jackson	23-Sep	2023
11	Ava Alicandro	20:16.5	White Lake Lakeland	125.2	Lamplighter	18-Aug	2023
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
10	Ava Alicandro	20:06.3	White Lake Lakeland	116.9	Division 1 State	5-Nov	2022
10	Ava Alicandro	20:06.4	White Lake Lakeland	122.9	Region 7	28-Oct	2022
10	Ava Alicandro	19:24.2	White Lake Lakeland	127.6	LVC Championship	20-Oct	2022
10	Ava Alicandro	20:31.0	White Lake Lakeland	115.7	Oakland County	8-Oct	2022
10	Ava Alicandro	19:51.0	White Lake Lakeland	117.0	Jackson	24-Sep	2022
10	Ava Alicandro	21:26.0	White Lake Lakeland	112.0	Mustang	30-Aug	2022
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
9	Ava Alicandro	20:09.7	White Lake Lakeland	113.8	Division 1 State	6-Nov	2021
9	Ava Alicandro	20:33.2	White Lake Lakeland	118.3	Region 7	30-Oct	2021
9	Ava Alicandro	21:09.3	White Lake Lakeland	108.6	LVC Championship	21-Oct	2021
9	Ava Alicandro	20:36.9	White Lake Lakeland	111.7	Portage	9-Oct	2021

The Rundown

Jackson is a great meet, one of my personal favorites. Easy course to spectate, as you don’t have to move too much to see the action. I’d imagine a fast course for a runner, with its gradual downhills and good footing. And for Ava, it represented a new stratosphere of competing.

In previous meets, Alicandro wasn’t all that bad! Two straight State Finals appearances, sub-20 twice as a sophomore, placing in championship 3200ms during her sophomore spring. But at Sharp Park, she transformed from that 19-20 min. girl to one that was much, much faster. Her 18:28 on those rolling hills was a personal best of nearly a minute.

Later performances showed that was no fluke, both in terms of time and place. On the tough tracks such as Hess Hathaway and Possum Hollow, she turned a 3^rd place Oakland County finish, a silver at the LVC Championship, and a win at Region 7. When it was time to burn at State and MITCA, Ava was back in the 18’s.

Hills, flat, rugged, fast, she’s shown she’ll be ready for anything that comes in the next few months.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 800m – 1:58
• 1600m – 4:22
• 3200m – 9:34
• 5k (XC) – 15:53

• 35^th Place – D1 State
• 5^th Place – OK Red
  • 2x Top-15
• 7^th Place – Region 1
  • 2x Top 15
• 22^nd Place – D1 State 3200m
• 2^nd Place – Region 2 & OK Red 3200m
• 4^th Place – D1 State 4×8

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
11	Ben Eisnor	15:56.2	Grand Haven	194.3	MITCA	11-Nov	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	15:53.3	Grand Haven	196.6	Division 1 State	4-Nov	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:07.3	Grand Haven	191.2	Region 1	28-Oct	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:00.5	Grand Haven	193.5	OK Red Conference	19-Oct	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:00.1	Grand Haven	197.0	Portage	7-Oct	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:02.0	Grand Haven	196.0	Allendale Falcon	30-Sep	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:28.6	Grand Haven	193.1	Spartan	15-Sep	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:33.9	Grand Haven	191.0	Bredeweg	9-Sep	2023
11	Ben Eisnor	16:32.8	Grand Haven	192.4	Under the Lights v2	25-Aug	2023
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
10	Ben Eisnor	16:42.7	Grand Haven	185.5	Division 1 State	5-Nov	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	16:30.2	Grand Haven	186.6	Region 1	29-Oct	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	16:33.4	Grand Haven	180.5	OK Red Championship	20-Oct	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	17:16.6	Grand Haven	174.5	OK Red 2	4-Oct	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	16:33.1	Grand Haven	185.0	Allendale Falcon	1-Oct	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	16:28.0	Grand Haven	186.7	OK Red 1	20-Sep	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	16:50.5	Grand Haven	188.2	Spartan	16-Sep	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	17:13.5	Grand Haven	179.8	Bredeweg	10-Sep	2022
10	Ben Eisnor	17:09.0	Grand Haven	192.3	Eagle	23-Aug	2022
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
9	Ben Eisnor	16:59.5	Grand Haven	178.2	Division 1 State	6-Nov	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	16:49.3	Grand Haven	178.9	Region 1	30-Oct	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	16:44.3	Grand Haven	178.2	OK Red Conference	21-Oct	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	17:06.8	Grand Haven	180.4	Portage	9-Oct	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	16:52.8	Grand Haven	184.1	OK Red 2	5-Oct	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	16:50.8	Grand Haven	180.4	Allendale Falcon	2-Oct	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	17:12.3	Grand Haven	169.6	OK Red 1	21-Sep	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	17:11.0	Grand Haven	180.7	Ottawa Hills	17-Sep	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	18:23.1	Grand Haven	157.3	Bredeweg	11-Sep	2021
9	Ben Eisnor	18:52.1	Grand Haven	155.0	Fruitport Eagle	24-Aug	2021

The Rundown

Pattern finding is a common endeavor when analyzing sports. How does a pitcher fare off 5 days rest? 4 days rest? A basketball player on the second game of a back to back? You could apply that to cross country, as well. How does a runner perform on hilly courses? Three meets in ten days? At the end of the year?

Ben’s pattern seems to read two things:

1 – He’ll run consistently at a level for a number of races, then jump levels, then run consistently, then jump levels.

Above 18:00 for his first two races ever, then a jump into the high-16’s/low-17’s, where he closed his freshman year and began his sophomore season. Then a move into the mid-16’s, where he ended his 10^th grade year and began his junior year. The final leap was one between Spartan and Allendale Falcon, where he catapulted into the low-16’s and even the occasional 15:xx.

2 – He runs his best when the meets are large and they matter most.

One of those 15:xx’s was at State, his first career reach into that time zone. That State Final, along with Portage, were his two highest ratings of the year. 2022’s State Finals were on par with his steadily great efforts from that whole season, the same held true in 2021.

May more steps be taken and more patterns hold true.