History makin’ over here! The Redwolve Girls captured their first county crown ever. Coming into the meet, the numbers had them at a 21% chance of winning the title. Their top three of Elkins, Coots, and Bowles did their part, three seniors placing in the top-11. It was the underclassmen who saved the most points, with Aurelia Bennett (projected 23rd, finished 18th) and Sarah King (projected 30th, placed 25th) subtracting 10 points from their pre-meet score. In a close contest such as this, that was all the difference.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance
I’m extremely happy that an upset occurred on the boys side. The projections gave Allen Park a 38% chance of winning and the Jags came through. And it really wasn’t any outstanding performance, just being steady. The biggest jump actually came from 6th man Landon Hoffman, who was projected to be 21st, came in 18th, and nearly matched his personal best set a week earlier.
For the girls, Grosse Ile was a big surprise, mainly from the efforts of two of their ladies. Sophia Mihalko set a personal best of 22:04 (the only girl in the top-25 to do so), her 15th place being 14 spots ahead of her projection. Taylor Karasinski hit a season’s best, her 22:30 clearing any other time this year by 25+ seconds.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance
The projections were pretty dang accurate, correct on each of the top-3 teams and their order. Of those in the top-10 individually, one boy and one girl unexpectedly snuck in:
Ellery Horness, Muskegon Mona Shores: placed 10th, projected 11th, running in the 20’s for the third consecutive race
Graeson Lawrence, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian: placed 8th, projected 16th, his 17:08 a lifetime best and 5 spots better than his junior year.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance