mixcspeedratings

Portage, our great bellwether for the season’s progress, has come and passed. There were many affirmations and a few surprises. You’ll see a bit more movement in these rankings this week, as more recent meets are weighed more, early season meets mean less and less.

If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:

The individual ratings take into account all the meets listed here. There are a few meets missing that I’ll link to, but pretty much any meet with a significant number of athletes will have been calculated. An individual’s rating takes their best 75% of rated races (rounding up, so 4 of 5, 5 of 6, etc.), weighs them with more recent races having a higher weight, then spits out a final rating. The team rankings score those individuals as if they were in a meet against their entire division.

As a result of taking into the entire season into account, the rankings will be more conservative and less reactionary than most. Putting together a great performance once will bring about a tiny bit of movement, doing so repeatedly will elicit much greater change.

There are a few changes from previous years:

No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
- Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
- Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
No more individual rankings posted to social media
- Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
- I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
Posting these one division at a time
- If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive.

Unfortunately, the injury rule is in place, where if I don’t have a rating from the past month, that runner is taken out. If you’re willing to share (and I can understand why not – someone’s medical situation doesn’t have to be the public’s business) that your athlete or you yourself are healthy/injured, feel free. There are some exceptions based on situations that make sense. Hopefully these don’t rub salt in the wound of someone who’s already hurting.

Now I need to be serious for a minute. These are for fun. If you don’t like these fun rankings, you don’t need to participate, you don’t need to call me names, talk trash to your fellow competitors, or send rude emails. We good here? Enjoy.

WEEK THREE RANKINGS
WEEK FOUR RANKINGS
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK RANKINGS

Grand Rapids Christian

Week Three: Conquered a strong field at Benzie then turned around and routed a very competitive OK White. Showing much strength early with frontrunners and depth, could very well put all five girls on the podium.

Week Four: More of the same at Ottawa Hills from the Eagle girls. All scoring girls placed in the top-11, with Adia Sikkema and Lucy Waalkes pulling up in the top-20.

Championship Week: Otsego Bulldog is often the first D2 showcase of the season, this year being no different, with 6 of the top 15 ranked teams in appearance. Just as every other meet, the Eagles up front, making up half of the first 8 finishers. Senior Payton Holtz is peaking at the right time to close her career, hitting sub-19 in her past two invites.

Despite missing one of their top girls, won fairly convincingly at Portage. Naomi Nelson’s return to the 18’s didn’t hurt either.

Otsego

Week Three: Sadly, we won’t see the Bulldogs at a major Michigan invitational until Jackson, but when you have the opportunity to run at the legendary Detweiller Park, you take it. Their season is setting up very similarly to last year, a strong top four plus a solid fifth. Though it appears their 5th spot might be improved from 2022.

Week Four: Placed 7^th of 61 in the Richard Spring Invite down in Peoria. Now I don’t know much about Illinois XC at the moment, but that field had some legendary and recognizable names – York, Neuqua Valley, Palatine, Downer’s Grove, etc. Illinois Speed Ratings uses a similar methodology, but a different scale. Without getting too deep into it, converting to my scale, Detweiller rates out to about a +69 (+75 for boys) for its 2.97-to-3-mile course (highly debatable distance!) To make a short story long, the Bulldogs ran better than they have this season, even missing Taylor Mitchell.

Championship Week: In her final Bulldog Invite, senior Megan Germain ran her fastest time at Otsego’s signature home meet. Her 18:29 was good for a 6^th place finish, fast enough for three consecutive top-10’s, and clutch enough to grant her Bulldogs a 2^nd place finish.

Wrapped up Wolverine Conference dual/tri meet action with another 7-0 record.

Goodrich

Week Four: Changed things up on us! The past few years, the Martians have been at Holly, this year they headed further west to East Lansing. And evidenced by their 3^rd place finish in the Elite Division, an excellent decision. These girls get it done through their pack, going seven deep, displacing fools left and right.

Championship Week: The Martians marked Shepherd as their territory in prep for Regionals. A 23-point win in a D2-centric field, even with Kamy Lauinger having a rough go of it.

Kamy Lauinger more than made up for Bluejay, coming across the Greater Flint line in first. Her 18:18 was a massive PB and helped the Martians win the Overall title at Cummings Center.

East Grand Rapids

Week Four: After missing Under the Lights, Drew Muller has returned, to EGR’s benefit. Her 3^rd spot at Ottawa Hills meant the Pioneers really had to only score four. Combine that with personal bests from Adeline Armstrong and Sadey Seyferth and you have this traditional power rising through the ranks.

Championship Week: Great through three and finding contributors further back. Rory Workman (I swear there are thousands of Waalkes, Workmans, Kuzmas, and VanderKoois up this way) has dropped more than a minute from her Under the Lights debut.

Faced some adversity mid-race, but the performances of their sophomores in the final miles led to a top-10 finish at Portage.

Zeeland East

Week Three: An easy victory in the OK Green was sandwiched between a 2nd place in their division at Under the Lights and a 5th at Bredeweg. Emma Drnek has come into her own this year, giving the Chix a formidable 1-2 combo.

Championship Week: Another OK Green victory to go with a bronze at Otsego Bulldog. Taryn DiLaura has been a key figure on their varsity outfit, breaking 20:00 in two of her past three races, nearly a minute quicker than her freshman form.

CC Kuras masterfully moved up over the course of the Portage hills, going from over 100^th at the mile to 68^th at the finish as the Chix placed 6^th.

St. Joseph

Week Four: The rare case of having two low sticks and needing to score three. Among those three, you could have reliable seniors such as Jade Murdoch or Ceci Ruchti. Or perhaps freshmen that are coming along nicely such as Lydia Johnson or Lily Cummings. Like many West Coast teams, the Bears traveled to Ottawa Hills on Friday, coming away from Session 2 placing 4^th of 18.

Championship Week: Make it 4 straight and 13 of the past 14. The Bears have truly established a Berrien County dynasty.

Won the tiebreak over ZE. Sophomore Beatrice Peruchetti didn’t run her fastest race ever, but delivered a performance right in line with many in her initial cross season, in the mid-21’s.

St. Johns

Championship Week: The Redwing top three can hang with anybody. For instance, in the first two CAAC Red Jamborees – Fletcher, Schafer, and Young combined for 17 points. That’s in two meets, folks. SJ has won each of those jamborees.

Skipped the weekend invites, but once again put together a dominating CAAC Red effort. Their 5^th and 6^th girls (Lily Sackrider and Sylvia Thomas) came in before any other team’s 4^th runner as the Redwings rolled.

Holland Christian

Out of any team in the D2 Portage field, the Maroons exemplified the patient racing style best. 285 points at the mile, 253 through two, then 219 at the finish, grabbing the 4^th spot. Experience executing a plan in big spots gives this team major sleeper vibes come late October.

Spring Lake

Championship Week: Bea Reeser has been ON IT all year. First, opening with her best debut ever, then parlaying that into a personal best she’s been waiting to snatch since her sophomore year. Twice 6^th in the OK Blue Jamborees, contributing to Laker victories each time.

The Lakers brought it to a whole new level at Portage. Personal bests up front + season bests from their depth = a 3^rd place finish amongst D2’s best.

Frankenmuth

Tuesday, the quick runnin’ Shepherd course was home to personal bests from Lucy Conzelmann and Kaitlyn Miller as the ‘Muth captured the TVC Red title.

Place	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Grand Rapids Christian	11	66	1	1	1	2
2	Otsego	13	198	2	2	2	1
3	Goodrich	15	282	3	4	4	3
4	East Grand Rapids	12	320	4	3	8	6
5	Zeeland East	11	386	5	7	3	5
6	St. Joseph	13	419	6	5	6	4
7	St. Johns	14	436	7	8	7	7
8	Holland Christian	11	439	11	12	28	10
9	Spring Lake	11	452	8	9	9	11
10	Frankenmuth	15	494	9	6	5	8
11	DeWitt	14	536	13	10	10	14
12	Ludington	10	583	10	15	12	13
13	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	12	617	14	13	13	27
14	Hudsonville Unity Christian	11	638	15	14	14	17
15	Linden	16	651	20	26	24	20
16	Owosso	14	671	21	19	18	26
17	Freeland	15	674	12	11	11	12
18	Petoskey	10	724	23	18	15	18
19	Dearborn Divine Child	16	725	18	22	20	19
20	Forest Hills Eastern	12	753	24	24	22	25
21	Warren Regina	17	758	16	20	19	34
22	Croswell-Lexington	17	772	19	17	17	29
23	Alma	15	782	17	16	16	15
24	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	16	897	25	23	25	44
25	Grand Rapids South Christian	12	906	29	29	29	22
26	Chelsea	18	909	26	25	23	21
27	GR West Michigan Aviation	12	948	32	32	38	16

Forest Hills Eastern

Week Three: That’s two years in a row that the Hawks have put the state on notice with an Under the Lights masterpiece. All five scorers were sub-17 on that humid, late August night. With three of those capable of low-16’s or better, much pressure will be placed on other teams to close that gap.

Week Four: Missing Brendan Hoving and Liam Hinman at Sparta, the Hawks still emerged victorious, eking out a 6-point victory over the home team. Youngster Steven Zawacki stepped up in a major way – he’s dropped more than a minute since Under the Lights.

Championship Week: Lost in the TJ Hansen spectacle was the fact that FHE stole the show in the elite race. The field contained tons of top teams from all divisions, yet the Hawks still prevailed. Nearly putting four under 16-flat will tend to lead to those victories.

Another show of their deep team where anyone can pop an amazing race. Lately, Luke Ueland has shown a few of those. Two straight sub-17’s, the latest one a 16:48 at Portage that was a minute faster than his junior effort.

Allendale

Week Four: There were a few doubters last week with the Falcons’ #4 ranking. I think their effort at Spartan proved a few wrong. Three in the top-15, half the points of any other school in the White Division.

Championship Week: Even if Grand Haven had Seth Norder competing, the Allendale Falcons would’ve still won their home invite. If that ain’t a show of how impressive they’ve been of late, I don’t know what is.

Sandwiched between that outstanding Allendale Falcon race and a 3^rd place at Portage was another OK Blue conference win.

East Grand Rapids

Week Three: Still missing a piece, but those who have competed have had success. That could come in the form of an Alex Thole, who pulled a massive upset at Under the Lights or a Jack Edison, who navigated his way into the 16’s for the first time ever at the OK White Jamboree.

Week Four: That piece has arrived. Ryan Brinker, with only one race under his belt in ’23 has already raced faster than he had to this point in the ’22 season.

Championship Week: It wasn’t just FHE taking it to those D1 boys, the Pioneers were right there with them. Jonah Workman was a workhorse, reaching wayyyy into the 15’s to sneak into the top-10.

As Davis Christy continues to come back into the form he displayed late last year, continue to expect EGR to be in the hunt for a podium spot. His 16:43 was a 20 sec. season best and 12 seconds faster than his Portage race from 2022.

Grand Rapids Christian

Week Three: Saw FHE throw down the gauntlet on a Friday night, then woke up Saturday and decided to match it. Winners of Pete Moss by 88 points, then put seven guys in the top-16 at a star-filled OK White Jamboree.

Week Four: Probably underrated here because of their cruise through Christian Schools and the fact that we’re comparing against the entire state. In actual competition, the Eagles are undefeated, finding another clear victory this past weekend at Ottawa Hills.

Championship Week: It’s not as strong as in past years, but you can’t help who you run against, you can only aim to win. Which the Eagles did at Otsego, completing the sweep from their boys and girls squads. Senior Dylan Clark with the big breakthrough, knocking 15 seconds off his previous best.

Won another OK White Jamboree, making it 3 for 3 on the season.

Pinckney

Portage victory couldn’t have happened without the efforts of their 4^th-6^th guys. Zach Newman, Parker Hays, and Kyle Osborne each ran significantly better than they had all season. All personal bests, all sub-17, all valuable contributors on the path to another Portage win.

Alma

Championship Week: Ali Kudmani’s return coincides with the Panthers’ 3 meet victory streak – in conference, at Bluejay against many teams they could see at State, and this week at Birch Run.

After taking the weekend off (but still meeting for their traditional long run!), the Panthers returned to action Tuesday, where they won the TVC Red title. Of their 11 athletes, 7 ran a personal best on the Shepherd course.

Adrian

Championship Week: Carter Fenner and Matthew Canales have been steady as they come, both trending towards the 16’s as the Maples have held their own in the SEC White and picked up a victory at Jackson.

The Nyack brothers brought their senior experience to Portage, filling in the 4^th and 5^th spots as the Maples snuck into the top-5.

Otsego

Championship Week: The Bulldogs were missing a few of their top boys at home, perhaps Jackson was a better show of their capabilities. On those rolling Ella Sharp hills, the Dawgs packed up between 16:39 and 17:02, placing right in the middle of a field complete with D1 teams.

Thanks to the presence of 16^th-ranked Plainwell, the boys side of the Wolverine Conference is a bit tougher than the ladies. At the tail end of conference competition, one of the older rivalries in Michigan HS sports took place, the Bulldog Boys prevailing by a 5 point margin over Plainwell.

Marshall

Week Four: Even missing Kaiden Gore (their five guy) at Holly, the Redhawks triumphed in the D3 race. With five divisions there, you get a mix of D2 and D3 teams in the 3^rd Division, but even if Marshall was in the 2^nd Division this past weekend, odds are that they’d win. When you have four boys capable of going sub-17, many possibilities are on the table.

Championship Week: These past two years, Connor Griffith has been a kid hellbent on dropping time. From 10^th to 11^th grade, he stormed from the 18’s to the very low-17’s. Now he’s knocking on the door of the 15’s, hitting 16:05’s at both Stockbridge and Barney Roy.

Gotta appreciate schools that represent their area. Would’ve been easy to travel to Portage for all the hoopla, instead the Redhawks hosted the Calhoun County meet. Taking the first four spots, their boys captured the victory for an excellent kick off to their championship season.

Petoskey

Have been steadily dialing it in, moving down in the ranks these past few weeks. That descent has only been accelerated with the addition of Tommy Farley in the last two weekends.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Forest Hills Eastern	12	187	1	1	1	3
2	Allendale	11	230	3	3	4	4
3	East Grand Rapids	12	264	4	2	3	1
4	Grand Rapids Christian	11	268	2	4	2	2
5	Pinckney	16	388	11	23	29	6
6	Alma	15	427	5	7	5	10
7	Adrian	18	455	6	6	7	5
8	Otsego	13	471	8	9	8	13
9	Marshall	12	489	7	5	6	15
10	Petoskey	10	514	12	16	15	9
11	Holland Christian	11	531	9	8	21	8
12	Sparta	10	577	10	10	10	17
13	Gladwin	10	616	14	12	9	12
14	Frankenmuth	15	626	13	15	13	21
15	Spring Lake	11	642	20	18	18	18
16	Plainwell	13	648	15	11	12	37
17	Yale	17	664	17	13	11	19
18	Flint Powers Catholic	15	696	18	22	20	25
19	Fremont	10	698	19	21	NR	14
20	Hamilton	11	713	16	19	19	16
21	St. Clair	17	735	24	14	14	31
22	Clio	15	788	21	24	17	28
23	Chelsea	18	841	23	20	23	7
24	Parma Western	14	846	22	27	25	27
25	St. Johns	14	921	26	30	28	34
26	Shepherd	15	935	27	28	26	33
27	Flint Kearsley	15	943	28	29	30	45

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Gail Vaikutis

Week Three: Her 18-flat at Lakeview was a massive personal best and over 80 seconds faster than her 2022 performance. In track, she was able to display great speed and now we’re witness to her strength.

Week Four: Gail’s just out here stacking personal best after personal best. Similar conditions, similar courses, 22 second improvement from week to week. Gail now owns the fastest time AND best rating in Division 2.

Championship Week: A senior going out with wins all over the place. In conference, in county, and in her college decision, recently committing to Michigan.

The pack of four at the mile turned into a pack of three by two miles, and by the finish, Gail was the only one left standing.

Natalie VanOtteren

Week Four: Sub-18 at Ottawa Hills was the 3^rd of her career and 40+ seconds faster than her ’22 effort on the banks of the Grand River.

Championship Week: Four straight wins for this Eagle senior. One of those was a 17:35 personal best at Cougar Falcon, another a 17:43 effort at the Otsego D2 Showcase.

Three years of competing at Portage. Three top-10 finishes, two sub-18’s, and a 16 second improvement from 2022 to 2023.

Elena Figueroa

Week Three: Right alongside Vaikutis at both their home invite and the PC Early Bird. Missed out on a great time at Lakeview, I hope for non-injury reasons. Regardless, her early season best is already an improvement from her sophomore year.

Week Four: Her first race in over three weeks, Elena hopped right back on the wagon with a 17:44 at Riverside. A minute faster than her 2022 effort there and a 35 second personal best.

Championship Week: A slight, ever so slight personal best at Cougar Falcon is still a personal best. 17:44.0 to 17:43.9 counts for me. Elena and Gail have gone 1-2 in both of the SMAC West meets along with Berrien County – all Bear victories.

Portage just another example of how even the fastest of the fast can improve. Her 18:41 last fall was among the best efforts of her sophomore year. Her 17:43 on Saturday is what we’ve come to expect. Funny how those expectations change over time.

Ava Schafer

Week Three: Adjusting very well to the high school scene. After taking her lumps with a second-place finish at Under the Lights, she’s ripped off two consecutive victories. All mid-18 efforts from this young freshman. The Redwings have some light racing in their future, so we’ll see how much she’s improved come late September at Shepherd.

Week Four: The Redwings took the weekend off racing and well, that looks to be to Ava’s benefit. Girl just blasted a 17:48 to capture the first CAAC Red Jamboree.

Championship Week: Stuck her nose right in there at Bluejay, heading out with the lead girls, coming through the mile in 5:34. Ava faded a bit, but got a good look of what she’ll need to do when similar runners race her in a month. Comparing against only D2 girls in that Elite section, Ava did place 1^st of all 46, so she’s performing admirably against her competition.

Freshman just quietly winning another CAAC Red Jamboree. Excellent opportunity for some high-level racing this weekend over at Greater Lansing.

Katie Berkshire

Championship Week: Has been a barrier-busting season for Berkshire. She first slipped under 19:00 at the Mud Run of all places, then has ripped off three consecutive low-18 efforts at Cadillac, Shepherd, and Mancelona.

Impressed by her ability to recover. Three low-18 efforts in a seven day stretch. Bluejay, Mancelona, and then Portage.

Drew Muller

Week Four: Just announced her commitment to Virginia, a great institution for its education, history, and distance running (the Hoos are currently ranked #11). I’m sure Drew will contribute there as she does here, consecutive mid-18 efforts to begin her senior year.

Championship Week: I believe her trip to Shepherd was the first of her career, and that initial run through produced her best mark of the year, an 18:16.

Unfortunately had to drop out of the race this past weekend, but I’m sure this proud champ will be back for the upcoming championships.

Emma Hoffman

Championship Week: Think of all the success, all the accomplishments over Otsego’s past ~15 years. Three titles, a runner-up, plenty of state appearances. And atop of them all, time-wise, was Emma’s 18:03 from this past weekend.

Portage pace may have been a little quick early, as she fell back from 9^th to 14^th. But this sophomore has shown she can learn from midseason races and apply to bigger races down the stretch. This isn’t the last we’ll see of her.

Mary Richmond

Championship Week: Four years of races at Bluejay – all in the low-18’s, all in the top-15. The Frankenmuth senior has taken on a lighter load than in years past and should be ready to roll for the coming month.

The Mary Richmond senior year tour continued this week with the culmination of a historic TVC-8/Red career. By my count, four overall championships for this Tampa-bound senior.

Emma Drnek

Just when you thought she couldn’t go any lower – she does. 18:12 at Otsego Bulldog, another personal best in a season full of them. Back to the expectations mentioned earlier for Elena. If you had told me she’d run 18:29 at Portage, I’d have said that was an outstanding season. Scary that it was only her 3^rd best time of the season.

Meghan Ford

Couldn’t be happier to mention this girl here. It’s been quite a four-year journey for Meghan, three All-States, a Greater Lansing title, plenty of finishes in the 17’s and 18’s. A great career.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Gail Vaikutis	St. Joseph	13
2	12	Natalie VanOtteren	Grand Rapids Christian	11
3	11	Elena Figueroa	St. Joseph	13
4	9	Ava Schafer	St. Johns	14
5	10	Katie Berkshire	Gaylord	10
6	12	Drew Muller	East Grand Rapids	12
7	10	Emma Hoffman	Otsego	13
8	12	Mary Richmond	Frankenmuth	15
9	11	Emma Drnek	Zeeland East	11
10	12	Meghan Ford	Mason	14
11	12	Emily Tomes	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	11
12	10	Ellie Scholma	Grand Rapids Christian	11
13	12	Logan Brazee	Otsego	13
14	10	Lilah Poel	Grand Rapids Christian	11
15	11	Sadey Seyferth	East Grand Rapids	12
16	11	Summer Brower	Ludington	10
17	12	Naomi Nelson	Grand Rapids Christian	11
18	11	Sophy Skeels	Adrian	18
19	11	Kamryn Lauinger	Goodrich	15
20	12	Jenna Pilachowski	Monroe Jefferson	18
21	12	Payton Holtz	Grand Rapids Christian	11
22	11	Natalia DeMea	Chelsea	18
23	9	Clara Kaczor	Freeland	15
24	12	Allison Kuzma	Zeeland East	11
25	12	Megan Germain	Otsego	13
26	12	Emma DeVries	GR West Michigan Aviation	12
27	11	Ezgi Kurt	Alma	15
28	11	Ava Crews	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	12
29	12	Addison Washler	Forest Hills Eastern	12
30	10	Natalie Foltz	Frankenmuth	15
31	11	Eva Thompson	Croswell-Lexington	17
32	9	Olivia Hollebeek	Holland Christian	11
33	11	Layla Jordan	Goodrich	15
34	12	Anastee Davis	Adrian	18
35	9	Caroline Randall	Hastings	12
36	12	Abby Young	St. Johns	14
37	12	Camille DeCola	Marshall	12
38	10	Samantha Brown	Clio	15
39	9	Jaelyn Ray	Pinckney	16
40	9	Eliana Stob	Holland Christian	11
41	12	Tatum Dykstra	Fruitport	11
42	12	Kyla Meyers	Spring Lake	11
43	10	Linnea Paige	Fremont	10
44	9	Johanna Mulder	Holland	11
45	12	Nora O’Leary	Petoskey	10
46	12	Clara Fletcher	St. Johns	14
47	9	Ayda Skeels	Adrian	18
48	10	Brooklynn Brown	Cadillac	10
49	12	Ellia Agar	Grand Rapids South Christian	12
50	11	Mea D’Agostino	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	16

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Connell Alford

Week Four: Week Three: Cross country is definitely his thing. Facing some fierce competition at Lamplighter, Connell laid down the hammer early en route to a large margin of victory.

Week Four: Unfortunately, couldn’t pull off the win at Spartan, but he did finish first amongst all Michigan competition. His 15:09 nearly matched the 15:06 from last year, and when you’re in the ballpark of your state-winning self, you know you’re in a good place.

Competed in his first SEC White Jamboree of the year, grabbing his third conference win in these past three years. A solid block of training setting up for the future showdowns in the coming months.

Moved up to the D1 race at Portage to test his fitness against the most populated division in Michigan (and some Ohio teams). Came away with a 3^rd place finish, his third top-10 placing there.

TJ Hansen

Week Three: Just continuing and building from his track accomplishments. 15:39 at Under the Lights was a personal best, 15:13 at John Bruder was a massive personal best. It’s a shame Freeland is on the smaller side of D2 schools, we sadly avoid a matchup with Evan Loughridge at Holly.

Week Four: Of the 93 boys that ran at both John Bruder and Holly, only 22 ran faster at Holly. TJ was 0.5 seconds slower, showing his 15:14 through the sharp turns and hills at Springfield Oaks can be sub-15 on the right course on the right day.

An absolutely masterful performance at Bluejay, negative splitting to a 14:46. Let’s just put it this way – in early September, Shepherd hosted the Jeff Drenth Memorial COLLEGE meet. TJ’s 14:46 would have won that.

Quickly bounced back from Portage (and even Bluejay the week prior) to capture his third consecutive TVC-8/Red title in as many years as he’s been competing.

Evan Loughridge

Week Three: “Opener at Possum Hollow was a 20+ second win over a ton of talented D1 runners. He’ll be facing some potential D2 All-Staters this weekend at Holly.”

Week Four: 15 seconds at a mile, 30+ at two, and 36 at the finish, Evan’s 15:35 win at Holly was allll on his lonesome. For many that would be a mental grind, but it’s more of the same for this tough-minded kid. His performance on Saturday was over 25 seconds faster than what he raced to in 2022 and given how his October played out last year, big goals are there for the taking.

After working on their toughness at Bennett Park, the Pirates head toward Portage, the site of Evan’s junior breakout race. All indicators show he’s ready to shock us again.

While others left D2 for greener pastures, Evan stuck around with his Pirate teammates. The result is something that can never be taken away. A win for himself and a win for Pinckney, besting his long-standing personal record.

Solomon Kwartowitz

Week Four: Hung in there pretty well for his first real huge effort of the season. A 15:32 in Spartan Elite earned Kwartowitz a 7^th place (5^th amongst Michiganders) and a massive personal best.

Each year, Cranbrook takes the trip down to Indiana to run in the Culver Academies Invitational. Solomon’s 15:38 there was 40 seconds faster than where he was in 2022, coming back from injury. He placed a second behind Kyle Grove, who just ran a 15:17 at Lavern Gibson. My guess based on limited evidence is that Solomon is ready to head toward the very low-15’s.

Just as his training partner Ethan Pruzinsky, strategically broke away from the pack early at Possum Hollow. His competitors couldn’t make up the distance on the double hill and he had enough momentum on the lengthy downhill to secure a County title.

Alex Thole

Week Four: State Champions, national qualifiers, insane freshmen, talented underclassmen… Alex has won against them all and we’re only in mid-September. Three races, three wins, all considerably better than his 2022 best.

Over the past two years, Alex has surely benefitted from the BluejayBoost. First at the MITCA race, the home of his initial sub-16, the one that paved the way for the enormous success this year. Then again on Saturday, just a show of his progress, 30 seconds quicker than that breakthrough.

Busy week for Alex, nabbing his 2^nd OK White win to go along with a 2^nd place Portage finish.

Sean Pettis

Nestled in between his past two WMC Lakes wins was a 15:24 at Cougar Falcon, first amongst a bevy of potential All-Staters.

Busy week for Sean as well, winning his 3^rd WMC Lakes jamboree, following it up with a 3^rd place Portage placing.

Nate Carmody

The Haslett senior has laid low these past few weeks, nabbing his second consecutive win at DeWitt, which was his fourth sub-16 in a row.

Greater Lansing will be as competitive as ever and Nate should be right in the mix. As in past weeks, he’s been laying low on the major invites, just quietly throwing down a 25+ second win at the Country Mill Classic.

Jack Bidwell

Has won all but two of his races this year. Included in those wins have been two I-8 jamborees and a Calhoun County championship.

Braylon Petty

Hard to believe a school as close as Adrian hadn’t traveled to Jackson in three years. But Braylon showed that he remembered how to attack those long, gradual downhills, rolling to a 15:50 victory.

Back-to-back top-10’s at Portage for Braylon, his 15:49 also 5 seconds faster than his 2022 effort.

Noah Lambers

A look at how far Noah has come: between his Portage Invite as a sophomore and as a senior, he improved by over 150 seconds (18:14 to 15:36).

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Connell Alford	Chelsea	18
2	11	TJ Hansen	Freeland	15
3	12	Evan Loughridge	Pinckney	16
4	12	Solomon Kwartowitz	Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood	16
5	12	Alex Thole	East Grand Rapids	12
6	12	Sean Pettis	Fremont	10
7	12	Nate Carmody	Haslett	14
8	11	Jack Bidwell	Marshall	12
9	12	Braylon Petty	Adrian	18
10	12	Noah Lambers	Holland	11
11	11	Simon Triezenberg	Grand Rapids Christian	11
12	11	Colin Murray	Dearborn Divine Child	16
13	12	Logan Ruffner	Riverview	18
14	11	Henry Dixon	Forest Hills Eastern	12
15	10	Jonah Workman	East Grand Rapids	12
16	12	Brendan Hoving	Forest Hills Eastern	12
17	12	Caleb Palmreuter	Gladwin	10
18	12	Elliott Sirianni	Clio	15
19	12	Gregory Janesak	Sparta	10
20	10	Ronnie Silveira	Allendale	11
21	11	Kilian Whalen	Allendale	11
22	10	Owen Metzger	Sparta	10
23	11	Alex Doneth	Mason	14
24	12	Liam Hinman	Forest Hills Eastern	12
25	11	Dylan Lydic	Haslett	14
26	12	Ryan Brinker	East Grand Rapids	12
27	12	Nolan Pinion	Lake Fenton	16
28	11	Dominic Lowrie	Battle Creek Harper Creek	12
29	10	Thomas Larson	Alma	15
30	11	Will Engbers	Holland Christian	11
31	9	Ezekiel Baltierra	Alma	15
32	12	Aiden Krueger	Niles	13
33	12	Paul Moore	Pinckney	16
34	10	Moises Salazar	Adrian	18
35	11	Nolan Inglis	DeWitt	14
36	12	David Murphy	Flint Powers Catholic	15
37	11	Nolan Longuski	Shepherd	15
38	11	Parker Tiethof	Allendale	11
39	11	Abatu Dykstra	Hamilton	11
40	12	Shane Izzard	Petoskey	10
41	12	Cooper Jacobsen	Forest Hills Eastern	12
42	9	Bryce Cahoon	Shepherd	15
43	12	Shay White	St. Joseph	13
44	11	Seth Mead	Gladwin	10
45	12	Brewer Snay	Macomb Lutheran North	17
46	11	Henry Cox	Plainwell	13
47	12	Ethan Sandula	Pinckney	16
48	12	Isaac Staib	St. Johns	14
49	12	Connor Griffith	Marshall	12
50	12	Luke Glasgow	Spring Lake	11

Uncategorized

2023 Rankings: County Week, Division 3

October 11, 2023October 11, 2023 mixcspeedratings

If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:

There are a few changes from previous years:

No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
- Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
- Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
No more individual rankings posted to social media
- Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
- I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
Posting these one division at a time
- If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK RANKINGS
WEEK FOUR RANKINGS
WEEK THREE RANKINGS

Jackson Lumen Christi

Week Three: “Two invites into the season and the Titans have won them both. After a bit of a struggle at Michigan Catholic, Lumen Christi acquitted themselves well to the quick Lakeview course. Many in their top seven ran personal bests or close. Their girls will get a prime opportunity to prove their fitness again, running in the Elite race at Spartan.”

Week Four: Hopped into the Elite race at Spartan and held their own against the State’s best. Scoring only Michigan teams, the Titans placed 7^th out of 14. Where some of their girls have good days or bad days, a consistent spot has been Thia Tello, holding it down in the 21’s regardless of the course.

Championship Week: When did I miss that Lumen Christi joined the CHSL?!? Anyhow, the Titans won their first CHSL Jamboree in late September, that victory sandwiched between two others – at Jackson and at DeWitt.

Osterberg and Schroeder might get all the awards, but it’s the pack that makes these Titans tick. They had their best combined performance at Portage, with the Fazekas girls and Layla Lopez each finishing in the top 30 as LC picked up another victory.

Traverse City St. Francis

Week Three: “It’s all about their pack. Both at Bear Country and Red Devil (both wins), the Glads were able to put five runners ahead of any other team’s 4th runner (and more often, a rival team’s 2nd or 3rd girl).”

Week Four: “Came down to Grand Rapids on Friday to race at Ottawa Hills. Betsy Skendzel is beginning to come into the form that she displayed toward the end of ’22, hitting the mid-18’s. And the #GladPack worked their magic in the middle, doing their job to land TCSF the best spot amongst D3 teams.”

Championship Week: The GladPack did their thing again at both Cadillac and Bluejay. Two Saturdays ago, they moved up a division and held their own, placing 2^nd of 12 in a field full of D1/D2 teams. Then a week later at Bluejay, their 2^nd-4^th girls occupied spots between 15^th and 19^th, opening up enough of a gap to clinch a 20 pt. victory.

Mary Masserant keeps leveling up and doing so, unlocks greater potential for TCSF. Two of her last three races in the 19’s to go along with a 6^th place finish in the LMC, which the Gladiators just captured.

Grand Rapids Covenant Christian

Week Four: “Charging forward have been freshmen such as Shelby Kuiper, Lydia Minderhoud, and Anna DeVries. Each have run the best of their young careers at invites in recent weeks.”

Championship Week: Those superb freshmen were joined Saturday by a senior. Lindsay Minderhoud came in as the Chargers’ 4^th girl, helping lead GRCC to a 4^th place finish. Despite being in 12^th grade, this is her second year of competing, and in this second year, she’s dropped 40+ seconds from 2022.

Amber Koole has been mega consistent at the front. Her portfolio in 2023 consists of many low-19 efforts with the occasional blast into the 18’s. Through her leadership, the Chargers placed 4^th at Portage.

Pewamo-Westphalia

Championship Week: The name of the game for the Pirates is consistency. Whether that’s Whitney Werner up front, Melanie Werner/Abbie Schneider/Alyssa Kramer in the middle or, anyone else on their persistent squad, consistency abounds. P-W rode that reliability to a 5^th place finish in the Gold division at Bluejay along with a win at their home invite.

The Pirate freshmen don’t just consist of boys. Alyssa Kramer has been mentioned here too and now we must mention Jenna Keilen. She’s come from the 22’s to begin the year to a 20:50 this past weekend, helping the Pirates slide into 3^rd over on the west side.

Elk Rapids

Week Three: “The Elks are taking a bit of a break until returning back for action next Tuesday at Kalkaska. One girl that’s stood out early has been Ella Peck, who has dropped nearly a minute from her junior best.”

Week Four: “Week off for the Elks, who traveled over to Kalkaska tonight and down to Cadillac on Saturday.”

Championship Week: After taking a bit of time off, the Elks returned to action at Cadillac, Kalkaska, and Bluejay. The mini break benefitted a girl such as Eva Pray, who has ventured into the 20’s in two consecutive races and was the 3^rd girl in a win at Cadillac over a ton of D3 schools.

Traveled up north of Little Traverse Bay to claim second in the LMC, placing six girls in the top-18 on a rainy, hilly Boyne Highlands track.

Stanton Central Montcalm

Championship Week: There’s the excellence of Kyah Hoffman up front, the rising freshman Andrea Rolston. But don’t forget the two other frontrunners – Ashley Choponis and Grace Coston. By my numbers and their times, each of the two had their best race of the season/career.

All this talk about their top-3, their rising freshmen, well you gotta have someone else. Braelyn Bunting has been in the 22’s throughout the entire year. Shepherd, Portage, Spartan, always in those 22’s. Her 106^th place this past weekend comfortably clinched a 5^th place for the Hornets.

Caro

Championship Week: Senior Paige Herron is coming into her own on the cross course. While the Tigers finished 2^nd at Wagener Park, she matched her 5^th place finish from last year while dropping 22 seconds from her mark here in 2022.

The Tigers took the weekend off as they prep for a tough stretch. GTC, Thumb Area, then a regional title on the line.

Lansing Catholic

With Greater Lansing week on the horizon, the Cougars took the weekend off. Beforehand, they captured yet another CAAC White Jamboree, adding to their lengthy winning streak.

Hart

Week Four: “The Pirate girls continued their winning ways in the first WMC Rivers Jamboree then placed 6^th amongst the west side’s best in the first session at Ottawa Hills. A bright spot early has been the consistent running of freshman Natalie Rosema, crossing the line in the low-21’s for each major race.”

Championship Week: On a quick track at Shepherd, five of the top six Pirates achieved a season’s best. One of those was the rapidly rising Harriet Kidder, who’s dropped 2.5 minutes from her opener in early September.

Having been down one of their better girls for the majority of the season, some Pirates have needed to step up. One of those has been Lexie Beth Nienhuis, whose 20:16 was a Portage PR and a season best.

Leslie

Haley Creisher and Erin Lubahn have been steadying forces at the front, each running in the 20’s at Jackson, Stockbridge, and Portage.

Place	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Jackson Lumen Christi	23	151	1	1	1	1
2	Traverse City St. Francis	19	171	2	2	2	3
3	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21	266	5	5	6	13
4	Pewamo-Westphalia	24	273	7	7	7	7
5	Elk Rapids	19	294	4	3	3	2
6	Stanton Central Montcalm	24	295	6	6	8	12
7	Caro	25	340	8	8	5	5
8	Lansing Catholic	26	350	9	9	9	9
9	Hart	20	436	3	4	4	4
10	Leslie	26	460	10	10	11	6
11	Hanover-Horton	23	468	12	12	10	25
12	Remus Chippewa Hills	20	481	16	15	15	23
13	Ithaca	25	501	11	11	12	10
14	Monroe St. Mary CC	27	528	15	13	16	11
15	Clinton	27	545	14	16	13	18
16	Kent City	21	578	13	14	14	16
17	Fennville	21	615	17	19	20	26
18	Buchanan	22	677	18	18	17	27
19	Grass Lake	27	714	19	17	18	19
20	Onsted	23	736	22	21	25	21
21	Grandville Calvin Christian	21	796	23	22	41	51
22	Ann Arbor Greenhills	27	806	21	20	22	22
23	Blissfield	27	817	25	27	27	15
24	McBain	20	838	24	25	23	34
25	St. Louis	25	856	28	28	24	31
26	Clare	19	859	20	24	21	8
27	Benzie Central	20	889	39	23	19	14

Traverse City St. Francis

Week Three: Came into the season as one of the top teams in Division 3, only bolstered by the addition of the Swagers. Leo’s debut went down in the TCSF record books, his 15:54 at Buckley was a school record.

Week Four: “Traveled down to Ottawa Hills for the late session, placing fifth in a field comprised primarily of D1/D2 teams. Bolstered by the addition of Josh Slocum, running his first 5k of the season in 17:00.”

Championship Week: Since writing this, Slocum has upped his game even further, dropping mid-16 performances at Cadillac and Shepherd. And so has Robby Myler, who’s foray into the 16’s at Bluejay was his third sub-17 of the year.

Could have ran their 6^th through 10^th boys at yesterday’s LMC Championship and would’ve still came away with the title. That’s how much depth these Glads have.

Grand Rapids Covenant Christian

Week Three: The greatness of the Chargers might not be evident early, but watch as they get towards large fields. Grant Koole and Tyler Kooienga have appeared to lock down the 4th and 5th spots. And in D3, when your 4th/5th guys are hovering near or under 18:00, you’ll be ahead of many teams.

Week Four: “Ottawa Hills constitutes a larger field and the Chargers hung right in there with all the D1/D2 teams in the second session. In fact, they were the only lower division team to compete in the boys evening race, placing 9^th.”

Championship Week: Graeson Decker must’ve watched all these other freshmen drop astounding times and wondered if he can do so himself. After opening with mid-17 efforts at Under the Lights and Saranac, he’s rapidly dropped into the low-16’s.

Frontrunnin’ Levi Kamps has stepped it up a notch these past two weeks, running in the low-16’s at both Bluejay and Portage. His Chargers followed suit, coming in 3^rdamongst the 35 teams in their Division 3 race.

Pewamo-Westphalia

Championship Week: After the season’s done, perhaps I can look into various stats and answer various questions, one of them being, “who had the best freshman class?” In D3 at least, the answer’s gotta be P-W, who now has four(!) 9^th grade boys below 18-flat.

In that Portage field, the efforts of upperclassmen Sam Muirhead and Allan George loomed large, each finishing in the low 40’s, low enough to sneak under GRCC into 2^nd place.

Hanover-Horton

Week Four: “Winners of the White Division at Spartan, doing so by placing five in the top-40. Freshman Cooper Flick has run a personal best in four of his five races to begin his 9^th grade year and he was the crucial fifth runner for the Comets.”

Championship Week: The Backward Hat Crew put up fights against the best D3 fields at invites these past two weeks. At Jackson, the Comets beat out top squads such as Jonesville and Lumen Christi. At Bluejay, over Reed City, Central Montcalm, P-W, and Covenant Christian.

Coming off a huge weekend invite into a dual against top-15 Jonesvilles must’ve been tough, yet the Comets still prevailed, winning 26-29 last night.

Reed City

Week Three: Addition of Isaac Clementshaw has taken the Yotes from a team happy to make State to one that can step on the podium. He’s been in the low-18’s in each of his four races.

Week Four: ”Utter domination in the Big School race at Evart. Top-2, 4 of the top-5, 7 of the top-14. Anthony Kiaunis showed off his strength, gritting his way through the sand and hills, his 17:16 knocking nearly 20 sec. off his performance from ’22.”

Championship Week: Two Tuesdays, two weeks aparts, the Yotes knocked out CSAA victories over their conference competition from down south.

Stayed away from Portage, instead traversed the treacherous Pine River course. Placing all five scorers in the top-10, the ‘Yotes cruised to a nearly 60 pt. victory.

The Potter’s House

Had a few guys come out to play on Saturday – most notably Jackson Rodriguez and Edward Mugisha. Add a Caleb Swiney into their Portage lineup and you have a team that’d move up closer to 5^th thru 7^th.

Stanton Central Montcalm

Championship Week: Standout runner Graham Coston is throwing down some of his best stuff to finish out his career. His 16:24 at Shepherd was a 10 second personal best and a great way to cap off four years of running on that course. He’s come a long way from his Bluejay Invite in 2020, where he ran a 19:14.

Sophomore Sylus Wilson has been unmovable from the low-17’s, running there early and often as the Hornets rack up top finishes.

Hart

Championship Week: Of the 15 boys that have recorded a time for the Pirates, over half are freshmen. And of those freshmen, five have been sub-20. This ain’t a rebuilding year, this is a RELOADING YEAR. The Tatros have left an indelible legacy and leave the program in good hands for whomever takes the reigns.

Even as the youth movement takes hold, key seniors play a role. For example, Tyler Vanderzanden, who’s consistently in the 17:40’s, coming in as the Pirates’ 3^rd-4^th man.

Clare

Adding to Brad White and Nic Porter has been senior Andrew Klaus. Klaus has taken the sub-17 he ran at MITCA last November and ran with it, lowering his personal best down to 16:32.

Jackson Lumen Christi

Championship Week: Lumen Christi’s move from a team barely in the top-27 during the summer to a top-10 squad mid-season is largely due to two kids – Gibson Shore and Avery Morrow. Gibson has only continued the trajectory he showed during last October, now a steady figure in the 17’s. Avery has stepped in as a freshman, commonly right behind Gibson. And perhaps he’ll go on the late season run as Gibson did too?

Morrow and Bolton displayed a maturity to their racing on Saturday, moving up through every split, keeping the Titans right in that 9^th spot.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Traverse City St. Francis	19	165	1	1	1	2
2	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21	317	2	2	2	6
3	Pewamo-Westphalia	24	318	3	6	9	3
4	Hanover-Horton	23	332	4	5	4	11
5	Reed City	20	359	5	3	3	9
6	The Potter’s House	21	390	10	4	5	1
7	Stanton Central Montcalm	24	424	6	7	6	19
8	Hart	20	455	7	10	8	7
9	Clare	19	465	9	9	10	5
10	Jackson Lumen Christi	23	478	8	8	7	22
11	Jonesville	23	492	12	15	14	8
12	Bath	24	525	11	11	16	12
13	Midland Bullock Creek	25	569	13	14	12	37
14	St. Louis	25	570	14	16	15	4
15	Ithaca	25	612	15	12	13	16
16	Buchanan	22	650	16	13	11	18
17	Flat Rock	27	718	17	17	17	34
18	Charlevoix	19	735	18	20	20	30
19	Leslie	26	815	21	25	24	36
20	Kalkaska	19	845	19	18	18	29
21	Olivet	22	849	20	19	19	15
22	Clinton	27	863	25	24	36	20
23	Kent City	21	886	22	22	23	33
24	Ann Arbor Greenhills	27	893	23	28	32	23
25	Lansing Catholic	26	901	24	29	27	26
26	Monroe St. Mary CC	27	915	29	26	25	27
27	Sanford-Meridian	25	934	31	27	31	21

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Jessica Jazwinski

Week Three: Her 2023 debut may have ended in defeat, but I saw a girl that didn’t lay down when the race wasn’t going her way. A 17:35 at Benzie was 10 seconds faster than her sophomore performance, likely on a tougher course as well.

Week Four: “Back to her winning ways this past week, triumphing at her first conference jamboree and at Ottawa Hills. Her 17:29 at Riverside was a season best and only proves that she’s in better fitness than she was at this point last fall.”

Championship Week: This grinder just doesn’t let up. In these past two weeks, wins at all four meets. And in the same fashion that I’ve written before, with faster performances than this point last year. I’m getting old, my memory is fading, but I feel that we’ve raced under similar conditions to 2022. At Cougar Falcon, she improved from 17:54 to 17:12, at Bluejay, from 17:41 to 17:08.

Opened up a significant early lead and stretched it out. 7 seconds at the mile, 11 thru 2, and then 14 at the finish. Two straight Portage wins and undefeated from September 1^st on.

Madison Osterberg

Week Three: Usual pattern has been to exert patience then speed up late. Well, her 17:42 at Lakeview was a jolt to that process. The second sub-18 of her career and nearly a minute faster than her 2022 effort.

Week Four: “Had the XC race of her career at Spartan, crushing her time from 2022 by 85 seconds. Outlasted Lucy Cook in the final 1800m, nearly matching her time from Lakeview on a much tougher track.”

Championship Week: Came out victorious in a huge race between D3 and D4 powers at Jackson. Madison, Emmry, and Kaylie went out blazing fast, and Madison just had enough to outlast the other two.

Her second defeat of the year occurred at Portage. Though in defeat and in victory, she seems to love those 17:40’s, showing toughness either in front or trailing.

Emmry Ross

Week Three: Was undefeated until 2022’s State Finals and she’s on the same streak yet again. Four wins in four races, including a sub-18 at Addison. Some big tests are coming soon on the schedule – at Spartan and then Jackson.

Week Four: “Continued the undefeated streak with a comfortable win in the first LCAA Meet and a challenge from Kyah Hoffman at Spartan. This week, we’re setting up for one of the better D3 individual battles at Jackson.”

Championship Week: Was put to the test early at Jackson and came up a little short. But failing is sometimes a blessing in disguise and often leads to greater heights – such as her 17:29 PERSONAL BEST and 2^nd consecutive Stockbridge win.

Has picked herself back up after Jackson and is on another winning streak. Just in this past week, she’s won in conference and at two invites.

Kyah Hoffman

Week Four: “Continuing to put it all together during her junior year, hanging with Ross at Forest Akers until succumbing by 5 seconds in the final 1.1.”

Championship Week: I recall her joy after hitting that 18:16 at MITCA to close her sophomore year. It felt like the perfect ending and a show that she could run with all the elite girls. Which she has more than showed this fall, the latest piece of evidence being her 17:56 winner in the Gold race at Bluejay.

Hung with Jazwinski and Osterberg for as long as she could before fading a bit. Even with the slight fade, Kyah crossed the line in another personal best.

Mylie Kelly

Week Four: “Her 18:29 at Riverside was her best time in the past 23 months and nearly a minute faster than each of her previous two efforts at the Ottawa Hills Invite.”

Championship Week: The training, the fire and focus showed over the summer is paying many dividends. Twenty races later, Mylie finally broke her personal best from her sophomore year. Her 18:04 from Saturday was 5 seconds faster than that regional race as a sophomore and over a minute quicker than her Bluejay performance from a fall ago.

While others were off setting personal bests and duking it out against each other, Mylie and her BC teammates took to the sand at Pine River. She came out of it a stronger girl, trudging away from the field by over 80 seconds.

Tessa Roe

Championship Week: Lansing Catholic did their early season thing on the tough courses, great preparation for a tough hilly regional at Possum Hollow. In her first real opportunity to rip it, Tessa made the most of it, blasting an 18:21 personal best at Cougar Falcon.

Through her career, she’s run three times at Greater Lansing, placing in the top-15 each time out. As a senior, she has a real chance of ending her career just as she commenced it, placing in the top-5.

Betsy Skendzel

Championship Week: D3’s most unheralded star had a breakout race at Shepherd. Betsy’s 18:15 nearly matched her personal best and was close to 20 seconds better than any race in 2023.

It had been a two-year absence from the winner’s circle, but I’m sure the wait was worth it. Just last night, Betsy captured the LMC title to go along with her team’s victory.

Miranda McNeil

Championship Week: Miranda must love the taste of that Shepherd Sweetness, because she brings her best material there each time out. By my count, she’s raced through those mid-Michigan fields on five occasions, and on four of those, ran her lifetime best. The 18:25 from Saturday beat out her previous PR by 23 seconds and solidly affirms her as a favorite to grab a fourth All-State.

A 6^th place finish and 18:40 caps three years of running at Portage. Three years in the top-10, with two of those being sub-19’s.

Lila Volkers

Beginning to stick her nose in there more and more as the season rolls on. Her 18:28 at Portage builds upon her 18:32 from Sparta and shows that she’s primed for another podium finish in early November.

Eliza Bush

Has shown the gradual time drops from her sophomore year. Wins at Novi Christian and Jefferson, an 18:34 at Stockbridge, were all around 20 seconds faster than her 10^th grade form.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	11	Jessica Jazwinski	Hart	20
2	12	Madison Osterberg	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
3	11	Emmry Ross	Onsted	23
4	11	Kyah Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	24
5	12	Mylie Kelly	Benzie Central	20
6	12	Tessa Roe	Lansing Catholic	26
7	11	Betsy Skendzel	Traverse City St. Francis	19
8	12	Miranda McNeil	Morley-Stanwood	20
9	11	Lila Volkers	Kent City	21
10	11	Eliza Bush	Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory	27
11	11	Whitney Werner	Pewamo-Westphalia	24
12	9	Samantha Schroeder	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
13	12	Amber Koole	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21
14	11	Ashley Choponis	Stanton Central Montcalm	24
15	9	Kamryn Salladay	Lakeview	20
16	12	Jenna Sweeney	Reese	25
17	10	Bella LaFountain	Monroe St. Mary CC	27
18	11	Kaya Vrable	Caro	25
19	12	Avelina Hollandsworth	Remus Chippewa Hills	20
20	9	Isabelle Sliter	Fennville	21
21	10	Hope Miller	Blissfield	27
22	10	Grace Coston	Stanton Central Montcalm	24
23	12	Olivia Perrine	Hanover-Horton	23
24	12	Liliana Lehnst	Ithaca	25
25	12	Cecilia Postma	Manistee	20
26	12	Isabella Max	Kent City	21
27	10	Brynne Schulte	Elk Rapids	19
28	9	Sophia Buzzelli	Clare	19
29	9	Shelby Kuiper	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21
30	12	Kinsie Jacques	Pinconning	25
31	11	Lola Bryce	Grandville Calvin Christian	21
32	12	Jaiden Dickman	St. Louis	25
33	11	Mary Masserant	Traverse City St. Francis	19
34	12	Cylee Elkins	Clinton	27
35	12	Paige Herron	Caro	25
36	11	Megan Woelkers	Flat Rock	27
37	10	Quinn Hatfield	Remus Chippewa Hills	20
38	10	Macy Fazekas	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
39	10	Ashlynn Harris	Bronson	23
40	12	Gracie Houtman	Kent City	21
41	9	Molly Kate Hollandsworth	Traverse City St. Francis	19
42	11	Isabelle Eppert	Farwell	19
43	11	Alaina Klooster	Kalamazoo Christian	22
44	11	Layla Lopez	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
45	12	Sophia Reynolds	Hanover-Horton	23
46	12	Claire Neumann	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	25
47	10	Mattie Gagne	Midland Bullock Creek	25
48	10	Anna Pray	Elk Rapids	19
49	11	Chloe Stalhood	Hillsdale	23
50	12	Maddie Gallagher	Traverse City St. Francis	19

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Collin Farmer

Week Four: Was able to lower his already low school record from 15:53 to 15:43. Three for three in terms of victories this year.

Championship Week: And within two weeks, that school record was ripped to shreds. Collin’s 15:29 at Shepherd was a statement, announcing a serious candidacy for the D3 crown.

Senior strength pulled through in the end. His 5:36 for the final 1.1 (5:03 pace) was the fastest final split in the Division Three field.

Bobby Jazwinski

Week Three: Following his astounding debut at Benzie, picked up wins in the first WMC Rivers Jamboree and at Leanna Wolf Geers.

Week Four: “There were 92 athletes that competed at both Pete Moss and Ottawa Hills. Removing a few anomalies, the average runner ran 10-11 seconds faster at Ottawa Hills. Bobby was 15 seconds faster, showing that even at the elite level, he’s improving at a faster rate than many of his competitors. His 15:33 was of course, a personal best.”

Championship Week: Two intense races since that 15:33 at Ottawa Hills, two 15:3x efforts. Bobby is showing no letting up in the middle stages of his freshman year.

Succumbed late to Farmer, coming across the line 11 seconds back. Even in defeat, comfortably ran the fastest time of any freshman at Portage’s massive invite.

Isaiah Dinverno

Week Four: “Has raced three times this year – at Michigan Catholic, Lakeview, and Spartan. Last year, he opened with those three as well. His average time last year was 18:22, this season is 16:18. This past weekend, he was victorious at Spartan in a field that will resemble many during championship season.”

Championship Week: Five races this year, four wins. A sub-16 at Jackson was the quickest of all and he covered the Sharp Park course in 45 less seconds than his sophomore regional effort.

Moved up throughout the race in typical LC fashion. 6^th at the mile to 4^th at the finish, notching another sub-16 and another considerably quicker time compared to his sophomore year.

Boden Genovese

Week Three: Three consecutive low-16 efforts, all lower than his junior best. He’ll get another opportunity to roll towards the 15’s on Friday at Spartan.

Week Four: “Acquitted himself quite well to the D1 race at Spartan, placing 3^rd with a 16:15.”

Championship Week: A 3^rd place in the Berrien County Championship marked four consecutive top-5 finishes there.

3.5 years of races and his first 15:xx ever. Congrats to Boden, coming back strong after slightly slower efforts at Jackson and Berrien County.

Ben March

Championship Week: Historically, the Sharks begin to hunt at this time of year, with Ben at the front of it all. Perhaps a prep for Regionals, perhaps a statement, but most affirmatively, a massive personal best. His 15:46 was nearly 20 seconds faster than his previous lifetime best.

Just capped off an undefeated season in the TVC Blue, winning his first conference title of his career.

Samuel Martini

Week Four: “When he’s brought it, he’s been his usual high-15/low-16 self. Shaved 4 sec. off his time from last fall’s race at Sparta, placing an admirable 2^nd to Farmer.”

Championship Week: Has opened CSAA competition with two consecutive wins to go along with another dub on his home course.

At White Cloud early last week, grabbed his 9^th consecutive CSAA win. Then at Portage, came through with his 3^rd consecutive top-10 placing.

Brad White

Championship Week: It’s taken 3.5 years and a few close calls, but the sub-16 finally happened. Brad’s 15:55 at Cadillac was only a slight improvement from his best as a junior, but I bet it meant the world. And to prove it was no fluke, he doubled it up with another one at Bluejay.

The wheels may have come off late at Portage, but I applaud him for taking the risk to run with the front group.

Gage Hoffman

Sophomore has been on the brink of sub-16 on too many occasions this year. Saranac, Cedar Springs, Bluejay, Portage. When that breakthrough comes, he’ll undoubtedly run in the 15:40’s.

Jackson Rodriguez

Greatly emerged with the heightened Portage competition. His sub-16 there was his first since 2022’s Regionals.

Theodore Davis

Ten races this year and he’s been in the 16’s for every last one. The unheralded junior has been in the top-10 at State each of the past two years and while it will take work, can easily get there again.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Collin Farmer	Pewamo-Westphalia	24
2	9	Robert Jazwinski III	Hart	20
3	11	Isaiah Dinverno	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
4	12	Boden Genovese	Coloma	22
5	12	Ben March	St. Louis	25
6	12	Samuel Martini	Kent City	21
7	12	Brad White	Clare	19
8	10	Gage Hoffman	Stanton Central Montcalm	24
9	12	Jackson Rodriguez	The Potter’s House	21
10	11	Theodore Davis	Dansville	26
11	12	Keegan Masters	Ottawa Lake-Whiteford	27
12	11	Mitchell Hiatt	Onsted	23
13	11	Leo Swager	Traverse City St. Francis	19
14	11	August Rohde	Reed City	20
15	10	Jacob Stanislawski	Flat Rock	27
16	11	Landon Pestrue	St. Louis	25
17	12	Jaden Barnes	Bloomingdale	22
18	11	Landen Boulis	Hanover-Horton	23
19	12	Anthony Kiaunis	Reed City	20
20	12	Graham Coston	Stanton Central Montcalm	24
21	11	Tyler Heal	Sanford-Meridian	25
22	11	Levi Kamps	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21
23	12	Lucas Hopkins	Olivet	22
24	11	Josh Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis	19
25	12	Gavin Guggemos	Kalkaska	19
26	12	Evan Shepherd	Hanover-Horton	23
27	12	Tucker Krumm	Traverse City St. Francis	19
28	12	Ryan Allen	Reed City	20
29	11	Daniel Mandujano	Watervliet	22
30	10	Landen Styka	Ithaca	25
31	12	Gavin VanKampen	Jonesville	23
32	9	Graeson Decker	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	21
33	10	Robert Dykhouse	Manton	20
34	11	Isaac Edgington	Holland Black River	21
35	12	Nolan Grant	Hillsdale	23
36	10	Lucas Taraszkiewicz	Flat Rock	27
37	12	Brodie Delamater	Grant	21
38	9	Luke Herron	Caro	25
39	12	Carter Holmes	Bath	24
40	12	Nathan Day	Saranac	21
41	10	Noah Devereaux	Laingsburg	24
42	12	Gannon Shore	Jackson Lumen Christi	23
43	10	Ben Gautsche	Union City	22
44	9	Caleb Blonde	Jonesville	23
45	12	Bailey Wiggins	Midland Bullock Creek	25
46	11	Brayden Sweeney	Midland Bullock Creek	25
47	12	Andrew Klaus	Clare	19
48	11	Nathan Vargo	Flat Rock	27
49	12	Matthew Pattullo	Caro	25
50	11	Owen Read	Traverse City St. Francis	19

Uncategorized

2023 Rankings: County Week, Division Four

October 10, 2023 mixcspeedratings

If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:

There are a few changes from previous years:

No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
- Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
- Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
No more individual rankings posted to social media
- Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
- I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
Posting these one division at a time
- If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive.

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK RANKINGS
WEEK FOUR RANKINGS
WEEK THREE RANKINGS

Whitmore Lake

Week Three: “Winners of the Small School division at John Bruder, winners of the entire Birch Run Early Invite. Went up against stacked D4 competition in USA, Kingston and came away victorious, held their own against D1 competition at Lamplighter. Emergence of Sofia Robertson has been a major help.”

Week Four: “Putting four girls in the top six, the Trojans cruised to a victory over #4 Hillsdale Academy and #5 Breckenridge.“

Championship Week: Over the past few weeks, the Trojans have won the first MIAC Jamboree, won at Stockbridge, and finished 3^rd at Jackson. Each of the latter two, they’ve finished ahead of a bevy of D3/D4 rivals.

Carina Burchi is beginning to find herself, helping keep the Trojans afloat while they go through a tough stretch. Third at Portage, but a season’s worth of work weighs heavy in the rankings.

Johannesburg-Lewiston

Week Three: “Full squad hasn’t competed together yet. Half were at Under the Lights, half at Red Devil. Getting Harlie Fox, a middle school sprinter, to run a 21:00 opener keeps them in contention with Whitmore Lake.”

Week Four: “No notable action from these girls, but we’ll get plenty of info these next three weeks with Jackson, Bluejay, and Portage on the docket“

Championship Week: Just individuals competing for the Cardinals these past few weeks, some solid performances contained within. Harlie Fox blasted a 25+ second personal best at Jackson and Madalyn Agren/Yolanda Gascho were their solid selves at Shepherd.

Danielle Agren unequivocally had her best effort of the year, helping the Cardinals win at Portage.

Muskegon Western Michigan Christian

Week Four: “The Warriors emerged victorious in the Silver Division at Sparta, winning their race by 2 points over a field full of Division 3 teams. Personal bests from their top four girls, including a massive leap from freshman Leah Sneller.“

Championship Week: The Warriors are in quite the competition for the Alliance League. In the past two weeks, they’ve suffered a single point defeat to West Michigan Aviation and then won by that single point. Those close competitions likely paid off at Allendale Falcon, where WMC placed four girls in the top-8 en route to a Small School victory.

The emergence of Kaylie Riksen is the kicker for these Warriors. They may have the best fifth runner in D4, an excellent sign that they’re ready to compete in early November.

Hillsdale Academy

Week Three: “Iris Millies has been a key early season contributor, continuing her 23:00 streak, but only faster. Then you have those usual suspects, the Brownlees and the last of the Roberts (yes I know this is incorrect, but it was written and I own my mistakes). Saturday, the Colts are going against Whitmore Lake, which I think will be a good depiction of their fitness.”

Week Four: “Held off a rising Breckenridge team by placing four girls ahead of the Huskies’ third girl. Grace Brownlee locked it down as their fifth girl, running nearly a minute personal best on a tougher course.“

Championship Week: Ella Walton is beginning to return to the form that’s placed her in the top-50 at MIS these past two years. A 20:48 at Jackson was her best late September time on that Sharp Park course.

Abby Brownlee was huge earlier in the week, the tiebreak on a Colt victory in the 2^nd SCAA Jamboree. Then the payoff came at Portage, where she hit 21:05 for a personal best.

Gobles

Championship Week: In smaller meets, the Tiger girls can have a huge impact up front. For example, at the 2^nd SAC Jamboree, they placed 3 in the top-4, enough to cruise to a 13 point win over Saugatuck and D3-ranked Fennville.

The question has always been: how can they perform in a large field? Well, when Madison Cooley drops a minute from Otsego, reaching into the 20’s for the first time ever, that question is answered. The Tigers rode Cooley’s outstanding performance to a 4^th place finish in Portage.

Saugatuck

Championship Week: Have some of the best depth in the division, upperclasswomen such as Anna McQueary, Alayah Nieuwsma, and Leilani Schoonmaker who will surely drive a difference in larger fields.

Were missing Anna McQueary this past weekend, but Leilani Schoonmaker helped make up for her absence. Her 21:37 was a Portage PR and assisted the Trailblazers to a 9^th place finish, pretty good for missing an essential piece.

Breckenridge

Week Four: “Third place in a tough, tough Division 5 at Holly. Have one of the deeper teams in Division Four, which can be an asset in the larger meets to come. With the progress of Tori Most and Nataly Vine, expect the Huskies to put five in before most other D4 rivals.“

Championship Week: Turned a wonderful Bluejay performance and brought it into a dominant day at the first MSAC Jamboree, placing all seven varsity girls in the top-13.

Cleaned house in the MSAC before taking the drive to Portage and grabbing a 7^th place finish. The Huskies were missing their 5^th girl but welcomed the return of Avery Westall to the 21’s.

Harbor Springs

Championship Week: Bluejay was the Rams’ first major meet of the year and they showed out big time, winning the Jays Division over a host of D3/D4 schools.

Kept it close to home, competing in their home invite. We’ll get a better glimpse of their fitness after today, where they host the LMC Championship.

Kingston

While much of the D4 competition headed out west, the Cardinals were beating up on D1 schools at Heritage. Their 3^rd place finish was ahead of two of them, plus a D3 team.

Buckley

Watch out for the Bears. Seriously though, even though their ranking here has stayed the same, their point totals in my hypothetical meet have lessened. Over 400 three weeks ago, 349 last week to 338 this week. As later season meets get weighed more and Mikayla Kulawiak keeps dropping PRs, expect the Bears to move up.

Place	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Whitmore Lake	33	121	1	1	1	1
2	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28	126	3	2	2	2
3	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31	143	2	3	6	6
4	Hillsdale Academy	34	253	4	4	3	4
5	Gobles	31	291	8	7	5	7
6	Saugatuck	31	317	9	11	11	12
7	Breckenridge	30	327	6	5	7	13
8	Harbor Springs	28	330	5	8	8	3
9	Kingston	35	335	7	6	4	5
10	Buckley	29	338	10	10	10	9
11	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36	440	11	9	9	8
12	Grand Traverse Academy	29	465	13	13	14	18
13	Mason County Eastern	29	505	12	12	12	10
14	Concord	32	542	15	15	19	14
15	Pittsford	34	562	17	17	15	17
16	Unionville-Sebewaing	35	580	14	14	13	20
17	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	30	599	16	16	16	11
18	Kalamazoo Hackett	32	614	20	19	17	15
19	Novi Christian Academy	33	678	18	22	NR	NR
20	Royal Oak Shrine	36	687	19	18	18	16
21	Allen Park Cabrini	36	697	21	20	20	26
22	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	31	745	28	30	30	19
23	Fowler	33	749	22	21	24	NR
24	Leland	29	784	30	28	26	NR
25	Ubly	35	793	23	27	27	23
26	Beal City	30	811	24	24	23	25
27	Petoskey St. Michael	28	827	27	29	28	NR

Hillsdale Academy

Week Three: “Two invites, two wins. Perhaps most telling was their opener across town, where the Colts comfortably beat top D3 teams in Hanover-Horton and Jonesville. As with their girls, the boys should face another stiff test at Holly – going against the likes of Breckenridge, Lutheran Westland, Whitmore Lake, amongst others. Guess I’ll have to get to Holly early.”

Week Four: “First place in Holly’s Division Five race, by way of putting all seven in the top-18. Hard to believe given his lengthy career on big stages, but a personal best for Grayson Rorick.”

Championship Week: An excellent race plan at Jackson led to a victory over top-ranked D3 schools such as Hanover-Horton, Lumen Christi, and Jonesville. The Colts’ 4^th through 7^th packed up early, picking off competitor after competitor, leading to Lindley and Rahe placing 32^nd and 33^rd.

Freshman Ryan Miller inserting himself into the Colt Top-5 makes a deep team even deeper. HA put six boys under 18:00 at Portage on their path to a nearly 30 point win.

Johannesburg-Lewiston

Week Three: “Given their top 3 boys, it was always gonna be about what came from their 4th and 5th runners. I know it was a fast track at East Jordan, but having Layman under 18:00 and Fulton in the mid-18’s combined with Coach Marcum’s careful training gives the Cardinals much potential.”

Week Four: “Just like their girls, off this week, with a ton of prime opportunities to peer at their fitness in the coming weeks.”

Championship Week: Brought Malaki Gascho and Blake Fox to Jackson, where each ran in the 16’s. Will hopefully have their full squad at Portage so we can get a proper assessment of their place.

Full squad was locked in and the Cardinals were in championship form. Blake Fox’s 16:20 was a 35+ second Portage best.

Saugatuck

Championship Week: Coming along nicely, then shocking the D4 world at Allendale Falcon. The Trailblazers placed all of their scorers under 18:00, which will take you many places in the smaller divisions.

Sawyer Monroe returned to the form he displayed earlier in the year at Holly. His 17:06 was a significant personal best and if he keeps it up, gives Saugatuck two certifiable frontrunners.

Holland Calvary Christian

Week Three: “Of their top nine runners at South Christian, eight were freshmen. When looking at the results as a whole, their 9th place in the Starlight division might not seem impressive, but please pay attention to the field – it was primarily D1/D2 teams.”

Week Four: “In the Silver race at Sparta, eked out a single point victory over a rising WMC squad. Gave a shoutout to Gibson White in the Sparta post, but let’s call out both Caleb Adkins and Eli Laninga here, as both were crucial to their trophy, finishing ahead of the Warriors’ fifth runner and hitting PB’s along the way.”

Championship Week: Just as the Harbor Springs girls did, took the win in the Jays Division (D3/D4 schools) at Bluejay. Caleb Adkins stepped up again, running his 3^rd consecutive personal best.

Riley Weed ascended back into the #1 spot for the Crusaders. The young squad proved again that no stage is too large, placing 6^th amongst D4’s best outfits at Portage.

Three Oaks River Valley

The Berrien County Championship may not have gone the Mustangs way, but Portage sure did. More than half of their athletes ran a season/personal best and by my numbers, pretty much everyone ran significantly better. All in all, a 4^th place finish.

Mason County Eastern

Week Four: “Winners of the Small School division at Benzie and leaders in the WMD as of now – and that was before getting Alex Tyndall back.”

Championship Week: Fairly dominant performance at the 2^nd WMD Jamboree, where the Cardinals placed six guys in the top-8.

Laying low, doing their thing on tougher courses these past few weeks. In a field composed of mainly D3 teams, finished 2^nd at Cecil Burch.

Kalamazoo Hackett

Week Four: “Second place in the initial SAC Jamboree, a higher conference finish than any that the Irish had in 2022.”

Championship Week: Coming in off a week full of winning, both at the 2^nd SAC Jamboree and at Otsego Bulldog. I’ve been told to not pay attention to the times from the jamboree, but I can’t help to notice that all the Irish scorers ran a personal best.

As Sean Siems has improved, so have the Irish’s fortunes. 17:36 at Portage marked three consecutive sub-18’s and aided in their 5^th place spot.

Muskegon Western Michigan Christian

Championship Week: Just as their girls, locked in a battle with WMA for Alliance League supremacy. The Warriors have lost each of the jamborees, but have considerably cut the gap in scoring.

Dramatic rise of Owen Sytsema has coincided with the Warriors moving into the top-10. In a mere six weeks, he’s gone from an opener north of 20:00 to the 17’s.

Royal Oak Shrine

Championship Week: Only one meet in the past two weeks, leaving a great opportunity to get some solid training block in before the big meets begin. In that CHSL Jamboree, the Knights placed first, helped by Cerone in first, but also placing four boys in the top-11.

D4 schools tend to be concentrated in rural areas, of great distance to major cities. The opposite is true, where Oakland County is made up of D1 schools. So when you have the Oakland County Meet, a top D4 team such as Shrine might finish 19^th of 36. But when filtered for just D4, the Knights were first.

Maple City Glen Lake

Quick work for the Drown’s to get the Lakers into the top-10. The improvement has been evident in the NWC, where they moved from 3^rd at the first jamboree to 2^nd in the most recent one.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Champ Wk	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Hillsdale Academy	34	173	1	1	1	1
2	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28	247	3	2	2	3
3	Saugatuck	31	278	2	8	8	5
4	Holland Calvary Christian	31	309	4	4	3	6
5	Three Oaks River Valley	32	333	9	6	6	2
6	Mason County Eastern	29	347	5	3	4	8
7	Kalamazoo Hackett	32	397	6	5	5	10
8	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31	408	7	11	15	12
9	Royal Oak Shrine	36	428	8	7	7	37
10	Maple City Glen Lake	29	504	12	10	9	11
11	Harbor Springs	28	518	10	28	25	4
12	White Cloud	30	585	17	16	NR	15
13	Lutheran Westland	36	589	11	9	10	22
14	Breckenridge	30	592	15	12	14	18
15	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	36	598	14	13	11	25
16	Harbor Beach	35	600	13	17	17	31
17	East Jackson	34	604	18	14	13	23
18	Tri-Unity Christian	31	645	16	19	21	NR
19	Frankfort	29	659	20	15	12	14
20	Petoskey St. Michael	28	659	19	20	NR	7
21	Muskegon Catholic Central	31	706	21	18	18	17
22	Whitmore Lake	33	745	23	22	19	9
23	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36	756	22	21	16	27
24	Battle Creek St. Philip	32	821	24	24	22	20
25	Adrian Lenawee Christian	34	838	25	NR	NR	13
26	Pentwater	29	848	26	23	20	16
27	Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary	30	870	28	26	23	49

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Kaylie Livingston

Week Three: “Introduction to HS cross country has been a resounding success. Three races, three wins, three efforts in the low-18’s.”

Week Four: “Continued her streak of sub-19’s onto a tougher track at Springfield Oaks. Kaylie once again dominated from start to finish, leading her Trojans to victory and hitting the second fastest time of the day.”

Championship Week: Gained valuable experience racing some of Division 3’s best at Jackson and Stockbridge. Both were low-18 efforts and I was impressed by her ability to battle back at Jackson.

Looking back to Jackson, I recall a blistering first mile, the pack coming through in 5:30. Well, Kaylie was a part of another burner on Saturday, 5:27 at the mile. This time she summoned the strength to take that to victory, her 17:48 being her 2^nd sub-18 of the year.

Aiden Harrand

Week Three: “Personal best at Benzie was two years in the making. Her 17:52 knocked 16 seconds off her previous record. Effort at Bear Country was likely a bit more controlled (and probably underrates her here), yet still another victory. I think we’ll get a matchup vs. Kaylie at Portage, only a month away.”

Week Four: “Three days after the Bear Country Invite, Aiden showed what she can truly pop on her home course, her 17:40 contributing to her little team’s win in the first NWC Jamboree.”

Championship Week: An aggressive start led to her best time on the Shepherd course, her 17:46 ending up 24 seconds faster than her performance at MITCA last year.

The rare defeat at the D4 level, but still 55 seconds quicker than last year. She’ll be back for the rematch, it’ll be as close to must see TV as we’ll get on a XC course.

Grace VanderKooi

Week Four: “Her 18:28 at Sparta made it three consecutive years in the 18’s. She’s won four of her five races this year, including the first Alliance League Jamboree.”

Championship Week: Took that 18:28 at Sparta and decided to one up herself, lowering her best to 18:25 this Saturday at Allendale. Winner of the first three Alliance League jamborees as well.

18:24 at Portage was yet another personal best and matched her best finish ever at Portage – the 3^rd place that she achieved as a freshman.

Ava Teed

Week Four: “Nearly matched her effort at last year’s Huron Invitational. And when I say matched, I mean within a second. The only real difference is that, instead of finishing 2^nd in the D2-D4 race, she was first.”

Championship Week: Continues to lower her personal best, dropping 15 seconds from her 18:58. That 18:43 at Lake Erie was against a ton of D2-D4 girls and by a major margin as well – 75+ seconds.

Two consecutive 3^rd place finishes at the Wayne County Meet, covered the course nearly 20 seconds faster this time around.

Allie Nowak

Week Three: “Set the J-L school record with an 18:26 at Red Devil. For comparison’s sake, her opener as a sophomore was 20:32. By the end of her sophomore year, Allie had finished 3rd in Division 4.”

Week Four: “Feelin’ like a broken record here with the J-L folks, but some fast courses coming soon for these girls. Jackson, Shepherd, and Portage all being great opportunities for Allie to lower her personal best.”

Championship Week: Hasn’t raced in a few weeks, which has allowed for others to pass her by here. But with Portage on the horizon, there’s a great opportunity to move back up.

Second straight top-5 finish at Portage led to another Joburg victory.

Izzy Brooks

Championship Week: Even if a course runs fast as Stockbridge often does, you can still use other methods to compare. In her three years competing there, Izzy has moved up from 11^th to 7^th to 6^th. And in time, gone from 19:52 to 19:18 to 18:44.

Second straight win at Hudson Booster is the perfect lead in to the Lenawee County Championship, an event she captured as a freshman.

Libby Smith

Championship Week: Frontrunner for the Tigers has been on quite a winning streak, with six straight victories. Among those, wins in the SAC and also major invites such as Otsego Bulldog.

Winning streak came to an end, but not before Libby registered her third-fastest time of the year.

Carina Burchi

Coming into her own lately, running her best two races of the year at Stockbridge and Portage.

Eliza Keith

Championship Week: After a subpar race at Spartan, bounced back big time with a personal best at the first MIAC Jamboree. Then proved again that she can race in a big field, running 19:31 on a hotter afternoon at Shepherd.

Oakland Christian took the weekend off, a necessary break before championship season. Earlier in the week, Eliza placed 3^rd in the 2^nd MIAC Jamboree, an incredibly tough conference.

Jane Manthei

Nearly halved her place at State from 2021 to 2022, can she do it again? 19:11 at Shepherd backed up with a 7^th place finish at Portage, I like her chances.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	9	Kaylie Livingston	Whitmore Lake	33
2	12	Aiden Harrand	Buckley	29
3	11	Grace VanderKooi	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
4	12	Ava Teed	Allen Park Cabrini	36
5	11	Allie Nowak	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
6	11	Izzy Brooks	Adrian Lenawee Christian	34
7	9	Libby Smith	Gobles	31
8	10	Carina Burchi	Whitmore Lake	33
9	11	Eliza Keith	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36
10	11	Jane Manthei	Petoskey St. Michael	28
11	11	Ella Knudsen	Leland	29
12	12	Miriam Murrell	Gaylord St. Mary	28
13	12	Brooke Smith	Pittsford	34
14	9	Stefi Reskevics	Harbor Springs	28
15	10	Yolanda Gascho	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
16	12	Madalyn Agren	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
17	10	Sofia Robertson	Whitmore Lake	33
18	10	Taylor Wiegand	Livingston Christian	33
19	9	Ava DeYoung	Gobles	31
20	11	Juniper Rodham	Harbor Springs	28
21	12	Natalie Meadows	Whitmore Lake	33
22	9	Veyda Conley	Martin	31
23	12	Allison Glendening	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	31
24	9	Harlie Fox	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
25	9	Haley Stimer	Concord	32
26	12	Isabella Yeoman	Genesee	33
27	10	Ruth Brownlee	Hillsdale Academy	34
28	9	Leah Sneller	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
29	11	Presley Allen	Mendon	32
30	10	Ally Schmitz	Breckenridge	30
31	9	Lyvia Curtis	Saugatuck	31
32	9	Lauren Shaffer	Gobles	31
33	11	Abigail Davis	Vestaburg	30
34	12	Eleanor Kingshott	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
35	9	Anna Sheppard	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	30
36	9	Kamryn Sixberry	Saugatuck	31
37	11	Ella Walton	Hillsdale Academy	34
38	10	Lilah Kiley	Kingston	35
39	11	Ava Mallar	Pittsford	34
40	9	Addy Zeller	Bear Lake-Onekama	29
41	12	Grace Folkema	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
42	12	Jacqueline Morton	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	30
43	12	Leah Zarrilli	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36
44	10	Eleanor Cole	Lutheran Westland	36
45	12	Alberta Reinbold	Unionville-Sebewaing	35
46	9	Gabriella Siems	Kalamazoo Hackett	32
47	9	Kaylie Riksen	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
48	9	Nolee Leppert	Beal City	30
49	10	Cieara Barrett	Concord	32
50	11	Stephanie Hernandez	Addison	34

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Owen Patton

Week Three: ”The summer training and its added endurance have been paying off. Two wins, one in the small school division at John Bruder and the other in an opener at Chippewa Hills. But I’ve marveled at the consistency, through the tough or easy efforts, he’s run the equivalent of sub-16 each time out.”

Week Four: “After a series of quicker courses to begin the year, showed he can do the necessary work on the grittier ones. Evart rated as one of the slower courses on the year, but that didn’t dissuade Owen from cruising to a 20+ second win.”

Championship Week: Battling sickness and trudging through tougher courses led to a breakthrough on Saturday. A 15:36 in the Elite section at Bluejay, a 15 second personal best and showing that his early season fitness was real.

Captured his 2^nd straight MSAC win on Wednesday

Thomas Holm

Championship Week: Had a huge breakthrough at Jackson, his 16:15 knocking a huge chunk off his previous best. For comparison’s sake, his 2022 effort at Jackson was 16:51.

Consistent high-level performances in major meets, certainly helped by his patient racing style. Moved up from 7^th at the mile to 2nd at the 2-mile before crossing the line 4 seconds ahead of any other competitor.

Tyler Lenn

Week Three: “Win in the D2-D4 division at the Muskrat Classic was his first of the year. His 16:27 at Eastwood was 6 seconds faster than his junior effort, on a much slower course mind you.”

Week Four: “Cardinal Mooney had the weekend off, but raced during the week at the first CHSL CD Jamboree. Tyler lost to Abe Cerone by three seconds, which isn’t a negative at all when you see how Cerone fared at Holly.”

Championship Week: Has laid low these past few weeks, just competing in the CHSL Jamborees, placing 2^nd in each.

Found a comfortable win at Marysville, a 10+ second win in the rain.

Abenezer Cerone

Week Four: “Three consecutive wins for this young sophomore. Mentioned above, he was victorious in an early CHSL matchup against Tyler Lenn. Then four days later, dominated the D4 Holly field with a 5-flat first mile and a lead that only grew from there. With more even pacing and an easier course, expect that 16:28 to fall soon.”

Championship Week: Along with his Knight boys, AC Ice has been well-rested these past few weeks. And for good reason – a big one is on the calendar, the Oakland County Championships, where this D4 kid has a wonderful chance to show he can hang with the big stars.

Held his own against those big stars, placing 16^th at the County Meet, earning him a vaunted All-County selection.

Mason Sinke

Championship Week: As Abe captured the first WMD Jamboree, Mason brought home the second. If a.net doesn’t lie, that’s his first victory of his career.

16:13 at Portage was good for second place, a full minute faster than his time from 2022.

Abe VanDuinen

Week Three: ”Pound for pound, the competition for the boys WMD title is as good a conference battle you’ll find. The Redmans, Mason Sinke, and Abe are all likely to finish in the top-15 at Division 4 State. Abe was victorious on Wednesday, then ripped a sub-16 on Saturday.”

Week Four: “His 17:04 at Ludington was a win over a field containing a number of higher division runners and 75 seconds faster than his junior effort.”

Championship Week: The course over at Rycenga Park ran a bit slow, rare for this time of year. So don’t pay too much attention to the time, instead concentrate on another win, Abe’s fourth of the year.

First time competing at Portage and he hung in there with the heightened competition. 4^th place and 16:21 in the D4 race.

Malaki Gascho

Championship Week: The 3-hour trip down 127 was made worth it, his 16:23 at Sharp Park affirming that ol ‘Ki is in championship shape, ready to step on that MIS podium yet again.

After missing much of the 2022 season, made his triumphant return to the rolling hills of the Kalamazoo area. Forty second improvement in those two years, with both being top-10 finishes.

Marek Butkiewicz

Moving his way through the SAC (3^rd in the first jamboree, winner of the 2^nd) as he establishes himself in the low-mid 16’s.

Kyle Redman

Championship Week: Following a rougher race at Cadillac, young Kyle more than made up for it at Shepherd. Using that #BlueJayBoost, he blasted a 16:27, his second-best mark of the year.

Showing he’s tough too, first of all D4 competition to come across the line at Pine River’s hilly and sandy course.

Matthias Morse

In the 23 races prior to Sparta, Matthias had been above 17:00 on every single occasion. Since then, three sub-17’s, including a 16:15 on their regional course at Allendale.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Owen Patton	Vestaburg	30
2	12	Thomas Holm	Hillsdale Academy	34
3	12	Tyler Lenn	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	36
4	10	Abenezer Cerone	Royal Oak Shrine	36
5	11	Mason Sinke	Bear Lake-Onekama	29
6	12	Abe VanDuinen	Pentwater	29
7	12	Malaki Gascho	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
8	10	Marek Butkiewicz	Kalamazoo Hackett	32
9	9	Kyle Redman	Mesick	29
10	11	Matthias Morse	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	31
11	12	Michael Allen	East Jackson	34
12	12	Sawyer Stoneman	Breckenridge	30
13	11	Jeremiah Witt	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
14	11	Colebrook Sutherland	Maple City Glen Lake	29
15	12	Blake Fox	Johannesburg-Lewiston	28
16	10	Grayson Rorick	Hillsdale Academy	34
17	11	Alex Tyndall	Mason County Eastern	29
18	12	Gavin Sehy	Kalamazoo Hackett	32
19	9	Ty Redman	Mesick	29
20	10	Landon Rogers	Three Oaks River Valley	32
21	11	Reece Poole	Hillsdale Academy	34
22	10	Brody Karg	Harbor Beach	35
23	11	Tyler Laansma	Tri-Unity Christian	31
24	10	Lynus Cadarette	Petoskey St. Michael	28
25	10	Sammy Gamboa	Saugatuck	31
26	12	Kaden Forward	Bear Lake-Onekama	29
27	12	Javin Mericle	East Jackson	34
28	9	Riley Weed	Holland Calvary Christian	31
29	10	Landen Livingston	Whitmore Lake	33
30	9	Sawyer Monroe	Saugatuck	31
31	12	Aiden Fitchett	Dryden	35
32	9	Anthony Rowe	Breckenridge	30
33	11	Coleson Cruzan	White Cloud	30
34	10	Cody Bradley	Petoskey St. Michael	28
35	12	Austin York	Three Oaks River Valley	32
36	10	Emmanuel Mehari	Plymouth Christian Academy	36
37	10	Carson Burgess	Brown City	35
38	10	Rich Fanti	Riverview Gabriel Richard	36
39	9	Noah Schipper	Holland Calvary Christian	31
40	12	Isaac Zammit	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	36
41	12	Myles Tilma	Byron Center Zion Christian	31
42	9	Gibson White	Holland Calvary Christian	31
43	12	Luke Sprague	Battle Creek St. Philip	32
44	10	Carter Clark	Carson City-Crystal	30
45	10	Charlie Gibson	Three Oaks River Valley	32
46	12	Mitchel Daniels	Pentwater	29
47	12	Connor Rouse	Genesee	33
48	11	Carroll Robotham	Frankfort	29
49	9	Sebastian Dunaway	Frankfort	29
50	8	Lincoln Laansma	Tri-Unity Christian	31

Author: mixcspeedratings

2023 Rankings: County Week, Division 2

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

2023 Rankings: County Week, Division 3

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

2023 Rankings: County Week, Division Four

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS