Author: mixcspeedratings

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 34^th Place – Division 1 State (XC)
• 5^th Place – Region 1 (XC)
• 7^th Place – OK Red (XC)
• 6^th Place – Division 1 State 1600m
• 2^nd Place – Region 1 1600m
• 4^th Place – OK Red 1600m



Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Seth Conner	17:05.9	Jenison	184.0	Muskegon CC	20-Aug
10	Seth Conner	16:58.5	Jenison	181.2	Under the Lights v2	26-Aug
10	Seth Conner	16:40.1	Jenison	187.6	SW Rustbuster	31-Aug
10	Seth Conner	16:31.7	Jenison	185.4	Lakeview	10-Sep
10	Seth Conner	17:12.0	Jenison	181.0	Spartan	16-Sep
10	Seth Conner	16:44.0	Jenison	181.3	OK Red 1	20-Sep
10	Seth Conner	16:29.2	Jenison	186.3	Allendale Falcon	1-Oct
10	Seth Conner	17:12.3	Jenison	175.9	OK Red 2	4-Oct
10	Seth Conner	16:44.5	Jenison	184.8	Kent Ottawa	15-Oct
10	Seth Conner	16:16.9	Jenison	186.0	OK Red Championship	20-Oct
10	Seth Conner	16:10.9	Jenison	193.1	Region 1	29-Oct
10	Seth Conner	16:18.9	Jenison	193.4	Division 1 State	5-Nov
10	Seth Conner	15:45.9	Jenison	197.4	MITCA	12-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Seth Conner	17:23.0	Jenison	179.0	Muskegon CC	21-Aug
9	Seth Conner	17:14.7	Jenison	177.4	Pete Moss	28-Aug
9	Seth Conner	17:36.6	Jenison	172.8	Bredeweg	11-Sep
9	Seth Conner	17:28.9	Jenison	174.7	Ottawa Hills	17-Sep
9	Seth Conner	16:53.1	Jenison	176.0	OK Red 1	21-Sep
9	Seth Conner	17:31.3	Jenison	171.6	Cougar Falcon	25-Sep
9	Seth Conner	17:07.0	Jenison	176.3	Otsego Bulldog	2-Oct
9	Seth Conner	17:10.7	Jenison	178.1	OK Red 2	5-Oct
9	Seth Conner	17:04.0	Jenison	181.3	Portage	9-Oct
9	Seth Conner	16:35.8	Jenison	181.1	OK Red Conference	21-Oct
9	Seth Conner	16:45.0	Jenison	178.7	Mel Hall	23-Oct
9	Seth Conner	17:24.3	Jenison	168.9	Region 3	29-Oct

The Rundown

One of the benefits of these ratings is that you can project improvement before it happens. For instance, as a freshman, Seth moved from a guy running mid-17 efforts to breaking 17:00. So it was only natural that when he was running mid-16 efforts in 2022 that he’d have a slight improvement throughout the year. What was unnatural was his close. After busting out a massive PB in the OK Red Championship, he went on a streak of one great performance after another. 5^th Place in Region 1, a 16:18 at State (on a course that’s getting increasingly tougher), then closing with a 15:45 on a legit Shepherd course. That momentum carried into track, where he dropped 10 sec. from his 800m, 20 sec. from his 1600m, and 60+ sec. from his 3200m. If this hot streak continues, Seth might be crashing the party in a huge way at MIS.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 2x State Qualifier (XC)
• 4^th Place – Region 4 (XC)
• 33^rd Place – Division 1 State 3200m
• 2^nd Place – KLAA 3200m
• 4^th Place – Region 4 3200m



Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
11	Nikki Carothers	19:38.8	Brighton	138.4	Lamplighter	19-Aug
11	Nikki Carothers	20:04.2	Brighton	139.3	Mustang	30-Aug
11	Nikki Carothers	20:37.9	Brighton	126.4	Averill	10-Sep
11	Nikki Carothers	19:34.6	Brighton	134.8	Spartan	16-Sep
11	Nikki Carothers	18:47.7	Brighton	140.4	Portage	8-Oct
11	Nikki Carothers	20:01.9	Brighton	121.0	KLAA	22-Oct
11	Nikki Carothers	18:49.6	Brighton	140.5	Region 4	28-Oct
11	Nikki Carothers	19:45.4	Brighton	123.9	Division 1 State	5-Nov
11	Nikki Carothers	18:30.5	Brighton	141.2	MITCA	12-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Nikki Carothers	21:40.0	Brighton	97.7	Lamplighter	20-Aug
10	Nikki Carothers	21:54.4	Brighton	101.9	Mustang	31-Aug
10	Nikki Carothers	21:04.9	Brighton	108.4	Spartan	17-Sep
10	Nikki Carothers	19:46.0	Brighton	125.7	Coaching Legends	2-Oct
10	Nikki Carothers	20:03.8	Brighton	122.7	Portage	9-Oct
10	Nikki Carothers	19:28.3	Brighton	128.2	KLAA Championship	21-Oct
10	Nikki Carothers	19:21.2	Brighton	133.3	Region 4	29-Oct
10	Nikki Carothers	19:34.4	Brighton	125.5	Division 1 State	6-Nov
10	Nikki Carothers	19:27.0	Brighton	128.7	MITCA	13-Nov
Grade	Name		Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	91.0	Brighton/Novi	29-Aug
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	105.0	Brighton/Romeo	2-Sep
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	84.7	Brighton/Churchill	8-Sep
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	104.7	Brighton/Canton	12-Sep
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	112.0	Brighton/Milford	29-Sep
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	112.7	Brighton/Plymouth	3-Oct
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	97.3	Brighton/Northville	6-Oct
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	109.5	West Ottawa	10-Oct
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	120.1	KLAA	17-Oct
9	Nikki Carothers		Brighton	103.2	Region 4	31-Oct

The Rundown

Once again, the Brighton cross country site a huge help, a few things stand out to me from Nikki. Her appreciation for her teammates when things aren’t so easy and her love for racing. In her three years with the Bulldogs, there have been some moments that aren’t as great as the others. After a race at Portage with her first breakthrough into the 18’s, although finishing 13^th, Nikki didn’t have her greatest effort at KLAA. After nearly matching her personal best and contributing to a team title in Region 4, she was closer to 20:00 and 100^th place at State. After each of those two subpar races, she came back with either a lifetime best or very close. Continually pushing her body to new limits via hardcore racing, coming back after setbacks, Nikki, along with Carrigan and her Brighton teammates, are ready to close 2023 on a memorable note.

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW
MID-SEASON
FINAL PROJECTIONS
THE RESULT

Girls

1. Goodrich (7^th)
2. Linden (27^th)
3. Detroit Country Day (24^th)

Boys

1. Pinckney (3^rd)
2. Linden (15^th)
3. Cranbrook-Kingswood (25^th)

Top 27 Teams

Previous years had top-25 teams, but there’s 27 (and sometimes more) team qualifiers and what does it hurt to add another two?

Girls

Linden (19^th), Dearborn Divine Child (20^th)

Boys

Pinckney (6^th)

(If your team isn’t listed in the images above or the scores below, you probably don’t have five returners, at least on ol’ athletic.net. I’m sure many of these teams will fill out their rosters by late October)

Projected Scores

Place	Girls Team	Score
1	Linden	54
2	Dearborn Divine Child	56
3	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	110
4	Pinckney	129
5	Lake Fenton	135
6	Detroit Country Day	141
7	Bloomfield Hills Marian	160
8	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	181
9	Cranbrook-Kingswood	203
10	Garden City	319
11	Redford Westfield Prep	349
12	Dearborn Henry Ford Academy	364

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Pinckney	37
2	Cranbrook-Kingswood	73
3	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	104
4	Detroit Country Day	113
5	Linden	122
6	Dearborn Divine Child	123
7	Lake Fenton	143
8	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	208
9	Redford Union	255
10	Pontiac	329

Top Runners

Thought I’d give a review of some of the top returners in each region. Returners means no incoming freshman (you’ll get your days in the sun). If you’re on a top team or in the 50 Tickets and you’re projected highly here, you hit the jackpot! Yes, I’m writing a bit less than previous years, but I think I’ve learned my lesson in that I need to conserve energy and brainpower for all divisions and regions. Typically by August, I’m rushing to get these done. This time around, hopefully all regions get the same amount of coverage.

Mea D’Agostino, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s

Track perhaps tells a better tale, where Mea qualified for D2 State in the 3200m, won the CHSL Bishop and hit an 11:45 at the Oakland County Championship.

Maria Nunning, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep

One of the rare ones to run her personal best AT last year’s state finals, her 19:47 a full minute faster than her freshman version.

Nell Stover, Detroit Country Day

Has come a long way from the girl that opened her career in the 27’s. This past fall, consistently in the 21’s and even as low as 20:30 at Willow.

Kathryn Kurtinaitis, Dearborn Divine Child

She’s been sub-60 on the track each of the past two springs. And not just a quarter miler either, reaching into the 19’s during cross in 2022.

Solomon Kwartowitz, Cranbrook-Kingswood

3^rd here last year, made more impressive by the fact that he was hurt for much of the early fall. Other honors included another bronze at the Oakland County Championship and top-10 at State.

Evan Loughridge, Pinckney

Not gonna find many people that improved the way he did from his sophomore year of track to junior cross country season. Typically, those running 4:30/10:00 will be in the low-16’s, not the blazing mid-15’s.

Paul Moore, Pinckney

Watching him race the 1600m at Brighton Bulldog, I was impressed by his savviness and patience. Sat on the field until the later stages on the race, making the final and deciding move to attain victory. After his 4:19 there, a week later he ran 9:10.

Nolan Pinion, Lake Fenton

Looking deeper into track, consider that his 2022 season with a few sub-16’s had a track season containing a 3200m best of 9:49. This past spring, he lowered that to 9:35. Extrapolate that and does mid-15’s sound possible?

Ethan Sandula, Pinckney

In each successive year, has moved up here. 22^nd as a freshman, 11^th as a sophomore, then 6^th this past year.

Colin Murray, Dearborn Divine Child

Steppin’ into the lead role at Divine Child. One of many to break 16:00 at Milan last year, but proved it was no fluke with a 25^th place finish at State.