Ottawa Hills, guys. The squad of light racing, development, and Benne Anderson. But this ain’t about Benne, his training partner Liam is on the rise and ready for a big senior year. We saw evidence of that late last autumn, where he sprung sub-16’s at the Portage Regional, then again a few weeks later in Terredise (not an easy endeavor). Those string of quality performances paved the way for a track season where Liam dropped his 1600m best by a significant margin – 15 seconds. If those gains continue, how low can he go?
Those State Finals results tell the whole tale. Each year, Kyah brings her best material to MIS, and each of these past two years, she’s wound up walking up the podium to grab a medal. In 2021, her late season surge brought forth her first sub-20 performance at Allendale, which was then followed by a 14-sec. best at MIS, arguably a tougher course. Although her MIS time wasn’t as quick as her regional effort, she did move up 18 places from her freshman form. That timely coincidence of clutch work appeared at Kent City this past June as well, where she pulled off one of the more impressive distance doubles of the day. In November, how will she repeat her championship season surge?
This guy didn’t even have P-S listed, but with the addition of Brandon Thompson, the Bulldogs were able to nab that third spot. The girls held true to the projections, though Lenawee Christian held down third a bit easier than I had anticipated.
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
Hillsdale Academy (Top 10), Pittsford (17th)
Boys
Hillsdale Academy (Top 10), Adrian Lenawee Christian (13th), East Jackson (22nd), Morenci (25th)
(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
Points
1
Hillsdale Academy
27
2
Pittsford
47
3
Addison
78
4
Camden-Frontier
94
5
Jackson Preparatory
115
Place
Boys Team
Points
1
Hillsdale Academy
30
2
Adrian Lenawee Christian
69
3
Morenci
85
4
East Jackson
92
5
Jackson Preparatory
147
6
Camden-Frontier
158
7
Addison
199
8
Hillsdale Will Carleton
207
9
Vandercook Lake
209
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 gonna be in the 50 Tickets, you’ll get a full writeup there. If you’re on a top team (all of Hillsdale Academy) 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.
Has finished 2nd and 1st here the past two years, then continued on the week later, placing All-State each time. During the spring, had her best finish at the Division 4 Track Finals, placing 5th in the 800m.
Three years in, thirty plus races, and finally graduated into the 19’s with a 2nd place finish here last year. Then the next week, grabbed another All-State certificate.
Ninth grade year was her second year competing for the Colts and she closed it in nearly the same manner as she did in 8th grade, running in the 20’s at the tail end of the season. The only difference? Placing All-State instead of 32nd.
Contained in her two seasons of races are two top-5 regional finishes and two top-20 state finishes. One of the better all-around athletes on the track, too, ranking 7th in D4 here.
Hit the Cascades Conference distance trifecta. Won the league championship in the fall, then came back to capture the 1600m and 3200m during outdoor track.
Thomas must excel on the gradual downhills of Sharp Park. After all, his first sub-17 effort was at the Jackson Invite, then his personal best of 16:44 came at Regionals. That 16:44 ended up being a full 65 seconds better than his sophomore best.
There surely had to be tons of motivation and off-season training after Hillsdale Academy’s 2021 state title. Because a kid such as Grayson, who was a factor in that trophy, made it clear that he desires another one. He placed 72nd at State as a freshman and 27th as a sophomore, reducing his time by 45+ seconds in the process.
Sophomore track times of 4:46/10:39 gave the impression his 18:20 best from the previous year would fall. But to the degree of sub-17 twice? Michael was 21st here as a sophomore then 21st in the STATE as a junior.
Freshman year concluded with the two best efforts of his young career, 17:22 here and a 17:29 at MIS. That 17:29 earned him a 36th spot, which was the 4th best 9th grade effort in Division 4.
Nearly halved his regional place from 2021, moving up 14 spots from 29th to 15th. Even more impressive, he dropped three minutes from the rain-soaked conditions the previous year.
Underwent possibly the biggest leap I’ve seen in a while. Freshman personal best above 21:00, sophomore self ran in the 17’s on six separate occasions.
A reliable mid-18 guy by season’s end. Underwent a transformation in track that may benefit him on the cross course, lowering his 3200m best by nearly a minute to 10:27.
The rising senior cracked 18:00 for the first time ever at Stockbridge, then managed to hit under that mark three more times the remainder of the season, including a personal best here.
