Author: mixcspeedratings

The Top Tens

50 Tickets

Regional Previews

The Past Three Years

I feel sometimes I have a ton of ‘splainin to do with a few of these lower division schools. Shrine, as many others, could be greatly impacted by their middle school program. When they fielded a full team at CYO Finals, they won the whole dang thing. Now I’ve been on this Earth awhile, I know not all middle schoolers will advance to run at the same high school, but for these purposes, I have to assume they are. And given that assumption, this freshman class is LEGIT.

2021

37^th Place – Oakland County
3^rd Place – CHSL CD
2^nd Place – Region 36
16^th Place – D4 State

2020

2^nd Place – Pre-Region 52
2^nd Place – Region 26
24^th Place – D3 State

2019

31^st Place – Oakland County
6^th Place – Catholic League
4^th Place – Region 36

Anything in Track?

Arline Lile

57.6/2:09

4^th Place – Region 37 800m
4^th Place – CHSL Cardinal 800m

Mitchell Graveline

5:31

Michael Dorian

2:28/6:27

Kye Jackson

2:38/6:08

The Past Three Years

2021

2^nd Place – Jack Pine
6^th Place – Northern Michigan
7^th Place – Region 10

2020

Team Champions – Jack Pine, Pre-Region 49
2^nd Place – Region 25
23^rd Place – D3 State

2019

3^rd Place – Jack Pine
14^th Place – Northern Michigan
5^th Place – Region 25

Anything in Track?

4×800

8:32

3^rd Place – Region 21
2^nd Place – Jack Pine

Brad White

2:01/4:33/9:57

2^nd Place – Region 21 1600m
3^rd Place – Region 21 3200m
2^nd Place – Jack Pine 800m
3^rd Place – Jack Pine 1600m
4^th Place – Jack Pine 3200m
2^nd Place – Mid Michigan MoC 800m
19^th Place – D3 State 1600m

Nic Porter

2:06/4:43/10:49

5^th Place – Region 21 1600m
4^th Place – Jack Pine 3200m
5^th Place – Jack Pine 800m/1600m
6^th Place – Mid Michigan MoC 800m

Andrew Klaus

2:17/4:47/10:346^th Place – Jack Pine 1600/3200m
8^th Place – Mid Michigan MoC 1600m

Ayden Barcia

2:23/5:19/11:08

Caidan Gaskill

58.1/2:16

Isaiah Mulheron

2:22/5:39

Hayden Wood

55.8/2:16

5^th Place – Jack Pine 400m

Charlie Hicks

2:26/5:45

The Past Three Years

2021

Team Champions – OK White, Region 11
4^th Place – D2 State

2020

Team Champions – Pre-Region 26
4^th Place – OK White (tough to tell with 4 jamborees and not knowing the format)
2^nd Place – Region 13
9^th Place – D2 State

2019

Team Champions – OK Gold, Region 11
6^th Place – D2 State

Anything in Track?

4×800

8:00

2^nd Place – OK White
1^st Place – Region 13
4^th Place – D2 State

Reuben Wiering

1:59/4:21

3^rd Place – OK White 800m
2^nd Place – Region 13 1600m
20^th Place – D2 State 1600m

Simon Triezenberg

2:04/4:35/10:00

5^th Place – OK White 3200m
5^th Place – Region 13 3200m

Joe Waalkes

2:13/4:41/10:05

6^th Place – Region 13 3200m

Jonathan Koetje

5:15/10:48

Peter Kuperus

2:15/4:52/10:45

Keegan Hoekstra

5:01/10:40

Rowan Jansen

54.5/2:10

Blake Bouwman

2:14/5:17/12:01

Nathan Baker

2:16

The Past Three Years

2021

Team Champions – Big North, Northern Michigan, Region 1
6^th Place – D1 State

2020

Team Champions – Big North, Pre-Region 1
2^nd Place – Region 1
6^th Place – D1 State

2019

Team Champions – Big North, Northern Michigan, Region 1
5^th Place – D1 State

Anything in Track?

4×800

8:24

3^rd Place – Region 1
1^st Place – Big North
1^st Place – Record Eagle

Joe Muha

2:01/4:21/9:46

6^th Place – Region 1 800m
8^th Place – Region 1 1600m
2^nd Place – Big North 1600m
3^rd Place – Big North 800m
4^th Place – Record Eagle 1600m

Micah Bauer

4:35/9:40

4^th Place – Region 1 3200m
2^nd Place – Big North 3200m
6^th Place – Record Eagle 1600m

Jett Reimers

2:01/4:47

7^th Place – Region 1 800m
6^th Place – Big North 800m
3^rd Place – Record Eagle 800m

Zack Truszkowski

2:13/4:39/10:01

3^rd Place – Big North 3200m

Lukas Reimers

2:05/4:38/10:32

Alex Durocher

2:10/5:11

Quinten Henderson

2:08/4:49

Kaiden Morey

2:08/4:59

Shiloh Gersenson

2:09

8^th Place – Record Eagle 800m

Neil Oyer

4:59

Jackson Price

5:00/10:54

8^th Place – Record Eagle 3200m

50 Tickets

Regional Previews

Top Tens

• In early spring, at Barnyard and Bluejay, I received my first glimpses of Aiden
• Through this work, I knew he was a rising star, not necessarily a household name, but he was getting there
• Leaving Romeo, I was mightily impressed
  • Times were wicked fast there, his 4:18 the 11^th best mark that night… from the slow heat
• Prior to that night, his best in the 1600m was 4:28
  • It takes a tremendous amount of confidence in one’s self and their training to set a blazing pace, 10 seconds faster than your best (when you’re already quick), all alone
• A month later, that confidence paid off to the tune of an OK Gold crown in the 1600m, two Region 13 victories, and putting away a charging Conor Somers en route to an 800m State championship
• That confidence and championship experience will be needed in high order this November as he’ll meet a host of challengers for that throne

Grade	Name	Time	Rating	Meet	Course	Date
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:31.8	197.4	Under the Lights (GRSC)	South Christian HS	27-Aug
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:06.8	198.7	Saranac	Saranac HS	1-Sep
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:07.3	192.2	OK Gold 1 (Cedar Springs)	Cedar View Elementary	8-Sep
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:25.0	186.3	Sparta	Fruitridge Hayrides	18-Sep
11	Aiden Sullivan	15:39.8	193.7	OK Gold 2	Gracewil CC	28-Sep
11	Aiden Sullivan	15:56.0	200.0	Otsego Bulldog	Otsego HS	2-Oct
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:13.7	198.1	Portage	Portage West MS	9-Oct
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:18.5	188.5	OK Gold Conference	Riverside Park	19-Oct
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:59.8	195.7	14 SFRC	St. Francis Retreat Center	29-Oct
11	Aiden Sullivan	16:04.5	195.8	D2 State	MIS	6-Nov

Grade	Name	Rating	Meet	Course	Date
10	Aiden Sullivan	178.0	FHE GRC Dual	Gainey Fields	22-Aug
10	Aiden Sullivan	168.2	FHE/GRCC	GRCC HS	26-Aug
10	Aiden Sullivan	185.2	OK Gold 1	South Christian Sports Park	8-Sep
10	Aiden Sullivan	184.9	Belding/FHE/GRCC/Ionia	Lightning Bend Park	12-Sep
10	Aiden Sullivan	180.6	Cougar Falcon	Gainey Fields	26-Sep
10	Aiden Sullivan	178.0	OK Gold	Wayland MS	29-Sep
10	Aiden Sullivan	189.1	Bulldog Elite	Otsego HS	3-Oct
10	Aiden Sullivan	186.1	Bengals	Riverside Park	9-Oct
10	Aiden Sullivan	187.7	PR 22	Allendale HS	23-Oct
10	Aiden Sullivan	185.1	D2 Reg 11	Allendale HS	31-Oct
10	Aiden Sullivan	189.1	D2 State	MIS	6-Nov

Grade	Name	Rating	Meet	Course
9	Aiden Sullivan	138.4	Hesperia	Baker Woods
9	Aiden Sullivan	146.6	Saranac	Saranac HS
9	Aiden Sullivan	153.2	Bath	Bath HS
9	Aiden Sullivan	138.8	Sparta	Fruit Ride Hayrides
9	Aiden Sullivan	152.9	Cougar Falcon	Gainey Fields
9	Aiden Sullivan	161.9	Otsego Bulldog	Otsego HS
9	Aiden Sullivan	163.3	Portage	Portage West MS
9	Aiden Sullivan	167.1	OK Gold	Thornapple Kellogg HS

• I was aware of Allie’s leap between her freshman track and sophomore cross country, but checking back at these stats, I didn’t quite notice the gains she made to her junior year of cross country
• Across the board, they were plentiful
  • In terms of time, she dropped her personal best from 18:32 to 18:08
  • In terms of ratings, even better, 45+ seconds on average
  • Accomplishments were fairly equal, save for moving up a few spots at State
• But accomplishments being equal isn’t a letdown when you constantly are a terror during October and November and June
  • The past two falls, she’s been top-5 at OK Red twice, top-2 at Regionals both times, and All-State in back-to-back years
  • During the 2021 track State Finals, she grinded out a 7^th place finish in the scorching heat present in that 3200m
• Unfortunately, she didn’t put up any results this past spring, but from what I gather, she’s been a great supporter of others, that will carry onto success in running and in life

Grade	Name	Time	Rating	Meet	Course	Date
11	Allie Arnsman	18:41.7	155.8	Under the Lights (GRSC)	South Christian HS	27-Aug
11	Allie Arnsman	18:12.5	160.8	Bredeweg	Macatawa Bay MS	11-Sep
11	Allie Arnsman	18:15.0	161.3	Ottawa Hills	Riverside Park	17-Sep
11	Allie Arnsman	18:21.1	144.3	OK Red Conference	Riverside Park	21-Oct
11	Allie Arnsman	18:25.8	145.4	1 Allendale	Allendale HS	30-Oct
11	Allie Arnsman	18:20.6	150.1	D1 State	MIS	6-Nov
11	Allie Arnsman	18:08.4	154.9	MMOC	Shepherd HS	13-Nov

Grade	Name	Rating	Meet	Course	Date
10	Allie Arnsman	131.2	Grandville/Jenison	Unity Christian HS	1-Sep
10	Allie Arnsman	124.4	Grand Haven/Grandville	South Christian Athletic Complex	10-Sep
10	Allie Arnsman	139.0	Grandville/Hudsonville	Allendale HS	23-Sep
10	Allie Arnsman	130.2	Grandville/HWO	South Christian Sports Park	29-Sep
10	Allie Arnsman	139.7	PR 5	Macatawa Bay MS	24-Oct
10	Allie Arnsman	146.0	D1 Reg 3	Portage West MS	30-Oct
10	Allie Arnsman	144.6	D1 State	MIS	6-Nov

Grade	Name	Rating	Meet	Course
9	Allie Arnsman	61.9	Bredeweg	Macatawa Bay MS
9	Allie Arnsman	88.4	Otsego Bulldog	Otsego HS
9	Allie Arnsman	88.5	Portage	Portage West MS
9	Allie Arnsman	100.3	OK Red	Riverside Park
9	Allie Arnsman	100.2	3	Portage West MS

Regional Previews

50 Tickets

Top Tens

Where: Shepherd HS

Word on the street is they’re building fiber throughout the course. Live splits at the mile and 2 mile without having to send Coach Wyatt out there sprinting to grab splits at each spot.

Mostly flat with a slight rise near the 2-mile mark. Tends to run fast, but can get bogged down with precipitation. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Bluejays installed a drying system under the course in the future.

2021 Boys: Freeland (10^th), Flint Powers Catholic (18^th), Clio (21^st)

2021 Girls: Freeland (7^th), Shepherd (12^th), Alma (23^rd)

Freeland will be a tough out, but Shepherd might have the goods to do it. Carley Lynch is back after a sickness took hold of her junior year. As a sophomore, she ran 20:54 here to close the year, and if you project her sophomore ratings into the algorithm, the line between the Falcons and Bluejays becomes very thin. It becomes thinner when they’re adding more girls from their state-placing 4×4. But lurking out there is the Lebron transformation. Alma has always had runners, but to me, they’re a sleeping giant in Division 2. College town, one of the bigger communities in the area. We’ve seen what he’s done at Ithaca, now with more kids coming into his hands?

Back to Freeland though. Upperclassmen such as Paige Kloha and Bella Reed, experienced at being the all-important 4^th-5^th runners. Freshman who will come along and be raring to go by the end of the year. Their top-5 will be tough to crack, it’s very likely they can put all of them in the top-15.

The boys freshman class at Alma is an example of what I was referring to earlier. Larson, Baltierra, Luca Lebron all led their MS team to a TVC championship and a silver medal at MHSAA Zone 5. Unlike lower divisions, the immediate impact isn’t felt so hard by incoming freshman. Will these young Panthers buck that trend? Or will another team loaded with potential, a young Gladwin team steal a bid? One thing I will predict that we can count on: that Flint Powers will solidly perform above expectations. Each and every year, they turn 19:00 kids into 18:00 kids, 17:30 kids into 16:45 kids. And the Chargers are loaded with those sorts yet again.

Top 25 Boys Teams: Freeland (12^th), Flint Powers Catholic (22^nd)

Top 25 Girls Teams: Freeland (10^th), Shepherd (17^th), Alma (22^nd)

Here, I’m writing at least a little anecdote about kids that are in the top-15 but aren’t freshman (Bryce Gross, I see you), in the 50 Tickets (Mary Richmond, your day is coming, TJ and Braydon’s days already have), or on Top 10 teams (Freeland girls). Want to spread love but also not overwork myself. All in all, my estimation is through all these previews, I’ll be writing at least a sentence about 1000+ kids.

Caleb Palmreuter, Gladwin: After a shortened freshman season, completed a full sophomore season. Made the most of it come November with a 16:42 personal best attained at State. Had an exceptional track season, qualifying for State in the 1600m and slipping under 2:00 in the 800m.

Elliott Sirianni, Clio: Came in here last October ranked 13^th, left the course finishing 7^th. A breakout performance, his first journey under 17:00.

David Murphy, Flint Powers Catholic: Spent all of his freshman year above 18:00, a year later, spent every last stinkin’ race under 18:00. Expect further gains, evidenced by his 10:01 in the 3200m this past spring.

Braden Klein, Freeland: Getting under 17:00 for the fourth time, he was an important member of the Falcons’ 10^th place State Finals appearance.

Tyler Heath, Clio: Placed 4^th at MITS in the 800m, but didn’t have the outdoor season he was looking for. In June, began to hit the times he’s capable of and I’m confident that positive momentum will carry over to these upcoming months.

Bryce Husen, Birch Run: His 1600m races at Region 20 and TVC-8 are what dreams are made of. Both were at least 10 seconds better than his previous best, both placed top-5.

Seth Mead, Gladwin: One of the better freshman years you’ve ever heard of. Dropped under 17:00 at Northern Michigan, qualified for State out of Region 10. Shepherd is a bit easier than that nasty Chip Hills course so expect even better theatrics.

Ali Kudmani, Alma: Someone has to play the role of upperclass leader to the volumes of youngsters Alma is moving in. Ali will set a great example, a steady performer who’s stepped up as a state qualifier when it counts.

Aidan Lobsinger, Flint Powers Catholic: As a sophomore, Aidan wasn’t even a part of Powers’ varsity squad in championship season. As a junior, the important 5^th man.

Nolan Longuski, Shepherd: Next in the line of Cahoon-built grinders? As a freshman, dropped 17’s on three occasions, the most important of which was here.

Owen Fennelly, Saginaw Swan Valley: Owen’s cross times and ratings leave him off this list. His track times affirmatively place him on. 10:28 to close a spring full of quality performances in the 3200m.

Ariel Warner, Shepherd: Based on the marks (2:19/5:13) from her spring track campaign, primed for an excellent senior season. Perhaps a darkhorse candidate to bust into that top-10 at State?

Ezgi Kurt, Alma: Interspersed with many efforts in the 20’s, there were signs. A 19:16 at Scottie, a 19:26 at State. During May, Ezgi was able to find a bit more steadiness, running 2:30’s and 5:30’s meet after meet.

Jolie Fisher, Shepherd: This speedster has so much range. Has been in the low-20’s each of the past two years, has also clinched an All-State and a State title with her clutch 3^rd leg on the 4×4.

Ava Boggs, Flint Kearsley: When she’s on, she’s really on. And she was on at the tail end of the ’21 season. Personal bests at both Regional and State.

Elle Himebaugh, Shepherd: Don’t let her incredible showing at the Isabella County Fair distract you from the fact that she’s dropped 4(!) minutes from her personal best over the course of her career.

Alexcis Parker, Flint Powers Catholic: All-State honorable mention on the hardwood, sub-21 performer on the cross country course. No doubt this great sport gives her endurance for her tenacity come winter.

Aubrey Keeler, Clio: Each year, she starts a little slow but finishes with a fury. Two straight state qualifiers and on the cusp of grasping the 19’s.

Jenna Overla, Alma: Mega consistent performer for Alma’s state qualifying squad. Her final four meets were all between 21:00 and 21:30.