Lila came into the high school scene projected to be a top freshman and she’s lived up to those expectations
At the middle school level, she won multiple races, got into the 12’s in cross country, and broke 6:00 in 8th grade
On the track, she’s continued that progress into track, improving from 5:43 to 5:16 and displaying some 800m speed along the way
Last fall, she eased into the season with a few introductory races, then just started shattering barriers one after another: sub-20 at Central Montcalm, sub-19 at Shepherd
And along the way, became the #1 girl on a Kent City squad that got better as the year went along, all the way to a 2nd place finish at MIS
Lila just knows success, as she’s a prominent part of a basketball team that finished as state runners-up as well
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Lila Volkers
19:35.1
136.0
CM Hornet
Central Montcalm HS
11-Sep
9
Lila Volkers
19:29.9
124.0
Sparta
Fruitridge Hayrides
18-Sep
9
Lila Volkers
18:57.0
140.0
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:59.6
144.1
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
19:10.9
147.0
Kent Ottawa
Gainey Fields
16-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:47.7
135.4
21 Allendale
Allendale HS
30-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:54.6
133.8
D3 State
MIS
6-Nov
9
Lila Volkers
19:07.1
135.3
MMOC
Shepherd HS
13-Nov
Grand Rapids Christian sure just turns them out, huh? Last year, you had Tinsae and Zwart, Reuben is coming into his own, and you’ve got more in the pipeline as well
Reuben is just one of those that has stuck around and made progress throughout every year, now that progress has turned into reliability and occasionally, greatness
As a freshman and sophomore, he showed glimpses of speed, breaking 18:00 in both campaigns, but never establishing a consistency
But from October 2nd 2021 on, all his performances were sub-17:00, coinciding with the Eagles run towards a top-5 finish at MIS.
Even on a regional day where most of the state trudged through swamps, he still ran 16:48 to finish 7th at Allendale
But back to that improvement, his best time as a sophomore was 17:32, his best as a junior, 16:32
Which plays out in the ratings too, in championship season, his average drop was more than a minute per race
Similar jumps abounded during track as well, 2:16 to 1:59 and 4:45 to 4:21
As a late bloomer, can that be 1:55 and 4:15 next year? I’m betting on it
I love to spin a tale of remarkable improvement, but Griffin has just been remarkably good his whole career
He reached great heights as a freshman, slipping into the 16’s late at Regionals
He hit his first state qualifier as a sophomore, along with an All-Oakland County finish
Then as a junior, finished higher at Regionals, higher at State, and higher at County
One might see his personal best “only” improve by 27 seconds across the three years, but his accomplishments as a junior far outweigh those as a freshman, and when you finish Top-10 at the toughest county meet in the country, you’re doing damn well
In track, he’s been able to display some serious strength, having run multiple sub-10 efforts in the 3200m despite a 1600m best of 4:40
He’s been a near qualifier in that 32, hopefully 2023’s spring season can be the breakthrough
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Griffin Conway
16:51.3
193.9
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
17:21.6
195.1
South Lyon
Island Lake
28-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
16:24.3
191.9
Ramblin’ Rock
Willow
11-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
16:52.6
190.5
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
17:03.7
191.4
Oakland County
Possum Hollow
9-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:41.3
184.2
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:57.6
185.8
6 Hudson Mills
Hudson Mills (North)
30-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:40.5
184.5
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Griffin Conway
169.0
Brighton/Novi
Huron Meadows
29-Aug
10
Griffin Conway
175.0
Hartland/Novi
Hartland HS
12-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.1
Canton/Novi
Novi HS
22-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.9
Novi/Salem
Novi HS
29-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
180.3
Oakland County
Kensington
9-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
182.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
179.4
PR 15
Novi HS
24-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.5
D1 Reg 8
Chandler Park
30-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.9
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Griffin Conway
170.3
South Lyon
Island Lake
9
Griffin Conway
172.3
Ramblin Rock
Willow
9
Griffin Conway
174.0
Holly
Springfield Oaks
9
Griffin Conway
171.9
Oakland County
Kensington
9
Griffin Conway
174.3
KLAA
Huron Meadows
Speaking of remarkably good, how does three for three on the All-State podium sound?
No matter the division, no matter the year, Hannah always shows up when it counts
Her career is littered with outstanding performances, but I think 2021 contained the best of the bunch, back-to-back 18:35’s at Cadillac and Shepherd, followed up by 18:48 at Portage on a tougher course
Hannah has many accolades on the cross course, but track is where she truly shines, a true mid-distance girl
She showed that prowess in her initial track season, grabbing 12th in the 400 at D2 State
Then as a junior, smashed the 60 sec. barrier late in the year on her way to a 3rd place finish at D3 State
And for the first time ever, you get video footage! Look at those wheels!
I swear this is the last time I’ll use this hashtag all summer, but Morgan is another example of #TheSkrollEffect
To go from the high-23’s as a freshman to low-19’s in only a year is fairly incredible
And judging by those track times, she’s got more growth in her as well
Morgan really stepped into her bag in the spring of ’21, her openers at 2:33/5:41 that eventually got down to 2:20/5:19
After a rustbusting opener at Kensington, she laid down a 19:14 at Willow, looking to match the Churchill boys on a magical season
But that was unfortunately cut short, she was unable to compete at Regional, and thus State
Folks such as myself were wondering if she’d return to her prior form in track, she sure swept away those wonders, with multiple sub-5:05 efforts to close the year
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Morgan Brown
21:32.0
107.6
Milford
Possum Hollow
2-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
19:14.8
133.7
Ramblin’ Rock
Willow
11-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
20:23.8
122.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
19:53.8
123.1
Coaching Legends
Huron Meadows
2-Oct
10
Morgan Brown
19:44.0
129.3
Wayne County
Willow
9-Oct
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Morgan Brown
50.7
Brighton/Churchill
Nankin Mills
8-Sep
9
Morgan Brown
62.3
Churchill/Franklin
Nankin Mills
26-Sep
9
Morgan Brown
80.0
PR 12
Champaign Park
22-Oct
9
Morgan Brown
82.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
9
Morgan Brown
92.9
D1 Reg 6
Willow
31-Oct
Spring of ’21, heading out to Dexter to watch some track action for the first time in two years, Brandon immediately caught my eye
He ran 2:13/4:52 that day, solid, but not spectacular, but he had an aggressive mindset to his racing that you could see mixed with a bit of strength could lead to a special runner
Those special qualities came out last fall, where every 5k he ran was south of 17:00
Dexter doesn’t avoid hard courses either – there’s a Holly in there, Hudson Mills North as well
Brandon slightly inched down time over the course of the season and in the most important race of the year, hit a nearly 20 sec. PB, a 16:12 at MIS
This spring season, he made continued progression, especially in the 800m, cutting time down from 2:13 to 2:00
That 2:00 is ranked 14th amongst all sophomores in 2022
