With many Mustangs dotting this list and the top of the state scoreboards, Brady might slip under the radar
But not here!
Heron was Northville’s 3rd runner during much of the championship season and figures to be right in that mix again with their pack
He ran his fastest time of the year at KLAA, and three of his better rated races in at KLAA, Wayne County, and Regionals
What stands out the most is his consistency, his slowest times in major races were either Lamplighter (long course) or Cleverley (muddy course), everything else sub-17
He’s been like this for years, consistently solid, but took that next step in the fall of ’21.
During track, he was able to break 10:00 early in the season, then worked on grinding down his 1600m best, reaching down to 4:34 in late May at Houseman Field.
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Brady Heron
17:08.2
188.3
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Brady Heron
16:51.9
198.7
Mustang
Cass Benton
31-Aug
11
Brady Heron
16:37.2
189.9
Bath
Bath HS
11-Sep
11
Brady Heron
16:44.6
193.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Brady Heron
17:09.7
188.4
Cleverley Friday Night
Anchor Bay HS
24-Sep
11
Brady Heron
16:37.8
192.1
Wayne County
Willow
9-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:13.4
193.5
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:37.1
192.6
6 Hudson Mills
Hudson Mills (North)
30-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:29.3
188.2
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Brady Heron
181.9
Northville/Plymouth
Cass Benton
1-Sep
10
Brady Heron
175.1
Northville/Salem
Willow
12-Sep
10
Brady Heron
178.5
Canton/Northville
Cass Benton
15-Sep
10
Brady Heron
179.1
Hansons
Freedom Hill
3-Oct
10
Brady Heron
181.0
Brighton/Northville
Huron Meadows
10-Oct
10
Brady Heron
181.8
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
10
Brady Heron
174.0
PR 15
Novi HS
24-Oct
10
Brady Heron
176.7
D1 Reg 8
Chandler Park
30-Oct
10
Brady Heron
183.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Brady Heron
166.3
Mustang
Cass Benton
9
Brady Heron
169.5
Bath
Bath HS
9
Brady Heron
170.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
9
Brady Heron
169.8
Wayne County
Willow
9
Brady Heron
162.6
KLAA
Huron Meadows
As with Heron, Alexis Ball is a runner on a high-level team that’s worked behind the scenes for a few years and primed to take a more prominent role
Her freshman campaign began inauspiciously, running 22:00+ at Ludington, but she finished that year with a sub-20 at the MMoC and nearly breaking through the top-100 at MIS
As a sophomore, she began the season with a personal best at Benzie (always a good sign), then continued the progression with four sub-19 efforts
While the regional race in the boggy conditions at Delta didn’t go as well as others, her State Meet was a superb rebound, finishing 50th overall and as the 2nd TCC girl on a team that finished 3rd
Her track campaign showed some progression, especially in the 3200m, knocking off 16 sec. from her freshman year, getting down to 11:18
As we’ve seen with Julia Flynn, even the fastest of the fast are able to improve in the Trojan program, I don’t doubt we’ll see greater heights from Alexis in the coming seasons
Payton’s spring track season is a major reason for her inclusion in this list
She made some massive late season strides, especially in the 800m, capturing the Downriver League title (a competitive field rarely seen in our area) in 2:15 over Luecke and Cost
Her opening leg of the 4×800 at D1 State gave the Warriors an early lead and helped them along to a 4th place finish
There isn’t an official split out there, but let’s say this – she had a measurable lead on the field at the handoff
Along with the 800m prowess, she’s also one of the top returners at the 1600m, one of the many Michiganders to break 5:00 a few weekends ago
Her cross times don’t match the track success, but I know those will come in time with additional strength, experience, and miles on those legs
But those times notwithstanding, she’s qualified out of Region 5 (annually one of the tougher regions in the State) twice and finished in the Top-10 at the Downriver League twice as well
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Payton Scheffler
21:25.7
107.4
A2 Fall Preview
Huron Meadows
26-Aug
10
Payton Scheffler
20:41.2
110.6
Warrior Classic
Lake Erie
10-Sep
10
Payton Scheffler
21:05.2
108.3
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
10
Payton Scheffler
20:51.1
108.0
Jefferson
Sterling State Park
25-Sep
10
Payton Scheffler
21:10.1
101.6
Downriver 1
Lake Erie
30-Sep
10
Payton Scheffler
20:32.1
111.0
Downriver League 2
Council Point Park
5-Oct
10
Payton Scheffler
20:06.4
121.9
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
10
Payton Scheffler
21:18.7
116.1
News Herald
Patriots Park
16-Oct
10
Payton Scheffler
20:37.2
114.9
Downriver League Championship
Lake Erie
21-Oct
10
Payton Scheffler
20:56.0
127.0
5 Lake Erie
Lake Erie
30-Oct
10
Payton Scheffler
19:19.5
130.5
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Payton Scheffler
70.6
Woodhaven/Wyandotte
Patriots Park
3-Sep
9
Payton Scheffler
91.5
LP/Southgate/Trenton/Woodhaven
Council Point Park
15-Sep
9
Payton Scheffler
98.8
Jefferson
Jefferson HS
24-Sep
9
Payton Scheffler
121.0
Allendale Falcon
Allendale HS
3-Oct
9
Payton Scheffler
105.3
Highlander
Howell HS
10-Oct
9
Payton Scheffler
97.9
Downriver League
Lake Erie
15-Oct
9
Payton Scheffler
101.8
PR 10
Lake Erie
22-Oct
9
Payton Scheffler
108.1
D1 Reg 5
Lake Erie
31-Oct
9
Payton Scheffler
116.9
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Seth is the true encapsulation of #TheSkrollEffect
In times, ratings, and accomplishments, he underwent precipitous drops from his sophomore to junior years
He lowered his personal best from 16:53 to 16:21
And it wasn’t just a one-off performance in the 16:20s, he reached below 16:30 on five occasions in the fall
In the rating sense, he improved by more than a minute, the consistency and steadiness of his performances a major improvement from 2020
Seth was a key factor in Churchill’s resurgence as a program, running as their 1st/2nd runner for much of the championship season
During track, he established himself as a 3200m specialist, breaking 10:00 early in the season
Ohhh, we’re back up and running on these. The title is influenced from the guys at MGoBlog, who use it to sift through the various players projected to start for Michigan. Here, I’m using it to count down whom I project to be the top 50 returners heading into the 2022 season.
This is partially a ranking, but partially not. Yes, there are measurables for how much the typical runner improves from year to year and the same for what ratings a runner can achieve given their track season. Both are factored in here. The runners are ranked from whom I project to be the 50th fastest returner to the fastest.
These posts are about much more than rankings. Consider them a celebration of the sport and a celebration of our great athletes. When August rolls around, it ain’t gonna matter who was ranked where. On the other hand, I can’t let a summer speed by without mentioning the outstanding runners that make up our sport. If you’re not included in the top 50, there’s a very good chance I’ll give you a shoutout in either the regional previews or top teams.
One in the line of many Mellings who have taken on the sport
Brothers Garrett and Landon are Hanover-Horton legends, All-Staters, Garrett running for Davenport now and Landon making a name for himself in the announcing realm
As a freshman, he was a key contributor, the 3rd runner, on their State Title squad
Rogan has been extremely consistent throughout his career, you’ll notice very few poor performances in big races, almost all championship races are a season best or close to one
His cross times have slowly been trending downwards, reaching his lowest time in the last official race of the 2021 season, a 16:14 at State
A similar trend occurred in track by an even greater margin, his 9:42 victory at the Selby Classic was nearly a 20 sec. personal best
Throughout The Years
(Ratings throughout time. You’ll notice that I track more data as the years have gone on, date and actual race time weren’t a thing on the MIXCSR sheets back in the day.)
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Rogan Melling
16:50.6
189.5
Harper Creek Optimist
Harper Creek HS
28-Aug
11
Rogan Melling
16:39.6
182.8
Hillsdale
Owen Memorial Park
1-Sep
11
Rogan Melling
16:48.3
186.2
Bath
Bath HS
11-Sep
11
Rogan Melling
16:33.6
196.8
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Rogan Melling
16:36.1
190.6
Jackson
Sharp Park
25-Sep
11
Rogan Melling
16:18.4
192.9
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
11
Rogan Melling
16:22.1
195.3
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
11
Rogan Melling
16:44.3
184.6
Chris Jensen
Sharp Park
16-Oct
11
Rogan Melling
16:52.6
186.5
Cascades Conference
Sharp Park
20-Oct
11
Rogan Melling
16:37.5
188.8
23 Sharp Park
Sharp Park
29-Oct
11
Rogan Melling
16:14.6
189.8
D3 State
MIS
6-Nov
11
Rogan Melling
16:27.7
189.8
MMOC
Shepherd HS
13-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Rogan Melling
171.2
Hillsdale Academy
Hayden Park
11-Sep
10
Rogan Melling
177.9
Harriers for Hope
Peacock Tree Farm
19-Sep
10
Rogan Melling
171.0
Grass Lake/Hanover Horton
Grass Lake HS
22-Sep
10
Rogan Melling
175.3
Jackson Friendly
Sharp Park
26-Sep
10
Rogan Melling
169.3
Sand Creek
Sand Creek HS
10-Oct
10
Rogan Melling
179.3
PR 45
Hudson HS
24-Oct
10
Rogan Melling
178.1
D3 Reg 23
Sharp Park
30-Oct
10
Rogan Melling
190.0
D3 State
MIS
7-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Rogan Melling
189.3
Optimist
Harper Creek HS
9
Rogan Melling
186.3
Springport
Springport HS
9
Rogan Melling
175.7
Bath
Bath HS
9
Rogan Melling
166.9
Spartan
Forest Akers
9
Rogan Melling
175.3
Jackson
Sharp Park
9
Rogan Melling
186.3
BlueJay
Shepherd HS
9
Rogan Melling
183.7
Portage
Portage West MS
9
Rogan Melling
184.7
J Chris Jensen
Sharp Park
9
Rogan Melling
181.8
23
Sharp Park
9
Rogan Melling
177.7
D3 State
MIS
Inconspicuous to some (but noticed by me), Mariah burst onto the Macomb County scene as a freshman on the Dakota track squad, hitting marks such as 2:28 and 5:25
She’s had great upperclassmen to look to: the Harveys, Slone, Myziuk and she’s got a pretty good classmate as well
Her introduction to HS cross country came last fall and she was able to back up that track prowess, gaining accolades and hitting times that matched the potential shown earlier
Among those, dipping under 19:00 on four occasions and nabbing top-5 at both the MAC Division Meet and Macomb County Championship
She’s a selfless teammate, part of multiple championship and All-State relay squads, both in the 4×4 and 4×8
