We’re out of Portage, out of the bigger area meets (Oakland and Wayne County), now onto more of championship season. Many of the top teams competed in a meaningful meet and we’re better able to discern their intentions for this final month of the season.
The WEEK 3 RANKINGS contained the best explanation of the year, so click there. But I’ll add another sentence of emphasis: although this past weekend’s meets weigh the largest, they are not the end all be all, these are cumulative.
We’re out of Portage, out of the bigger area meets (Oakland and Wayne County), now onto more of championship season. Many of the top teams competed in a meaningful meet and we’re better able to discern their intentions for this final month of the season.
The WEEK 3 RANKINGS contained the best explanation of the year, so click there. But I’ll add another sentence of emphasis: although this past weekend’s meets weigh the largest, they are not the end all be all, these are cumulative.
Portage was illuminating, mostly in the fact of Jenison’s increased candidacy for the second podium spot and perhaps, even a win. Jacob Tanner highlighted just how close this race was, a few seconds improvement or a few seconds added in the final month, both scenarios could play a pivotal role in deciding a state title. For ranking purposes, the Wildcats moved up a spot and gained 50 points on Northville. Grand Haven also had a superb day, moving past two higher-ranked teams to nearly grab 3rd.
Clarkston and Livonia Churchill won Oakland and Wayne Counties, neither having a particularly great day.
Looking Forward
Sorta that odd week between huge meets and conference meets. I call it County Week here, as the usual progression is County, Conference, Regional, State. But anyhow, Willow is home to the River Rat Open, a regional preview for many western suburb teams and a great spot to gain confidence before championships truly begin. Saline will be there, the Hornets quietly hanging in there with their young group, Canton will look to rebound after a Wayne County defeat.
On Friday night, Livonia Churchill has Livonia bragging rights to claim. Similar to Willow is the ultra-quick South course at Hudson Mills, where Brighton will look to rip some PRs.
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Northville
93
6
204.1
1
2
Jenison
224
1
199.8
3
3
Brighton
259
4
197.1
2
4
Canton
381
6
195.5
4
5
Livonia Churchill
395
6
194.7
5
6
Saline
396
5
192.9
6
7
Clarkston
410
8
193.3
7
8
Grand Haven
439
1
194.2
9
9
Traverse City Central
501
2
191.0
10
10
Kalamazoo Central
519
3
190.2
8
11
Portage Central
539
3
189.5
12
12
Ann Arbor Pioneer
544
5
194.4
11
13
Oxford
577
8
191.6
14
14
East Kentwood
577
3
190.0
13
15
Forest Hills Central
605
3
189.5
15
16
Plymouth
615
6
189.1
16
17
Utica
679
9
188.3
17
18
White Lake Lakeland
725
7
185.3
23
19
Macomb Dakota
741
9
186.1
18
20
Midland
745
2
185.6
20
21
Okemos
747
2
185.8
21
22
Rockford
774
1
184.5
19
23
Highland-Milford
804
7
188.1
22
24
Traverse City West
814
2
184.6
24
25
Salem
843
6
183.3
26
26
Caledonia
910
3
183.1
25
27
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
939
3
184.2
45
Recap
I think Romeo unequivocally answered the call. Five girls in the top-15, all scorers under 18:35. You could take out Guaresimo and Annie, Romeo still would’ve won.
Where other teams faltered in the final miles, Saline and Ann Arbor Pioneer were able to move up. Staton, Gady, and Schlack found bodies to pass, each moving up 10+ places throughout the race. Brighton may have finished 5th, but the Bulldogs were closer to the top-4 than projected, enough to move up a spot here.
More and more, it’s appearing that Rochester is a contender for a top-5 placing at MIS. Experienced, battle-tested senior up front. Raw, yet wise junior slightly behind her. And then different girls who step up in different weeks. At Oakland County, the Falcons comfortably cruised to a victory.
Looking Forward
The Romeo squad attained a perfect score in all of my Macomb County simulations. Even in an appropriate season for spooky events, that’s scary. We’ll see if Brighton and Saline keep the momentum rolling at Gabriel Richard and River Rat Open.
Mentioned in the D2 rankings was a battle between DeWitt and Okemos at Greater Lansing. I pointed out DeWitt’s patient racing as an advantage, now I’ll tell you that Okemos halved DeWitt’s score last year, ravaging Ledge Meadows en route to a 58-point victory.
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Romeo
81
9
151.2
1
2
Holland West Ottawa
140
1
148.6
2
3
Saline
216
5
140.7
3
4
Brighton
273
4
136.3
5
5
Ann Arbor Pioneer
283
5
143.3
4
6
Rockford
341
1
134.0
6
7
Okemos
398
2
133.9
7
8
Rochester
427
8
133.0
9
9
Traverse City West
462
2
128.1
8
10
Grand Haven
513
1
127.6
10
11
Portage Central
516
3
126.6
11
12
Midland Dow
537
2
132.3
12
13
Northville
545
6
124.3
13
14
Jenison
585
1
123.3
14
15
Ann Arbor Skyline
592
4
123.2
19
16
Utica
608
9
123.1
15
17
White Lake Lakeland
618
7
122.3
16
18
Dexter
676
4
119.9
17
19
Hartland
677
4
120.3
18
20
Rochester Adams
718
8
119.4
20
21
Macomb Dakota
788
9
116.0
21
22
Clarkston
789
8
116.4
23
23
Hudsonville
816
1
115.3
22
24
Bay City Western
841
2
115.9
24
25
Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
843
3
114.2
26
26
Traverse City Central
881
2
112.8
25
27
Ann Arbor Huron
887
6
114.2
27
Individual Rankings
Recap
Seemingly, everyone had a tough day at Willow save for one – Aidan Pengelly. The Cobra junior ran away with a 13-second victory, winning his first Wayne County title.
Running away was what Kyle O’Rourke did in the second mile at Possum Hollow, opening up a sizable gap on the field, challenging the course record in an Oakland County win.
Kamari Ronfeldt summoned a sprint at the end in a battle with Seth Conner. The two pulled away from the field early, Conner attempted to pull away mid-race, but Kamari hung tough and had just enough on the long finishing stretch. Surely, we’ll see these two lock heads once again, perhaps joined by a few more.
Looking Forward
Many weekends off in anticipation of the finishing stretch, but a matchup we haven’t yet seen. Heading east on 94 is Kalamazoo Hackett’s big gun, Marek Butkiewicz. Heading west towards Dexter is Ann Arbor Pioneer. Butkiewicz has been dominating D4 races without much of a test, Kamari Ronfeldt, the wise youngster, is coming off Portage’s emotional high.
On the quick Willow grounds, we’ll witness Kyle O’Rourke and Aidan Pengelly. Pengelly has raced there on many occasions, but the sledding hill won’t be too daunting compared to the Milford mountains.
Top 50
Rank
Grade
Name
Team
CW Rating
1
11
Kyle O’Rourke
Highland-Milford
216.5
2
10
Kamari Ronfeldt
Ann Arbor Pioneer
215.4
3
12
Seth Conner
Jenison
213.1
4
10
Jack MacGregor
Howell
212.7
5
12
Carter Livermore
Grandville
212.6
6
11
Aiden Pengelly
Canton
212.3
7
12
Ethan Powell
Northville
209.7
8
12
Alexander McArthur
Oxford
207.8
9
12
Joseph Rohmfeld
Livonia Churchill
207.3
10
12
Taye Levenson
Bloomfield Hills
207.2
11
11
Jackson Lam
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix
206.4
12
11
Beckett Crooks
Ann Arbor Pioneer
206.0
13
11
Ben Hartigan
Northville
205.8
14
10
Luka Hammond
Grand Haven
205.2
15
12
Kian Schneeweis
Troy
204.7
16
12
Tyler Brock
Brighton
204.0
17
10
Caden Livermore
Grandville
203.8
18
12
Nick Barretto
Northville
203.5
19
11
Ryan Barnes
Clarkston
203.3
20
12
Ben Eisnor
Grand Haven
202.8
21
12
James Cusick
Oxford
202.0
22
11
Ian Morgan
Okemos
201.7
23
10
Ben Romero
Forest Hills Central
201.1
24
12
Lucas LaMilza
Macomb Dakota
201.1
25
12
Julian Linebaugh
Dexter
200.9
26
12
Ishaan Kundapur
Northville
200.9
27
11
Aron Gal
Grand Haven
200.6
28
12
Sawyer McCarthy
Forest Hills Central
200.6
29
10
Brandon Cloud
Northville
200.5
30
12
Parker Strelecki
Jenison
200.5
31
12
Chase Wolters
Livonia Churchill
200.1
32
11
Harper Wesley
Utica
199.9
33
11
Caleb Keller
Traverse City Central
199.8
34
12
Mason Lucas
Jenison
199.6
35
12
Cayden DeGrendel
Clarkston
199.0
36
12
Kort Thompson
Caledonia
198.9
37
12
James Latstetter
Flushing
198.7
38
12
Evan Nickoles
East Kentwood
198.5
39
10
Liam Wierzba
Traverse City West
198.1
40
12
Luke Morehouse
Utica
197.8
41
11
Benjamin Rottier
Grand Ledge
197.8
42
12
Lucas Wood
Howell
197.8
43
10
Blake Kulesza
Brighton
197.7
44
12
Isaac Tanis
East Kentwood
197.5
45
12
Matthew Schwartz
Jenison
197.5
46
12
Spencer Parker
Portage Central
197.3
47
12
Mitchell Jeruzal
Byron Center
197.2
48
12
Jack Chadwick
Plymouth
197.1
49
11
Brennan LaRusso
Saline
197.0
50
12
Malcolm Speigle
Livonia Churchill
197.0
Recap
Nearly 20 seconds at one, 35 at two, a clean 40 at the finish. Another stupendous victory for Helen Sachs. The Panther senior is clearly the class of D1 at this point. The one questions is – who will come in behind her?
Natasza Dudek ran an impressive race in second. All alone, she trailed Sachs, yet was able to hold off any impending kick from the rest of the field. Natalia Guaresimo tried to close, but ran out of real estate.
No one could close on Lucy Cook, a familiar veteran on the Possum Hollow course. A four-time Oakland County champion, Cook sprinted down the first hill and left the field in her dust. The script is playing out as it commonly has, usually ending in a top finish at MIS.
Looking Forward
With Romeo projected to score a perfect 15 at Macomb County, one of the Bulldog girls is predicted to win. Natalia Guaresimo has been running better than anyone, Annie Hrabovsky won last year, maybe another will spring an upset or maybe they’ll all run together? It may not be together, but we’ll likely see a sea of purple up front at River Rat. Hopefully, we’ll see a rebound from Rachel Smith, who could be contending with Ava Schafer for Greater Lansing.
We’re out of Portage, out of the bigger area meets (Oakland and Wayne County), now onto more of championship season. Many of the top teams competed in a meaningful meet and we’re better able to discern their intentions for this final month of the season.
The WEEK 3 RANKINGS contained the best explanation of the year, so click there. But I’ll add another sentence of emphasis: although this past weekend’s meets weigh the largest, they are not the end all be all, these are cumulative.
Probably wasn’t as dominant as Spartan, though Allendale was clearly the class of the D2 field at Portage. A different competitor stepped to the forefront for the Falcons – Kilian Whalen. The senior has had much adversity thrown at him throughout his career. Through it all, he’s survived and just dropped a 12 sec. PR. The depth on this team is still impeccable. Their 6th runner came in before everyone’s 4th and almost everyone’s 3rd. You could take Whalen out of the lineup and Allendale still would’ve won.
Beyond the Red n’ Black, Forest Hills Eastern moved up a spot. The Hawks are greatly benefitting from the addition of junior Shephard Bower, learning the sport on the fly. Three straight sub-17’s in just four races at the high school level.
In the Region 15 preview at Cummings Center, Frankenmuth leaned on its depth and pack running. Five Eagles under 17 helped ‘Muth hold off Flint Powers.
Just a reminder, these rankings don’t move teams down for one bad race. Unless it becomes a trend.
Looking Forward
The West Side/OK Conference + Portage sort of dictates the schedule here. Conference championships in the middle of next week, a huge festival of races this past Saturday. Mix in some smart, judicious coaches and that equals taking this weekend off.
We have had a bit of mid-week action, Otsego winning over Plainwell in the M-89 rivalry. Alma defeated Frankenmuth in the final TVC Red Jamboree, enough to win the conference title. Alma has curiously been ranked below Frankenmuth all season in the coaches poll, despite winning in the TVC each time out (side note: if I were a coach, I’d rank my team as low as possible, just for the motivational factor). The Panthers will again find the opportunity to prove themselves at Greater Lansing, where the they look to defend last year’s crown.
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Allendale
175
11
196.2
1
2
Grand Rapids Christian
260
12
192.8
2
3
Holland Christian
328
11
189.8
3
4
Alma
341
14
191.1
4
5
Forest Hills Eastern
371
12
189.9
6
6
East Grand Rapids
406
12
188.1
5
7
Otsego
445
13
184.1
7
8
Frankenmuth
446
15
184.2
8
9
Plainwell
470
12
183.6
9
10
Flint Powers Catholic
528
15
185.6
10
11
Cedar Springs
561
10
181.4
12
12
Sparta
563
10
181.8
11
13
Marshall
573
13
186.8
13
14
Shepherd
614
15
182.3
14
15
Gladwin
658
10
181.9
15
16
Pinckney
695
16
178.7
18
17
DeWitt
740
14
175.8
16
18
Three Rivers
778
13
176.9
17
19
New Boston Huron
784
18
176.6
20
20
Freeland
786
15
180.2
19
21
Fremont
807
10
174.2
23
22
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
844
11
177.1
21
23
Corunna
863
14
172.6
22
24
Zeeland East
904
11
171.8
24
25
Spring Lake
927
10
171.0
28
26
Petoskey
951
10
170.1
29
27
Edwardsburg
961
13
170.1
25
Recap
Projections had Goodrich being first overall at Greater Flint, which was correct. However, I was a little high on the Martian point total. Mainly thanks to Claire Brown, who after a fall of running in the 20’s, has broken into the 19’s these past two weeks.
Zeeland East was able to rebound after their surprise defeat at Otsego. The Chix scored 3 girls in the top-10, the 3rd being a Meredith Cook who broke into the 18’s yet again.
Looking Forward
Home meets and area championships. The rule of thumb is that if you host a meet, you have to defend your ground. Both Freeland and Goodrich are hosting, and thankfully, both appear to be favorites. Adrian will use their strength up front and hope to power to a Lenawee County win. Greater Lansing will be the stage for a D1/D2 crossover, as a top-10 Okemos will face DeWitt. The Panthers just ran the best times of their season at Birch Run and have shown (Spartan) the ability to be patient in pressure-packed situations.
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Zeeland East
160
11
137.9
1
2
Goodrich
198
15
131.0
2
3
Holland Christian
245
11
127.7
4
4
Otsego
273
13
130.5
5
5
Grand Rapids Christian
274
12
127.9
3
6
DeWitt
327
14
123.7
6
7
East Grand Rapids
360
12
121.8
7
8
Adrian
434
18
123.5
8
9
Freeland
478
15
118.5
9
10
Hudsonville Unity Christian
479
11
116.2
10
11
Linden
533
16
113.3
12
12
Spring Lake
550
10
111.9
13
13
Forest Hills Eastern
572
12
109.9
11
14
St. Joseph
652
13
114.2
14
15
Grand Rapids South Christian
714
12
104.9
15
16
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard
746
18
105.7
17
17
Ludington
747
10
108.0
16
18
Frankenmuth
764
15
107.9
20
19
Cadillac
793
10
105.7
19
20
Sturgis
795
13
107.6
18
21
Shepherd
845
15
100.8
25
22
Coopersville
869
11
100.9
22
23
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep
903
16
99.4
21
24
Plainwell
936
12
96.8
24
25
Dearborn Divine Child
946
16
96.3
23
26
Owosso
948
14
96.4
26
27
Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg
1011
12
96.5
27
Individual Rankings
Recap
Down in Terredise, TJ Hansen hung with the Midwest’s best, running a 14:43 and placing 2nd. I wish there were 48 hours in a day so that I could create some out-of-state speed ratings, so you’ll just have to understand that it was very fast.
In the state itself, we saw significant moves up the ranks from Simon Triezenberg, Will Engbers, and Edison Lopeman. The latter two dropped PR’s at Portage, Triezenberg narrowly missed. Each finished in the top four.
Looking Forward
Once again, sort of a weekend off. The teams that are near Lake Michigan are recovering from Portage and awaiting conference showdowns. TJ Hansen will be home with his Freeland squad, Jack Bidwell is in the D2 race at Gabriel Richard (with this weather and that course, expect something special if he goes for it). The Alma boys will be looking for every possible advantage up front. Surely they’ll be chasing the wise Jack MacGregor, though expect Thomas Larson and Zeke Baltierra to give him everything he can handle.
Top 50
Rank
Grade
Name
Team
Rating
1
12
TJ Hansen
Freeland
223.6
2
12
Jack Bidwell
Marshall
215.3
3
12
Colin Murray
Dearborn Divine Child
211.8
4
12
Henry Dixon
Forest Hills Eastern
210.6
5
12
Simon Triezenberg
Grand Rapids Christian
206.4
6
12
Will Engbers
Holland Christian
206.4
7
11
Jonah Workman
East Grand Rapids
205.7
8
10
Ezekiel Baltierra
Alma
205.7
9
11
Thomas Larson
Alma
205.6
10
11
Bryce Gross
Flint Powers Catholic
205.5
11
12
Jeb Hillary
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
205.3
12
11
Edison Lopeman
Parma Western
205.3
13
12
Dominic Lowrie
Battle Creek Harper Creek
204.5
14
9
Lennox Naswell
Flint Powers Catholic
203.8
15
12
Elijah Christensen
Gladwin
203.8
16
12
Sullivan Zietlow
Three Rivers
203.7
17
10
Bryce Cahoon
Shepherd
202.4
18
12
Kilian Whalen
Allendale
202.2
19
11
Moises Salazar
Adrian
201.4
20
11
Vincent Pattison
Goodrich
201.1
21
10
Abraham McHugh
Marshall
200.8
22
11
Ronnie Silveira
Allendale
200.2
23
12
Ben Gross
Allendale
199.9
24
12
Lucas Kuhn
New Boston Huron
199.7
25
12
Nolan Longuski
Shepherd
199.0
26
10
Cole McCraw
Pinckney
198.7
27
12
Jack Lillywhite
Flint Kearsley
198.2
28
12
Abatu Dykstra
Hamilton
197.9
29
12
Seth Mead
Gladwin
197.9
30
11
Owen Metzger
Sparta
197.7
31
12
Alex Doneth
Mason
197.6
32
12
Reece Davis
Marshall
197.0
33
12
Vincent Pollock
Fruitport
196.8
34
10
Mitchell Dunlap
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
196.7
35
12
Jacob Draaisma
Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg
196.5
36
10
Steven Zawacki
Forest Hills Eastern
195.9
37
12
Simon Erfourth
Owosso
195.6
38
12
Stewart Waters
Whitehall
195.5
39
12
Andrew Commeret
Comstock Park
195.3
40
12
Dylan Lydic
Haslett
194.3
41
12
Keegan Hoekstra
Grand Rapids Christian
194.1
42
10
Caiden Caswell
Vicksburg
194.0
43
11
Sean Ryan
Grand Rapids Christian
193.6
44
11
Jack Edison
East Grand Rapids
193.1
45
11
Luke Dulecki
New Boston Huron
192.7
46
11
Donovan Ryan
Plainwell
192.5
47
11
Ethan Shoffner
Cedar Springs
192.2
48
9
Micah Becker
East Grand Rapids
191.7
49
12
Will Whitmore
Holland Christian
191.3
50
12
Zachary Newman
Pinckney
190.9
Recap
With Emma Hoffman and Ava Schafer taking the weekend off, we were counting on Portage to deliver. We received a nice little competition between Emma Drnek, Katie Berkshire, and Courtney Bovair. Drnek and Berkshire were with each other at one, Bovair slightly behind. By two miles, it was just those two. Come the finish, Drnek, the recent MSU commit, had opened a nearly 10 second gap.
As projected, Natalie Foltz came through at Greater Flint. Mea D’Agostino has been going through the ringer of courses lately. Bennett Park, a hot day at Spartan, two championships at Possum Hollow. She didn’t place as well at Oakland County (14th, still All-County), but recovered nicely to place 2nd in the Catholic League.
Looking Forward
A few intriguing bits of action. Berkley Holtz going for her 3rd straight hometown title at the 60th Sturgis Kiwanis Invite. Jaelyn Ray coming off two mid-18 efforts, facing a rising Samantha Schroeder at Gabriel Richard. Then there’s a big one – Ava Schafer at Greater Lansing. Ava won there last year, now she faces a little stiffer competition, with two other competitors also finding their way into the 17’s this fall.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 