The second weekend in September is always a relief. Typically two huge meets, now three with Ottawa Hills joining Holly and Spartan. Teams leaving the nest, taking on the best throughout the state. Very illuminating as far as rankings go, no doubt enlightening as well to a runner when they face great competition.
This week’s rankings contain meets through Saturday (9/14).
These are for fun. And I do this for free. I’m positive toward every runner in the state. Abiding by that golden rule, you should reciprocate. Capisce? Enjoy.
Recap
A typo had Hillsdale Academy in the D3 race at Holly (which is fine, I make many mistakes too!), else I would’ve mentioned the Colts locked in a top-10 battle in the D5 race at Holly. As the day began to heat up, so did the Hillsdale pack, moving up after a conservative first mile, placing six boys under 18:00.
Twenty minutes later, Royal Oak Shrine placed 2nd in the D4 race (a mix of lower enrollment D3 schools and higher enrollment D4), all while missing one of their varsity runners.
Holland Calvary Christian had a tough day at Spartan, falls at the start, tears to their spikes, yet they all finished admirably.
The matchup between Mason County Eastern and Maple City Glen Lake was missing MCE’s Alex Tyndall, though wins are wins, and the Lakers held serve on their home course.
Looking Forward
With more meets spread out throughout the state, there aren’t many massive matchups. Top-10 squads are facing off in two separate spots – Goodells and Cadillac. You’ve got Whitmore Lake and Royal Oak Shrine at the Brooks Mid-Season Spectacular and Maple City Glen Lake vs. White Cloud over in Caddy.
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Hillsdale Academy
148
34
172.4
3
2
Royal Oak Shrine
202
36
169.8
2
3
Holland Calvary Christian
251
31
161.4
1
4
Mason County Eastern
288
29
163.3
4
5
Maple City Glen Lake
328
29
162.5
5
6
Harbor Springs
365
28
153.7
6
7
Kalamazoo Hackett
377
32
162.7
7
8
Whitmore Lake
424
33
153.5
8
9
White Cloud
430
31
152.4
NR
10
Bridgman
515
32
149.7
9
11
Dryden
516
35
144.9
12
12
Dansville
578
33
145.7
24
13
Leland
608
29
138.6
11
14
Unionville-Sebewaing
617
35
139.9
21
15
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
629
30
138.0
10
16
Harbor Beach
649
35
139.9
14
17
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
656
36
136.8
17
18
Lutheran Westland
665
36
135.9
25
19
Riverview Gabriel Richard
669
36
137.5
13
20
Portland St. Patrick
677
31
134.7
18
21
Petoskey St. Michael
686
28
137.7
16
22
Cardinal Mooney Catholic
687
36
133.9
15
23
Manchester
688
34
136.8
22
24
Tri-Unity Christian
699
31
136.4
19
25
Frankfort
700
29
132.9
27
26
Grand Traverse Academy
742
29
131.0
20
27
Marlette
760
35
129.9
23
Recap
Unbeknownst to me given that darn typo, Hillsdale Academy and Whitmore Lake had an early morning showdown at Holly. However, known to me and becoming more apparent as the race wore on, was Elodie Weaver’s excellent racing. Weaver patiently moved up in the field, finishing in 4th, running 2 full minutes faster than she did at Springfield Oaks last year. Hillsdale was second, besting Breckenridge. The Colts, as they did with their boys, got it done with a pack, finishing with the fastest 5th, 6th, and 7th girls in the field. Holly’s divisions are smaller than a Portage or a State race, can the depth at the back match the Trojans firepower up front?
Looking Forward
As above, top teams are concentrated around the Mid-Season Spectacular and Veterans Serving Veterans. Following a Monday MIAC Jamboree, Whitmore Lake will have had five days of rest before undertaking the quick course at Goodells. Fellow top-ten squad Royal Oak Shrine will be present as well.
The deepest D4 field of the weekend will be on the starting line in our great north. Along with a few D3 standouts, you’ll have #9 Grand Traverse Academy, #15 Buckley, and #17 Maple City Glen Lake. That’s a Region 28 preview if you’ll ever see one. You’ve actually seen two already – at Pete Moss and Buckley. GTA prevailed each time, though Buckley definitely closed the gap on their home course. Can that trend continue?
Top 27
Rank
Team
Score
Region
Top 5 Avg.
Last Week
1
Whitmore Lake
161
33
106.6
2
2
Hillsdale Academy
164
34
94.0
6
3
Harbor Springs
165
28
96.1
1
4
Breckenridge
203
30
90.7
3
5
Bridgman
207
32
87.9
5
6
Kalamazoo Hackett
281
32
81.9
4
7
Gobles
292
31
85.9
7
8
Royal Oak Shrine
352
36
71.2
8
9
Grand Traverse Academy
375
29
70.3
10
10
Vestaburg
417
30
73.1
11
11
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
417
36
71.9
12
12
Ubly
423
35
63.4
9
13
Unionville-Sebewaing
450
35
61.7
13
14
Lansing Christian
482
33
59.0
14
15
Buckley
484
29
57.7
15
16
Martin
504
31
58.7
20
17
Maple City Glen Lake
555
29
50.7
16
18
Beal City
576
30
49.3
19
19
Harbor Beach
588
35
49.2
18
20
Clarkston Everest Collegiate
592
33
46.6
21
21
Holland Calvary Christian
609
31
46.4
17
22
Rogers City
629
28
43.9
26
23
Leland
634
29
34.8
NR
24
Dryden
692
35
34.8
24
25
Frankfort
696
29
33.3
22
26
Plymouth Christian Academy
700
36
38.6
28
27
Genesee Christian Academy
731
33
32.5
25
Individual Rankings
Recap
The past week’s rankings posed the question – who could close the gap on Marek Butkiewicz? Running all alone in the D4 race at Holly, Abenezer Cerone sure gave his best effort. 25 second gap at the mile, nearly 45 seconds at the finish, a 16:04 final time. That mark was 20+ seconds faster than his sophomore result. Keep in mind that sophomore season culminated in a 3rd place finish at MIS. Kyle Redman showed his versatility on the mountainous trails of Glen Lake. Coming away with a 10 sec. victory over Colebrook Sutherland (who further established he’s a top-10 runner), Redman proved he can roll on the fast ones and handle the more rugged ones.
Looking Forward
We’ve got some fast courses on the weekend’s schedule and a few runners ready to rock those. Landen Livingston and Abenezer Cerone will be at Goodells and Colebrook Sutherland vs. Mason Sinke in Cadillac. Wouldn’t be shocked if we see a few 15’s on the scoreboard by weekend’s end.
Top 30
Rank
Grade
Name
Team
Rating
Region
1
11
Marek Butkiewicz
Kalamazoo Hackett
209.6
32
2
11
Abenezer Cerone
Royal Oak Shrine
202.8
36
3
12
Alex Tyndall
Mason County Eastern
200.4
29
4
12
Theodore Davis
Dansville
199.7
33
5
10
Kyle Redman
Mesick
197.4
29
6
12
Mason Sinke
Bear Lake-Onekama
197.4
29
7
12
Colebrook Sutherland
Maple City Glen Lake
194.8
29
8
11
Cody Bradley
Petoskey St. Michael
192.7
28
9
11
Landen Livingston
Whitmore Lake
190.0
33
10
11
Grayson Rorick
Hillsdale Academy
189.2
34
11
11
Brody Karg
Harbor Beach
189.0
35
12
11
Sean Siems
Kalamazoo Hackett
187.8
32
13
12
Austin Sneed
East Jordan
187.3
28
14
11
Landon Rogers
Three Oaks River Valley
186.6
32
15
10
Jacob Ferdubinski
Riverview Gabriel Richard
185.0
36
16
10
Ty Redman
Mesick
184.8
29
17
12
Teddy Ippel
Bridgman
184.1
32
18
12
Tyler Laansma
Tri-Unity Christian
183.0
31
19
12
Andrew Mabry
Bridgman
181.6
32
20
12
Coleson Cruzan
White Cloud
178.5
31
21
10
Abraham Feeney
Maple City Glen Lake
178.4
29
22
11
Grant Johnson
Manchester
177.7
34
23
10
Anthony Rowe
Breckenridge
176.6
30
24
11
Carter Clark
Carson City-Crystal
175.8
30
25
9
Lincoln Laansma
Tri-Unity Christian
174.2
31
26
12
Kaleb Canning
White Cloud
173.1
31
27
12
Zack Becker
Unionville-Sebewaing
172.9
35
28
10
Vern Clyne
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian
172.2
36
29
12
Reece Poole
Hillsdale Academy
171.9
34
30
11
Luke Molenkamp
Hillsdale Academy
171.4
34
Recap
Kaylie Livingston kept doing what she’s always been doing – winning. Her 18:33 at Holly nearly matched her winning time from 52 weeks ago. Although early in the day without the heat bearing down, there was a noticeable difference between the two sets of conditions.
Izzy Brooks was the first D4 girl in the D3/4 section of Spartan, earning her second consecutive sub-20 on the Forest Akers course.
Eliza Keith moved into 5th from 8th, racing to a 45 sec. course PR at Springfield Oaks. A great bounce back after last week’s race at Rambling Rock.
Looking Forward
Kaylie Livingston will likely be all alone over at Goodells, but that’s never stopped her from pushing to the limit. With the disparate nature of this particular weekend, matchups are a bit rarer. We do have one up in the Little Traverse, with Stefi Reskevics and Jane Manthei coming together at the Petoskey Invite. Both were All-State last fall, both sub-20 in their openers at East Jordan.
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 