Infographs from last season. Over the next few weeks, I’ll build out for this year with updated graphics.
Girls Adjustment:Â -34 Boys Adjustment:Â -28
As always, these writeups below will shoutout someone or a team that stood out from the race. That may not be the best runner or the winning team. Perhaps a team that surprised, a runner breaking through, or a runner contributing to a team victory. Of course, if you come to me nicely and want to brag about a fellow team/competitor/teammate, let me know, and I’ll try to give them love further down the line.
BROUGHT IT AT BRIDGMAN
John Keser, Buchanan
Buchanan as a whole looks better than their 18th rank over the summer. All five boys placed in the top-12 here, leading to an easy victory for the Bucks. Can they challenge Saugatuck in Region 22? Maybe, especially if John shores up that fifth spot and definitely so if he improves at the rate he did last year. His average time in his first two meets of 2023 – 21:31. 2024’s average thus far is 18:22.
Melanie Warren, Bridgman
Moving from D3 to D4, the Bees were always gonna be a presence. Senior Clara Fast, the Howell sisters, Shuler. And now you’ve got a Melanie Warren throwing down a PR in her first meet of the year. Her junior season last year was her first on the cross course and she was pretty darn consistent – running in the 21’s for much of the year. I wouldn’t be shocked if that consistency is a bit lower this fall. Top-2 in the division is a reach, but no reason these Bees can’t compete for a top-5 spot.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance
Infographs from last season. Over the next few weeks, I’ll build out for this year with updated graphics.
Girls Adjustment:Â -21 Boys Adjustment:Â -18
As always, these writeups below will shoutout someone or a team that stood out from the race. That may not be the best runner or the winning team. Perhaps a team that surprised, a runner breaking through, or a runner contributing to a team victory. Of course, if you come to me nicely and want to brag about a fellow team/competitor/teammate, let me know, and I’ll try to give them love further down the line.
MUSKEGON MANIACS
Carson Wood, Sparta
Yeah, I know Jenison won and dominated. But they’ve got bigger goals ahead and writeups in much more important spots.
Sparta placed 2nd in the Gold division, Carson here having a great race as their third boy. Their summer ranking was #11, early results say they may be a little underrated. This was Carson’s third opener at Muskegon CC, his fastest yet by 50+ seconds. Last year’s end may have not gone the way he wanted, this kind of start is the perfect opportunity to embark on a season that ends the right way.
Johanna Mulder, Holland
The Holland sophomore was on the path to a podium-contending freshman year that was unfortunately cut short. No loss of hope or motivation over here, as she completed a track season that contained a 5:19 in the 1600m. Her sophomore opener was 15 sec. faster than her freshman one, let’s wish for a complete season to see what she can do in November.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance
As always, these writeups below will shoutout someone or a team that stood out from the race. That may not be the best runner or the winning team. Perhaps a team that surprised, a runner breaking through, or a runner contributing to a team victory. Of course, if you come to me nicely and want to brag about a fellow team/competitor/teammate, let me know, and I’ll try to give them love further down the line.
EARLY BIRDS THAT GOT THE WORM
Andrew Wright, Kalamazoo Central
Gotta pick the winner, right? The Giant junior has had some outstanding performances on this course (4th at ’23 Regionals, significant season best as a freshman), considering the time of the year, this may be one of the best. His previous two openers were 17:53 and 16:57, he checked in here at 16:07. That low-16 effort was the fastest Early Bird time since Evan Bishop and Joe Meyers dueled back in 2019. And for the talented Wright, a sign that he’s ready to attack the 2024 season.
Rockford’s Girls
Easy pick with the team win. They were just featured in the Top Tens (#4), however this performance could foretell something greater. Daisy Cox proved that the gains from track were no fluke. Morgan Sanders moving in helps. Natalie Lewis off to a superb start to her senior year. Nice little debut from Keagan Mulka too, running 20:01 in her first race at the high school level. All of a sudden, these Rams are loaded.
*** = Team State Title type of performance ** = Top-10 Team type of performance * = Team Qualifier type of performance
These asterisks and the infographs above are from last year’s data. In the next few weeks, I’ll start building out for the 2024 season with updated charts and what not.