Blog

SUMMER PREVIEW

Last Year

Summer
Mid-Season
Final Projections
The Result

Boys

1. Allendale (4^th)
2. Grand Rapids Christian (6^th)
3. Holland Christian (18^th)

Girls

1. Grand Rapids Christian (Defending Champs!)
2. Zeeland East (5^th)
3. Spring Lake (4^th)

Haters will be sad to know that I got all the teams right.

Top 27 Teams

Boys

Top Ten – Allendale
Top Ten – Holland Christian
#26 – Holland

Girls

Top Ten – Holland Christian
Top Ten – Zeeland East
#15 – Hudsonville Unity Christian
#27 – Coopersville

Projected Scores

Boys

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Allendale	26
2	Holland Christian	60
3	Holland	139
4	Zeeland East	144
5	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	144
6	Hamilton	156
7	Hudsonville Unity Christian	165
8	Hopkins	207
9	Coopersville	248
10	Comstock Park	257
11	Grand River Preparatory	299
12	Grand Rapids West Catholic	319
13	Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills	404

Girls

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Holland Christian	22
2	Zeeland East	51
3	Hudsonville Unity Christian	82
4	Coopersville	105
5	Holland	140
6	Hopkins	185
7	Allendale	187
8	Hamilton	213
9	Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills	278
10	Wyoming Lee	311
11	Grand River Preparatory	314

Top Runners

Boys

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	11	Ronnie Silveira	Allendale
2	12	Will Engbers	Holland Christian
3	12	Jeb Hillary	Grand Rapids Catholic Central
4	12	Kilian Whalen	Allendale
5	12	Abatu Dykstra	Hamilton
6	12	Parker Tiethof	Allendale
7	12	Ben Gross	Allendale
8	10	Mason Hill	Allendale
9	11	Aden Ashworth	Allendale
10	12	Andrew Commeret	Comstock Park
11	12	Brayden Rynsburger	Holland Christian
12	12	Caden Guffey	Zeeland East
13	11	Jack Estelle	Hopkins
14	12	Will Whitmore	Holland Christian
15	11	Landon Gerritsma	Holland Christian
16	12	Aiden Kasprzak	Grand Rapids Catholic Central
17	12	Noah Hernandez	Hamilton
18	12	Aidan Brinks	Holland Christian
19	12	Corey Jones	Comstock Park
20	10	Nate Davis	Zeeland East
21	10	Cole Coffman	Holland Christian
22	9	Aiden Lambers	Holland
23	12	Nathan Steen	Holland Christian
24	9	Kash Moored	Hopkins
25	10	Rian Powers	Holland

Ronnie Silveira

50 Ticket kid.

Will Engbers

Another 50 Ticket kid.

Jeb Hillary

Click for Jeb’s feature.

Kilian Whalen

Comeback season of the year in ’23 for this Falcon. Earned a personal best at Allendale’s home invite and was a consistent figure in the high-15’s/low-16’s.

Abatu Dykstra

I’ve always loved his mid-distance work, being a contributor on some fierce Hawkeye relays. Their 4×4 squad just won a state title and Abatu himself earned an All-State finish in the 800m.

Parker Tiethof

After breaking into the 16’s halfway through his sophomore year, he’s wanted no part of anything slower. Steady figure in the 16’s, with two top-10 regional finishes too.

Girls

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Emma Drnek	Zeeland East
2	9	Avery Engbers	Holland Christian
3	10	Eliana Stob	Holland Christian
4	10	Ellery Lampen	Holland Christian
5	10	Olivia Hollebeek	Holland Christian
6	10	Johanna Mulder	Holland
7	11	Taryn DiLaura	Zeeland East
8	9	Annika Stob	Holland Christian
9	9	Adalyn Raab	Zeeland East
10	11	Meredith Cook	Zeeland East
11	9	Lexi Gibson	Holland
12	9	Quinn McWilliams	Coopersville
13	12	Sierra Grooters	Hudsonville Unity Christian
14	10	Carly Bruxvoort	Hudsonville Unity Christian
15	10	Mackenzie Huizenga	Holland Christian
16	12	Maddie Bruxvoort	Hudsonville Unity Christian
17	9	Addison Bixler	Coopersville
18	11	Olivia Droski	Coopersville
19	12	Maya VanSolkema	Hudsonville Unity Christian
20	10	Riley DenHartigh	Hudsonville Unity Christian
21	12	Ambria DePoy	Holland
22	9	Oakley Osterhart	Coopersville
23	11	Layla Geurink	Holland Christian
24	11	Megan Kuzma	Zeeland East
25	11	CC Kuras	Zeeland East

Emma Drnek

Yet another 50 Ticket kid.

Eliana Stob

Last year, a freshman that made her mark in the four lapper. Regional Champion over in Region 12, then threw down a 5:17 to place 20^th in D2.

Ellery Lampen

Reached into her endurance bag during track. For the 3200m, hit the 11’s in late April, stayed consistent in the 11:40 range, before busting out an 11:26 at State.

Olivia Hollebeek

After ripping an 18:54 at Cougar Falcon, her late season self showed that was no fluke. From Portage on, almost always in the 19-flat range, often lower.

Johanna Mulder

Freshman campaign was cut short, her season ending at Portage. But by that point, she had already scraped her way into the low-19’s.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 1600m – 5:15
• 3200m – 10:53
• 5k (XC) – 18:52

• 41^st Place – D1 State
• 7^th Place – Region 9
• 8^th Place – Macomb County
• 13^th Place – D1 State 3200m
• 8^th Place – Macomb County 1600m

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
11	Olivia Purdy	18:52.8	Romeo	137.1	Division 1 State	4-Nov	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:43.5	Romeo	134.5	Region 9	27-Oct	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	20:47.4	Romeo	98.9	MAC Championship	21-Oct	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:15.7	Romeo	134.1	Macomb County	14-Oct	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:03.8	Romeo	134.1	Bluejay	30-Sep	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:17.0	Romeo	130.3	Jackson	23-Sep	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:44.6	Romeo	130.8	Holly	16-Sep	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	20:22.2	Romeo	126.3	Averill	9-Sep	2023
11	Olivia Purdy	19:59.5	Romeo	130.8	Lamplighter	18-Aug	2023
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
10	Olivia Purdy	19:51.6	Romeo	114.1	MITCA	12-Nov	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	20:25.3	Romeo	110.6	Division 1 State	5-Nov	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	19:59.0	Romeo	111.0	Region 9	29-Oct	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	20:00.3	Romeo	114.2	MAC Division	22-Oct	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	20:33.5	Romeo	108.2	Macomb County	15-Oct	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	20:48.0	Romeo	98.0	Jackson	24-Sep	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	21:11.4	Romeo	100.2	Holly	17-Sep	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	22:24.5	Romeo	90.8	Averill	10-Sep	2022
10	Olivia Purdy	21:25.2	Romeo	102.9	Lamplighter	19-Aug	2022

The Rundown

Much needed.

With the Anchor Bay course doing a number to Violet Hrabovsky’s ankle, the usual top-5 Romeo scoring outfit was in a bit of a dire situation. The Bulldogs had four girls capable of All-State, but you need five in cross country.

Coming into the year, Olivia probably wasn’t the necessary figure to be that fifth girl. She had been under 20:00 twice as a sophomore, had shown signs of improvement during track (5:27/11:46), however it’s a highly competitive D1 landscape.

The Olivia we saw late in the season was a whole different animal. Her patience in racing was evident early, picking off girls late in the race at Averill and Bluejay, holding on in the twists n’ turns at Holly. Entering into championship season in the low-19’s, Olivia had become one of the better girls in Macomb County, further proven by her 8^th place finish at Eastwood.

Then when State rolled around, Romeo, although a bit banged up, was set. Deskins, Annie H, Emmerson, and Natalia could do their thing up front, reliable Olivia would pick through the field at the back. 79^th at the mile, 49^th at two, she finished in 41^st and sealed Romeo’s state title.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 1600m – 4:24
• 3200m – 9:26
• 5k (XC) – 15:35

• 18^th Place – D2 State (2022)
• 2^nd Place – I-8
  • 2022 Champion
• 5^th Place – Region 12
  • 3x Top-15
• 12^th Place – D2 State 3200m
• 2^nd Place – I-8 3200m

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
11	Dominic Lowrie	15:35.7	Battle Creek Harper Creek	201.1	MITCA	11-Nov	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:19.4	Battle Creek Harper Creek	187.5	Division 2 State	4-Nov	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:14.1	Battle Creek Harper Creek	198.6	Region 12	28-Oct	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	15:59.1	Battle Creek Harper Creek	189.3	I-8 Championship	21-Oct	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:29.3	Battle Creek Harper Creek	188.6	Sturgis	14-Oct	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	15:54.8	Battle Creek Harper Creek	195.4	Otsego Bulldog	30-Sep	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	15:57.9	Battle Creek Harper Creek	196.4	Lakeview	9-Sep	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:25.2	Battle Creek Harper Creek	201.3	BS Shamrock	5-Sep	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:39.3	Battle Creek Harper Creek	196.2	Kalamazoo	30-Aug	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:47.4	Battle Creek Harper Creek	194.2	Harper Creek Optimist	26-Aug	2023
11	Dominic Lowrie	16:25.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	197.5	Under the Lights	18-Aug	2023
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:12.1	Battle Creek Harper Creek	197.0	Division 2 State	5-Nov	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:10.0	Battle Creek Harper Creek	192.3	Region 12	29-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	15:59.4	Battle Creek Harper Creek	189.5	I-8 Championship	22-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:19.7	Battle Creek Harper Creek	190.4	Sturgis Kiwanis	15-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:20.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	183.1	Calhoun County	8-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:25.0	Battle Creek Harper Creek	187.7	I-8 2	4-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:26.3	Battle Creek Harper Creek	187.2	Otsego Bulldog	1-Oct	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	16:29.5	Battle Creek Harper Creek	186.2	Lakeview	10-Sep	2022
10	Dominic Lowrie	17:19.5	Battle Creek Harper Creek	179.5	Harper Creek Optimist	27-Aug	2022
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
9	Dominic Lowrie	16:46.2	Battle Creek Harper Creek	181.9	Division 2 State	6-Nov	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	16:51.7	Battle Creek Harper Creek	177.1	Region 13	30-Oct	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	16:28.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	172.8	I-8	23-Oct	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	16:53.4	Battle Creek Harper Creek	178.9	Sturgis Kiwanis	16-Oct	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	17:35.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	171.1	I-8 2	6-Oct	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	17:15.4	Battle Creek Harper Creek	173.5	Otsego Bulldog	2-Oct	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	17:55.7	Battle Creek Harper Creek	165.8	Lakeview	11-Sep	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	18:21.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	152.8	Shamrock	31-Aug	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	18:43.5	Battle Creek Harper Creek	151.8	Harper Creek Optimist	28-Aug	2021
9	Dominic Lowrie	19:26.6	Battle Creek Harper Creek	146.5	Viking Stampede	20-Aug	2021

The Rundown

In last year’s Region 13 Preview, I wrote, “Following his sub-16 and subsequent All-State, appears poised for another breakout based on his 9:37 during track.” His predicted place was 4^th in that post, and while he was one spot back, the prediction for the breakout was certainly correct.

The break may have not occurred in a traditional way, but there was clear improvement from his sophomore to junior self. Four sub-16’s in 2023 compared to one in 2022. His championship season didn’t go as great in terms of place, missing the MIS podium when he had made it before. Instead of sulking, Dominic attacked the MITCA race and came out with a 15:35, nearly half a minute faster than his 10^th grade best.

Track provided more ammo that this junior version was ticking along the right way. After running a series of 10+ minute efforts, sprinkled in with a few 9:4x’s, Lowrie was able to take advantage of his state qualifier, running a 9:26 in those adverse conditions. Racing to your highest level at season’s end, that’s a surefire way to lead into a great summer and senior season.

I’m gonna double down: another breakout is on the way.