You may be asking, why include a girl who’s never been under 19:00? That dang track season, that’s why. During the process of a winter spent with the Dearborn Track Club, Courtney saw her confidence soar and her times drop. She came into 2024 sporting PR’s of 2:37/5:30/12:11. Come season’s end, those were all mightily dropped, multitudes of seconds in each, finally ending up at 2:21/4:59/10:59.
Overall, her junior year was one of great health and a rekindling of her love for the sport. After Courtney won a regional and league championship as a freshman, she found herself mired in a sophomore year plagued with injuries and setbacks. Faced with succumbing to the weight of the injuries or creating her comeback story, she chose the latter. The results gradually came in and especially so late in the year, with three consecutive mid-19 efforts, which then paved the way for her monumental winter.
The comeback story isn’t even close to being finished.
One of my favorite themes: the story of a runner gradually finding his way in the sport. Blake’s story culminated in a track season where he was able to drop considerable time, from 2:04 to 2:00 in the 800m, 9:55 to 9:44 in the 3200m, and most significantly, 4:29 to 4:20 in the 1600m. That 1600m is the major reason for his inclusion on this list. After hitting a 4:22 at the Barnyard, Blake hit consecutive 4:20’s, which grabbed him a 4th place finish at the OAA Red/White Championship, then a 2nd place state qualifier in Region 9. But it’s not as if he’s just a track stud, his abilities extend to the grass as well, as he had two sub-16:30 efforts during championship season to go along with a 20th place at the traditionally tough Oakland County Championships.
Three final awards and rankings to close this out: Best of the Best, Rookies of the Year, and All-Around Athletes. I’ll be updating this post as I work through these.
BEST OF THE BEST
2023’s edition had an athlete’s best two events added together, that combination aiming to find the absolute best athletes. This time around, I’ve filtered that down to one event. The reason for that is the field events, especially as we saw in Division 2, where it took until 7:30pm to finish the vault. A little tougher to get in other events while yours lasts for hours. Plus, if an athlete is nationally ranked in one event, they should be recognized for that.
As always, quantifying the best marks rely on these charts:
Computed in the same manner as the Best of the Best, just filtered out for freshmen.
Rank
Name
Team
Event
Points
Mark
Fr. MI Rank
Fr. US Rank
1
Kaden Griffiths
Stevensville Lakeshore
Long Jump
487
23′ 6″
1
2
2
Declin Doroh
Stevensville Lakeshore
High Jump
483
6′ 7.5″
1
3
3
Ben Romero
Forest Hills Central
800m
482
9:08.17
1
4
4
Kamari Ronfeldt
Ann Arbor Pioneer
3200m
475
9:09.60
2
5
5
Wendell Childs
Clarkston
400m
457
48.92
1
13
6
Ryan Good
Parma Western
800m
455
1:55.23
2
9
7
Chris Tetloff
Midland Bullock Creek
Shot Put
444
52′ 9″
1
11
8
Nathan Bruss
Walled Lake Northern
800m
444
1:55.97
3
18
9
Robert Jazwinski III
Hart
3200m
434
9:23.64
3
21
10
Noah Rufenacht
Quincy
High Jump
434
6′ 4″
2
25
10
Joel Cranmore
Leslie
High Jump
434
6′ 4″
2
25
12
Ezekiel Baltierra
Alma
3200m
432
13
Jack MacGregor
Howell
3200m
430
14
Luka Hammond
Grand Haven
1600m
426
15
Tucker Wiginton
Springport
Pole Vault
426
16
Brandon Commet
Ida
300h
425
17
Caleb Nelson
North Farmington
400m
424
18
Harvey Grove
Gladwin
Shot Put
413
19
Lorenzo Reynolds
East Kentwood
Long Jump
412
20
Braylon Holmes
Charlotte
Long Jump
410
21
Tyler Mollan
Lake Orion
Pole Vault
409
21
Grady Myers
Forest Hills Northern
Pole Vault
409
23
Avery Simmons
Frankenmuth
Discus
407
24
Caleb Erkkinen
Sterling Heights Stevenson
High Jump
405
24
Hayden Stout
Saginaw Valley Lutheran
High Jump
405
Rank
Name
Team
Event
Points
Mark
Fr. MI Rank
Fr. US Rank
1
Addyson Stiverson
Montrose
Shot Put
555
49′ 2″
1
1
2
Lorelai Zielinski
Traverse City Central
Shot Put
507
44′ 9″
2
6
3
Nevaeh Burns
Oak Park
400m
505
55.02
1
9
4
Elli VanDusen
Kalamazoo Christian
High Jump
502
5′ 7.25″
1
6
5
Aubree Bowers
Forest Hills Central
Pole Vault
500
12′ 6″
1
1
6
Bella Friddle
Hastings
High Jump
497
5′ 7″
2
7
7
Anyla Robinson
Detroit Cass Tech
800m
486
2:12.19
1
10
8
Ava Schafer
St. Johns
3200m
484
10:39.77
1
17
9
Annie Hrabovsky
Romeo
3200m
480
10:42.42
2
21
10
Daisy Cox
Rockford
3200m
480
10:42.44
3
22
11
Kaylie Livingston
Whitmore Lake
3200m
473
12
Collette Wierks
Holland West Ottawa
800m
472
13
Stephanie DiPiazza
GRTC Perigrines
1600m
465
14
Willow Mason
Saginaw Heritage
200m
463
15
Ella Wierks
Holland West Ottawa
800m
463
16
Katelyn Wendling
New Lothrop
400m
457
17
Logan Richardson
East Kentwood
200m
456
18
Annabelle Lowman
Ludington
3200m
456
19
Clara Kaczor
Freeland
1600m
455
20
Aubrey Wilson
Dearborn Divine Child
200m
454
21
Leigha Whitman
Stevensville Lakeshore
Long Jump
453
22
Elliana Hufton
Lake Fenton
800m
452
23
Davea Crowe
Pinckney
300h
452
24
Katelynn Egli
Novi
800m
448
25
Becca Van Lent
Ann Arbor Skyline
1600m
445
ALL-AROUND ATHLETES
These were tabulated by adding an athlete’s scores from every single event, so long as they hit the D1 regional qualifying standard (linked here). If you’re a college coach looking for underclassmen that can compete in the multis, this might be your list.
Since the chart is too big to post on here, we’re going 200 deep (or about the 99th percentile) on Google Sheets.