I love to spin a tale of remarkable improvement, but Griffin has just been remarkably good his whole career
He reached great heights as a freshman, slipping into the 16’s late at Regionals
He hit his first state qualifier as a sophomore, along with an All-Oakland County finish
Then as a junior, finished higher at Regionals, higher at State, and higher at County
One might see his personal best “only” improve by 27 seconds across the three years, but his accomplishments as a junior far outweigh those as a freshman, and when you finish Top-10 at the toughest county meet in the country, you’re doing damn well
In track, he’s been able to display some serious strength, having run multiple sub-10 efforts in the 3200m despite a 1600m best of 4:40
He’s been a near qualifier in that 32, hopefully 2023’s spring season can be the breakthrough
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Griffin Conway
16:51.3
193.9
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
17:21.6
195.1
South Lyon
Island Lake
28-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
16:24.3
191.9
Ramblin’ Rock
Willow
11-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
16:52.6
190.5
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
17:03.7
191.4
Oakland County
Possum Hollow
9-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:41.3
184.2
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:57.6
185.8
6 Hudson Mills
Hudson Mills (North)
30-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:40.5
184.5
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Griffin Conway
169.0
Brighton/Novi
Huron Meadows
29-Aug
10
Griffin Conway
175.0
Hartland/Novi
Hartland HS
12-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.1
Canton/Novi
Novi HS
22-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.9
Novi/Salem
Novi HS
29-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
180.3
Oakland County
Kensington
9-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
182.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
179.4
PR 15
Novi HS
24-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.5
D1 Reg 8
Chandler Park
30-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.9
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Griffin Conway
170.3
South Lyon
Island Lake
9
Griffin Conway
172.3
Ramblin Rock
Willow
9
Griffin Conway
174.0
Holly
Springfield Oaks
9
Griffin Conway
171.9
Oakland County
Kensington
9
Griffin Conway
174.3
KLAA
Huron Meadows
Speaking of remarkably good, how does three for three on the All-State podium sound?
No matter the division, no matter the year, Hannah always shows up when it counts
Her career is littered with outstanding performances, but I think 2021 contained the best of the bunch, back-to-back 18:35’s at Cadillac and Shepherd, followed up by 18:48 at Portage on a tougher course
Hannah has many accolades on the cross course, but track is where she truly shines, a true mid-distance girl
She showed that prowess in her initial track season, grabbing 12th in the 400 at D2 State
Then as a junior, smashed the 60 sec. barrier late in the year on her way to a 3rd place finish at D3 State
And for the first time ever, you get video footage! Look at those wheels!
I swear this is the last time I’ll use this hashtag all summer, but Morgan is another example of #TheSkrollEffect
To go from the high-23’s as a freshman to low-19’s in only a year is fairly incredible
And judging by those track times, she’s got more growth in her as well
Morgan really stepped into her bag in the spring of ’21, her openers at 2:33/5:41 that eventually got down to 2:20/5:19
After a rustbusting opener at Kensington, she laid down a 19:14 at Willow, looking to match the Churchill boys on a magical season
But that was unfortunately cut short, she was unable to compete at Regional, and thus State
Folks such as myself were wondering if she’d return to her prior form in track, she sure swept away those wonders, with multiple sub-5:05 efforts to close the year
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Morgan Brown
21:32.0
107.6
Milford
Possum Hollow
2-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
19:14.8
133.7
Ramblin’ Rock
Willow
11-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
20:23.8
122.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
10
Morgan Brown
19:53.8
123.1
Coaching Legends
Huron Meadows
2-Oct
10
Morgan Brown
19:44.0
129.3
Wayne County
Willow
9-Oct
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Morgan Brown
50.7
Brighton/Churchill
Nankin Mills
8-Sep
9
Morgan Brown
62.3
Churchill/Franklin
Nankin Mills
26-Sep
9
Morgan Brown
80.0
PR 12
Champaign Park
22-Oct
9
Morgan Brown
82.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
9
Morgan Brown
92.9
D1 Reg 6
Willow
31-Oct
Spring of ’21, heading out to Dexter to watch some track action for the first time in two years, Brandon immediately caught my eye
He ran 2:13/4:52 that day, solid, but not spectacular, but he had an aggressive mindset to his racing that you could see mixed with a bit of strength could lead to a special runner
Those special qualities came out last fall, where every 5k he ran was south of 17:00
Dexter doesn’t avoid hard courses either – there’s a Holly in there, Hudson Mills North as well
Brandon slightly inched down time over the course of the season and in the most important race of the year, hit a nearly 20 sec. PB, a 16:12 at MIS
This spring season, he made continued progression, especially in the 800m, cutting time down from 2:13 to 2:00
That 2:00 is ranked 14th amongst all sophomores in 2022
With many Mustangs dotting this list and the top of the state scoreboards, Brady might slip under the radar
But not here!
Heron was Northville’s 3rd runner during much of the championship season and figures to be right in that mix again with their pack
He ran his fastest time of the year at KLAA, and three of his better rated races in at KLAA, Wayne County, and Regionals
What stands out the most is his consistency, his slowest times in major races were either Lamplighter (long course) or Cleverley (muddy course), everything else sub-17
He’s been like this for years, consistently solid, but took that next step in the fall of ’21.
During track, he was able to break 10:00 early in the season, then worked on grinding down his 1600m best, reaching down to 4:34 in late May at Houseman Field.
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Brady Heron
17:08.2
188.3
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Brady Heron
16:51.9
198.7
Mustang
Cass Benton
31-Aug
11
Brady Heron
16:37.2
189.9
Bath
Bath HS
11-Sep
11
Brady Heron
16:44.6
193.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Brady Heron
17:09.7
188.4
Cleverley Friday Night
Anchor Bay HS
24-Sep
11
Brady Heron
16:37.8
192.1
Wayne County
Willow
9-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:13.4
193.5
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:37.1
192.6
6 Hudson Mills
Hudson Mills (North)
30-Oct
11
Brady Heron
16:29.3
188.2
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Brady Heron
181.9
Northville/Plymouth
Cass Benton
1-Sep
10
Brady Heron
175.1
Northville/Salem
Willow
12-Sep
10
Brady Heron
178.5
Canton/Northville
Cass Benton
15-Sep
10
Brady Heron
179.1
Hansons
Freedom Hill
3-Oct
10
Brady Heron
181.0
Brighton/Northville
Huron Meadows
10-Oct
10
Brady Heron
181.8
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
10
Brady Heron
174.0
PR 15
Novi HS
24-Oct
10
Brady Heron
176.7
D1 Reg 8
Chandler Park
30-Oct
10
Brady Heron
183.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Brady Heron
166.3
Mustang
Cass Benton
9
Brady Heron
169.5
Bath
Bath HS
9
Brady Heron
170.1
Spartan
Forest Akers
9
Brady Heron
169.8
Wayne County
Willow
9
Brady Heron
162.6
KLAA
Huron Meadows
As with Heron, Alexis Ball is a runner on a high-level team that’s worked behind the scenes for a few years and primed to take a more prominent role
Her freshman campaign began inauspiciously, running 22:00+ at Ludington, but she finished that year with a sub-20 at the MMoC and nearly breaking through the top-100 at MIS
As a sophomore, she began the season with a personal best at Benzie (always a good sign), then continued the progression with four sub-19 efforts
While the regional race in the boggy conditions at Delta didn’t go as well as others, her State Meet was a superb rebound, finishing 50th overall and as the 2nd TCC girl on a team that finished 3rd
Her track campaign showed some progression, especially in the 3200m, knocking off 16 sec. from her freshman year, getting down to 11:18
As we’ve seen with Julia Flynn, even the fastest of the fast are able to improve in the Trojan program, I don’t doubt we’ll see greater heights from Alexis in the coming seasons
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 