Blog

SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• Division 2 State XC Champion
• 3x All-State (XC)
• 2021 Team State Champion (XC)
• 3x Regional Champion (XC)
• Division 2 State 1600m Champion
• Division 2 State 4x800m Champion
• Division 2 State 4x400m Champion
• 4^th Place – Division 2 State 800m
• 9x All-State (Track)



Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
11	Drew Muller	19:10.7	East Grand Rapids	147.4	Portage Early Bird	19-Aug
11	Drew Muller	19:01.2	East Grand Rapids	148.3	OK White 1	7-Sep
11	Drew Muller	19:11.6	East Grand Rapids	137.5	Bath	10-Sep
11	Drew Muller	18:37.2	East Grand Rapids	153.9	Spartan	16-Sep
11	Drew Muller	18:25.4	East Grand Rapids	149.9	OK White 2	21-Sep
11	Drew Muller	18:00.5	East Grand Rapids	153.5	Cougar Falcon	24-Sep
11	Drew Muller	17:52.5	East Grand Rapids	158.5	Otsego Bulldog	1-Oct
11	Drew Muller	17:51.9	East Grand Rapids	159.0	Portage	8-Oct
11	Drew Muller	17:25.3	East Grand Rapids	163.2	Northview	19-Oct
11	Drew Muller	18:52.5	East Grand Rapids	137.9	Region 12	29-Oct
11	Drew Muller	18:18.5	East Grand Rapids	152.2	Division 2 State	5-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Drew Muller	19:09.2	East Grand Rapids	146.9	Portage EB	20-Aug
10	Drew Muller	18:54.9	East Grand Rapids	145.4	Pete Moss	28-Aug
10	Drew Muller	19:17.1	East Grand Rapids	137.3	OK White 1	8-Sep
10	Drew Muller	19:05.4	East Grand Rapids	142.2	Bath	11-Sep
10	Drew Muller	18:21.6	East Grand Rapids	146.8	OK White 2	22-Sep
10	Drew Muller	18:23.6	East Grand Rapids	151.8	Otsego Bulldog	2-Oct
10	Drew Muller	18:20.7	East Grand Rapids	145.8	OK White 3	6-Oct
10	Drew Muller	18:21.8	East Grand Rapids	156.7	Portage	9-Oct
10	Drew Muller	18:20.8	East Grand Rapids	153.1	OK White 4	20-Oct
10	Drew Muller	19:37.9	East Grand Rapids	144.7	Region 14	29-Oct
10	Drew Muller	18:23.3	East Grand Rapids	148.9	Division 2 State	6-Nov
Grade	Name		Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	142.0	Pete Moss	29-Aug
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	150.3	OK White (GF)	16-Sep
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	149.4	Cedar Springs Mini	19-Sep
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	152.4	OK White 2	23-Sep
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	158.7	Bulldog Elite	3-Oct
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	154.7	OK White Championship	14-Oct
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	145.2	Region 11	31-Oct
9	Drew Muller		East Grand Rapids	149.0	Division 2 State	6-Nov

The Rundown

The ultimate teammate, Drew’s performance at the Division 2 Track Finals may be overlooked, simply because of how great she’s been. With a state title on the line, there was much pressure on EGR’s top runner. There was heat on the track, but witnesses at FHE say the heat was mostly generated by Drew setting the FHE track on fire. She anchored a State Champion 4x800m, won the 1600m (AGAIN) with a late surge, nailed a PB in the 800m, then played a critical role in the State Champion 4x400m. She’s your defending XC State Champion and deadly in the final stretches of races. There will be pressure, both externally and internally to repeat, but can you think of any candidate better adept to handle it?

Last Year

SUMMER PREVIEW

MID-SEASON

REGIONAL PROJECTIONS

THE RESULT

Girls

1. Holland West Ottawa (State Champions)
2. Jenison (11^th)
3. Grand Haven (10^th)

Boys

1. Grand Haven (11^th)
2. Jenison (13^th)
3. Zeeland West (19^th)

Top 27 Teams

Previous years had top-25 teams, but there’s 27 (and sometimes more) team qualifiers and what does it hurt to add another two?

Girls

Holland West Ottawa (5^th), Grand Haven (9^th), Rockford (12^th), Jenison (18^th)

Boys

Grand Haven (4^th), Jenison (16^th), Zeeland West (21^st)

(If your team isn’t listed in the images above or the scores below, you probably don’t have five returners, at least on ol’ athletic.net. I’m sure many of these teams will fill out their rosters by late October)

Projected Scores

Place	Girls Team	Score
1	Holland West Ottawa	39
2	Grand Haven	62
3	Rockford	70
4	Jenison	109
5	Hudsonville	146
6	Zeeland West	177
7	Grandville	211
8	Cedar Springs	230
9	Muskegon Mona Shores	231
10	Muskegon Reeths-Puffer	281
11	Grand Rapids Northview	285
12	Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills	378
13	Grand Rapids Union	390
14	Muskegon	463

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Grand Haven	43
2	Jenison	71
3	Zeeland West	84
4	Rockford	134
5	Cedar Springs	150
6	Hudsonville	156
7	Muskegon Reeths-Puffer	160
8	Holland West Ottawa	206
9	Grandville	214
10	Muskegon Mona Shores	239
11	Grand Rapids Northview	306
12	Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills	371
13	Grand Rapids Union	386
14	Wyoming	439
15	Muskegon	490

Top Runners

I’m making a slight change for the Division 1 folks. Previous regional writeups had the top finishers, even if they were mentioned in the Top 10’s or 50 Tickets. Because so many Division 1 kids make up the top 50 returners (which makes sense, since D1 covers about 60% of the state), I’ll write about a few returners beyond those 50. This will hopefully extend a bit more coverage towards more deserving athletes. Some of the 50 have been covered, others will get their own post. Check the Summer Preview page or keep checking back until Friday morning for those.

Ava Porras, Holland West Ottawa

Successful conclusion to the cross season spilled over into track, where from the 800m to the 3200m, she ranked in the top-5 amongst all freshmen.

Jordyn Klaasen, Zeeland West

A quiet, unheralded All-Stater these past two years. Two-time OK Green Conference champion as well.

Trinity VanderWoude, Rockford

Portage’s Early Bird is tomorrow and Trinity is a great reminder that your opener doesn’t make or break your season. You couldn’t have predicted her four consecutive sub-19’s and All-State finish from the 21:16 she ran at Portage West MS.

Natalie Lewis, Rockford

Primarily an 800m runner as a freshman, was able to move up to the 1600m as a sophomore without much issue. By season’s end, she had run 5:18, which likely helped give strength toward a 2:21 800m.

Maddie Vande Bunte, Jenison

Maggie, Lily, Claudia, and Maya have all left and gone their various directions, now Maddie is holding the torch for the next generation of Wildcats. Her junior year featured the breakthroughs we knew were possible, barreling into the 19’s and ripping a 5:19 during track.

Carter Livermore, Grandville

Like Trinity, you wouldn’t know much from his first race – a 20:33. You may recognize Carter from his final four. All under 16:30, including top-10 places in the OK RED and in this region.

Jaxon Allen, Muskegon Reeths-Puffer

Following in the footsteps of Klay Grant as the latest Rocket to blast toward the 15’s. His 15:59 at the GMAA Championship earned him a 3^rd place finish, his third consecutive top-10 there.

Mason Lucas, Jenison

Grew from a kid running mid-17’s to one knocking on the door of a sub-16. Thanks to a few late season breakthroughs, he’s right there, his 16:17 at the OK Red was a standout performance as was his 16:09 close at MITCA.

Nate Fahey, Rockford

Has really established himself as a miler these past two springs. He reached a season’s best of 4:30 as a sophomore, then this May finished 7^th in the ultra-competitive OK Red.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW





2022 Results

Meet	Division	Place
Hillsdale		3rd of 13
Holly	D5	1st of 13
Jackson	Red	2nd of 11
Portage	D4	3rd of 18
SCAA Championship		1st of 5
Class D		3rd of 16
Region 34		1st of 10
Division 4 State		4th of 27



Top Returners

Thomas Holm

When not ripping it up at Sharp Park, Thomas is exponentially moving up at State. He dropped nearly 40 spots in a year, moving to 12^th as a junior.

Grayson Rorick

Improvement abounded on the track as well, where he moved towards a freshman that placed 10^th in the Division 4 1600m finals.

Reece Poole

Approximately 5% of the Division 4 boys field ran a personal best at November’s State Finals – Reece was one of them, grabbing a 16:54 and 13^th place finish.

Henry Lindley

Was one of 22 D4 freshmen boys to race to a sub-5 1600m.

James Rahe

Flashed potential with a low-19 Portage effort, then enriched us with a 5:01/11:06 in the spring. Based on those track times, on pace for that massive freshmen-to-sophomore leap.

Alex Richards

Steady depth that’ll likely be displacing many runners from other D4 squads. Consistently in the low-19’s/high 18’s throughout championship season.

Potential Newcomers

Ryan Miller

Eighth grade year included a silver medal in the SCAA and multiple sub-13’s.