Michigan XC Speed Ratings

Accomplishments & Accolades

13^th Place – Division 2 State
Region 10 & Northern Mich. MoC Champion
4^th Place – Big North Conference
2x All-Region
2x State Qualifier

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
11	Nolan Nixon	16:31.1	Cadillac	191.6	Pete Moss	27-Aug
11	Nolan Nixon	16:34.9	Cadillac	193.7	Oiler	2-Sep
11	Nolan Nixon	16:25.0	Cadillac	195.0	John Bruder Classic	7-Sep
11	Nolan Nixon	16:46.5	Cadillac	189.5	Spartan	16-Sep
11	Nolan Nixon	16:05.6	Cadillac	191.5	Cadillac	24-Sep
11	Nolan Nixon	16:15.8	Cadillac	190.7	Otsego Bulldog	1-Oct
11	Nolan Nixon	16:21.6	Cadillac	188.8	Portage	8-Oct
11	Nolan Nixon	16:37.1	Cadillac	197.0	Big North Conference	18-Oct
11	Nolan Nixon	16:30.8	Cadillac	184.1	NW Mich MOC	22-Oct
11	Nolan Nixon	16:09.4	Cadillac	195.2	Region 10	28-Oct
11	Nolan Nixon	16:09.1	Cadillac	198.0	D2 State	5-Nov
11	Nolan Nixon	15:51.5	Cadillac	195.5	MITCA	12-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Nolan Nixon	17:20.2	Cadillac	175.3	John Bruder	8-Sep
10	Nolan Nixon	17:31.5	Cadillac	177.5	Spartan	17-Sep
10	Nolan Nixon	17:08.1	Cadillac	171.0	Cadillac	25-Sep
10	Nolan Nixon	17:20.8	Cadillac	172.1	Bluejay	2-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	17:09.8	Cadillac	179.4	Portage	9-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	17:50.0	Cadillac	177.7	Freeland Falcon	16-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	17:27.1	Cadillac	178.6	Big North Conference	19-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	16:57.9	Cadillac	174.4	Northern Michigan	23-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	17:01.2	Cadillac	181.9	10 Chip Hills	29-Oct
10	Nolan Nixon	16:38.8	Cadillac	184.4	D2 State	6-Nov
10	Nolan Nixon	16:51.5	Cadillac	181.8	MMOC	13-Nov
Grade	Name		Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	151.6	Ottawa Hills	18-Sep
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	146.0	Cougar Falcon	26-Sep
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	160.6	Shepherd Bluejay	3-Oct
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	159.3	Mancelona (LS)	6-Oct
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	158.5	Bengals	9-Oct
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	161.7	Big North Conference	13-Oct
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	163.7	PR 19	19-Oct
9	Nolan Nixon		Cadillac	159.5	D2 Reg 10	31-Oct

The Rundown

When the rain falls harder, the winds howl louder, and the mud grips your every step, an athlete such as Nolan Nixon only becomes stronger. Nolan excels in what others may deem a hindrance, perhaps best evidenced by his 13^th place finish at the Division 2 State Finals. My predictions had him 17^th, but being out there on that cold, blustery November day, I knew the environment was in his favor to outperform those expectations. Circumstances aside, he closed the 2022 season on a high note. A late move coming out of the woods at Chippewa Hills was unable to be covered by his competition, gaining Nolan a regional championship. In the postseason, he excelled in Kenosha, running near his best times all season (rarely done – tough course) and set a personal best at MITCA, breaking 16 for the first time.

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50 Tickets to Brooklyn: Girls #49

July 7, 2023July 6, 2023 mixcspeedratings

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

3x State Qualifier
2x All-Region
6^th Place – SEC Red
3^rd Place – Region 5 3200m
4^th Place – SEC Red 3200m

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
11	Laney Alig	21:00.7	Saline	104.1	Milan Puddle Jumper	30-Aug
11	Laney Alig	19:50.4	Saline	129.2	Saline Early Bird	1-Sep
11	Laney Alig	21:07.2	Saline	98.9	Bath	10-Sep
11	Laney Alig	20:17.6	Saline	113.1	SEC Red 2	28-Sep
11	Laney Alig	19:44.3	Saline	118.2	Marauder	1-Oct
11	Laney Alig	19:20.8	Saline	129.4	Portage	8-Oct
11	Laney Alig	19:10.6	Saline	129.5	River Rat Open	14-Oct
11	Laney Alig	18:43.5	Saline	136.2	SEC Championship	20-Oct
11	Laney Alig	18:28.8	Saline	137.7	Region 5	29-Oct
11	Laney Alig	19:12.2	Saline	134.9	D1 State	5-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
10	Laney Alig	19:52.1	Saline	128.0	A2 Early Bird	2-Sep
10	Laney Alig	19:30.6	Saline	133.8	Bath	11-Sep
10	Laney Alig	20:12.2	Saline	122.6	SEC 1	14-Sep
10	Laney Alig	19:12.9	Saline	138.7	Jackson	25-Sep
10	Laney Alig	19:46.8	Saline	128.7	SEC Red 2	28-Sep
	Laney Alig	19:27.7	Saline	134.8	Portage	9-Oct
10	Laney Alig	19:41.0	Saline	133.0	River Rat	15-Oct
10	Laney Alig	19:32.3	Saline	128.2	SEC Championship	21-Oct
10	Laney Alig	20:30.8	Saline	135.4	5 Lake Erie	30-Oct
10	Laney Alig	19:25.7	Saline	128.4	D1 State	6-Nov
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date
9	Laney Alig		Saline	97.2	Plymouth/Saline	1-Sep
9	Laney Alig		Saline	99.1	Saline/Skyline	16-Sep
9	Laney Alig		Saline	124.4	Pioneer/Saline	3-Oct
9	Laney Alig		Saline	129.9	West Ottawa	10-Oct
9	Laney Alig		Saline	129.9	SEC Red	17-Oct
9	Laney Alig		Saline	109.2	PR 9	24-Oct
9	Laney Alig		Saline	99.0	D1 Reg 5	31-Oct
9	Laney Alig		Saline	110.8	D1 State	6-Nov

The Rundown

Beginning in early October, Laney began to gain momentum, a trend that not only continued through the rest of the fall, but into track. Her 19:20 at Portage was her best effort since Jackson the previous year, helping her Hornets place 4^th in a tough field. That minor success led to many more, PBs at three consecutive races, and a State performance on par with many of those times.

This isn’t a criticism, actually a major compliment. The drawback of a program such as Saline, each year with solid teams, is that runners such as Laney get lost in my shuffle. Her career arc definitely warrants more attention. Time-wise, she’s been in sub-20 in each year. Dig deeper, peering at places, she’s improved each consecutive fall. In the SEC Red, from 9^th as a freshman to 6^th as a junior. At Region 5, 24^th to 12^th to 5^th. Though surely the best example is on the track, where her 11:12 3200m (in the rain, mind you!) qualified Laney for her first ever race at the State Finals.

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The Regional Previews: Division 4, Region 36

July 6, 2023July 6, 2023 mixcspeedratings

Last Year

Girls

Rochester Hills Lutheran NW (6^th)
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (8^th)
Royal Oak Shrine (15^th)

Boys

Lutheran Westland (21^st)
Marine City Cardinal Mooney (20^th)
Royal Oak Shrine (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

Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (Top 10), Royal Oak Shrine (16^th), Allen Park Cabrini (25^th)

Boys

Lutheran Westland (22^nd), Marine City Cardinal Mooney (25^th), Auburn Hills Oakland Christian (27^th)

(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	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	36
2	Royal Oak Shrine	44
3	Allen Park Cabrini	72
4	Academy of the Sacred Heart	104
5	Southfield Christian	124
6	Austin Catholic	165

Place	Boys Team	Score
1	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	69
2	Lutheran Westland	70
3	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	80
4	Royal Oak Shrine	115
5	Southfield Christian	115
6	Birmingham Roeper	148
7	Detroit Frederick Douglass	160
8	Plymouth Christian Academy	176
9	Austin Catholic	221

Top Runners

Thought I’d give a review of some of the top returners in each region. Returners means no incoming freshman (you’ll get your days in the sun). If you’re gonna be in the 50 Tickets, you’ll get a full writeup there (Tyler Lenn, Ava Teed). If you’re on a top team and you’re projected highly here, you hit the jackpot! Yes, I’m writing a bit less than previous years, but I think I’ve learned my lesson in that I need to conserve energy and brainpower for all divisions and regions. Typically by August, I’m rushing to get these done. This time around, hopefully all regions get the same amount of coverage.

Eliza Keith, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian

Started the year off with victories in six of her first eight races. Then it was championship time, where Eliza pulled off a string of seconds, each with more significance. First at the MIAC Championship, then here, and then at MIS. That big race medalin’ continued onto track, where she was All-State in the 800m and 1600m.

Leah Zarrilli, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian

Been a consistent contributor each of the past two years, but stepped up a notch in 2022. Leah went from 19^th to 5^th in the MIAC, 9^th to 4^th in this region, and then a huge leap at State, 71^st to 20^th.

Natalie Gibbs, Birmingham Roeper

September and October full of tough courses prepared her for championship season. Those 22 min. efforts may have not looked impressive on paper, but they paved the way for her second consecutive All-State.

Maya Ferguson, Marine City Cardinal Mooney

Started shining a bit brighter in track, especially in the 3200m. Maya ended the year with two sub-13’s, medaling in the CHSL Cardinal and Blue Water MoC.

TJ Donnan, Southfield Christian

Three years of XC have resulted in three State Finals appearances, TJ moving up 30-40 spots each time. For his junior year, that left him 2 spots shy of All-State. But if track is any indicator, he has a great chance of stepping on that podium.

Abenezer Cerone, Royal Oak Shrine

His freshman year had a few ups and downs, but ended on a high note – a personal best at this region and another sub-18 in Brooklyn.

Emmanuel Mehari, Plymouth Christian Academy

Built confidence and dropped times this entire spring. A 4:42 1600m is very good for someone who was above 18:00 all fall.

Isaac Zammit, Marine City Cardinal Mooney

We’ll be missing Matthew Zammit, but at least we get one more year from his brother. He was an essential member of the Cardinals mid-distance squad, qualifying for State in the 1600m and 800m, also contributing to their Regional and Conference championships in the 4×8.