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To review, these “best crews” were started last year to try to recognize the best teams in each event area, whether that’s the jumps here, or sprints or throws elsewhere. Last year’s version was more complex and relied on having three participants in each event. I’ve changed things a bit this year, mostly to ease the process on my end and have the ability to include more teams.

Here’s the process:

Over the winter, I created my own version of World Athletics Tables, but for Michigan athletes. These are based on times/marks from the 2022 Outdoor Season throughout the US. Their purpose is to compare across events. Here are the boys tables:

BOYS TABLES

There are two guidelines for being included. Your mark has to be from this outdoor season and it has to be better than the Regional Additional Qualifying Mark. Marks from this season are taken from the athletic.net performance lists. There will likely be some instances where someone has run a time, but it’s not included on that list. I can’t help that! Please contact the necessary folks to get your name on there.

For each event, with a maximum of four athletes, those scores are added together. Then within a category, those events are added together. Relays are scaled to match their importance within a meet. Often, at the state level, teams score more points from a relay than they would with four individuals running that event, so they’re given a bit more importance here.

Here’s an example of one of the better early season crews, the Spring Lake 400m bunch, which includes one of the better overall athletes in the State, Jaxson Tober:

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Division	Points	Team Score
12	Tanner Guczwa	50.86	Spring Lake	2	388
12	Jaxson Tober	50.94	Spring Lake	2	385
12	Caden Kyser	51.61	Spring Lake	2	361	1134

These are from this season only, containing meets up until TUESDAY. Since the early season meets omit a few events, what I did was take a team’s best three event scores. Future versions will include all events.

The two crews I’ve neglected to rank have been the pole vaulters and hurdlers. Hurdles, because there have been very few opportunities at the 100/110/300m distances, vaulters because it’ll take a bit for them to hit the regional qualifying height. I plan to kick those off next week and settle into a consistent rhythm and schedule.

Third fastest 400m mark as a freshman doesn’t mean much unless it translates to quicker times as an upperclassman. Ahmad Ameen has definitely accelerated in terms of speed and growth, throwing down a 49.46 in his opener. Running that indoors shows Ahmad can definitely be in the discussion come June and perhaps be a challenger to defending champ Malachi Mosley.

D1 Rank	Team	Score	100m	200m	400m	4×1	4×2	4×4
1	Byron Center	2285	319	542	659	0	1084	0
2	Saline	1669	0	294	324	0	1050	0
3	Caledonia	1382	319	0	345	718	0	0
4	Detroit U-D Jesuit	1162	0	309	0	0	853	0
5	Detroit Cass Tech	1154	0	0	402	0	752	0
6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	1108	0	0	368	0	0	740
7	Holland West Ottawa	1010	313	306	391	0	0	0
8	Rockford	920	0	580	340	0	0	0
9	Lansing Waverly	658	658	0	0	0	0	0
10	Holt	529	0	529	0	0	0	0
11	Jackson	438	0	0	438	0	0	0
12	Ann Arbor Skyline	411	0	0	411	0	0	0
13	Zeeland West	387	0	0	387	0	0	0
14	Hudsonville	337	0	0	337	0	0	0
15	Detroit Catholic Central	330	0	0	330	0	0	0
16	Warren DeLaSalle	313	313	0	0	0	0	0
17	East Kentwood	308	0	308	0	0	0	0
18	Grand Blanc	294	0	294	0	0	0	0
19	Grand Haven	282	0	282	0	0	0	0
20	Warren Mott	269	0	269	0	0	0	0

Wrote a bit about his sister on Tuesday, thought I’d return the favor today. They’re both 100m studs, and Rasean O’Tey has kicked off his season in unfamiliar territory. His previous two openers have been of the 11.8 variety, now he’s closing in on sub-11 with an 11.12. Last spring, he was able to nab his first State Qualifier in the 200m, can he double that up with a 100m berth as well?

D2 Rank	Team	Score	100m	200m	400m	4×1	4×2	4×4
1	Spring Lake	2438	279	241	1134	0	624	679
2	Forest Hills Eastern	1269	0	0	0	0	608	661
3	Sturgis	1073	369	0	0	0	704	0
4	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	897	260	0	0	0	638	0
5	Detroit Country Day	704	0	0	0	0	704	0
6	Tecumseh	661	0	0	0	0	661	0
7	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	616	0	295	321	0	0	0
8	Clio	596	0	0	0	0	0	596
9	Hastings	592	0	0	0	0	0	592
10	Mattawan	505	0	209	296	0	0	0
11	Fowlerville	482	0	482	0	0	0	0
12	Charlotte	471	0	471	0	0	0	0
13	Linden	375	0	0	375	0	0	0
14	Yale	374	0	0	374	0	0	0
15	Pinckney	336	0	0	336	0	0	0
16	Summit Academy North	326	0	0	326	0	0	0
17	North Branch	306	0	0	306	0	0	0
18	Chelsea	303	0	0	303	0	0	0
19	Remus Chippewa Hills	295	0	0	295	0	0	0
20	Riverview	295	0	0	295	0	0	0

As a team, Constantine probably doesn’t get the attention from me as they deserve. In 2022, the Falcons closed the season as runner-ups in Region 24 and the SAC, 5^th at MITCA, and 16^th in the State Finals. A large part of that was Dean Topoloski’s sprinting. He was a consistent contributor at the 200m and 400m. He specialized in the 400m, finally nailing a sub-51 at the D3 Finals, good enough for a 5^th place finish. He opened this year with a 51.48, almost a second quicker than his 2022 opener, which makes one wonder how low he can go in 2023.

D3 Rank	Team	Score	100m	200m	400m	4×1	4×2	4×4
1	Lansing Catholic	1172	0	170	0	406	596	0
2	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	1059	0	247	346	0	466	0
3	Delton-Kellogg	1020	254	244	0	0	522	0
4	Burton Atherton	856	0	339	0	0	517	0
5	Montague	519	0	263	256	0	0	0
6	Chesaning	456	0	456	0	0	0	0
7	Lawton	443	250	193	0	0	0	0
8	Almont	415	0	155	261	0	0	0
9	Ithaca	411	0	411	0	0	0	0
10	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	385	225	160	0	0	0	0
11	Constantine	366	0	0	366	0	0	0
12	Centreville	357	0	0	357	0	0	0
13	Kent City	351	0	351	0	0	0	0
14	Dearborn Advanced Technology	286	286	0	0	0	0	0
15	Caro	276	0	0	276	0	0	0
16	Grandville Calvin Christian	259	0	0	259	0	0	0
17	Ovid-Elsie	253	0	0	253	0	0	0
18	Hart	229	0	229	0	0	0	0
19	Reed City	194	0	194	0	0	0	0
20	Holland Black River	194	0	194	0	0	0	0

Jack of all trades, master of all, Northwood commit and Petersburg point getter is back again for his senior campaign. In Tuesday’s Tri meet between Dundee, Dearborn ATA, and P-S, Brandon Thompson finished first in the 400m, 800m, AND long jump. None of his marks were especially outstanding, but the mere fact that he’s out there means trouble for any D4 competition. After all, last June, he pulled off one of the harder doubles possible, placing 2^nd in the 400m and then doubling back with a 3spot in the 800m. I have no doubt this competitive beast will pull off something similarly spectacular in a few months.

D4 Rank	Team	Score	100m	200m	400m	4×1	4×2	4×4
1	Detroit Frederick Douglass	1010	0	0	243	0	428	340
2	Kalamazoo Hackett	984	471	253	0	220	260	0
3	Muskegon Heights	450	0	0	0	139	311	0
4	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	354	0	142	211	0	0	0
5	Mt Clemens	332	0	332	0	0	0	0
6	Vestaburg	314	0	0	314	0	0	0
7	Petersburg-Summerfield	268	0	0	268	0	0	0
8	Manistee Catholic	188	0	0	188	0	0	0
9	Novi Christian Academy	187	0	0	187	0	0	0
10	The Potter’s House	187	0	0	0	187	0	0

To review, these “best crews” were started last year to try to recognize the best teams in each event area, whether that’s the jumps here, or sprints or throws elsewhere. Last year’s version was more complex and relied on having three participants in each event. I’ve changed things a bit this year, mostly to ease the process on my end and have the ability to include more teams.

Here’s the process:

Over the winter, I created my own version of World Athletics Tables, but for Michigan athletes. These are based on times/marks from the 2022 Outdoor Season throughout the US. Their purpose is to compare across events. Here are the girls tables:

GIRLS TABLES

There are two guidelines for being included. Your mark has to be from this outdoor season and it has to be better than the Regional Additional Qualifying Mark. Marks from this season are taken from the athletic.net performance lists. There will likely be some instances where someone has run a time, but it’s not included on that list. I can’t help that! Please contact the necessary folks to get your name on there.

For each event, with a maximum of four athletes, those scores are added together. Then within a category, those events are added together. Relays are scaled to match their importance within a meet. Often, at the state level, teams score more points from a relay than they would with four individuals running that event, so they’re given a bit more importance here.

Here’s an example of one of the better early season crews, the Divine Child girls 200m bunch:

Grade	Name	Time	Points	Team	Score
11	Meghan Koss	26.41	358	Dearborn Divine Child	945
10	Kathryn Kurtinaitis	27.36	301	Dearborn Divine Child
11	Olivia Velazquez	27.60	286	Dearborn Divine Child

These are from this season only, containing meets up until Saturday. Some invites aren’t listed on the athletic.net lists (GVSU and SVSU meets), but results from there are included here. Since the early season meets omit a few events, what I did was take a team’s best three event scores. Future versions will include all events.

Soleil Moore spent all of her sophomore year and the first part of her junior year running above 60 in the 400m. Then come late April, she was able to slip under a minute, that breakthrough leading to a run that included an OK Red title, Region 3 title, and 7^th place at D1 State. That 400m has always been her calling card, which is scary, because it appears she’s added a little speed to her repertoire. Her 25.79 indoors is a full second faster than her previous 200m best. Extrapolate to twice the distance and you’ve got a girl who is a factor come June.

D1 Rank	Team	100m	200m	400m	4x100m	4x200m	4x400m	Total
1	East Kentwood	0	700	0	0	989	812	2501
2	Forest Hills Central	612	0	0	0	960	0	1572
3	Holland West Ottawa	0	0	755	0	0	755	1509
4	Saline	0	0	409	0	0	912	1321
5	Ypsilanti Lincoln	0	0	342	0	827	0	1169
6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	0	0	0	0	0	1101	1101
7	Walled Lake Northern	0	346	613	0	0	0	959
8	Wayne Memorial	0	0	0	0	886	0	886
9	Woodhaven-Brownstown	0	0	0	0	861	0	861
10	East Lansing	0	747	0	0	0	0	747

Grade	Name	Time	Points	Team	Event
		1:48.2	989	East Kentwood	4×2
		4:16.7	812	East Kentwood	4×4
12	Soleil Moore	25.79	395	East Kentwood	200m
9	Arianna Carter	27.30	304	East Kentwood	200m

The Detroit girls may get much of the attention (and rightfully so), but Sturgis’s Keyanna O’Tey had herself a freshman year on par with many of them. Region 3 Champ and State Qualifier in the 100m, a top-10 mark amongst all freshman in the 200m. Early returns suggest an improvement in the 100. She didn’t reach 12.3 until mid-May of 2022. Her sophomore form nailed 12.3 in the cold, wind, and rain. With Sturgis’s move to D2, that 100m field looks to be stacked – Elizabeth Anderson, Kylin Griffin, Victoria Miller will all be there to challenge.

D2 Rank	Team	100m	200m	400m	4x100m	4x200m	4x400m	Total
1	Dearborn Divine Child	0	945	736	0	764	728	2445
2	Sturgis	414	0	0	717	744	0	1874
3	Hastings	265	533	0	0	797	0	1595
4	Summit Academy	0	0	296	0	766	0	1062
5	Monroe Jefferson	0	0	319	0	0	599	919
6	Spring Lake	0	0	366	0	0	543	909
7	East Grand Rapids	0	0	0	0	0	857	857
8	Tecumseh	0	0	0	0	811	0	811
9	Mason	0	0	0	0	681	0	681
10	Linden	0	622	0	0	0	0	622

Grade	Name	Time	Points	Team	Event
		1:52.4	764	Dearborn Divine Child	4×2
		4:20.4	728	Dearborn Divine Child	4×4
10	Kathryn Kurtinaitis	59.85	392	Dearborn Divine Child	400m
11	Meghan Koss	26.41	358	Dearborn Divine Child	200m
11	Samantha Black	61.96	343	Dearborn Divine Child	400m
10	Kathryn Kurtinaitis	27.36	301	Dearborn Divine Child	200m
11	Olivia Velazquez	27.60	286	Dearborn Divine Child	200m

Devin Johnston had herself a DAY at the SVSU D3/4 Invite. She grabbed titles in both the 60m and 200m, that 200m time a good two full seconds better than any D3 competitor has run thus far in 2023. Last year, she was able to double and grab medals in both the 100m and 200m at D3 State. Can she repeat the feat?

D3 Rank	Team	100m	200m	400m	4x100m	4x200m	4x400m	Total
1	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	0	519	662	0	0	0	1181
2	Lawton	0	272	319	0	0	455	1046
3	Hillsdale	0	0	249	0	681	0	930
4	Lansing Catholic	0	0	0	0	554	0	554
5	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	238	0	226	0	0	0	464
6	Almont	0	400	0	0	0	0	400
7	Ithaca	0	0	342	0	0	0	342
8	Manistee	0	0	342	0	0	0	342
9	Delton-Kellogg	0	0	249	0	0	0	249
10	Manton	0	220	0	0	0	0	220

Grade	Name	Time	Points	Team	Event
11	Claire Neumann	61.00	366	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	400m
11	Claire Neumann	27.41	298	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	200m
12	Sarah Mills	64.00	296	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	400m
12	Emma Britton	28.67	222	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	200m

Kenzie Fedewa enters her sophomore year looking to improve upon her 6^th place finish at the D4 400m. During her freshman year, she was able to progress from 67+ opener to a 62.2 at the State Finals. In this 2023 season, she’s opened with a 63.4 (on a 200m flat track, mind you). With 3 of the top-5 spots having graduated, there are many opportunities to move up.

D4 Rank	Team	100m	200m	400m	4x100m	4x200m	4x400m	Total
1	Portland St. Patrick	0	501	319	0	0	563	1383
2	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	0	187	452	0	0	0	639
3	Lawrence	291	0	0	0	0	0	291
4	Southfield Christian	0	0	273	0	0	0	273
5	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	0	0	226	0	0	0	226
6	Marine City Cardinal Mooney	0	204	0	0	0	0	204
7	The Potter’s House	0	151	0	0	0	0	151

Grade	Name	Time	Points	Team	Event
		4:28.2	563	Portland St. Patrick	4×4
10	Kenzie Fedewa	63.00	319	Portland St. Patrick	400m
11	Rylee Scheurer	27.84	272	Portland St. Patrick	200m
11	Sophia Schrauben	28.54	230	Portland St. Patrick	200m

To review, these “best crews” were started last year to try to recognize the best teams in each event area, whether that’s the jumps here, or sprints or throws elsewhere. Last year’s version was more complex and relied on having three participants in each event. I’ve changed things a bit this year, mostly to ease the process on my end and have the ability to include more teams.

Here’s the process:

Over the winter, I created my own version of World Athletics Tables, but for Michigan athletes. These are based on times/marks from the 2022 Outdoor Season throughout the US.

GIRLS TABLES

BOYS TABLES

There are two guidelines for being included. Your mark has to be from this outdoor season and it has to be better than the Regional Additional Qualifying Mark. Marks from this season are taken from the athletic.net performance lists. There will likely be some instances where someone has run a time, but it’s not included on that list. I can’t help that! Please contact the necessary folks to get your name on there.

For each event, with a maximum of four athletes, those scores are added together. Then within a category, those events are added together. There is some scaling done for relays and more than four athletes included if you’re especially dominant in an event, but we’ll get to those in time.

Here’s an example of Zeeland East’s already dominant girls:

Grade	Name	Feet	Inches	Total	Team	Division	Score
12	Mariah Sackett	111	9	1341.0	Zeeland East	1	409
12	Kallie Taylor	104	6	1254.0	Zeeland East	1	389
11	Anna Tilden	98	5	1181.0	Zeeland East	1	372
Grade	Name	Feet	Inches	Total	Team	Division	Score
12	Faith Bonnema	35	11	431	Zeeland East	1	410
12	Mariah Sackett	35	0.75	420.75	Zeeland East	1	401
11	Anna Tilden	34	7	415	Zeeland East	1	396

These are from this season only, containing meets up until Saturday. They do contain shot AND disc, I know many of the indoor meets didn’t contain the discus, but I felt it necessary to reward those that have braved the outdoors.

Of the 22 throwers that qualified for the 2022 State Finals in the Shot Put, 14 were seniors, leaving a void both in advancement and perhaps on the medal stand. Utica’s Daniel Yarrington has made an early bid for jumping on stage. His 49’2 throw won the Macomb County Indoor Championship (which has thankfully returned under Matt Fecht) and is a 3’ foot personal best.

D1 Rank	Team	Shot	Disc	Team Score
1	Zeeland East	1542	0	1542
2	Holland West Ottawa	393	421	814
3	Warren DeLaSalle	813	0	813
4	Saginaw Heritage	452	0	452
5	Midland	433	0	433
6	Utica	416	0	416
7	Saline	398	0	398
8	Rockford	394	0	394
9	East Kentwood	391	0	391
10	Monroe	385	0	385

Grade	Name	Event	Distance	Team	Points
11	Parker Williams	Shot	48′ 4″	Zeeland East	409
11	Garrett Weeden	Shot	45′ 8″	Zeeland East	387
12	Drestin Ter Haar	Shot	44′ 0.25″	Zeeland East	374
12	Evan Berghorst	Shot	43′ 8″	Zeeland East	372

This will be a common theme and it makes sense; throwing is a technique and strength driven activity. The top 6 finishers in Division 2’s discus are all gone (and the great throwing crew of Zeeland East has moved up to D1). The top returning finisher sure made his mark to begin the year. Michael Griffey threw 20’ further than his 2022 opener. He wasn’t bad in the Shot Put either, only nailing down the best mark of any D2 competitor thus far.

D2 Rank	Team	Shot	Disc	Team Score
1	Portland	382	1134	1516
2	Coopersville	1182	0	1182
3	Plainwell	393	436	830
4	Edwardsburg	370	439	809
5	Milan	780	0	780
6	Hopkins	740	0	740
7	Hastings	384	350	734
8	Ionia	0	701	701
9	Whitehall	434	0	434
10	Carleton Airport	424	0	424

Grade	Name	Event	Distance	Team	Points
12	Noah Simpson	Shot	45′ 0″	Portland	382
12	Evan Bower	Disc	142′ 6″	Portland	403
12	Noah Simpson	Disc	133′ 4″	Portland	380
12	Logan Rogers	Disc	121′ 10.75″	Portland	351

Kellen Kimes just won’t let up on his destructive path. MITS titles in the Weight Throw and Discus, Indoor Record in the Weight Throw. His weakness may be the Shot Put. And by weakness, I mean he lobbed a 57’er that would’ve been a top-10 throw in Michigan last year. Can he pull of the double this year? Early returns suggest a high possibility!

Also, please check out his interview with Jeff Hollobaugh on the Michtrack newsletter.

D3 Rank	Team	Shot	Disc	Team Score
1	Clare	725	0	725
2	Saginaw Valley Lutheran	690	0	690
3	Hart	478	0	478
4	Lawton	0	412	412
5	Montague	408	0	408
6	Manistee	380	0	380
7	Chesaning	372	0	372
8	Berrien Springs	370	0	370
9	Grand Rapids West Catholic	363	0	363
10	Caro	355	0	355

Grade	Name	Event	Distance	Team	Points
11	Jake Punches	Shot	43′ 3″	Clare	368
12	Kyle Potter	Shot	41′ 9″	Clare	356

Last year, Zane Forist was out doing Zane Forist things, winning titles, etching his name into record books. There will be at least one new champion crowned this spring. There will be a ton of new All-Staters coronated as well. One potential name to look for is Morrice’s Oliver Long. As a freshman, he’s already thrown 44’, a mark that would’ve placed him among the ten best freshmen of 2022.

D4 Rank	Team	Shot	Disc	Team Score
1	Morrice	715	0	715
2	Kalamazoo Hackett	326	335	661
3	Lawrence	329	326	656
4	Decatur	0	328	328
5	Marcellus	319	0	319

Grade	Name	Event	Distance	Team	Points
9	Oliver Long	Shot	44′ 6.5″	Morrice	378
12	Drew McGowan	Shot	39′ 2.75″	Morrice	336