(Yes I’m copying the same intro from yesterday. I felt it was well-written and being my own boss, I have those kinda perks)
You know, I could wait until mid-April to release these. Nearly all teams would have a meet or three under their belt, they’d be an accurate representation of the entire state. But who wants to wait that long? Surely not myself. This extended rest period is good for the soul, but I’ve laid dormant for too long.
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.
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 Rockford’s girls:
Grade
Name
Feet
In.
Total
Team
Points
Event
10
Ashley Williams
15
7.5
187.5
Rockford
339.98
Long
10
Greta Caprathe-Buczek
5
7
67
Rockford
497.37
High
Since girls run first in 2023, they were posted yesterday. Here are the boys:
Bay City Western’s Colton Whyte was Michigan’s best middle school high jumper last spring. One might think he’d need a warmup period, a few weeks adjustment before sticking his nose in at the HS level. False. Colton traveled down the road to SVSU and took home 1st place on the first day of the season. 6’2 might not mean much now, but I’m anxious to see where he’s at in two months.
D1 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Canton
833
448
1281
2
East Kentwood
377
392
769
3
Traverse City West
377
362
740
4
Fraser
377
361
738
5
Bay City Western
405
0
405
6
Northville
405
0
405
7
Rockford
0
394
394
8
Grand Blanc
0
381
381
9
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills
0
380
380
9
Grand Haven
0
380
380
What a team contributor Nate Bolley is for Whitehall. He was a part of their three sprint relays that competed at the 2022 State. He can even move up to an 800 if you need him. But individually, his 20’10” opener in the long jump puts him on track to make noise in Division 2 in that event, 21’+ efforts often placing one on the medal stand. Whatever happens, I know he’ll be an integral part of an always successful Viking team.
D2 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Whitehall
726
373
1099
2
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
0
733
733
3
Charlotte
0
638
638
4
Grand Rapids Catholic Central
405
0
405
4
Monroe Jefferson
405
0
405
6
Milan
0
363
363
7
Ortonville Brandon
0
352
352
8
Richland Gull Lake
349
0
349
9
Clio
0
338
338
10
Alma
335
0
335
10
Flint Kearsley
335
0
335
10
North Branch
335
0
335
10
Owosso
335
0
335
10
Saginaw Swan Valley
335
0
335
Karson Tocco plays a similar role to Bolley, a jack of all trades on Clare, another traditional power. He excels in the longer sprints, attaining a Regional Championship in the 200m. That title came after missing qualifying in the long jump at those same Regionals. 2023 is off to a wonderful start however, as he grabbed the D3/D4 title at SVSU. Seven of the top eight finishers in the D3 long jump were seniors, that medal stand and that title are completely up for grabs.
D3 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Hillsdale
377
355
732
2
Montague
698
0
698
3
Chesaning
335
284
619
4
Hart
321
290
610
5
Lakeview
377
0
377
6
Clare
0
359
359
7
Grandville Calvin Christian
349
0
349
8
Saginaw Valley Lutheran
0
348
348
9
Reed City
335
0
335
10
Harrison
0
334
334
Over in Ypsi at 2022’s Huron Relays, Anthany Buford leapt 20+ feet on his initial jump of his high school career. Automatically a contender in D4, he carried those 20+ efforts to the State Finals, where he placed 2nd, jumping 22’0. Ten months later, he’s back where he started, only adding nearly two feet to that initial effort. Peck’s Alex Affer is still there and don’t look past Fairview’s Landon Galea, these three should be heavy favorites to place high in a few months’ time.
You know, I could wait until mid-April to release these. Nearly all teams would have a meet or three under their belt, they’d be an accurate representation of the entire state. But who wants to wait that long? Surely not myself. This extended rest period is good for the soul, but I’ve laid dormant for too long.
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.
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 Rockford:
Grade
Name
Feet
In.
Total
Team
Points
Event
10
Ashley Williams
15
7.5
187.5
Rockford
339.98
Long
10
Greta Caprathe-Buczek
5
7
67
Rockford
497.37
High
As girls run first in 2023, our women get the first post:
Rockford is headed by the great Greta Caprathe-Buczek. Greta had an outstanding freshman year, finishing 10th in the Division 1 Long Jump and winning the High Jump at MITCA. Unfortunately, she placed 5th at Regionals in the HJ, unable to qualify in both events. But it appears she’s improved a ton from her already impressive freshman best. She was consistently a 5’2 high jumper in 2022, even reaching up to 5’5. In her first official competition of her sophomore year, 5’7 to capture the crown at the Laker Challenge.
D1 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Rockford
497
340
837
2
Zeeland East
401
340
741
3
Macomb Dakota
0
711
711
4
Grandville
440
0
440
5
Woodhaven-Brownstown
0
418
418
6
Salem
401
0
401
7
Grand Ledge
0
387
387
8
Zeeland West
0
364
364
9
Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills
363
0
363
10
Port Huron Northern
0
349
349
Yale’s Sadie Dykstra was a middle school standout, losing one event (the 200 hurdles at Megastar) over the course of her season. She was unbeaten in the long jump, leaping to a 17’2 PR, which she already expanded upon by an inch in this freshman campaign.
D2 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Charlotte
649
317
966
2
Saginaw Swan Valley
954
0
954
3
Hastings
0
713
713
4
Allendale
363
349
711
5
Gladwin
324
371
696
6
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s
286
328
614
7
Otsego
572
0
572
8
Spring Lake
572
0
572
9
Yale
0
408
408
10
Owosso
382
0
382
The top four finishers from Division 3’s High Jump all return. So it’s necessary that the winner, Lawton’s Heidi Newhouse, rise to a height to put a statement towards her competition. Her 5’6 opener matched her best from last year.
D3 Rank
Team
High
Long
Score
1
Lawton
802
0
802
2
Grand Rapids West Catholic
324
332
656
3
Ann Arbor Greenhills
0
586
586
4
Bath
0
335
335
5
Saugatuck
324
0
324
6
Saginaw Valley Lutheran
0
303
303
7
Ithaca
0
300
300
8
Hillsdale
0
298
298
9
Almont
0
286
286
10
Chesaning
286
0
286
Last spring, New Buffalo’s Eva Bauer placed 20th in the Long Jump at Division 4 State. She’s done early work that shows her quest to improve upon that place. In March of ’22, her opener in the sand was a 13’3. On Friday, she gained over 2.5 feet, a performance that establishes herself as a contender for the D4 crown.
Whereas the last post concentrated on an athlete’s best two events, this is meant to showcase the ones that can do it all. If you can contribute any which way to your team’s success, these rankings are for you. These are compiled using all the scores from an athlete’s profile (provided they hit the regional qualifier). Theoretically, one could qualify for this running, jumping, throwing, hurdling, or vaulting in every single event. Maybe someone will on their road to becoming a world-class heptathlete or decathlete.