These have been moving a little slower lately because I’m in the final stages of going through incoming freshmen, rounding out the Top 10s, and assembling the regions together. Later in the week, I’ll get cranking again.
A newcomer to the cross community, Mia made an immediate impact in her sophomore year
One could see the talent in middle school, where she broke 13:00 late in her 8th grade year, but a global pandemic and a broken foot led to zero results for a good 1.5 years
During her freshman track season, it appeared she was putting that injury behind, continually dropping time in the 1600m until she reached 5:32 at season’s end
Last fall is where Mia truly blossomed, and her progression throughout the season was palpable, major drop, plateau, major drop
Many of those major dips coming late: Bluejay, OK White 4, and the State Meet
Though her track times don’t jump off the page like some of the others, I think they speak to a greater strength, despite “only” running 5:26 (6 seconds faster than 2021), Mia can still run in the low-18’s
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Mia Bateson
19:55.7
131.1
Under the Lights (GRSC)
South Christian HS
27-Aug
10
Mia Bateson
19:17.2
137.3
OK White 1
Gainey Fields
8-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:57.1
126.0
Bredeweg
Macatawa Bay MS
11-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
19:21.9
139.0
Ottawa Hills
Riverside Park
17-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:50.8
137.1
OK White 2
Riverside Park
22-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:54.4
143.2
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
25-Sep
10
Mia Bateson
18:34.0
147.7
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:38.6
139.8
OK White 3
Brookside GC
6-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:49.4
147.5
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:18.0
154.0
OK White 4
South Christian HS
20-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:32.7
143.1
1 Allendale
Allendale HS
30-Oct
10
Mia Bateson
18:19.3
150.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Courtney, Ransom, and now Parks
The Allens have been a great family to the mid-Michigan running community, contributing to state titles, All-Americans, academic All-Americans, and Parks is doing a great part of continuing that legacy
As I’ve said before, living up to expectations has the risk of being devastating, but these kids I’m writing about have found a way to perform time and time again
Parks stepped onto the Ithaca team and had an immediate impact, qualifying for State as a freshman, being a top-3 runner on a team that’s finished top-10 in the state the past two years
He himself has a penchant for crushing that Shepherd course and coming through at MIS
His season best the past two years is at Shepherd
11th and 12th place at MIS in those years
I feel he really put it all together this spring, just look at these progressions: 1600m 4:39 > 4:23, 3200m 9:59 > 9:33
In conclusion, he’s reaching even another level, I look forward to him and Coach Merchant having a fun fall on their hands
In his two races there, Caledonia has finished 2nd and he nabbed an All-State spot in 2020, placing 29th
Coinciding with the Scots rise in the past two years was Jordan’s entrance to the scene
After running in the 17’s for much of his freshman year and the early part of his sophomore campaign, he bolted into the low-16’s with great performances at Cougar Falcon and OK Red
Although there wasn’t a significant time drop in 2021, there also wasn’t a 17:00+ race either, reliability is vastly underrated
This spring season was his first foray into track, Jordan also displayed the steadiness found in cross, and that 9:44 3200m gives a hint that the 16:00 barrier is in question
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Jordan Domany
16:40.3
191.2
Coach B
Gun Lake State Park
13-Sep
11
Jordan Domany
16:36.0
196.0
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Jordan Domany
16:20.3
186.9
OK Red 1
Grand Haven HS
21-Sep
11
Jordan Domany
16:16.6
196.5
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
25-Sep
11
Jordan Domany
16:18.8
192.4
Otsego Bulldog
Otsego HS
2-Oct
11
Jordan Domany
16:25.5
193.2
OK Red 2
Macatawa Bay MS
5-Oct
11
Jordan Domany
16:21.7
195.4
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
11
Jordan Domany
16:09.7
189.8
OK Red Conference
Riverside Park
21-Oct
11
Jordan Domany
16:20.8
190.1
3 Portage
Portage West MS
29-Oct
11
Jordan Domany
16:11.5
194.2
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
11
Jordan Domany
16:09.0
196.0
MMOC
Shepherd HS
13-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Jordan Domany
166.7
Caledonia/Rockford
Caledonia HS
15-Sep
10
Jordan Domany
184.8
Caledonia/Jenison
Unity Christian HS
22-Sep
10
Jordan Domany
190.7
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
26-Sep
10
Jordan Domany
166.4
Caledonia/Hudsonville
Caledonia HS
29-Sep
10
Jordan Domany
182.2
Caledonia/HWO
Caledonia HS
2-Oct
10
Jordan Domany
193.1
Bengals
Riverside Park
9-Oct
10
Jordan Domany
194.4
PR 5
Macatawa Bay MS
24-Oct
10
Jordan Domany
194.1
D1 Reg 3
Portage West MS
30-Oct
10
Jordan Domany
196.6
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Jordan Domany
168.5
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
9
Jordan Domany
170.4
Otsego Bulldog
Otsego HS
9
Jordan Domany
174.9
Portage
Portage West MS
9
Jordan Domany
168.8
OK Red
Riverside Park
Them soccer stars, always coming in and throwing off the pecking order
Taylor came into the sport of distance running as a sophomore and she’s been at the front of races ever since
As a sophomore in track, her first season as a Grand Ledge harrier, she excelled in championship races, getting under 2:20 for the 800m in major championship races: Greater Lansing, Region 8, and D1 State
Her specialty is definitely the mid-distance races, as she was able to replicate that feat in 2022, winning at both Greater Lansing and Region 8, then placing 7th at D1 State
To my astonishment, she won her first race of her cross-country career, a 19:05 at Under the Lights, blowing away a quality field in the late stages of the race
She had a few slower, sub-par races in there, but Taylor showed up when it mattered, placing 31st in Brooklyn with a 10+ second personal best
You know, I talk all the time about the effect of certain coaches, but I haven’t said much about Coach Collette’s effect on the West Michigan Aviation squad last year
Although it didn’t end in a state meet berth, there was a noticeable improvement in many of their runners, Emma being a prime example
She flashed some potential and attained some results as a freshman, winning the Alliance League, breaking 20:00, qualifying for State
2021 was a season where she cashed in on that potential, withdrawing a 10th(!) place finish at MIS
The Aviators took off /glided/reached Mach 4 (you pick the bad pun) in October, Emma was at the forefront of their ascent (I can’t help myself)
A 19:15 at Portage was a personal best, that was followed by another best at the Alliance Conference meet, and another one at State
Not satisfied with just one championship season peak, she doubled back on that come track, running personal bests in the 1600m at Regionals and State, narrowly missing an All-State selection
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Emma DeVries
20:06.4
123.9
Alliance League 1
Calvary Laketown
1-Sep
10
Emma DeVries
19:26.2
125.3
Sparta
Fruitridge Hayrides
18-Sep
10
Emma DeVries
20:39.5
142.2
Alliance League 3
Johnson Park
6-Oct
10
Emma Devries
19:15.1
139.0
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
10
Emma DeVries
19:36.8
138.4
Kent Ottawa
Gainey Fields
16-Oct
10
Emma DeVries
19:08.1
127.3
Alliance Conference
Fruitport Calvary Christian
19-Oct
10
Emma DeVries
19:56.9
138.4
14 SFRC
St. Francis Retreat Center
29-Oct
10
Emma DeVries
18:55.9
138.0
D2 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Emma DeVries
83.3
Ravenna Bulldog
Ravenna HS
8-Sep
9
Emma DeVries
106.2
Harriers for Hope
Peacock Tree Farm
19-Sep
9
Emma DeVries
115.2
Alliance 1
Johnson Park
23-Sep
9
Emma DeVries
114.8
Allendale Falcon
Allendale HS
3-Oct
9
Emma DeVries
120.9
Autumn Sunrise
Heritage Christian
10-Oct
9
Emma DeVries
123.1
PR 26
South Christian Sports Park
23-Oct
9
Emma DeVries
124.1
D2 Reg 13
Otsego HS
31-Oct
9
Emma DeVries
117.0
D2 State
MIS
6-Nov
Clayton is just one in a line of Ackleys and Enns that have found success in our sport
His parents both ran for Cornerstone, his sisters Alayna (15th at the D2 10k), Lynae, Savannah, and Adelyn (broke 16:00/34:00 this past season) are all running in college, his cousins, the Enns have millions of All-States to their name, I could keep going
It would be easy to let the pressure of others success inhibit one’s love for running, be a burden on the start line, but Clayton has gone the opposite direction, and appears primed to make even more a name for himself in the coming year
As a Hart teammate, he has been able to contribute to the Pirates immense accomplishments in the past three years, a top-5 team in each of those years
He always seems to bring his best performance for that stage, whether that be an 8 sec. PB this past year or stepping up as their 2nd runner as a freshman
He brought that same energy to Kent City in early June as well, nailing a 10+ sec. PB to finish 4th in the 3200m
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 