Aiden began to turn heads as a middle school sensation, winning the Lenawee County meet as a 7th and 8th grader
He’s continued to bring it at the high school level, helping bring the Maples back to the forefront of Division 2, where they’ve finished in the top-15 each of his three seasons
And that feat has been repeated on the track, where their 4×8 team has finished in the past two seasons
Individually, he began to pick up the pace toward the tail end of his sophomore cross campaign
He ran a personal best of 15:59 at the Meet of Champions and nabbed an All-State berth as well
His 2021 season didn’t end with an All-State accolade, but he still broke 16:30 twice
This past track season shows he’s added some strength to his repertoire, that 9:38 in the 3200m gives hope that he can progress further into the 15’s and step on the MIS podium again
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Aiden Smith
16:55.3
202.2
Lenawee County Preview
Tecumseh HS
21-Aug
11
Aiden Smith
17:55.8
177.4
Bert Cebulski
Heritage Park (Adrian)
26-Aug
11
Aiden Smith
16:17.4
200.2
A2 Early Bird
Huron Meadows
2-Sep
11
Aiden Smith
16:44.5
191.5
SEC 1
Hudson Mills (South)
14-Sep
11
Aiden Smith
16:19.4
195.5
Cougar Falcon
Gainey Fields
25-Sep
11
Aiden Smith
17:05.3
196.6
SEC White 2
Bennett Park
28-Sep
11
Aiden Smith
16:16.1
193.3
Otsego Bulldog
Otsego HS
2-Oct
11
Aiden Smith
16:49.9
185.4
Lenawee County
Gerber Hill Park
16-Oct
11
Aiden Smith
17:56.4
179.9
18 Lake Erie
Lake Erie
30-Oct
11
Aiden Smith
16:30.4
187.2
D2 State
MIS
6-Nov
11
Aiden Smith
16:19.6
192.5
MMOC
Shepherd HS
13-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Aiden Smith
173.7
Adrian/Chelsea/Tecumseh Tri
Heritage Park (Adrian)
26-Aug
10
Aiden Smith
170.7
Adrian/Dexter/Tecumseh Tri
Heritage Park (Adrian)
4-Sep
10
Aiden Smith
166.3
Adrian/Hudson/Skyline/Tecumseh
Heritage Park (Adrian)
12-Sep
10
Aiden Smith
188.5
Jackson
Sharp Park
19-Sep
10
Aiden Smith
175.4
Adrian/Pinckney/Tecumseh
Heritage Park
26-Sep
10
Aiden Smith
180.8
Adrian/Bedford
Indian Creek Park
3-Oct
10
Aiden Smith
187.6
PR 35
Heritage Park (Adrian)
24-Oct
10
Aiden Smith
191.2
D2 Reg 18
Lake Erie
31-Oct
10
Aiden Smith
191.8
D2 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Aiden Smith
193.4
Lenawee Preview
Tecumseh HS
9
Aiden Smith
191.2
Bert Cebulski
Heritage Park (Adrian)
9
Aiden Smith
187.8
A2 Early Bird
Huron Meadows
9
Aiden Smith
186.9
Huron
Willow
9
Aiden Smith
178.7
Jackson
Sharp Park
9
Aiden Smith
188.9
Hudson Booster
Hudson HS
9
Aiden Smith
191.8
Lenawee County
Gerber Hill Park
9
Aiden Smith
175.7
SEC
Hudson Mills (North)
9
Aiden Smith
183.6
18
Lake Erie
9
Aiden Smith
187.2
D2 State
MIS
The Pride of Mendon, Presley was another middle school wonder, having gone undefeated as an 8th grader, setting herself up for a great freshman campaign and career
And boy, she lived up to that billing
Victories were had at Otsego Bulldog, St. Joseph County, and Region 32
High placings were there at Portage, Class D, and D4 State
And best of which, she was able to lead the Hornets to their first appearance in Brooklyn since 2015
Having been to a few of those races, I was impressed with how Presley sticks her nose in there, even if it meant going out a little hard and fading
That ability to hit paces while fatigued will come, and we saw evidence of that in track with her 5:14/11:22 double at State
Lila came into the high school scene projected to be a top freshman and she’s lived up to those expectations
At the middle school level, she won multiple races, got into the 12’s in cross country, and broke 6:00 in 8th grade
On the track, she’s continued that progress into track, improving from 5:43 to 5:16 and displaying some 800m speed along the way
Last fall, she eased into the season with a few introductory races, then just started shattering barriers one after another: sub-20 at Central Montcalm, sub-19 at Shepherd
And along the way, became the #1 girl on a Kent City squad that got better as the year went along, all the way to a 2nd place finish at MIS
Lila just knows success, as she’s a prominent part of a basketball team that finished as state runners-up as well
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
9
Lila Volkers
19:35.1
136.0
CM Hornet
Central Montcalm HS
11-Sep
9
Lila Volkers
19:29.9
124.0
Sparta
Fruitridge Hayrides
18-Sep
9
Lila Volkers
18:57.0
140.0
Bluejay
Shepherd HS
2-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:59.6
144.1
Portage
Portage West MS
9-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
19:10.9
147.0
Kent Ottawa
Gainey Fields
16-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:47.7
135.4
21 Allendale
Allendale HS
30-Oct
9
Lila Volkers
18:54.6
133.8
D3 State
MIS
6-Nov
9
Lila Volkers
19:07.1
135.3
MMOC
Shepherd HS
13-Nov
Grand Rapids Christian sure just turns them out, huh? Last year, you had Tinsae and Zwart, Reuben is coming into his own, and you’ve got more in the pipeline as well
Reuben is just one of those that has stuck around and made progress throughout every year, now that progress has turned into reliability and occasionally, greatness
As a freshman and sophomore, he showed glimpses of speed, breaking 18:00 in both campaigns, but never establishing a consistency
But from October 2nd 2021 on, all his performances were sub-17:00, coinciding with the Eagles run towards a top-5 finish at MIS.
Even on a regional day where most of the state trudged through swamps, he still ran 16:48 to finish 7th at Allendale
But back to that improvement, his best time as a sophomore was 17:32, his best as a junior, 16:32
Which plays out in the ratings too, in championship season, his average drop was more than a minute per race
Similar jumps abounded during track as well, 2:16 to 1:59 and 4:45 to 4:21
As a late bloomer, can that be 1:55 and 4:15 next year? I’m betting on it
I love to spin a tale of remarkable improvement, but Griffin has just been remarkably good his whole career
He reached great heights as a freshman, slipping into the 16’s late at Regionals
He hit his first state qualifier as a sophomore, along with an All-Oakland County finish
Then as a junior, finished higher at Regionals, higher at State, and higher at County
One might see his personal best “only” improve by 27 seconds across the three years, but his accomplishments as a junior far outweigh those as a freshman, and when you finish Top-10 at the toughest county meet in the country, you’re doing damn well
In track, he’s been able to display some serious strength, having run multiple sub-10 efforts in the 3200m despite a 1600m best of 4:40
He’s been a near qualifier in that 32, hopefully 2023’s spring season can be the breakthrough
Grade
Name
Time
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
11
Griffin Conway
16:51.3
193.9
Lamplighter
Ford Field
20-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
17:21.6
195.1
South Lyon
Island Lake
28-Aug
11
Griffin Conway
16:24.3
191.9
Ramblin’ Rock
Willow
11-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
16:52.6
190.5
Spartan
Forest Akers
17-Sep
11
Griffin Conway
17:03.7
191.4
Oakland County
Possum Hollow
9-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:41.3
184.2
KLAA Championship
Huron Meadows
21-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:57.6
185.8
6 Hudson Mills
Hudson Mills (North)
30-Oct
11
Griffin Conway
16:40.5
184.5
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
Date
10
Griffin Conway
169.0
Brighton/Novi
Huron Meadows
29-Aug
10
Griffin Conway
175.0
Hartland/Novi
Hartland HS
12-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.1
Canton/Novi
Novi HS
22-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
166.9
Novi/Salem
Novi HS
29-Sep
10
Griffin Conway
180.3
Oakland County
Kensington
9-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
182.4
KLAA
Huron Meadows
17-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
179.4
PR 15
Novi HS
24-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.5
D1 Reg 8
Chandler Park
30-Oct
10
Griffin Conway
176.9
D1 State
MIS
6-Nov
Grade
Name
Rating
Meet
Course
9
Griffin Conway
170.3
South Lyon
Island Lake
9
Griffin Conway
172.3
Ramblin Rock
Willow
9
Griffin Conway
174.0
Holly
Springfield Oaks
9
Griffin Conway
171.9
Oakland County
Kensington
9
Griffin Conway
174.3
KLAA
Huron Meadows
Speaking of remarkably good, how does three for three on the All-State podium sound?
No matter the division, no matter the year, Hannah always shows up when it counts
Her career is littered with outstanding performances, but I think 2021 contained the best of the bunch, back-to-back 18:35’s at Cadillac and Shepherd, followed up by 18:48 at Portage on a tougher course
Hannah has many accolades on the cross course, but track is where she truly shines, a true mid-distance girl
She showed that prowess in her initial track season, grabbing 12th in the 400 at D2 State
Then as a junior, smashed the 60 sec. barrier late in the year on her way to a 3rd place finish at D3 State
And for the first time ever, you get video footage! Look at those wheels!
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 