Emily is probably the only girl to finish higher in her Region (10th) than in the State Meet (8th)
After adjusting for heat, the course, and what not, her performance at MIS rated out to be almost 30 seconds better than any previous race
It’s not as if the performance came out of nowhere – she had run in the low 19’s a few times throughout the season and was an outstanding middle school athlete
Her track season didn’t have the same breakout performance but was very consistent
She had multiple sub-5:20/11:40 efforts, indicating a bit of improvement from her average cross times
Has a chance to cement his legacy as one of the better Muskegon area runners of all time
Klay has dominated the GMAA scene for the past 2 years, winning two cross titles and the distance triple this past track season
After a solid freshman cross campaign, he exhibited some speed in track, breaking 2:00 late into that year
Following the two year track hiatus, he was able to improve upon that mark, reaching 1:57.5
His local success hasn’t translated into All-States, but honors like those are usually heavily senior driven, he’s definitely in the conversation for this fall and next spring
Where: Chippewa Hills. I have data from a few years of their Late Season Warrior Invite and it tends to run a little SLOW come October. Maybe it’s the hills in the woods, maybe it just hasn’t been blowdozed. Anyway, it’ll be more of a challenge than most regional courses. Which is good!
2020 Boys: Breckenridge, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, White Cloud
2020 Girls: Beal City, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart, White Cloud
Top 25 Boys Teams: Breckenridge (Top 10), Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (Top 10), Montabella (11)
Top 25 Girls Teams: Beal City (Top 10), Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart (Top 10), Breckenridge (17)
Top 50 Boys (Division 4): Mason Sumner (1), Brock Lynch (8), Trent Carter (9), Alex Wanty (12), Dakota Dykhuis (14), Luke Pettengill (31), Owen Patton (46), Jonas Lanser (47), Noah Haskell (50)
(There are a few girls that aren’t listed below that are running this season and could place in the top 20. I’ve found the best predictor of someone running cross is having run the previous season. Obviously there are exceptions, but in fairness when making these, I aim to apply the same standard for every school. In conclusion, Breckenridge, Sacred Heart, and Beal City are already very good, and with additions, could be better than their already high standard.)
William Thomas vs. Nolan Nixon for the best flow in Michigan XC
William finished his freshman season on a roll and has been on the ascent ever since
He’s gradually gotten better every year, going from breaking 17:00 in 9th grade to breaking 16:00 this past year
One of the top returners in Oakland County, where he looks to best his 6th place finish last year
Despite those quick times, he’s been on the wrong end of a very tough region and missed qualifying for MIS in 2018 and 2019
He pulled through this year, finishing 6th
It would be easy to just be happy to be there, but he ran one of his better races of the year on that first Saturday in November
His track season showed similar progress, where he dropped nearly a minute from his previous best (10:35 to 9:43)
I always feel like I have to do some convincing when I give notice to the incoming freshman, so here you go:
Undefeated in her cross country season, which is impressive given that she had to go against her Saline teammates
Those Saline teammates (they’re STACKED at the 9th grade level) have multiple sub-5:40/11:40’s to their names
Ran 9:15 at Portage in 2019 as a 7th grader, right along with Helen Sachs (who ran a 10:44 3200m this year) and a similar time to notable names such as Madelyn Frens, Drew Muller, Emily Tomes, amongst others
Middle school rating is very similar to Jayden Harberts and Katie Watkins, two girls that broke 19:00 this past season
Michigan XC Speed Ratings 