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50 Tickets to Brooklyn (#44)

mixcspeedratings

The list.

44. Elijah DiCerbo, Fraser

Eli is a natural leader with an extreme ability to push himself to the absolute limit. In his first year of XC, as a junior, he was a quick study and showed incredible progression. I look forward to continuing to watch his growth as a student-athlete at Fraser & beyond.

COACH KEVIN STORAI
  • That incredible progression and ability to learn on the fly was evident in Elijah’s first season, showing him to be a real diamond in the rough
  • Keep in mind he “only” ran 4:47 as a sophomore in track (2019), then turned into a runner capable of sub-16 feats
  • That improvement continued into indoor, where he finished 15th at the Indoor State 1600m in 4:31

44. Gabbie Michael, Frankenmuth

Gabbie is one of the hardest working athletes I’ve seen and pays close attention to what she puts in her body so that she can perform her best. She stays positive through every setback and always has a word of encouragement for the people around her.

RILEY FORD, MARLETTE
  • In a season of ups and downs, she showed her true mettle in the final 1000m at MIS
  • That State Meet performance led to her first All-State finish
  • Great career as well, as Gabbie has been All-Region all three years and won the Bronze race at Spartan in 2018
2020 Previews

50 Tickets to Brooklyn (#45)

mixcspeedratings

The list.

45. Grace Pettit, Plainwell

White Lake Beacon

Grace keeps our team laughing all year round. She is constantly making faces, cracking jokes, or just finding a way to make everyone smile. She really helps keep everyone loose before meets. I think this should be a great year for Grace, she gets out of Makenna’s (Veen) shadow and gets to lead races and really see what she can accomplish. I’m thinking that Grace will have a great chance at competing for the state title this season with all the hard work she has been putting in throughout the quarantine.

Coach Brett Beier
  • Other than a Portage Regional (where she still finished top 3!), she delivered extremely reliable performances
  • By my metrics, a top 10 freshmen girl in the State
  • And the top freshman girl at the D2 State Meet
  • Showed some mid-distance ability this winter, going 5:11 in the 1600m in January

46. Adam Thomas, Anchor Bay

  • Look at that year to year improvement! (32 points = 1:36)
  • Despite a subpar State race, he’s shown he can bring it in pressure-filled races, the Goodells regional required a 16:16 to get out, he runs a 16:08 in arguably his best race of the season
  • A few examples of his development
    • 42nd to 11th at Regionals
    • 40th to 13th at Macomb County
    • 3:04, his drop from 1st race ever to his PR
2020 Previews

50 Tickets to Brooklyn (#46)

mixcspeedratings

The list.

46. Parker Lambers, Holland Christian

His back, which many of his competition will see this season.

Parker is a very talented runner that is just scratching the surface of what he can do. He continues to work on racing tactics as he becomes more able to race at a high level. His freshmen year, he did not medal in a single meet and was able to place 14th at the state meet the following year. He comes into his junior season as the most experienced varsity runner on the team and will be leaned upon for leadership because he has earned it on the course. With his natural talent and relentless motor, he’ll be competing for state titles in the next couple of years for sure.

– Alex Mitchell
  • As Alex stated, the improvement from his freshman to sophomore year was tremendous
  • Over 100 places gained at State from 9th to 10th grade
  • 14th in the state, beating 4 kids that bested him the prior week
  • Was able to run 15:52 in a track time trial this spring

46. Lindsey Peters, Caledonia

  • Not attaining a PR might not show it, but had a very successful 2019 season because of its stability
  • 31st place at State was her highest finish yet and her first in the top 100
  • Has been All-Region in each of the past three years
  • Ratings each of the past three years have indicated a steady progress, no reason why that won’t continue
  • Was able to lay down a 5:13 1600m indoors, which matched her previous best from the 2019 track season