Blog

Congrats to all that competed this indoor season.  Indoor is a great barometer of the health of our sport here in Michigan.  Treacherous driving conditions, logistical nightmares, yet it seems participation is at an all-time high.

With the downtime between the indoor state meet and the first official practice (along with my trip to Atlanta for the Olympic Trials), I wanted to throw out another set of rankings.

These rankings are for 2020 XC and now include INCOMING FRESHMEN.

Incoming freshmen were projected using their XC times from this past season, rating those, then calculating their projected improvement from those ratings.  This is hopefully much more accurate than 2018 (not even looking at freshmen) and 2019 (just looking at their raw times).

There are some issues, of course.  There are middle school programs that don’t post their results.  I find it hard to believe that Ann Arbor middle schools do not run cross country, yet there are no results on athletic for their public schools.  Many districts are superb, with clear delineations of schools feeding into one another.  Plymouth-Canton on the other hand, very confusing! 

Given that, there may be some slightly underrated/overrated teams, especially on the girl’s side.  I do realize that division assignments will be posted soon and if adjustments are needed, I’ll make those. 

Enjoy!

DIVISION 4

Boys	Rank	Girls
Unionville-Sebewaing	1	Lansing Christian
Carson City-Crystal	2	Kalamazoo Christian
Breckenridge	3	Bridgman
Dansville	4	St Philip Catholic Central
Webberville	5	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	6	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
Mason County Eastern	7	Gaylord St. Mary
Concord	8	Hillsdale Academy
Saranac	9	Clarkston Everest Collegiate
Deckerville	10	Johannesburg-Lewiston
Beal City	11	Morenci
Mayville	12	Hudson
Bridgman	13	Ubly
Johannesburg-Lewiston	14	Fowler
Morrice	15	Concord
The Potter’s House	16	Beal City
Kalamazoo Christian	17	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
Bear Lake-Onekama	18	Allen Park Cabrini
St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	19	Adrian Lenawee Christian
Frankfort	20	Plymouth Christian Academy
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	21	Owendale-Gagetown
Mendon	22	Pittsford
Allen Park Cabrini	23	Ellsworth
Grand Traverse Academy	24	Libertas Christian
Lawrence	25	Leland

DIVISION 3

Boys	Rank	Girls
Traverse City St. Francis	1	Hart
Hart	2	Grandville Calvin Christian
Caro	3	Shepherd
St. Louis	4	St. Louis
Charlevoix	5	Reese
Grandville Calvin Christian	6	Benzie Central
Saugatuck	7	McBain
Bronson	8	Ithaca
Manistee	9	Pewamo-Westphalia
Ithaca	10	Charlevoix
Leslie	11	Clare
Stockbridge	12	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian
McBain	13	Traverse City St. Francis
Clinton	14	Harbor Springs
Harbor Springs	15	Reed City
Benzie Central	16	Clinton
New Lothrop	17	Kingsley
Shepherd	18	Jackson Lumen Christi
Hanover-Horton	19	Manton
Roscommon	20	Bloomingdale
Manchester	21	Stockbridge
Napoleon	22	Blissfield
Parchment	23	Roscommon
Pewamo-Westphalia	24	Kent City
Montague	25	Boyne City

DIVISION 2

Boys	Rank	Girls
Fremont	1	Petoskey
Otsego	2	East Grand Rapids
St. Johns	3	Otsego
Sparta	4	Frankenmuth
St. Clair	5	Haslett
Yale	6	Plainwell
Chelsea	7	Grand Rapids Christian
East Grand Rapids	8	Cadillac
Battle Creek Harper Creek	9	Mason
Linden	10	Zeeland East
Adrian	11	Warren Regina
Ionia	12	Freeland
Goodrich	13	Tecumseh
Flint Powers Catholic	14	Forest Hills Eastern
Lansing Catholic	15	Grand Rapids South Christian
Petoskey	16	Dearborn Divine Child
Spring Lake	17	Chelsea
Forest Hills Eastern	18	Sparta
Richland Gull Lake	19	Parma Western
Grand Rapids Christian	20	Linden
Fowlerville	21	St. Johns
Lake Fenton	22	Lansing Catholic
Holland Christian	23	Remus Chippewa Hills
Dearborn Divine Child	24	Fremont
Freeland	25	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg

DIVISION 1

Boys	Rank	Girls
Romeo	1	Traverse City Central
Ann Arbor Pioneer	2	Brighton
Caledonia	3	Northville
Northville	4	Salem
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	5	Ann Arbor Pioneer
Brighton	6	Troy
Salem	7	Plymouth
Hartland	8	Romeo
Rockford	9	Saline
Pinckney	10	Jenison
Highland-Milford	11	Birmingham Seaholm
Macomb Dakota	12	Okemos
Traverse City Central	13	Rockford
Farmington	14	Grand Blanc
Portage Northern	15	Canton
Saginaw Heritage	16	Byron Center
Rochester Adams	17	Caledonia
Grand Haven	18	Holland West Ottawa
Portage Central	19	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills
Novi	20	Portage Central
Lake Orion	21	Temperance Bedford
Saline	22	Forest Hills Central
Jenison	23	Royal Oak
East Kentwood	24	Brownstown Woodhaven
Livonia Franklin	25	Forest Hills Northern

OVERALL

Boys	Rank	Girls
Fremont	1	Petoskey
Romeo	2	Traverse City Central
Ann Arbor Pioneer	3	East Grand Rapids
Caledonia	4	Brighton
Northville	5	Northville
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	6	Hart
Otsego	7	Salem
Salem	8	Otsego
Brighton	9	Ann Arbor Pioneer
Hartland	10	Haslett
Rockford	11	Frankenmuth
Pinckney	12	Troy
Highland-Milford	13	Plymouth
St. Johns	14	Romeo
Macomb Dakota	15	Saline
Traverse City Central	16	Plainwell
Farmington	17	Jenison
Portage Northern	18	Grand Rapids Christian
Saginaw Heritage	19	Birmingham Seaholm
Rochester Adams	20	Okemos
Traverse City St. Francis	21	Rockford
Grand Haven	22	Grand Blanc
Sparta	23	Canton
Portage Central	24	Byron Center
Lake Orion	25	Grandville Calvin Christian

GIRLS

8

	Ann Arbor Pioneer
Grade	Name	Time
12	Zofia Dudek	4:41.8
10	Sarah Forsyth	5:02.1
10	Cookie Baugh	5:10.2
12	Anna Vogel	5:26.0
12	Danielle Armstrong	5:28.5
9	Emily Cooper	5:39.2
11	Anna Dudek	5:42.2
12	Carina Sanborn	5:57.6

	East Grand Rapids
Grade	Name	Time
12	Anna Petr	4:58.0
10	Ainsley Workman	5:13.6
12	Margaret Coney	5:14.2
9	Abigail Petr	5:15.6
11	Hannah Bodine	5:21.0
9	Camryn Bodine	5:32.4
10	Katie Edison	5:43.5
11	Brynn Edison	5:53.5

	Saline
Grade	Name	Time
10	Madi Wood	5:21.0
12	Nicole Dillmann	5:26.4
12	Katelyn Szafranski	5:39.0
12	Jenna Allman	5:43.0
12	Ashley Desimone	5:45.2
12	Haley Greene	5:54.2
12	Jennifer Cantrell	5:55.0
9	Aubrey Stager	5:57.4

6

	Ithaca
Grade	Name	Time
10	Lani Bloom	4:56.3
10	Rachael Sierakowski	5:43.7
11	Josie Morrow	5:50.9
11	Abi Whitford	5:53.6
11	Grace Weburg	5:58.8
12	Faith Bartnik	5:59.0

	Petoskey
Grade	Name	Time
11	Emma Squires	4:58.7
11	Cambrie Smith	5:10.2
10	Noel VanderWall	5:22.5
12	Ahna VanderWall	5:30.4
10	Caroline Farley	5:32.6
11	Sarah Liederbach	5:33.6

	Romeo
Grade	Name	Time
12	Madelyn Malczewski	5:04.9
10	Rachel Felstow	5:15.5
9	Madison Clor	5:26.9
10	Sarah Greb	5:33.6
10	Amanda Felstow	5:53.0
10	Brianna Wiegand	5:56.6

5

	Bay City Western
Grade	Name	Time
12	Ashlyn Nagel	5:24.5
10	Marin Stevens	5:32.8
11	Karissa Picard	5:35.2
9	Erica Slocum	5:51.6
12	Anna Kendziorski	5:54.1

	Hudsonville
Grade	Name	Time
10	Kate Heidema	5:50.2
9	Abby Martin	5:50.5
12	Jenna Kral	5:52.1
12	Sophia Lirio	5:53.7
10	Emma Heidema	5:56.6

	Shepherd
Grade	Name	Time
11	Madde Skeel	5:30.5
9	Ariel Warner	5:42.6
10	Carly Judge	5:46.1
10	Lilly Bailey	5:58.1
11	Amelia Gouin	5:58.6

4

	Jenison
Grade	Name	Time
9	Maya Guikema	5:34.6
12	Ashley Winger	5:41.2
12	Tori Vander Veen	5:49.0
11	Claudia TenElshof	5:51.0

3

Birmingham Seaholm
Clarkston
Frankenmuth
Grand Blanc
Hart
Mason
Traverse City Central

BOYS

12

	Romeo
Grade	Name	Time
12	Luke Schwartz	4:25.4
12	Jack Wilson	4:30.4
12	Charlie Wilson	4:31.6
11	Zander Cobb	4:33.8
10	Jack Kelke	4:34.9
12	Jonathan Craun	4:35.6
10	Jack Wallace	4:44.5
10	Owen Sharnas	4:48.8
11	Joseph Rinke	4:52.5
11	Nicholas Fringer	4:53.9
10	Brendan Wiegand	4:57.3
11	Andrew Pries	4:59.3

9

	Ann Arbor Pioneer
Grade	Name	Time
12	Owen Rennich	4:26.1
12	Drew Allen	4:31.1
10	Owen Johnson	4:33.0
10	Matt Ruud	4:37.8
10	Fred Wallace	4:50.5
11	Ben Jakabcsin	4:53.4
11	Peter Bonasso	4:56.7
10	Levi Straszewski	4:58.4
11	Kevin Dancey	4:59.0

8

	Brighton
Grade	Name	Time
12	Jack Spamer	4:15.5
12	Scott Spaanstra	4:24.5
12	Zacahry Stewart	4:25.0
12	Dan Campbell	4:43.0
10	Jack Campbell	4:52.2
10	Ethan Lee	4:53.5
10	Quinn Cullen	4:54.1
11	Andrew Simon	4:59.1

5

	Ann Arbor Skyline
Grade	Name	Time
11	Hobbs Kessler	4:19.0
12	Thomas Young	4:36.1
11	Ian Steele	4:42.2
10	Sanjay Rao	4:48.9
12	Freddy Villalobos	4:48.9

	Zeeland West
Grade	Name	Time
12	Ethan Senti	4:35.0
12	Luke Munsey	4:36.3
11	Corban Hauch	4:45.0
10	Mateo Quintanilla	4:51.9
11	Joshua Ennen	4:55.9

4

	Clarkston
Grade	Name	Time
12	Brendan Favazza	4:25.8
12	Nathan Sesti	4:27.0
12	Christian Collis	4:31.5
12	Carson Brock	4:57.9

	Farmington
Grade	Name	Time
10	Kevin Miller	4:42.9
12	Thomas Brandon	4:46.8
11	Om Sonawane	4:53.4
11	Andrew Spencer	4:59.6

	Otsego
Grade	Name	Time
12	Hunter Zartman	4:20.1
11	Colin Mulder	4:28.6
10	Chase Brown	4:44.2
11	Andrew Bickel	4:51.6

	Pinckney
Grade	Name	Time
11	Gavin White	4:28.0
10	Caleb Jarema	4:30.7
11	Tylor Morgan	4:38.3
12	Jack Sleeman	4:50.2

	Portage Northern
Grade	Name	Time
12	Matthew Schieber	4:37.9
10	Drew Gonzalez	4:46.2
11	Stephen Loparo	4:54.6
11	Andrew Famiano	4:57.2

	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Grade	Name	Time
11	Tristan Brandenburg	4:33.1
12	Sam Tarling	4:36.3
11	Kurt Kehren	4:36.3
11	Colin Hanson	4:53.1

	Salem
Grade	Name	Time
11	Talha Syed	4:26.5
11	Hezekiah Williams	4:37.0
11	Gary Gardella	4:37.9
11	Gavin Ray	4:39.5

3

Benzie Central
Cedar Springs
Dearborn
East Grand Rapids
Fenton
Hartland
Holland Christian
Hudsonville
Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Rochester Adams
Royal Oak
Saline
Saugatuck

 “Greatness is achieved when you commit to making even small improvements every day.”

These runners have made large improvements from cross country. But in those large improvements are 90+ days of small improvements. Listed below are athletes seeing their potential, motivated by a great fall, determined to rewrite a disappointing fall, or just metronomes on a continuous track to make the most of their ability.

I have a formula that converts 1600/3200 times into equivalent ratings. Those formulas are derived from the past few years, matching XC ratings vs. track times in the previous spring. For the 1600m, it is 465-1600m time (seconds). For the 3200m, it is 490-(3200m time x 2).

The ratings from indoor were then compared against 2019 XC ratings, and those with a 20 point improvement are listed. For example, Lani Bloom’s 1600m rating is 168.7 (465-296.3). Her final rating in XC was 138.1. That’s a major improvement from an already great girl. Her consistency the past few months is something we should all strive for and is the main reason she’s #7 nationally in the 3200m.

I’m certain the 46 other athletes have similar tales of grit and grind through these dreary winter months. They’re paying off now and they’ll pay off in the future.

Grade	Name	School	Indoor Time	Event	XC SR (Meet, Location)
10	Shelby Flory	Hudsonville	6:09.7	1600m	23:22 (OK Red, Riverside Park)
9	Rekha Krispin	Auburn Hills Avondale	5:30.0	1600m	20:45 (Muskrat Classic, Goodells Park)
9	Hope Petr	East Grand Rapids	6:47.3	1600m	24:49 (Otsego Bulldog, Otsego)
10	Anna Alexander	Swartz Creek	5:41.4	1600m	21:32 (Regionals, Delta College)
9	Morgan Anderson	Roscommon	6:12.9	1600m	21:41 (Pete Moss, Benzie Central)
11	Kylee Johnson	Walled Lake Central	7:05.9	1600m	25:24 (Birch Run Early Bird, Birch Run)
10	Joy Swanson	Pinckney	7:07.6	1600m	26:06 (Holly, Holly)
11	Haylie Kowalski	Concord	7:53.7	1600m	27:28 (Portage, Portage)
10	Grace Mitchell	Alpena	5:55.3	1600m	21:41 (Regionals, Delta College)
10	Brianna Wiegand	Romeo	5:57.0	1600m	21:54 (Post a PR, Huron Meadows)
11	LaJeanee Porter	Detroit Renaissance	6:26.2	1600m	23:09 (Wayne County, Willow)
10	Kate Heidema	Hudsonville	5:50.2	1600m	21:18 (Bath, Bath)
10	Hannah Fisher	Marysville	5:23.6	1600m	19:59 (Regionals, Goodells Park)
10	Lani Bloom	Ithaca	4:56.3	1600m	18:38 (BlueJay, Shepherd)
12	Jayla Jones	Oak Park	5:38.5	1600m	21:05 (Regionals, Willow)
12	Danielle Armstrong	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5:28.5	1600m	20:13 (States, MIS)
9	Ali Junewick	GR West Catholic	5:41.9	1600m	21:03 (Cougar Falcon, Gainey Fields)
12	Elizabeth Bennett	Rockford	5:53.3	1600m	21:09 (Portage Early Bird, Portage)
12	Anna Cleveland	Edwardsburg	6:16.5	1600m	22:39 (Portage, Portage)
12	Erika Parkinson	Coldwater	6:17.9	1600m	21:33 (I-8, Turkeyville)
10	Haley Bendele	Shepherd	6:18.0	1600m	21:19 (Regionals, Shepherd)
9	Alyssa Bird	Hudsonville	6:38.1	1600m	23:50 (OK Red, Riverside Park)
11	Josie Morrow	Ithaca	5:50.9	1600m	21:12 (Scottie Classic, Shepherd)
12	Lauren Monaghan	Troy	5:41.9	1600m	20:26 (Regionals, Chandler Park)
10	Allison Doneth	Mason	5:54.2	1600m	20:43 (John Bruder Classic, Shepherd)
9	Payton Kuhn	St. Louis	5:52.4	1600m	20:52 (Scottie Classic, Shepherd)
11	Cecile Mallon	Benzie Central	6:16.5	1600m	21:44 (NWC Jamboree, Benzie Central)
10	Emerson Rondy	Ithaca	6:36.8	1600m	23:16 (Scottie Classic, Shepherd)
11	Tess Fookes	Hudsonville	13:37.5	3200m	22:34 (Kent Ottawa, Gainey Fields)
11	Brynn Edison	East Grand Rapids	5:53.5	1600m	21:13 (Portage, Portage)

Grade	Name	School	Indoor Time	Event	XC SR (Meet, Location)
12	Dustin Finkhouse	Benzie Central	4:42.2	1600m	20:10 (Pete Moss, Benzie Central)
9	Nitsan Tal	East Grand Rapids	6:55.3	1600m	25:37 (Regionals, Allendale)
9	Liam Stacey	Farmington	5:16.4	1600m	20:52 (Bloomer 9th/10th, Bloomer Park)
11	Kolbe Mills	GR West Catholic	4:45.3	1600m	17:39 (Regionals, Allendale)
10	Kevin Person	Oak Park	5:16.3	1600m	20:09 (Oakland County, Kensington)
12	Luke Munsey	Zeeland West	4:36.3	1600m	17:24 (Allendale Falcon, Allendale)
9	Ethan Pruzinsky	Auburn Hills Avondale	11:12.9	3200m	19:13 (OAA Blue, Bloomer Park)
10	Anthony Vinson	Utica Eisenhower	5:05.9	1600m	18:59 (Regionals, Goodells Park)
11	Alex Peterson	Otsego	5:11.10	1600m	18:50 (Portage, Portage)
11	Gavin Kushmaul	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5:16.0	1600m	18:49 (Post a PR, Huron Meadows)
12	Ethan Rice	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	4:48.8	1600m	17:09 (Regionals. Chandler Park)
12	Sean Garland	Rochester Adams	4:48.9	1600m	18:09 (OAA Red, Clintonwood Park)
11	Toland Corum	Birmingham Seaholm	5:06.3	1600m	17:55 (Regionals, Chandler Park)
11	Titus Bretzke	Greenville	4:23.9	1600m	16:44 (Don Baese, Carson City)
11	Andrew Farrer	Flint Powers Catholic	4:38.9	1600m	17:06 (Greater Flint, Cummings Center)
9	Chase Klapthor	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5:20.6	1600m	18:45 (Gabriel Richard, Hudson Mills)
10	Mateo Quintanilla	Zeeland West	4:51.9	1600m	17:51 (Regionals, Portage)