Category: Uncategorized

That was a doozy of a title.

but all leading to these – actual rankings!

If you’ve followed me over the past seven years (!), you know the gist of these and you know I’m always changing an aspect or three.

The individual ratings, which then are sorted into team rankings, take into account all the meets listed and linked here. An individual’s rating takes their best 2/3 of their rated races (rounding to the nearest whole number, so 3 of 5, 5 of 7, etc.). The races are weighed based on recency, field size, and competitiveness. The team rankings are compiled by combining all teams in a division into a hypothetical meet based on those individual ratings.

There are a few changes from last year:

• Coming back to rating weekday meets
  • Believe it or not, I’m still learning and I’ve figured out some ways to do these faster
  • I will be judicious in how many of these are performed
• Using the top 67% instead of last year’s 75%
  • More meets = a comparatively lower % that a runner will truly race all out
• Actual Upper Peninsula/Home School/other rankings
  • These more efficient methods mean I actually have data now and can post
• Writeups focused on the overall state of the division
  • Always a struggle here finding how much to write! Last year, I took up wayyy too much time writing about teams (who deserved the attention, but effort must be managed over here).  
  • I think this fall, I’ll briefly sum up how it’s looking like for the state title contenders, plus anything that catches my eye.

Similar to previous years:

• No more individual rankings posted to social media
  • Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
• One division at a time
  • I know I’d get lost sifting through every division in one post. Focusing on the smaller ones first gives attention to the divisions who might not receive as recognition as the more populated ones.

These contain meets through Saturday. I think I have to get these out sooner considering that was 6 days ago.

These are for fun. And I do this for free. I’m positive toward every runner in the state. Abiding by that golden rule, you should reciprocate. Capisce? Enjoy.

Recap

Marquette has unequivocally been the best team in the UP thus far in 2024. Tbe Red n’ White boys threw up a perfect score at Wildcat, beat East Kentwood (LP Division 1 #13) at Queen City, then won using their JV squad at Marquette County.

Looking Forward

A host of teams will be coming down to the Lower Peninsula to compete. Munising, Gladstone, and Sault Ste. Marie to Holly, Rudyard and Marquette to Spartan. Obviously, I’m most excited for Marquette in the Spartan Elite race. The boys were 9^th this year and I think a top-5 finish is 100% within reach. Our neighbors north of the bridge shouldn’t be defined by the meets that they travel south for. Calumet’s Copper Kings are hosting an invite next week with four top-10 teams, Houghton being the highest-ranked squad.

All the Full Teams

Rank	Team	Score	Division	Top 5 Avg.
1	Marquette	23	UP 1	193.8
2	Sault Ste. Marie	57	UP 1	175.3
3	Houghton	139	UP 1	147.5
4	Painesdale-Jeffers	142	UP 2	143.7
5	Gladstone	184	UP 1	130.3
6	Rudyard	257	UP 2	119.8
7	Munising	267	UP 2	119.0
8	Calumet	297	UP 1	109.2
9	Ironwood	315	UP 2	106.8
10	Stephenson	320	UP 3	101.2
11	Dollar Bay	324	UP 3	102.5
12	Gwinn	330	UP 2	96.9
13	Ishpeming Westwood	348	UP 1	100.7
14	Escanaba	350	UP 1	96.8
15	Negaunee	359	UP 1	96.5
16	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	375	UP 2	93.6
17	Manistique	428	UP 2	73.4
18	Menominee	428	UP 1	75.6
19	Eben Jct. Superior Central	450	UP 3	74.6
20	Kingsford	483	UP 1	43.1
21	Hancock	523	UP 2	51.4

Recap

The past five Division 1 Champions have either been Houghton or Marquette and it appears they’re in for another place-by-place battle. At Queen City when filtering for UP-only teams, the Red n’ White prevailed by two points. However, six days later at Bill Fezzey, nearly the entire Gremlin team set a personal best.

Looking Forward

Those Marquette girls will be in the Green Division at Spartan. I can’t speak for the Ohio teams, but I can see them placing 4^th-6^th amongst Michigan teams in that D1-filled section. Houghton will be looking to build upon that excellent performance on September 5th when they compete at Calumet.

All the Full Teams

Rank	Team	Division	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Houghton	UP 1	46	92.9
2	Marquette	UP 1	47	92.4
3	Hancock	UP 2	117	62.9
4	Sault Ste. Marie	UP 1	133	58.2
5	Ewen-Trout Creek	UP 3	171	44.4
6	Negaunee	UP 1	195	37.1
7	Calumet	UP 1	245	18.4
8	Munising	UP 2	258	10.4
9	Kingsford	UP 1	265	8.8
10	Gladstone	UP 1	278	8.9
11	Ironwood	UP 2	285	5.7
12	Chassell	UP 3	294	-3.4
13	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	UP 2	297	-1.1
14	Baraga	UP 2	328	-6.8
15	Ishpeming Westwood	UP 1	384	-52.3
16	West Iron County	UP 2	404	-50.6
17	Manistique	UP 2	405	-87.7
18	Eben Jct. Superior Central	UP 3	479	-87.4

Individual Rankings

Recap

All results point to Gabe Litzner recovering from a tumultuous spring. Wins downstate at Birch Run, East Jordan, and Charlevoix. All well into the 15’s, even a 15:47 at Charlevoix’s famous Mud Run. Seppi Camilli has been just as much of a standout, keeping it closer to the vest at home, but also racking up two sub-16’s.

Looking Forward

We’ve got some intriguing races to look to from those above. Camilli in the Elite race at Spartan should be right in the mix with Seth Conner, Colin Murray, Ethan Powell, etc. Litzner in the 3^rd Division at Holly will be facing off against Jack Bidwell. You can make cases for everyone listed, Upper and Lower Peninsula, to run their best race of the season.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Gabe Litzner	Sault Ste. Marie	210.2	UP 1
2	12	Seppi Camilli	Marquette	208.5	UP 1
3	12	James Barch	Marquette	193.3	UP 1
4	11	Shea Armstrong	Sault Ste. Marie	190.2	UP 1
5	11	Peter Argeropoulos	Marquette	190.0	UP 1
6	11	Rorik Holmquist	Marquette	188.8	UP 1
7	12	Evan Balko	Marquette	188.3	UP 1
8	12	Kalvin Kytta	Chassell	188.1	UP 3
9	12	Chase Thomsen	Marquette	187.2	UP 1
10	12	Danny Goss	Munising	180.6	UP 2
11	12	Birk Seagren	Houghton	179.5	UP 1
12	10	Lucas Ballard	Marquette	178.6	UP 1
13	11	Steven Kirschner	Rudyard	167.8	UP 2
14	12	Evan Huyck	Sault Ste. Marie	166.9	UP 1
15	11	Benjamin Hemmer	Houghton	165.3	UP 1
16	11	Landon Larson	Painesdale-Jeffers	165.2	UP 2
17	12	Zach Smith	Ironwood	162.8	UP 2
18	11	Cameron Anderson	Painesdale-Jeffers	161.0	UP 2
19	12	Eli Hills	Sault Ste. Marie	158.3	UP 1
20	12	Trevor Nolan	Munising	153.7	UP 2
21	11	Canon Kuntze	Stephenson	152.5	UP 3
22	11	Daniel Bowerman	Sault Ste. Marie	150.9	UP 1
23	10	Andrew Junttila	Calumet	150.0	UP 1
24	9	Brandon Van Karsen	Houghton	144.9	UP 1
25	11	Adam Brandt	Sault Ste. Marie	143.9	UP 1
26	12	Joshua Guant	Dollar Bay	143.7	UP 3
27	12	Ben Gilroy	Manistique	141.7	UP 2
28	9	Branson Anderson	Painesdale-Jeffers	139.2	UP 2
29	11	Tyler Soderman	Gladstone	137.1	UP 1
30	11	Max Beauchamp	Gladstone	136.2	UP 1

Recap

Tessa Rautiola sure put a number on her previous personal best. Her 19:28 at Bill Fezzey was nearly 30 sec. better than her previous best, set at last fall’s D1 Finals. And for those that question the course, consider she ran well above 21:00 at the same race last September. Samantha Taylor will be looking to get back to her winning ways. The junior won the D3 finals in ’22, but placed 2^nd last year. That 19:24 opener was a dang good start on that quest. Talya Schreiber, who bested Taylor last year, has two sub-20 efforts under her belt, but no ratings (hopefully soon!)

Looking Forward

Oh, they’ll be soon. Taylor’s Newberry hosts the Tiffany Thorp Invite on Monday, where Pickford and Schreiber will be on hand.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Division
1	11	Samantha Taylor	Newberry	133.2	UP 3
2	11	Tessa Rautiola	Houghton	121.7	UP 1
3	12	Monet Argeropoulos	Marquette	115.2	UP 1
4	9	Evelyn Grant	Marquette	106.0	UP 1
5	10	Abby Taylor	Newberry	105.2	UP 3
6	12	Aubrey Smith	Ironwood	104.2	UP 2
7	11	Ella Fure	Marquette	100.3	UP 1
8	12	Alisha Mabie	Escanaba	98.8	UP 1
9	9	Sela Niska	Houghton	95.7	UP 1
10	12	Roman Trevino Peterlin	Houghton	95.5	UP 1
11	10	Winley Brandt	Menominee	92.4	UP 1
12	12	Lily Ross	Houghton	91.3	UP 1
13	12	Marlee Plaxco	Negaunee	88.8	UP 1
14	12	Ella Keranen	Hancock	85.0	UP 2
15	9	Isabelle McCord	Sault Ste. Marie	84.7	UP 1
16	10	Regan Sporte	Sault Ste. Marie	81.6	UP 1
17	9	Maria Murvich	Kingsford	79.8	UP 1
18	12	Rayna Towles	Hancock	79.0	UP 2
19	12	Alyssa Shirkey	Wakefield-Marenisco/Bessemer	78.7	UP 2
20	11	Faith Cappaert	Stephenson	77.7	UP 3
21	9	Alena Pietila	Hancock	74.6	UP 2
22	9	Bree Besonen	Ewen-Trout Creek	71.9	UP 3
23	12	Chloe Miller	Marquette	70.9	UP 1
24	12	Maija Maki-Warne	Marquette	69.7	UP 1
25	11	Maya Carlson	Manistique	69.4	UP 2
26	10	Eryn Veverka	Marquette	65.1	UP 1
27	11	Nori Korsman	Negaunee	63.4	UP 1
28	11	Maija Keranen	Calumet	60.6	UP 1
29	11	Romi Mattson	Houghton	60.3	UP 1
30	11	Stephanie Jones	Sault Ste. Marie	59.8	UP 1

Homeschool & Other Teams

These are the homeschool squads, clubs, and the school teams that aren’t able to compete in the MHSAA Championships.

Boys

Rank	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	31	176.8
2	Capital Homeschool	53	171.4
3	North Trails	89	158.2
4	MACH	110	144.0
5	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	158	122.8
6	Butternut Homeschool	165	118.4
7	Christ the King	198	102.6
8	West Michigan Homeschool	210	89.6
9	Washtenaw Christian	246

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Luke Long	West Michigan Homeschool	213.0
2	12	Trent Taratuta	North Trails	191.6
3	12	Ezekiel Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	183.8
4	11	Vince Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	181.8
5	9	Abenezer Olson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	179.6
6	9	Leo Garritano	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	175.0
7	10	Evan Armstrong	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	173.9
8	12	Trevor Basch	Capital Homeschool	173.6
9	10	Brian Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	173.5
10	11	Ian Potts	MACH	173.2
11	9	Garrett Potts	MACH	170.4
12	12	Jack Ryan	Capital Homeschool	168.4
13	11	Benaiah Roby	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	168.3
14	12	Edward Fountain	Capital Homeschool	167.5
15	12	David Artman	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	165.5
16	11	Isaac McAlvey	Capital Homeschool	163.7
17	10	Peter Kamp	Capital Homeschool	161.5
18	11	Carter Grimmet	Capital Homeschool	158.4
19	10	Thor Krantz	North Trails	156.7
20	12	Axel Krantz	North Trails	156.1
21	12	Sebastian Hornibrook	North Trails	154.1
22	9	Etienne Ruble	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	151.2
23	10	Tommy Skrobola	Christ the King	138.5
24	10	Joshua Snyder	MACH	136.3
25	10	Isaiah Homan	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	136.1
26	10	Trevor Thompson	Butternut Homeschool	134.2
27	11	Carson Bopp	North Trails	132.4
28	10	Patrick Monahan	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	131.0
29	11	Grady Oberlin	Butternut Homeschool	130.0
30	11	Tyson Crouse	Butternut Homeschool	128.4

Girls

Rank	Team	Score	Top 5 Avg.
1	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	35	72.2
2	Capital Homeschool	50	64.9
3	MACH	62	58.6
4	Christ the King	90	25.5

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	9	Alannah Wessel	MACH	132.9
2	10	Faith Wessel	MACH	104.0
3	12	Olivia Gust	North Trails	103.1
4	11	Abby Thompson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	97.6
5	11	Samantha Hundt	Capital Homeschool	95.7
6	11	Esther Hornibrook	North Trails	81.1
7	9	Ingrid Thomas	Washtenaw Christian	80.7
8	9	Micaela Cabello	Christ the King	78.9
9	11	Taylor Hill	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	75.2
10	10	Kimberly Siek	Berrien County Youth Track	73.0
11	9	Mercy Hibma	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	71.4
12	10	Belle Richardson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	59.7
13	9	Matti Vanderwey	Capital Homeschool	59.7
14	11	Maizy Minnaar	Capital Homeschool	57.3
15	11	Evelyn Jackson	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	57.0
16	12	Maria Gergely	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	56.2
17	10	Eleri Raleigh	Capital Homeschool	56.0
18	10	Taylor Basch	Capital Homeschool	55.7
19	10	Rosie Stelwagen	West Michigan Homeschool	54.3
20	11	Josie Greene	Kalamazoo Homeschool Sports	52.4
21	12	Amber Watta	MACH	51.3
22	10	Alexis Graham	Christ the King	46.6
23	10	Juliana Prewett	Central Michigan Homeschool Athletics	42.4
24	12	Ava Patterson	Capital Homeschool	33.4
25	12	Livia Kuecken	Blue Water Christian Academy	31.0
26	10	Lauren Carothers	Christ the King	30.8
27	11	Lucy Spencer	Capital Homeschool	24.6
28	11	Jessica Bunnell	Berrien County Youth Track	22.2
29	10	Carolina Vidosh	MACH	9.0
30	10	Lauren Robinson	MACH	-4.1

Race by race ratings, summer writeups, social media work, Excel, Word, Photoshop. Occasionally tedious, usually fun, but all leading to these – actual rankings!

If you’ve followed me over the past seven years (!), you know the gist of these and you know I’m always changing an aspect or three.

The individual ratings, which then are sorted into team rankings, take into account all the meets listed and linked here. An individual’s rating takes their best 2/3 of their rated races (rounding to the nearest whole number, so 3 of 5, 5 of 7, etc.). The races are weighed based on recency, field size, and competitiveness. The team rankings are compiled by combining all teams in a division into a hypothetical meet based on those individual ratings.

There are a few changes from last year:

• Coming back to rating weekday meets
  • Believe it or not, I’m still learning and I’ve figured out some ways to do these faster
  • I will be judicious in how many of these are performed
• Using the top 67% instead of last year’s 75%
  • More meets = a comparatively lower % that a runner will truly race all out
• Actual Upper Peninsula/Home School/other rankings
  • These more efficient methods mean I actually have data now and can post
• Writeups focused on the overall state of the division
  • Always a struggle here finding how much to write! Last year, I took up wayyy too much time writing about teams (who deserved the attention, but effort must be managed over here).  
  • I think this fall, I’ll briefly sum up how it’s looking like for the state title contenders, plus anything that catches my eye.

Similar to previous years:

• No more individual rankings posted to social media
  • Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
• One division at a time
  • I know I’d get lost sifting through every division in one post. Focusing on the smaller ones first gives attention to the divisions who might not receive as recognition as the more populated ones.

These contain races through Saturday.

These are for fun. And I do this for free. I’m positive toward every runner in the state. Abiding by that golden rule, you should reciprocate. Capisce? Enjoy.

Recap

Same old story as previous years. Northville’s depth is overwhelming folks. In Tuesday’s Tri Meet of the Year (facing #2 Brighton and #5 Canton), the Mustangs asserted their presence on the second loop through the north side of Cass Benton, putting six boys in front of either team’s two. At Bath, all of their varsity runners were under 16:50, at Lamplighter’s season opener, the same was true, but now 16:30.

Looking Forward

Concentrating on two races: Ottawa Hills and Spartan Elite. I anticipate some great movement in the rankings when we come out of Riverside Park, between 6^th and 15^th contain six teams that will be where their feet are. Earlier in the afternoon, at Spartan’s Elite race, we’ll get to see the top-3 teams face off. Jenison will try their hand at Northville. Upsets are possible here, if you remember correctly, Brighton won on the 6^th runner here last fall.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Northville	88	6	202.3
2	Brighton	157	4	198.5
3	Jenison	221	1	197.6
4	Clarkston	327	8	193.9
5	Canton	338	6	194.0
6	Traverse City Central	357	2	192.5
7	Saline	375	5	191.2
8	Livonia Churchill	446	6	191.2
9	Grand Haven	486	1	190.1
10	Portage Central	498	3	188.0
11	Rockford	508	1	187.8
12	East Kentwood	514	3	189.9
13	Kalamazoo Central	583	3	186.5
14	Midland	680	2	183.9
15	Traverse City West	689	2	184.6
16	Ann Arbor Pioneer	692	5	185.7
17	Okemos	703	2	184.2
18	Highland-Milford	735	7	186.8
19	Grand Ledge	782	2	182.5
20	Macomb Dakota	803	9	181.6
21	Lowell	804	3	183.0
22	Utica	808	9	182.6
23	White Lake Lakeland	827	7	180.8
24	Temperance Bedford	839	5	182.5
25	Oxford	876	8	182.9
26	Salem	891	6	179.5
27	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix	919	3	181.0

Recap

Once again, appearing as the same setup as last year. Romeo’s got a pack and they’re deep. The Bulldogs have even added to their amazing top-5, Ella Goodsell and Reese Rosbolt learning as they go, varsity runners on 99% of the other teams but competing for a spot in the top-7 over on Jewell Road. The field behind them HAS gotten stronger however, Holland West Ottawa throwing out 10+ girls capable of running sub-20’s and Saline’s freshmen giving the Hornets a boost to their already impactful pack.

Looking Forward

Again, a mix of Ottawa Hills and Spartan. I’m glad Ottawa Hills has become a viable option this weekend. Spartan is a massive meet, but perhaps too much going on for some. The quiet, fast, and local race on the banks of the Grand River can be ideal, too. Anyhow, five top-10 teams at Spartan (#4 Brighton, #5 Ann Arbor Pioneer, #8 Northville, #9 Okemos, and #10 Grand Haven). Coming down from Up North are both Traverse City West and Central, hoping to knock off Portage Central or Rockford.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Romeo	86	9	144.8
2	Holland West Ottawa	150	1	143.3
3	Saline	165	5	134.2
4	Brighton	254	4	133.7
5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	266	5	136.8
6	Traverse City West	283	2	131.7
7	Rockford	329	1	129.3
8	Northville	407	6	125.7
9	Okemos	410	2	129.4
10	Grand Haven	450	1	125.2
11	Utica	510	9	121.7
12	White Lake Lakeland	579	7	118.3
13	Portage Central	589	3	117.9
14	Jenison	643	1	115.9
15	Rochester Adams	663	8	115.9
16	Traverse City Central	696	2	113.3
17	Hartland	702	4	113.2
18	Macomb Dakota	716	9	113.2
19	Ann Arbor Skyline	730	4	112.9
20	Midland Dow	750	2	116.8
21	Hudsonville	805	1	109.7
22	Salem	806	6	112.8
23	Rochester	815	8	109.9
24	Dexter	819	4	110.0
25	Farmington	834	6	110.6
26	Grandville	908	1	108.0
27	Fraser	915	9	107.0

Individual Rankings

Recap

You just don’t break 16:00 at Possum Hollow this early in the year. At Averill, only three have: James Gedris, Jack Spamer, and Kyle O’Rourke. Heading away from the crowds, KOR put a gap on the field, then emerging towards the double hill, had opened up a significant lead that became a 25 sec. victory. He now sits 3^rd in Milford history on the famed course. He’s looking like the early favorite in Division 1, but we also haven’t seen the record-breaking freshmen compete just yet.

Looking Forward

Finally, a little attention toward Holly. Aidan Pengelly and Jack MacGregor have each shown themselves to be tough racers, Pengelly giving Ethan Powell everything he could handle at both Lamplighter and the Tri of the Year, MacGregor won’t back down either. Powell will find Seth Conner in the elite race at Spartan. Milford races sparingly through September, but it looks like we’ll see them on Jackson’s fast course in a week.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	11	Kyle O’Rourke	Highland-Milford	217.6	7
2	11	Aiden Pengelly	Canton	210.1	6
3	10	Jack MacGregor	Howell	209.5	4
4	12	Ethan Powell	Northville	209.4	6
5	12	Seth Conner	Jenison	207.3	1
6	11	Beckett Crooks	Ann Arbor Pioneer	207.3	5
7	11	Ryan Barnes	Clarkston	205.6	8
8	12	Alexander McArthur	Oxford	205.1	8
9	11	Jackson Lam	Kalamazoo Loy Norrix	205.0	3
10	12	Evan Nickoles	East Kentwood	205.0	3
11	11	Ben Hartigan	Northville	204.3	6
12	12	Tyler Brock	Brighton	203.2	4
13	12	Joseph Rohmfeld	Livonia Churchill	203.1	6
14	12	Taye Levenson	Bloomfield Hills	202.8	8
15	12	Parker Strelecki	Jenison	202.3	1
16	12	Andrew Kaczmarczyk	Bay City Western	202.0	2
17	11	Jack Steen	Traverse City Central	202.0	2
18	12	Ben Eisnor	Grand Haven	201.7	1
19	10	Luka Hammond	Grand Haven	200.5	1
20	10	Liam Wierzba	Traverse City West	200.4	2
21	11	Benjamin Rottier	Grand Ledge	200.3	2
22	12	Ishaan Kundapur	Northville	200.0	6
23	11	Ian Morgan	Okemos	199.9	2
24	10	Brandon Cloud	Northville	199.1	6
25	12	Jaxson Nowik	Clarkston	198.6	8
26	10	Cameron Varner	Temperance Bedford	198.6	5
27	12	Nick Barretto	Northville	198.6	6
28	12	Chase Wolters	Livonia Churchill	198.4	6
29	11	Cooper Byrne	Lowell	198.4	3
30	10	Blake Kulesza	Brighton	198.0	4

Recap

Back. Better. Breathtaking. Hitting sub-17 in your opener is an affirmative statement by Helen Sachs. In the previous three years that the Under the Lights Invite has taken place, the best time was 17:11, set by her former teammate Arianne Olson. A few weeks in, she’s already daring others to match. Of course, going to the well isn’t needed in every single race, and she’s held back in her past two wins. It’s a long season.

Looking Forward

The best of both worlds will be taking place at Holly. Romeo’s girls will look to assert their attitude at the front of the race, girls such as Emilia Garces, Mallory Bigelow, and Kaelin Hughes will be hoping to split up that sea of red. Over at Spartan, the Pioneer freshmen will get some big race experience, Leah Corby has been waiting for this day to etch her name in the state conversation.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	12	Helen Sachs	Holland West Ottawa	166.9	1
2	9	Emilia Garces	Midland Dow	159.3	2
3	9	Natasza Dudek	Ann Arbor Pioneer	157.5	5
4	11	Leah Corby	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	154.9	8
5	12	Kaelin Hughes	Livonia Stevenson	153.6	6
6	11	Lydia LaMarra	Brighton	151.7	4
7	12	Valerie Beeck	Grand Haven	150.7	1
8	12	Mallory Bigelow	Oxford	149.9	8
9	9	Sienna Klemmer	Ann Arbor Pioneer	149.8	5
10	10	Annabeth Hazlewood	Salem	149.8	6
11	9	Rachel Smith	Okemos	149.5	2
12	10	Daisy Cox	Rockford	148.8	1
13	11	Natalia Guaresimo	Romeo	147.8	9
14	9	Savannah Staton	Saline	147.8	5
15	12	Violet Hrabovsky	Romeo	146.2	9
16	10	Annie Hrabovsky	Romeo	144.9	9
17	12	Lucinda Paliani	Ann Arbor Huron	144.0	6
18	12	Grace Tykocki	Grand Blanc	143.9	4
19	12	Lillian Deskins	Romeo	143.2	9
20	11	Hana Boggess	Ann Arbor Pioneer	143.1	5
21	11	Ava Porras	Holland West Ottawa	142.6	1
22	11	Abby Veit	Traverse City West	142.1	2
23	12	Olivia Purdy	Romeo	141.7	9
24	11	October Harns	Okemos	141.7	2
25	10	Tessa Mascari	Traverse City West	141.5	2
26	12	Emma Gunnett	Holland West Ottawa	141.0	1
27	10	Gabriella Fugazzi	Okemos	140.9	2
28	12	Catherine Steele	Farmington	140.8	6
29	12	Annie Alkema	Kalamazoo Central	139.2	3
30	12	Cassie Garcia	Northville	139.0	6

Race by race ratings, summer writeups, social media work, Excel, Word, Photoshop. Occasionally tedious, usually fun, but all leading to these – actual rankings!

If you’ve followed me over the past seven years (!), you know the gist of these and you know I’m always changing an aspect or three.

The individual ratings, which then are sorted into team rankings, take into account all the meets listed and linked here. An individual’s rating takes their best 2/3 of their rated races (rounding to the nearest whole number, so 3 of 5, 5 of 7, etc.). The races are weighed based on recency, field size, and competitiveness. The team rankings are compiled by combining all teams in a division into a hypothetical meet based on those individual ratings.

There are a few changes from last year:

• Coming back to rating weekday meets
  • Believe it or not, I’m still learning and I’ve figured out some ways to do these faster
  • I will be judicious in how many of these are performed
• Using the top 67% instead of last year’s 75%
  • More meets = a comparatively lower % that a runner will truly race all out
• Actual Upper Peninsula/Home School/other rankings
  • These more efficient methods mean I actually have data now and can post
• Writeups focused on the overall state of the division
  • Always a struggle here finding how much to write! Last year, I took up wayyy too much time writing about teams (who deserved the attention, but effort must be managed over here).  
  • I think this fall, I’ll briefly sum up how it’s looking like for the state title contenders, plus anything that catches my eye.

Similar to previous years:

• No more individual rankings posted to social media
  • Why? I hate instances where a runner stagnates or falls back over the course of the season and it’s posted for the world to see. I recognize people want to know where they’re ranked, so just having it on the website is a happy medium.
• One division at a time
  • I know I’d get lost sifting through every division in one post. Focusing on the smaller ones first gives attention to the divisions who might not receive as recognition as the more populated ones.

These are through Saturday’s meets.

These are for fun. And I do this for free. I’m positive toward every runner in the state. Abiding by that golden rule, you should reciprocate. Capisce? Enjoy.

Recap

Early on, Grand Rapids Christian has put their stamp on the top D2 spot. Five under 16:45 at Pete Moss, which allowed the Eagles to hang right there with Jenison, one of the better D1 teams. They were overwhelmingly dominant at Christian Schools, with 4 boys in the top-5 spots. Just reloading over here. Their Christian brothers down the road at Holland Christian have been pretty darn successful as well, racking up wins in D1-centric fields at Bredeweg and Under the Lights.

Looking Forward

Two races in particular are loaded: the D2 race at Spartan, which features five teams in the top-14 (#3 Alma, #6 Allendale, #8 Otsego, #11 Three Rivers, #14 DeWitt) and an early morning sesh at Riverside Park that only has #1 and #2 toeing the white line together.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Grand Rapids Christian	225	12	192.2
2	Holland Christian	282	11	188.9
3	Alma	339	14	190.0
4	Forest Hills Eastern	347	12	189.2
5	East Grand Rapids	364	12	185.9
6	Allendale	413	11	184.9
7	Frankenmuth	431	15	182.3
8	Otsego	462	13	181.1
9	Marshall	469	13	186.8
10	Gladwin	524	10	183.0
11	Three Rivers	551	13	179.8
12	Shepherd	572	15	180.5
13	Cedar Springs	583	10	178.0
14	DeWitt	614	14	175.9
15	Flint Powers Catholic	627	15	179.4
16	Pinckney	640	16	176.4
17	Sparta	699	10	175.1
18	New Boston Huron	746	18	173.9
19	Freeland	756	15	178.1
20	Plainwell	799	12	171.1
21	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	832	11	173.0
22	Corunna	843	14	168.9
23	Zeeland East	857	11	169.0
24	Edwardsburg	863	13	168.7
25	Hudsonville Unity Christian	897	11	167.2
26	Parma Western	901	14	169.1
27	Adrian	950	18	167.0

Recap

I expected Goodrich and Grand Rapids Christian to be in the mix, Zeeland East is a bit of a surprise. Megan Kuzma and Meredith Cook both matched or hit their personal bests at Under the Lights, helping the Chix win the Starlight Division. Missing Kuzma at Bredeweg, ZE still picked up a 3^rd place finish in the D1-filled field. At Benzie, we already received a little preview of GRC and Goodrich, the Eagles claiming a little 3-point victory. This race is gonna be tight.

Looking Forward

Similar to the boys, the D2 elites will be concentrated around Ottawa Hills and Spartan. Although it’s not the highly anticipated top-2 matchup, #1 and #4 ain’t too bad. Early morning XC spectators and athletic.net viewers will be able to see how Grand Rapids Christian and Holland Christian relate to one another. Spartan will be split into the D2 race (#6 Otsego and #7 DeWitt) and the Elite (#2 Goodrich and #11 Frankenmuth). Coming back to Ottawa Hills, Zeeland East and Unity Christian will be in the evening session. A fun-filled day.

Top 27

Rank	Team	Score	Region	Top 5 Avg.
1	Grand Rapids Christian	184	12	127.7
2	Goodrich	191	15	126.2
3	Zeeland East	198	11	128.2
4	Holland Christian	239	11	122.0
5	East Grand Rapids	269	12	121.6
6	Otsego	301	13	124.6
7	DeWitt	306	14	118.9
8	Adrian	381	18	119.2
9	Freeland	397	15	115.4
10	Hudsonville Unity Christian	461	11	111.2
11	Frankenmuth	522	15	110.9
12	Linden	536	16	107.0
13	Ludington	600	10	107.7
14	Spring Lake	645	10	100.9
15	Cadillac	725	10	100.1
16	St. Joseph	726	13	104.9
17	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	737	18	98.5
18	Grand Rapids South Christian	765	12	95.4
19	Owosso	839	14	93.0
20	Dearborn Divine Child	847	16	92.5
21	Sturgis	850	13	98.4
22	Shepherd	886	15	92.7
23	Forest Hills Eastern	911	12	90.8
24	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	913	16	92.1
25	Coopersville	925	11	91.4
26	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	934	12	93.1
27	Plainwell	955	12	88.8

Individual Rankings

Recap

4:43, 4:47, 5:18 (4:47 pace). TJ Hansen in his opener did his best to affirmatively shut the door on any doubts concerning his senior year. Last year, we were in awe of his win at Bluejay when pushed, last week at John Bruder contained a 10+ second gap at the mile, 30+ seconds at two. In any normal year, Henry Dixon and Jack Bidwell would be dueling for the win. Both have had wow-inducing moments, Bidwell laying down a dominant win at Bath and Dixon the same at Under the Lights.

Looking Forward

Both TJ Hansen and Bidwell will be elites on the line at Spartan. Usually, you’ll see some of the better teams in Ohio bring their ringers, and it appears Ohio’s D1 4^th place finisher in the 1600m will be there. I expect Michigan to hold the home court, adding in the fact that we have D2 standouts such as Colin Murray and Seth Mead in that section as well.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	12	TJ Hansen	Freeland	227.2	15
2	12	Henry Dixon	Forest Hills Eastern	214.5	12
3	12	Jack Bidwell	Marshall	214.3	13
4	12	Colin Murray	Dearborn Divine Child	210.7	16
5	11	Thomas Larson	Alma	208.3	14
6	12	Sullivan Zietlow	Three Rivers	206.3	13
7	10	Ezekiel Baltierra	Alma	206.0	14
8	12	Dominic Lowrie	Battle Creek Harper Creek	205.4	13
9	11	Bryce Gross	Flint Powers Catholic	205.1	15
10	12	Elijah Christensen	Gladwin	205.0	10
11	10	Bryce Cahoon	Shepherd	204.1	15
12	12	Will Engbers	Holland Christian	203.0	11
13	9	Lennox Naswell	Flint Powers Catholic	202.5	15
14	12	Jeb Hillary	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	202.4	11
15	12	Simon Triezenberg	Grand Rapids Christian	201.8	12
16	11	Ronnie Silveira	Allendale	201.4	11
17	11	Vincent Pattison	Goodrich	200.8	15
18	12	Seth Mead	Gladwin	200.5	10
19	11	Jonah Workman	East Grand Rapids	200.5	12
20	12	Lucas Kuhn	New Boston Huron	199.7	18
21	11	Edison Lopeman	Parma Western	199.3	14
22	11	Sean Ryan	Grand Rapids Christian	198.9	12
23	12	Alex Doneth	Mason	197.9	14
24	12	Reece Davis	Marshall	197.9	13
25	12	Nolan Longuski	Shepherd	197.8	15
26	12	Jack Lillywhite	Flint Kearsley	196.7	15
27	12	Abatu Dykstra	Hamilton	196.6	11
28	10	Abraham McHugh	Marshall	196.6	13
29	12	Zachary Newman	Pinckney	196.1	16
30	12	Simon Erfourth	Owosso	195.7	14

Recap

Emma Hoffman has been the story of the season thus far. The Otsego junior had already operated at a high level, racking up All-States on the grass and around the oval. She’s seemingly hit a new level, extending her school record well into the 17’s. Ava Schafer is up there too, under 18:00 in a much quicker fashion than her wildly successful freshman year. Elena Figueroa has been a bit more judicious in her efforts, cruising to two victories, though truly pushing it in her Under the Lights opener.

Looking Forward

The Redwings are traveling over to Ottawa Hills, so we’ll get to see Schafer experience that lightning quick course. We’ll get a little rematch of the D2 finals (Elena Figueroa placing 3^rd and Ava 4^th) and an early look into the fitness of the two. Hoffman’s world tour of outstanding performances will be taking a stop at Forest Akers, where she’ll be at the front, hopefully leading her top-10 Bulldogs to success.

Top 30

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Rating	Region
1	11	Emma Hoffman	Otsego	167.9	13
2	10	Ava Schafer	St. Johns	163.6	14
3	11	Katie Berkshire	Gaylord	155.9	10
4	10	Jaelyn Ray	Pinckney	150.6	16
5	12	Elena Figueroa	St. Joseph	150.4	13
6	12	Emma Drnek	Zeeland East	148.3	11
7	12	Courtney Bovair	Carleton Airport	147.6	18
8	11	Natalie Foltz	Frankenmuth	146.6	15
9	10	Clara Kaczor	Freeland	146.5	15
10	12	Ayla Holben	DeWitt	145.6	14
11	11	Berkley Holtz	Sturgis	145.4	13
12	12	Mea D’Agostino	Orchard Lake St. Mary’s	145.1	16
13	10	Adeline Armstrong	East Grand Rapids	143.4	12
14	12	Sophy Skeels	Adrian	143.1	18
15	11	Ellie Scholma	Grand Rapids Christian	141.9	12
16	10	Johanna Mulder	Holland	141.4	11
17	11	Marie Gates	Hudsonville Unity Christian	140.8	11
18	10	Ayda Skeels	Adrian	137.9	18
19	12	Ava Crews	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	137.4	12
20	11	Meredith Cook	Zeeland East	135.9	11
21	10	Annabelle Lowman	Ludington	135.8	10
22	10	Lane Isom	Richland Gull Lake	134.7	12
23	10	Alivia Ottinger	Goodrich	134.6	15
24	12	Grace Evanoff	Flint Powers Catholic	134.1	15
25	10	Mia May	Sparta	133.0	10
26	12	Joy Evans	Alma	132.0	14
27	12	Nadia Grierson	Ludington	131.7	10
28	11	Brooklynn Brown	Cadillac	130.2	10
29	11	Lilah Poel	Grand Rapids Christian	129.9	12
30	12	Layla Jordan	Goodrich	129.4	15