Category: Uncategorized

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 1600m – 4:19
• 3200m – 9:25
• 5k (XC) – 16:12
• 50k (Trail) – 4:29
• 50 Mile (Trail) – 7:47
• 100k (Trail) – 12:29
• 100 Mile (Trail) – Completed

• 6^th Place – D4 State
• Region 32 Champion
• 2^nd Place – SAC Championship
• 3200m D4 State Champion
• 4x800m D4 State Champion
• 2^nd Place – D4 State 1600m
• 6x All-State (Track & XC)

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:12.2	Kalamazoo Hackett	187.9	Division 4 State	4-Nov	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:34.3	Kalamazoo Hackett	186.6	Region 32	27-Oct	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:24.4	Kalamazoo Hackett	185.9	Christian Comet	21-Oct	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:59.4	Kalamazoo Hackett	184.5	SAC Championship	12-Oct	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:25.9	Kalamazoo Hackett	188.4	Portage	7-Oct	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:29.1	Kalamazoo Hackett	184.0	Otsego Bulldog	30-Sep	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	16:52.2	Kalamazoo Hackett	185.3	Centreville	9-Sep	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	17:13.0	Kalamazoo Hackett	185.0	Kalamazoo	30-Aug	2023
10	Marek Butkiewicz	17:02.5	Kalamazoo Hackett	188.5	Michigan Catholic	26-Aug	2023
Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:42.2	Kalamazoo Hackett	162.6	Division 4 State	5-Nov	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:34.1	Kalamazoo Hackett	162.6	Region 32	28-Oct	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:30.1	Kalamazoo Hackett	164.7	Christian Comet	22-Oct	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:55.2	Kalamazoo Hackett	158.9	SAC Championship	13-Oct	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:51.8	Kalamazoo Hackett	158.7	Portage	8-Oct	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:55.7	Kalamazoo Hackett	162.8	SAC 2	28-Sep	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:51.9	Kalamazoo Hackett	161.0	SAC 1	14-Sep	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	17:55.3	Kalamazoo Hackett	167.2	Centreville	10-Sep	2022
9	Marek Butkiewicz	18:28.3	Kalamazoo Hackett	162.6	Michigan Catholic	27-Aug	2022

The Rundown

Yeah, all the ultra and trail times are real. Don’t believe me? Just read.

And this excellent article from the MHSAA is a great background into Marek and his impact on the Hackett team.

I thought I’d approach things from a different angle, the way I know best, a good chart:

Meet	Rating Improvement	Time Improvement	Place Improvement
Division 4 State	25.3	1:20	52nd to 6th
Region 32	24.0	1:00	5th to 1st
Christian Comet	21.2	1:06	15th to 2nd
SAC Championship	25.6	0:56	7th to 2nd
Portage	29.7	1:26	29th to 7th
Centreville	18.1	1:03	Still 1st
Michigan Catholic	25.9	1:26	JV to 5th

I think this shows and proves what the MHSAA article had said, that Butkiewicz’s freshman track season was one that gave him clarity into his talents. Six races, averaging over a minute faster, racking up more wins and medals than his young self may have thought possible.

The ultra running and high mileage may point to being an endurance beast, Marek’s sophomore track season worked on another aspect – his speed. His 1600m spring consisted of a Region 34 title and a SAC Championship, along with a 4:19 that earned him a 2^nd place finish in Division Four. The real honors came in the 3200m, a win on his third event of the day, and the 4×800, where his Hackett boys, despite their enrollment ranking #493 in the State, passed the baton to the #19 time in Michigan. May future Irish boys be motivated and pushed to stardom by Butkiewicz’s grinding enthusiasm.

SUMMER PREVIEW

Last Year

Summer
Mid-Season
Final Projections
Result

Boys

1. Whitmore Lake (17^th)
2. Novi Christian Academy (25^th)
3. Fowler (27^th)

Girls

1. Whitmore Lake (State Champion)
2. Novi Christian Academy (14^th)
3. Lansing Christian (16^th)

Top 27 Teams

Boys

Top Ten – Dansville
#12 – Whitmore Lake
#24 – Potterville

Girls

Top Ten – Whitmore Lake
#19 – Lansing Christian
#26 – Novi Christian Academy
#27 – Livingston Christian

Projected Scores

Boys

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Dansville	48
2	Whitmore Lake	62
3	Potterville	85
4	Webberville	99
5	Lansing Christian	121
6	Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes	149
7	Byron	178
8	Morrice	215
9	Genesee	234
10	Genesee Christian Academy	247

Girls

Place	Team	Projected Score
1	Whitmore Lake	19
2	Lansing Christian	64
3	Novi Christian Academy	89
4	Livingston Christian	91
5	Clarkston Everest Collegiate	121
6	Genesee Christian Academy	124
7	Byron	187

Top Runners

Boys

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	12	Theodore Davis	Dansville
2	11	Landen Livingston	Whitmore Lake
3	9	Anderson Karkau	Dansville
4	9	Rylen Richey	Potterville
5	11	Josiah Johncox	Byron
6	11	Reuben Jiran	Novi Christian Academy
7	11	Tyler Langfeldt	Potterville
8	10	Ayden Mayr	Dansville
9	11	Ben Young	Lansing Christian
10	12	Aaron Crittenden	Potterville
11	11	Gavin Howery	Webberville
12	9	Nathan West	Webberville
13	11	Ethan West	Webberville
14	10	Benjamin Fox	Whitmore Lake
15	12	Nate Dillon	Whitmore Lake
16	9	Nolan Collins	Whitmore Lake
17	11	Nathan Camilleri	Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes
18	9	Randolf Schneider	Dansville
19	11	Dan Birmingham	Whitmore Lake
20	12	Karl Wegner	Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes
21	9	Tucker Jolin	Dansville
22	9	Hunter Greenman	Dansville
23	12	Samuel Hubbard	Livingston Christian
24	12	Ethan Root	Dansville
25	11	Ian Ferguson	Genesee Christian Academy

Theodore Davis

Whether D4 or D3, Davis has found victories at the regional level. He was 2^nd here as a freshman, then grabbed back-to-back victories in Region 26.

Landen Livingston

Hopped on the train at Houseman Field’s Distance Night and rode it to a massive PR. That 10:02 shows he’s perfectly capable of running with the big boys come November.

Josiah Johncox

Sophomore season was his first running cross for the Eagles and he was a quick learner, earning a state qualifier and top-10 finish in Shiawassee County.

Girls

Place	Grade	Name	Team
1	10	Kaylie Livingston	Whitmore Lake
2	11	Carina Burchi	Whitmore Lake
3	11	Taylor Wiegand	Livingston Christian
4	11	Sofia Robertson	Whitmore Lake
5	11	Elodie Weaver	Whitmore Lake
6	10	Adrienne Mitchell	Lansing Christian
7	12	Autumn Reynolds	Potterville
8	10	Alexis Graham	Whitmore Lake
9	12	Erica Walker	Clarkston Everest Collegiate
10	12	Ava Mustapha	Lansing Christian
11	9	Madison Markowicz	Novi Christian Academy
12	12	Brooke Sonnenberg	Genesee Christian Academy
13	11	Abigail Yatooma	Novi Christian Academy
14	10	Ezrielle Martin	Livingston Christian
15	11	Juliette Tallon	Lansing Christian
16	11	Alaina Driver	Potterville
17	11	Averie Zinn	Genesee
18	10	Annie Wernet	Lansing Christian
19	12	Isabella Nelson-Daniels	Whitmore Lake
20	9	Abigail Galazka	Livingston Christian
21	10	Grace Bell	Novi Christian Academy
22	9	Ariana Stewart	Genesee Christian Academy
23	10	Makenna Bush	Lansing Christian
24	12	Adriana Fandino	Novi Christian Academy
25	10	Mena Mayr	Dansville

Kaylie Livingston

Much to be written about Kaylie down the line. But one thing that especially caught my eye was how she first responded to losing (2^nd place in the D4 cross finals) – going out there and dominating the 3200m indoors. Speaks a ton about her internal drive and competitiveness.

Carina Burchi

First here as a freshman, second as a sophomore, and no signs of letting up. In the spring, Carina lowered her already impressive 5:10 1600m best to 5:07.

Taylor Wiegand

Someone’s gotta bust up the Whitmore Lake pack, right? Taylor did just that last year, placing 3^rd here and then the following week, grabbing her first All-State ever.

Sofia Robertson

Palpable transformation between her freshman and sophomore years. Lowered her personal best by over a minute and moved up over 60 places at the State Finals.

Elodie Weaver

Whitmore Lake junior came in clutch to help the Trojans capture the ’23 state title, but the precursor to that was here, where she placed 8^th, moving up three spots from her freshman year.

THE SUMMER PREVIEW

Accomplishments & Accolades

• 800m – 2:22
• 1600m – 5:04
• 5k (XC) – 19:01

• 7^th Place – SEC Red Championship
• 9^th Place – Region 4
• 2^nd Place – SEC Red 1600m

Ratings Throughout the Years

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating	Meet	Date	Year
9	Becca van Lent	19:04.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	130.6	MITCA	11-Nov	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:01.2	Ann Arbor Skyline	134.3	Division 1 State	4-Nov	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:40.8	Ann Arbor Skyline	126.4	Region 4	28-Oct	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:39.6	Ann Arbor Skyline	130.5	SEC Championship	19-Oct	2023
9	Becca van Lent	20:29.9	Ann Arbor Skyline	113.4	Gabriel Richard	14-Oct	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:37.7	Ann Arbor Skyline	125.4	Portage	7-Oct	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:16.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	121.7	SEC Red 2	27-Sep	2023
9	Becca van Lent	19:46.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	120.6	Jackson	23-Sep	2023
9	Becca van Lent	21:11.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	102.0	Holly	16-Sep	2023
9	Becca van Lent	21:52.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	84.3	Bath	9-Sep	2023
9	Becca van Lent	22:04.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	84.9	Early Bird Open	31-Aug	2023
9	Becca van Lent	22:11.5	Ann Arbor Skyline	86.8	Lamplighter	18-Aug	2023

The Rundown

The newest emergence shares a relation with one of the names above: Becca van Lent. Take a peek and see if you can notice where she burst onto the scene:

Becca’s personal best before that race in late September? 20:35. After it? 19:46. From that point on, Becca was sub-20 in six of her final seven races, the only exception being a soggy, muddy day at Gabriel Richard. The ascendency only continued into track, where a 5:04 in the 1600m ranked her #7 amongst all 9^th graders. This state has great coaches and Skyline’s seem to stand out in terms of development, I can’t wait to see what these next three years hold.