Category: Uncategorized

We’ve finally arrived in the prime part of the year. Meets such as Holly, Spartan, Jackson, Cougar Falcon, Otsego Bulldog, Bluejay have been excellent bellwethers, showcasing how different teams from different areas compare against one another. We have one final example of those this week at Portage (which isn’t technically a championship, but I’m gonna label it as our mid-season championship) before embarking on our stretch of county, area, league, and finally – Regionals and State Finals.

If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:

The individual ratings take into account all the meets listed here. There are a few meets missing that I’ll link to, but pretty much any meet with a significant number of athletes will have been calculated. An individual’s rating takes their best 75% of rated races (rounding up, so 4 of 5, 5 of 6, etc.), weighs them with more recent races having a higher weight, then spits out a final rating. The team rankings score those individuals as if they were in a meet against their entire division.

There are a few changes from previous years:

• No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
  • Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
• Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
  • Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
• 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.
• More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
  • I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
• Posting these one division at a time
  • If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive. With a bit of free-r time this week, I should get to the Upper Peninsula.

Unfortunately, the injury rule is in place, where if I don’t have a rating from the past month, that runner is taken out. If you’re willing to share (and I can understand why not – someone’s medical situation doesn’t have to be the public’s business) that your athlete or you yourself are healthy/injured, feel free. There are some exceptions based on situations that make sense. Hopefully these don’t rub salt in the wound of someone who’s already hurting.

Now I need to be serious for a minute. These are for fun. If you don’t like these fun rankings, you don’t need to participate, you don’t need to call me names, talk trash to your fellow competitors, or send rude emails. We good here? Enjoy.

Speaking of name calling mentioned at the above, when someone refers to us (you, me, and our fellow obsessive XC fans) as nerds, we gotta embrace it. So this week’s ranking was written for all of us nerds, know-it-all’s, and mathematicians out there in the Michigan XC World. For real though, I really appreciate the work done in these newsletters (here is Saline’s), they always do a great job of highlighting kids that would never get showcased in any newspaper or the work that I do. Thanks for putting these together, Saline and other schools.

GIRLS TEAM RANKINGS

Romeo

Week Three: “Missing a few pieces of what they hope to bring forth in the late season but that hasn’t stopped the Bulldogs from racking up wins at Lamplighter, Averill and in the MAC Red.”

Week Four: Sickness ravaging through northern Macomb County, the Bulldogs were missing three of their top seven at Holly. They still pulled through, thanks to Olivia Purdy holding it down in the 4 spot and Maya Muskan stepping in as their 5.

Jackson was pure domination, but their true strength and grit was shown at Shepherd. The Bulldogs were missing two of their top three girls and STILL won the Elite section. Nailing down the all-important 5^th spot was Gracie Youngblood, running her best race since Lamplighter to grab a personal best and clinch the team title.

Ann Arbor Pioneer

Week Three: “I should know better. Each year, it’s a question along the lines of “who will replace Emily/Cookie/Sarah/Dudek/Anne” and each year, it’s an answer with someone new. Lydia Bowman is a girl that’s stepped into a prominent role, running in the mid-18’s and grabbing top-5 finishes at Benzie and John Bruder. Lydia, along with her Pioneer teammates will be racing Friday in Spartan Elite, going against a strong field with the likes of Brighton, Northville, and Holland West Ottawa.”

Week Four: The Pioneer traveling roadshow took its talents to East Lansing last week, rocking another dominating victory. Natalie Mello continued her silent, solid, and consistent start to the year, notching her third consecutive sub-19 with a 18:56, 10^th place finish.

Traveled down I-75 for three hours to show some Ohio teams what’s up. Any time you can go to that godforsaken state, enter a championship race, and beat 20 other schools – you’re amazing in my book.

Brighton

Week Three: “The KLAA can be a brutal conference. Coming off a highly competitive Averill Invite then rolling right into a tri containing a top-5 Northville team. The Bulldogs survived with a victory and now head to Spartan on Friday.”

Week Four: The Bulldogs took the momentum from the weekday win and used it to dispel many top-10 squads at Spartan. They’ve been very steady this year, with hardly any girls blowing up in big races. There will be plenty of big races to come and I think they’ve solidified that they have an excellent shot of contending for a podium spot.

The Bulldogs have been laying a bit low these past few weeks. We saw a glimpse of them at Jackson, where they placed 3^rd behind Romeo and Pioneer. And we also caught a glimpse of someone who can be a massive boon to their podium chances. Elle Bissett flashed a significant personal best, placing 10^th in 18:26, more than a minute faster than her previous best.

Grand Haven

Week Four: Addy Smith has begun to show the promise she held during track (2:19/5:22), running a personal best of 19:08 at the latest OK Red Jamboree. That low-19 effort was almost a minute faster than her OK Red opener from her sophomore year.

Allendale Falcon was the home of two breakout races – where both Cianah Budnik-Ramos and Addy Smith slipped under 19:00 for the first time in their careers. Those two great showings led to a Buc victory in the Big School division.

Holland West Ottawa

The largest jump of any team in this top echelon. My rankings are a bit more conservative than most, as I feel the entire season speaks more volumes than just one race. So when a team jumps up 4 spots in one week because of one race, you know they absolutely brought it. West Ottawa’s slogan is Shared Suffering, but for Otsego Bulldog, it may as well have been Shared PB’s. 10 of the 13 girls that competed on Saturday ran a personal best.

Saline

Although the ratings this year don’t pay much attention to jamborees, I love comparing them against one another. The competition is usually the same, so one can easily discern how much a competitor has improved over the course of the season. In the first SEC Jamboree, the top 3 went: Pioneer 21, Saline 57, Dexter 99. In the second: Pioneer 27, Saline 48, Dexter 98. Even if the Hornets remained in second place, they clearly improved relative to other teams.

Northville

Week Four: You may have noticed these Mustangs punching high above their preseason rankings. There may be a number of factors, but one small one could be the frontrunning of Cassie Garcia. At Lamplighter, she assisted Molly Kate Coates before blasting the final mile. At Spartan, she took that patience and unleashed a lifetime best.

Clearly Molly Kate Coates has benefitted from her thoughtful coaches and teammates, as her 19:35 at Jackson was a lifetime best and clutch enough to give the Mustangs a 4^th place finish over Saline.

Traverse City West

This past weekend, the Titans packed up and took the road down to Bluejay. Then they packed up on the course, all varsity runners within a minute of one another, ranging from 18:56 to 19:52.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Week 5	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Romeo	9	87	1	2	2	1
2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5	152	2	1	1	3
3	Brighton	4	301	3	3	3	4
4	Grand Haven	1	341	7	5	5	9
5	Holland West Ottawa	1	343	9	8	6	5
6	Saline	5	374	5	9	7	2
7	Northville	6	397	4	4	4	10
8	Traverse City West	2	417	8	7	10	6
9	Forest Hills Central	3	421	6	6	8	15
10	Okemos	2	441	11	11	11	8
11	Rockford	1	574	12	12	14	12
12	Oxford	8	618	10	10	9	7
13	White Lake Lakeland	7	625	15	31	28	45
14	Davison	4	650	18	15	17	33
15	Utica	8	662	22	16	18	20
16	Traverse City Central	2	684	13	14	16	16
17	Dexter	4	711	16	21	22	13
18	Jenison	1	759	14	13	12	18
19	Clarkston	8	767	30	41	39	19
20	Fraser	9	784	19	19	20	34
21	Zeeland West	1	801	29	25	30	42
22	Walled Lake Northern	7	812	27	22	13	14
23	Portage Central	3	822	26	26	15	28
24	Macomb Dakota	9	824	17	17	23	27
25	Lake Orion	8	845	23	28	19	17
26	Ann Arbor Skyline	4	857	20	29	36	61
27	Rochester	8	893	24	20	26	37

BOYS TEAM RANKINGS

Northville

Week Three: “Have met the challenges of all competitors thus far, taking home titles at Lamplighter and Bath. But the toughest test might’ve been yesterday’s tri against Brighton and Canton, where the Mustangs eked out wins against two top-10 squads.”

Week Four: I lied. The toughest test was at Spartan, where a tie with Brighton invoked their 6^th runners, to which the Bulldogs prevailed. But it’s early and you have a kid such as Ishaan Kundapur evolving from his 18-flat openers to mid-16’s at Forest Akers.

Thanks to the MHSAA’s updated rules, teams are allowed to travel in-season to adjacent states (hopefully in future years we can see Renaissance and Oak Park go to Penn/Texas Relays, but that’s another topic). The Mustangs took advantage of this rule by traveling to Roy Griak. Griak appears to run about 20-25 seconds slower than Spartan, so to average 16:35 across their top-5, even after being on the road for 11 hours, is mighty impressive.

Brighton

Week Three: “That tri against Northville was intriguing in the sense that the path toward a state title becomes perfectly clear. Can the Bulldogs establish enough of a gap between their 3rd-5th runners and Northville’s to counteract the margin between each of their top two’s. Speaking of those top two’s, Luke Campbell is in the middle of a breakout senior year. Has hovered around 16-flat at Cass Benton when he was typically in the 17’s there last year.”

Week Four: Through two runners, Northville scored 14 to Brighton’s 30. For their 3^rd through 5^th, Brighton scored 63 to Northville’s 79. There are many paths to victory in cross country and one of the more common ones is through quality depth, especially in larger fields. This is where the race could be won in weeks to come.

After that Spartan win, the Bulldogs traveled up the road to run Hess Hathaway’s Beautiful Lady. Not much will top the Spartan win, but there was a bit of beauty in Brighton’s victory at the Mott Fall Classic. All seven of their boys were under 17:10 on that tough track.

Grand Haven

Week Three: “At a Bredeweg Invite chock full of the West Coast’s best D1/D2 teams, the Bucs attained a fairly clear victory. Of course, Seth Norder did what he had to do in order to win, but it’s the improvement and addition of a few parts that gives the GH team their strength. Plenty of experience and a new addition, Luka Hammond, navigating the mid-16 waters as a true freshman.”

Week Four: Competing against the West Side’s best in the first OK Red Jamboree, the Bucs placed 4 in the top-8, 5 in the top-10, and cruised to a 17 point victory.

Roman Smith has been steadily improving all throughout his career and all throughout this year. His 16:10 at Allendale Falcon was his best time of his career, 2.5 minutes faster than his freshman best.

Canton

Week Four: The Green division may not be Spartan Elite, but you have a field full of D1 teams that love cross country – willing to travel from all over to compete on a Friday. The Chiefs scored 31 points in that field, smashing the top-20 and sub-17 with all 7 of their varsity runners.

Came up to the East Side over the weekend, flexing their muscles against a few top-10 teams. The Chiefs may have been missing Steven Dusseau, but Brandon Blandino stepped up in his absence, nabbing his fourth consecutive sub-17, coming in as Canton’s 5^th man ahead of boy Troy and Oxford’s 4^th.

Troy

It had been building for a bit – Jackson was the Colts’ coming out party. Personal bests from 6 of their top 7 en route to a second place finish against a bevy of the teams they could see at State. One of those bests was Kian Schneeweis, who has undergone a massive improvement, dropping from the high-16’s to mid-15’s this fall.

Oxford

Week Four: Proved their worth at the weekend invites. After finishing third in the first OAA Red Jamboree, the Wildcats turned around and vanquished Metro Detroit’s best D1 teams at Holly. Lucas Ames had one of the more clutch races, coming in as their 4^th boy in his first sub-17 ever.

The Wildcats have sure shifted expectations this year. Before the season, if you had asked me what would be a superb race for them at County, I’d have said top-3. Now they’re in contention for the top spot. What a difference a few months makes.

Kalamazoo Central

Otsego is a quick course, but not egregiously so. When the Giants place six boys under 16:30, you know they’re for real. Among those six was freshman Sam Baker, hitting his first 15:xx in a career sure to be full of them.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Week 5	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Northville	6	177	1	1	1	1
2	Brighton	4	215	2	2	2	2
3	Grand Haven	1	311	3	3	3	4
4	Canton	6	352	6	5	6	20
5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5	355	4	6	5	11
6	Troy	8	387	8	17	22	6
7	Oxford	8	416	5	4	4	19
8	Kalamazoo Central	3	470	9	7	10	3
9	Romeo	9	479	10	9	8	5
10	White Lake Lakeland	7	487	11	8	11	12
11	Forest Hills Central	3	528	12	10	17	8
12	Livonia Churchill	6	547	14	12	13	26
13	Walled Lake Northern	7	584	19	14	7	7
14	Macomb Dakota	9	606	13	13	9	33
15	Jenison	1	622	15	15	15	16
16	Portage Central	3	636	23	21	26	10
17	Traverse City Central	2	664	18	22	14	14
18	Utica	8	687	17	19	16	13
19	Plymouth	6	691	16	16	31	15
20	Zeeland West	1	721	24	23	19	21
21	Saline	5	747	22	18	18	18
22	Clarkston	8	775	7	11	12	9
23	Bay City Western	2	801	20	20	24	37
24	East Kentwood	3	813	21	24	21	45
25	Howell	4	906	25	25	25	31
26	Traverse City West	2	911	32	36	34	28
27	Byron Center	3	925	26	28	28	34

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Rachel Forsyth

Week Three: “For the ratings, I really don’t pay attention to jamborees. Purely as a fan of the sport, check out her 16:44 at Bedford. Judging by the times, the course ran fair and even in one of the tougher leagues in the state, she gapped the field by two minutes.”

Week Four: The dominance continued. Another considerable gap, this time by 45 seconds. Sub-17 on a Spartan course that for its lack of hills, never seems to run fast.

Lo and behold, that sub-17 at Spartan was a harbinger for things to come. Three straight mid-16 performances, highlighted by a 16:27 win over those Ohio girls.

Selma Anderson

Week Three: “At MITCA last year, popped into the 17’s for the first time ever and this fall, she’s back for more. 17:52 in her debut at Under the Lights was more than 1.5 minutes faster than her 2022 debut.”

Week Four: At a quick glance (and by my count – probably wrong), Selma had run at Riverside seven times prior to Saturday. None of those seven were sub-18, so girl had to make up for lost time and leave her mark on the course. 17:32 in the Session 2 race was good for a victory and massive personal best.

Ottawa Hills and their light schedules make it easy for these writeups, tough to know a runner’s progress. One thing for sure, Selma has registered two consecutive OK Gold wins and is committed to run for Syracuse next fall.

Jayden Harberts

Week Four: Getting back into the swing of things during her senior year. An 18:15 win at Willow was a season best.

And that season best was short-lived, as the Dakota girls traveled west on 94 to Jackson, where Jayden ran a 17:47. Her time there marked four straight years of sub-18’s.

Annie Hrabovsky

Inching to get out there and prove she belonged, Annie finally convinced the Romeo coaches that it was time to let her loose. Jackson was the place, and in the race, it was the final 2500m, where she moved up through almost the entire field to place 3^rd in 17:53.

Clara James-Heer

Can’t speak enough about the patience of Clara. After tons of performances in the very low-18’s as a freshman, she didn’t reach that level too often in her sophomore and junior years. But she’s still out there, still showing up, and now showing up in 18:07 at Cougar Falcon and 17:44 at Shepherd.

Natalia Guaresimo

Had to sit out at Shepherd, but I think her Sharp Park success was enough to count for two meets. 100+ seconds faster than her freshman year, her 17:59.8 was good enough for 4^th in a field comprised of many potential podium finishers.

Lucy Cook

Week Four: Her Spartan Invite went much better than last year. An 18:10 was nearly a minute faster than the previous year. Rochester is taking the weekend off; we’ll see her return to action next week with an OAA White Jamboree and the Hansons Invitational.

Just patiently doing her thing, winning and tuning up for championship season. An 18:15 at Freedom Hill was her third consecutive Hansons title and good prep for what could be a third consecutive Oakland County title.

Morgan Brown

Jackson and Bluejay were perfect opportunities to run fast and take stock of the competition you’ll see down the line. Two top-10 finishes for Morgan, including her first sub-18 ever at Shepherd. That 17:57 made even more remarkable given the fact that she was running by herself for much of the race.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Rachel Forsyth	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
2	12	Selma Anderson	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills	3
3	12	Jayden Harberts	Macomb Dakota	9
4	9	Annie Hrabovsky	Romeo	9
5	12	Clara James-Heer	Forest Hills Central	3
6	10	Natalia Guaresimo	Romeo	9
7	11	Lucy Cook	Rochester	8
8	12	Morgan Brown	Livonia Churchill	6
9	10	Emmerson Clor	Romeo	9
10	11	Cassie Garcia	Northville	6
11	12	Katie Watkins	H.H. Dow	2
12	12	Ella Christensen	Northville	6
13	11	Valerie Beeck	Grand Haven	1
14	12	Lydia Bowman	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
15	11	Violet Hrabovsky	Romeo	9
16	10	Ava Porras	Holland West Ottawa	1
17	11	Mallory Bigelow	Oxford	8
18	12	Payton Scheffler	Brownstown Woodhaven	5
19	12	Carrigan Eberly	Brighton	4
20	12	Layla Krayem	Livonia Stevenson	6
21	11	Isabelle Becker	Bay City Western	2
22	11	Ava Alicandro	White Lake Lakeland	7
23	10	Addie Birkholz	Holland West Ottawa	1
24	12	Natalie Mello	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
25	12	Hannah DeRoeck	Lake Orion	8
26	12	Elaina (Laney) Alig	Saline	5
27	10	Leah Corby	Rochester Hills Stoney Creek	9
28	12	Shannon Gillahan	Okemos	2
29	11	Grace Tykocki	Grand Blanc	4
30	12	Braydee Elling	Oxford	8
31	12	Ella Kirkwood	Traverse City Central	2
32	10	Lydia LaMarra	Brighton	4
33	11	Ava Peters	Livonia Franklin	6
34	12	Paige McArdle	Davison	4
35	12	Alisia Olteanu	Walled Lake Western	7
36	11	Chloe DeRidder	Grandville	1
37	12	Allison Mayer	Ann Arbor Skyline	4
38	10	Ava Lawrence	East Kentwood	3
39	11	Alena Blumberg	Dexter	4
40	11	Lauren Walker	Holt	2
41	12	Izzy Fazio	Forest Hills Northern	3
42	10	Addison Herr	Bloomfield Hills	8
43	11	Annie Alkema	Kalamazoo Central	3
44	10	Cianah Budnik-Ramos	Grand Haven	1
45	12	Sylvia Sanok Dufallo	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
46	11	Elle Bissett	Brighton	4
47	12	Alexis Ball	Traverse City Central	2
48	11	Addy Smith	Grand Haven	1
49	11	Jordyn Klaasen	Zeeland West	1
50	10	Audrey Hamilton	Troy	8

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Seth Norder

Week Four: Pulling an audible here. The ratings and numbers say one thing, logic and reason says other. The rules and methods I use to determine these are meant to work for the vast majority of competitors, but not those who exert just enough effort to win. Seth has won when necessary and not gone to the well when unnecessary. His 15:24 in the Spartan Elite race was enough to outlast all the other Division 1 runners.

The Bucs and Seth are heading to Portage this week, the location of his 14:45 last year. Just 9 seconds separate him from the top time ever at this historic meet, can he add to his legacy this weekend?

Brendan Herger

Week Three: “Just chillin’ in this early season. He’s been in the 15’s in each of his three races thus far, one of those at the perennially tough Cass Benton and the other a win at Bath.”

Week Four: Brendan took a much more patient approach to Spartan, covering the final 1782 meters (1.1) in 5:21, making up 16-17 seconds on Westphal and Norder. In the end, it was damn close, but not enough. Regardless, he’s right there with those two, probably possessing the best pure speed as well.

21^st to 18^th to 9^th, Brendan applied his patient strategy to the Minnesota hills, coming away with a sub-16 (probably in the range of a 15:1x on many of our fair courses) at Roy Griak.

Thomas Westphal

Week Four: Came in right behind Norder in 15:26. His attitude and racing style has been consistent throughout, whether it’s been leading at Shepherd in 4:40, hanging with Benne through 1200, or as it was on Friday, mixing it up with the lead pack and holding on with whatever he had left.

Along with TJ Hansen, set a blistering pace over the first 2 miles at Shepherd. It didn’t happen for him late, but even with a somewhat disappointing race, he nearly matched his time from 2022. By the way, that 15:14 from 2022 led to a MAC Division and Regional Championship, along with a top-5 finish at State.

Vishvaa Ravishankar

Week Four: A 15:41 at Holly may have not been a personal best, though it was easily his best performance of this young season.

Masterfully made the final, deciding move at Jackson. From 3k to 4k, opened up a considerable gap on the competition that he rode to the finish and rode to a 15 second personal best.

Vincent Guaresimo

Week Three: “Two 2nd’s and a 3rd, but think of his early season in terms of comparison. 16:26 to 15:52 at Lamplighter and 16:44 to 16:13 at Averill.”

Week Four: Might not be winning, but man he’s consistent. Three big efforts, all the equivalent of a ~15:30.

Others may have more flashy times and wins, but this guy is steady and consistent. Top-10 efforts at Lamplighter, Averill, Holly, and Jackson. His Sharp Park race gave him a minor personal best, 4 seconds faster than his MITCA race.

Aiden Moore

Championship season started early in the Battle Creek area with Aiden capturing his second consecutive City Championship. The King of BC then took the journey north to Otsego, lowering his already impressive Lakeview school record to 15:10.

Ethan Powell

Week Four: Definitely taking The Leap in his junior year. He’s already been in the 15’s on five occasions, getting there even in weekday tri meets. His 15:36 on the soft Forest Akers turf was a good 40 seconds faster than last year.

Embarked on the same strategy as Herger, but a bit earlier in the race. 41^st at the mile, to 21^st at 2, to 18^th at the finish. Some call it confidence to go out with the lead group and hang on for dear life. I think you’re more sure of yourself when you know you can close gaps late. Ethan and his Northville teammates appear to be mastering that skill and trusting their training.

Taye Levenson

Holly was a shocker, taking it to Vishvaa early and not relenting, traversing the tight turns and short hills to a 15:35 victory. Although he’s finished 2^nd in a few races since, take a look at the competition, all runners that will be favorites to step on the podium in a month.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Seth Norder	Grand Haven	1
2	12	Brendan Herger	Northville	6
3	12	Thomas Westphal	Anchor Bay	9
4	12	Vishvaa Ravishankar	Troy	8
5	12	Vincent Guaresimo	Romeo	9
6	12	Aiden Moore	Battle Creek Lakeview	3
7	11	Ethan Powell	Northville	6
8	11	Taye Levenson	Bloomfield Hills	8
9	9	Kamari Ronfeldt	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
10	12	Luke Suliman	Ann Arbor Skyline	4
11	12	Sebastian Ramirez	Royal Oak	7
12	12	Ty Parker	Walled Lake Northern	7
13	12	Noah Selvaraj	Bay City Western	2
14	12	Brandon Anderson	Dexter	4
15	10	Kyle O’Rourke	Highland-Milford	7
16	11	Seth Conner	Jenison	1
17	12	Iain Forrest	Davison	4
18	11	Kian Schneeweis	Troy	8
19	12	Jasper Cane	Kalamazoo Central	3
20	11	Alexander McArthur	Oxford	8
21	9	Jack MacGregor	Howell	4
22	12	Tyler Langley	Brighton	4
23	12	Pierce Grzymkowski	White Lake Lakeland	7
24	12	Connor Clor	Romeo	9
25	12	Logan Begeman	Portage Central	3
26	12	Luke Campbell	Brighton	4
27	12	Vincent Peterson Sand	Ann Arbor Pioneer	5
28	12	Mitchell Clark	Canton	6
29	10	Aiden Pengelly	Canton	6
30	11	Malcolm Speigle	Livonia Churchill	6
31	12	Liam Walters	Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills	3
32	11	Evan Nickoles	East Kentwood	3
33	10	Harper Wesley	Utica	8
34	12	Truman Johnson	Saline	5
35	12	Evan Rice	Walled Lake Northern	7
36	12	Ian Lewis	Livonia Churchill	6
37	11	Mason Lucas	Jenison	1
38	12	Oliver Moss	Berkley	7
39	12	Dylan Penberthy	L’Anse Creuse North	9
40	12	Carter Fox	Macomb Dakota	9
41	10	Benjamin Hartigan	Northville	6
42	12	Mason Jett	Ann Arbor Skyline	4
43	12	Zack Truszkowski	Traverse City Central	2
44	11	James Cusick	Oxford	8
45	12	Willem DeGood	Traverse City West	2
46	10	John Blaskowski	Saginaw Heritage	2
47	11	Tyler Brock	Brighton	4
48	12	Tyler Brothers	Utica Eisenhower	9
49	11	Jonah Bills	Battle Creek Lakeview	3
50	11	Ben Eisnor	Grand Haven	1

Okay, I had to break my own rule and do this. But I wanted to find out how fast this course really was. What did the times say? Discounting a few anomalies and outliers, most runners ran about 35-40 seconds faster than what their seasonal ratings would suggest.

Girls Adjustment: +39
Boys Adjustment: +36

*** = Team State Title type of performance
** = Top-10 Team type of performance
* = Team Qualifier type of performance

GIRLS TEAM RATINGS

Girls Team	Top 5 Avg.	Division
Ann Arbor Pioneer**	142.1	1
Saline**	128.5	1
Dexter	112.4	1
Ann Arbor Skyline	105.6	1
Ann Arbor Huron	102.0	1
Temperance Bedford	76.7	1
Monroe	74.3	1

BOYS TEAM RATINGS

Boys Team	Top 5 Average	Divisison
Ann Arbor Pioneer**	188.9	1
Saline*	183.9	1
Dexter*	182.0	1
Ann Arbor Huron	174.2	1
Ann Arbor Huron	169.8	1
Temperance Bedford	169.5	1
Monroe	161.2	1
Ann Arbor Skyline	154.2	1
Ypsilanti Lincoln	54.8	1

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RATINGS

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating
12	Rachel Forsyth	16:18.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	180.9
12	Lydia Bowman	18:16.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	141.6
12	Elaina (Laney) Alig	18:28.3	Saline	137.6
12	Allison Mayer	18:37.5	Ann Arbor Skyline	134.5
12	Natalie Mello	18:39.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	133.7
10	Lillian Schlack	18:42.0	Saline	133.0
11	Alena Blumberg	18:42.4	Dexter	132.9
11	Corynn Gady	18:52.4	Saline	129.5
10	Quincy Behm	18:59.3	Ann Arbor Pioneer	127.2
12	Sylvia Sanok Dufallo	19:00.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	126.9
12	Katie Hume	19:00.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	126.8
11	Lucinda Paliani	19:07.3	Ann Arbor Huron	124.6
9	Sophie Roth	19:10.0	Saline	123.7
9	Iva Ravindra	19:15.5	Temperance Bedford	121.8
9	Becca vanLent	19:16.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	121.7
9	Irie Scrase	19:16.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	121.7
9	Frances Brown	19:20.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	120.1
10	Hana Boggess	19:22.0	Ann Arbor Pioneer	119.7
11	Addison Bruckman	19:23.0	Dexter	119.3
11	Mackenzie Sellenraad	19:25.1	Saline	118.6
9	Kodie Snyder	19:29.7	Dexter	117.1
9	Nina Moore	19:30.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	116.8
10	Leena Shelgikar	19:31.3	Ann Arbor Huron	116.6
12	Viktoria Bloniarz	19:31.5	Monroe	116.5
11	Abby Roth	19:33.1	Saline	116.0
9	Lucinda Gubbini	19:38.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	114.1
12	Sonya Shelgikar	19:40.4	Ann Arbor Huron	113.5
12	Nancy Gage	19:43.7	Saline	112.4
11	Grace Oberski	20:06.0	Saline	105.0
11	Lucy Pike	20:08.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	104.1
11	Grace Roth	20:21.8	Saline	99.7
12	Ella Mitchell	20:31.2	Dexter	96.6
10	Amelia Cribbins	20:33.3	Dexter	95.9
12	Sarah Conley	20:37.2	Ann Arbor Huron	94.6
11	Olivia Shaieb	20:40.5	Dexter	93.5
12	Bailey Burt	20:45.1	Saline	92.0
10	Avery Hoeft	20:45.2	Dexter	91.9
10	Anna Coury	20:48.2	Monroe	90.9
10	Hannah Bougher	20:54.6	Dexter	88.8
11	Hannah Sisson	21:09.3	Dexter	83.9
12	Kate Varitek	21:12.0	Dexter	83.0
12	Alexandria Mason	21:16.6	Ann Arbor Skyline	81.5
11	Addison Streetman	21:19.5	Dexter	80.5
9	Jillian Lower	21:22.5	Dexter	79.5
11	Elizabeth (Lizzie) Thibeault	21:36.3	Saline	74.9
11	Clara Peikert	21:36.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	74.8
10	Ayla Stager	21:37.4	Saline	74.5
9	Abigail Dobry	21:40.5	Dexter	73.5
9	Emily Hosman	21:47.5	Dexter	71.2
9	Sophia Johnson	21:48.4	Temperance Bedford	70.9
12	Rebecca Rummel	21:49.0	Saline	70.7
10	Corinna Aulph	21:51.8	Monroe	69.7
10	Jillian Hayes	21:54.3	Saline	68.9
11	Kylie Warner	21:55.0	Saline	68.7
12	Alysia Townsend	21:55.5	Ann Arbor Skyline	68.5
10	Riley Provost	21:58.9	Saline	67.4
11	Janah Byrne	21:59.3	Temperance Bedford	67.2
9	Mia Washington	22:02.2	Saline	66.3
11	Mara McClellan	22:04.5	Saline	65.5
12	Ally Pitcher	22:05.9	Monroe	65.0
10	Aurora Janevic	22:11.3	Ann Arbor Pioneer	63.2
10	Grace Fredericks	22:12.8	Temperance Bedford	62.7
9	Isabella Vetere	22:18.0	Dexter	61.0
10	Aubrey Miscikowski	22:18.0	Temperance Bedford	61.0
11	Sala Motohara	22:19.5	Ann Arbor Huron	60.5
12	Neva Rognes	22:21.3	Saline	59.9
11	Allysa Kelly	22:29.3	Temperance Bedford	57.2
10	Tia Cocciolone	22:30.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	57.0
10	Grace Hopkins	22:32.4	Ann Arbor Skyline	56.2
12	Avery Bogdasarian	22:33.4	Saline	55.9
10	Hannah Gritzmaker	22:36.8	Saline	54.7
10	Rose Bembenek	22:41.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	53.1
12	Anneliese Jones	22:41.7	Ann Arbor Pioneer	53.1
9	Katie Yuan	22:43.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	52.7
9	Tessa Holmes	22:43.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	52.5
11	Katelynn Reading	22:44.0	Saline	52.3
12	Madeleine Kauffman	22:44.6	Ann Arbor Skyline	52.1
10	Kennedy Lange	22:45.9	Saline	51.7
12	Aileen Bachrens	22:46.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	51.6
10	Ruth (Ruthie) Bonfiglio	22:54.9	Saline	48.7
11	Kailyn Austin	22:59.7	Saline	47.1
11	Avanti Ganesan	23:09.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	44.0
10	Tanishka Tewari	23:16.8	Ann Arbor Huron	41.4
9	Alison Kauffman	23:29.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	37.3
12	Celia Begosso	23:30.7	Ann Arbor Skyline	36.8
12	Zita Lucarelli	23:31.6	Temperance Bedford	36.5
9	Eliza Bigelow	23:34.1	Dexter	35.6
11	Eliza Farr	23:36.5	Saline	34.8
9	Miranda Fulop	23:36.7	Temperance Bedford	34.8
10	Shyla Smith	23:39.0	Saline	34.0
9	Lauren Olma	23:41.4	Ypsilanti Lincoln	33.2
11	Sienna Trier	23:46.6	Saline	31.5
11	Luciana Sweeney	23:48.1	Saline	31.0
11	Rachel Sprauer	23:48.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	30.8
9	Julianna Richards	23:48.8	Dexter	30.7
12	Karissa Halter	23:49.3	Temperance Bedford	30.6
12	Ashlyn Mydloski	23:52.7	Monroe	29.4
11	Olivia Szczepanik	23:58.1	Temperance Bedford	27.6
9	Ally Freiwald	23:59.0	Ann Arbor Pioneer	27.3
10	Nishka Kalantry	24:02.7	Ann Arbor Huron	26.1
9	Sofi Das	24:08.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	24.3
11	Madison Rogan	24:16.0	Saline	21.7
11	Anika Hill	24:18.4	Temperance Bedford	20.9
10	Emily Mei	24:19.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	20.6
11	Bella Watterson	24:24.1	Temperance Bedford	19.0
9	Mia Lopez	24:24.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	18.7
9	Josephine Mehki	24:29.4	Monroe	17.2
10	Julianna Bailey	24:29.8	Ann Arbor Skyline	17.1
10	Hattie Pok	24:30.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	16.9
11	Alexandra Wren	24:30.6	Ann Arbor Skyline	16.8
11	Julianna Heung	24:33.4	Ann Arbor Skyline	15.9
9	Irene Kim	24:36.0	Ann Arbor Huron	15.0
11	Meadow Gomez	24:36.6	Temperance Bedford	14.8
10	Alaina Leicht	24:40.2	Monroe	13.6
10	Ola Rominski	24:44.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	12.3
11	Jasmine Boggy	24:47.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	11.3
10	Tamsin Aherne	24:50.4	Ann Arbor Huron	10.2
11	Alexandra Butler	24:51.2	Monroe	9.9
11	Haneul Park	24:54.3	Ann Arbor Pioneer	8.9
9	Isabel McEwen	24:57.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	7.7
12	Cecelia Brush	25:06.2	Ann Arbor Skyline	4.9
11	Julieta Turon	25:16.5	Ann Arbor Huron	1.5
11	Alyssa Cowan	25:19.4	Monroe	0.5

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RATINGS

Grade	Name	Time	Team	Rating
12	Brandon Anderson	15:10.1	Dexter	204.6
9	Kamari Ronfeldt	15:11.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	204.3
12	Truman Johnson	15:31.1	Saline	197.6
12	Vincent Peterson Sand	15:38.0	Ann Arbor Pioneer	195.3
10	Beckett Crooks	15:58.7	Ann Arbor Pioneer	188.4
12	Andrew Foshag	15:59.6	Monroe	188.1
11	Caleb Snyder	16:05.1	Dexter	186.3
9	Jacob Szalay	16:09.0	Saline	185.0
11	Jonah Kraft	16:14.8	Ann Arbor Huron	183.1
10	Brennan LaRusso	16:21.0	Saline	181.0
11	Saman Meshinchi	16:22.1	Saline	180.6
11	Julian Linebaugh	16:25.4	Dexter	179.5
9	Cameron Varner	16:26.1	Temperance Bedford	179.3
12	Patrick Donoghue	16:27.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	179.0
10	Dane Hieronimus	16:27.7	Temperance Bedford	178.8
10	Theo Sacks-Thomas	16:31.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	177.4
11	Walker Brose	16:36.0	Ann Arbor Huron	176.0
12	Koen Lanker	16:38.1	Saline	175.3
12	Lucas Weintraub	16:39.0	Ann Arbor Huron	175.0
12	Henry Beard	16:41.9	Ann Arbor Huron	174.0
9	John (Jack) Klein	16:44.9	Saline	173.0
12	Joey Stevenson	16:48.7	Ann Arbor Pioneer	171.8
12	Eric Overdier	16:49.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	171.6
12	Grayson Albers	16:51.0	Ypsilanti Lincoln	171.0
11	Scott Smith	16:51.2	Dexter	170.9
9	Dax Winegarden	16:51.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	170.9
11	Myles Bray	16:51.5	Monroe	170.8
9	Jacob Cole	16:54.9	Saline	169.7
11	William Rosales	16:55.6	Saline	169.5
10	Bruno Cifaldi	16:57.4	Ann Arbor Skyline	168.9
11	Elijah Smith	16:58.0	Dexter	168.7
10	Cole Doty	17:02.8	Dexter	167.1
12	Andrew Gafford	17:06.4	Dexter	165.9
12	Gabe Sanborn	17:07.9	Ann Arbor Pioneer	165.4
11	Nicholas Balla	17:08.1	Temperance Bedford	165.3
11	Jordan Bunce	17:10.9	Temperance Bedford	164.4
10	Quinn Davis	17:14.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	163.2
12	Liam Ridenour	17:15.0	Ann Arbor Huron	163.0
11	Landon Whitehead	17:17.1	Dexter	162.3
12	Ben Botkin	17:19.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	161.5
10	Thomas (TJ) Conley	17:21.1	Ann Arbor Huron	161.0
12	Charlie Munson	17:23.9	Dexter	160.0
12	Gabe Bock	17:24.5	Temperance Bedford	159.8
11	Braxon Lake	17:25.1	Temperance Bedford	159.6
11	Aidan Ortiz	17:25.6	Temperance Bedford	159.5
12	Jack McCalla	17:27.0	Dexter	159.0
11	Finn Wilson	17:27.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	158.8
12	Braiden Welch	17:28.3	Temperance Bedford	158.6
9	Ryan Steben	17:30.4	Saline	157.9
12	Matthew Roehm	17:33.0	Saline	157.0
12	Jack Durivage	17:33.7	Temperance Bedford	156.8
10	Mason Liepman	17:34.9	Saline	156.4
12	Wyatt Hockley	17:37.9	Ann Arbor Pioneer	155.4
11	Reggie Geftos	17:38.2	Monroe	155.3
10	Jamal (Max) Samaha	17:39.8	Ann Arbor Huron	154.7
10	Thomas DeJesus	17:40.9	Ann Arbor Pioneer	154.4
9	Nicholas Yuan	17:41.5	Ann Arbor Skyline	154.2
11	Jacob Yeager	17:43.1	Temperance Bedford	153.6
9	Logan Thomas	17:43.2	Temperance Bedford	153.6
11	Jack Robichaud	17:43.7	Ann Arbor Skyline	153.4
9	Maddi Duke	17:48.4	Temperance Bedford	151.9
9	Enshu Kuan	17:53.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	150.3
11	Jonas Enriquez	17:54.0	Temperance Bedford	150.0
12	Will Kletzka	17:55.9	Dexter	149.4
10	Joshua Riggs	17:58.0	Monroe	148.7
10	Francisco (Xisco) Dura	18:02.9	Ann Arbor Huron	147.0
11	Collin Eckermann	18:03.0	Saline	147.0
11	Maceo Colon	18:04.4	Temperance Bedford	146.5
12	Carter Hill	18:09.4	Dexter	144.9
9	Colin Courage	18:11.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	144.2
10	Kyle Krasan	18:12.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	144.0
12	Paul Minock	18:12.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	143.9
12	Aldus Yun	18:13.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	143.6
10	Parker Bomia-Laberdee	18:14.0	Monroe	143.3
9	Max Carne	18:16.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	142.5
12	Chris Stein	18:16.7	Monroe	142.4
11	Alex Nemecek	18:24.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	140.0
9	Paxton Rose	18:26.5	Ann Arbor Skyline	139.2
9	Coen Hill	18:27.2	Dexter	138.9
10	Zeke Lafferty	18:30.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	137.9
12	Joaquin Moore	18:32.1	Ann Arbor Huron	137.3
10	Nolan Brescol	18:34.0	Temperance Bedford	136.7
10	Nicholas Hoffman	18:35.7	Dexter	136.1
9	Garrett Comer	18:36.0	Ann Arbor Skyline	136.0
12	Johnathan Ball	18:37.8	Temperance Bedford	135.4
12	Justin Pacernick	18:38.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	135.1
9	Charles Cools	18:38.9	Ann Arbor Huron	135.0
9	Michael Munson	18:40.0	Saline	134.7
10	Gustaf Finn	18:41.4	Ann Arbor Skyline	134.2
10	Fletcher Campbell	18:41.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	134.1
11	Eli Hinkleman	18:44.0	Temperance Bedford	133.3
12	Owen Nesbit	18:45.6	Ann Arbor Pioneer	132.8
11	Parker Razelun	18:53.7	Ann Arbor Skyline	130.1
12	Roman Bonfiglio	18:54.2	Saline	129.9
12	Carter Verkerk	18:54.9	Saline	129.7
12	Nicholas Bennett	18:56.2	Saline	129.3
11	Sawyer Ulery	18:57.5	Temperance Bedford	128.8
11	Aidan Petik	18:57.6	Dexter	128.8
9	Emmett Brick	19:01.9	Ann Arbor Pioneer	127.4
10	Andrew Nutt	19:06.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	125.9
12	Evan Marsee	19:06.8	Ann Arbor Pioneer	125.7
11	Bryce Bales	19:08.6	Dexter	125.1
10	Anthony Kraus	19:09.1	Temperance Bedford	125.0
11	Archie Patterson	19:09.8	Saline	124.7
10	D’Angelo Lucarelli	19:10.0	Temperance Bedford	124.7
9	Carlos Basulto	19:10.2	Saline	124.6
11	Andrew Irgang	19:13.6	Saline	123.5
11	Luke Ankeney	19:15.4	Ann Arbor Pioneer	122.9
10	Jason Biggs	19:17.7	Dexter	122.1
10	Marlowe Hartnett	19:19.2	Ann Arbor Skyline	121.6
10	Nicholas Beard	19:19.9	Ann Arbor Huron	121.4
11	Ashe Baskey	19:20.0	Ann Arbor Huron	121.3
10	Hayden Barker	19:21.3	Monroe	120.9
11	Levi Whitehead	19:24.9	Dexter	119.7
12	Garrett Kovacs	19:25.2	Ann Arbor Huron	119.6
10	Quinn Hudson	19:25.2	Temperance Bedford	119.6
11	Micah Winchell	19:27.9	Ann Arbor Skyline	118.7
11	Ryan Friedholm	19:30.0	Saline	118.0
9	Carter Mitton	19:31.1	Saline	117.6
9	Burke Smith	19:31.9	Dexter	117.4
10	Oliver McGee	19:41.9	Ann Arbor Huron	114.0
12	Harold Crowner	19:42.4	Saline	113.9
10	Matthew Rice	19:42.7	Ypsilanti Lincoln	113.8
11	Soren Stone-Palmquist	19:42.8	Ann Arbor Huron	113.7
9	Christopher Walper	19:43.1	Saline	113.6
10	Andrew Nelson	19:44.4	Temperance Bedford	113.2
9	Charlie Rockwood	19:45.6	Temperance Bedford	112.8
11	James Minelli	19:46.4	Dexter	112.5
10	Gavin Tegtmeyer	19:51.3	Temperance Bedford	110.9
9	Layten Brinley	19:55.3	Dexter	109.6
10	Matthew Briskey	19:55.6	Ann Arbor Huron	109.5
9	Juan Luis Llanes	19:56.7	Ann Arbor Skyline	109.1
11	Henry Strait	19:57.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	108.9
9	Cooper Ankeney	20:11.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	104.2
12	Ethan Thomas	20:12.4	Temperance Bedford	103.9
11	Daniel Han	20:13.6	Ann Arbor Skyline	103.5
10	Kasen Salazar	20:14.6	Dexter	103.1
11	Alex Watson	20:15.6	Dexter	102.8
11	Loki Bowser	20:16.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	102.6
11	Marcus Stanish	20:20.0	Saline	101.3
9	Christopher Welt	20:23.1	Saline	100.3
11	Tyler Sweat	20:25.1	Monroe	99.6
9	Raphael Fournier	20:29.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	98.3
9	Ben Kaufman	20:35.2	Ann Arbor Pioneer	96.3
11	Rex Bajcz	20:36.0	Ann Arbor Pioneer	96.0
11	Marty Watson	20:37.8	Dexter	95.4
9	Andrew Harrison	20:39.9	Temperance Bedford	94.7
11	Will Weiszhaar	20:43.6	Dexter	93.5
12	Noah Brown	20:45.5	Saline	92.8
9	Cooper House	20:45.6	Saline	92.8
10	Zorawar (Joey) Brar	20:48.6	Ann Arbor Huron	91.8
10	James Powell	20:50.9	Ann Arbor Huron	91.0
9	Haven Torreano	20:55.7	Ann Arbor Huron	89.4
12	Jack Hollingsworth	21:02.5	Ann Arbor Pioneer	87.2
11	Marcus Silva	21:02.8	Dexter	87.1
12	Luke Lindsay	21:06.6	Monroe	85.8
10	Parker Carrell	21:17.2	Saline	82.3
11	William Johnson	21:27.1	Ann Arbor Skyline	79.0
12	Noah Gould	21:31.5	Monroe	77.5
9	Ryan Rummel	21:34.5	Saline	76.5
10	Trent Yeager	21:38.0	Temperance Bedford	75.3
11	Jacob Ragatz	21:38.5	Saline	75.2
12	Aidan Sutherland	21:40.1	Saline	74.6
9	Kellin Teddy	21:42.9	Dexter	73.7
12	Adrik Ruch	21:45.5	Temperance Bedford	72.8
12	Xavier Reyes	21:53.0	Dexter	70.3
9	Matt Levesque	21:55.1	Monroe	69.6
12	Andrew Wehr	22:11.5	Saline	64.2
9	Sam Bishir	22:16.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	62.6
10	Scotty Sheehy	22:17.0	Monroe	62.3
11	Josh Cotts	22:56.7	Ann Arbor Pioneer	49.1
9	Michael Treat	23:05.9	Dexter	46.0
9	Santiago Valenzuela	23:07.3	Ann Arbor Skyline	45.6
10	Derek Crum	23:11.1	Monroe	44.3
11	Raymond Jenkins	23:19.4	Saline	41.5
10	Sihun You	23:20.1	Ann Arbor Pioneer	41.3
12	Chris Coffer	23:27.1	Dexter	39.0
10	Camilo Ojeda	23:27.7	Ann Arbor Huron	38.8
11	Ethan Hornberger	23:46.7	Saline	32.4
9	Hudson Sutter	23:49.2	Dexter	31.6
10	Rokas Kazlauskas	23:52.0	Saline	30.7
9	Jack Grimes	23:59.7	Dexter	28.1
9	Braylon Jensen	24:28.9	Dexter	18.4
11	Xingzhi(Tom) Tan	25:16.9	Ann Arbor Huron	2.4

We’ve finally arrived in the prime part of the year. Meets such as Holly, Spartan, Jackson, Cougar Falcon, Otsego Bulldog, Bluejay have been excellent bellwethers, showcasing how different teams from different areas compare against one another. We have one final example of those this week at Portage (which isn’t technically a championship, but I’m gonna label it as our mid-season championship) before embarking on our stretch of county, area, league, and finally – Regionals and State Finals.

If you’ve followed these over the past few years, you may know the gist of these, but let’s break it down once again:

The individual ratings take into account all the meets listed here. There are a few meets missing that I’ll link to, but pretty much any meet with a significant number of athletes will have been calculated. An individual’s rating takes their best 75% of rated races (rounding up, so 4 of 5, 5 of 6, etc.), weighs them with more recent races having a higher weight, then spits out a final rating. The team rankings score those individuals as if they were in a meet against their entire division.

There are a few changes from previous years:

• No more ratings of weekday, conference meets
  • Why? One, often these aren’t raced all out and end up underrating a runner. Two, to lessen my workload. I’d rather concentrate on these rankings and use the weekend invites that are more likely to be raced hard to determine the rankings.
• Using the top 75% of races instead of 67%
  • Why? If I’m gonna use fewer overall races from a runner’s resume, I have to make up for it in some way.
• 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.
• More writeups focused on the top teams and individuals, rather than just handpicking one each week
  • I’ve found that when it comes toward state time, I know all the numbers and what a kid might run, but have a tough time pointing toward a narrative. Hopefully writing a little recap and what to look forward to will help in that regard. I started with three for the first rankings, then five this week, and so on.
• Posting these one division at a time
  • If you’ve noticed, I always go Division 4 first, trending towards Division 1. This is done intentionally! Traditional media always focuses on the larger schools. By focusing on the smaller divisions first, they get the love that they might not normally receive. With a bit of free-r time this week, I should get to the Upper Peninsula.

Unfortunately, the injury rule is in place, where if I don’t have a rating from the past month, that runner is taken out. If you’re willing to share (and I can understand why not – someone’s medical situation doesn’t have to be the public’s business) that your athlete or you yourself are healthy/injured, feel free. There are some exceptions based on situations that make sense. Hopefully these don’t rub salt in the wound of someone who’s already hurting.

Now I need to be serious for a minute. These are for fun. If you don’t like these fun rankings, you don’t need to participate, you don’t need to call me names, talk trash to your fellow competitors, or send rude emails. We good here? Enjoy.

WEEK THREE RANKINGS
WEEK FOUR RANKINGS

Grand Rapids Christian

Week Three: Conquered a strong field at Benzie then turned around and routed a very competitive OK White. Showing much strength early with frontrunners and depth, could very well put all five girls on the podium.

Week Four: More of the same at Ottawa Hills from the Eagle girls. All scoring girls placed in the top-11, with Adia Sikkema and Lucy Waalkes pulling up in the top-20.

Otsego Bulldog is often the first D2 showcase of the season, this year being no different, with 6 of the top 15 ranked teams in appearance. Just as every other meet, the Eagles up front, making up half of the first 8 finishers. Senior Payton Holtz is peaking at the right time to close her career, hitting sub-19 in her past two invites.

Otsego

Week Three: Sadly, we won’t see the Bulldogs at a major Michigan invitational until Jackson, but when you have the opportunity to run at the legendary Detweiller Park, you take it. Their season is setting up very similarly to last year, a strong top four plus a solid fifth. Though it appears their 5th spot might be improved from 2022.

Week Four: Placed 7^th of 61 in the Richard Spring Invite down in Peoria. Now I don’t know much about Illinois XC at the moment, but that field had some legendary and recognizable names – York, Neuqua Valley, Palatine, Downer’s Grove, etc. Illinois Speed Ratings uses a similar methodology, but a different scale. Without getting too deep into it, converting to my scale, Detweiller rates out to about a +69 (+75 for boys) for its 2.97-to-3-mile course (highly debatable distance!) To make a short story long, the Bulldogs ran better than they have this season, even missing Taylor Mitchell.

In her final Bulldog Invite, senior Megan Germain ran her fastest time at Otsego’s signature home meet. Her 18:29 was good for a 6^th place finish, fast enough for three consecutive top-10’s, and clutch enough to grant her Bulldogs a 2^nd place finish.

Goodrich

Week Four: Changed things up on us! The past few years, the Martians have been at Holly, this year they headed further west to East Lansing. And evidenced by their 3^rd place finish in the Elite Division, an excellent decision. These girls get it done through their pack, going seven deep, displacing fools left and right.

The Martians marked Shepherd as their territory in prep for Regionals. A 23-point win in a D2-centric field, even with Kamy Lauinger having a rough go of it.

East Grand Rapids

Week Four: After missing Under the Lights, Drew Muller has returned, to EGR’s benefit. Her 3^rd spot at Ottawa Hills meant the Pioneers really had to only score four. Combine that with personal bests from Adeline Armstrong and Sadey Seyferth and you have this traditional power rising through the ranks.

Great through three and finding contributors further back. Rory Workman (I swear there are thousands of Waalkes, Workmans, Kuzmas, and VanderKoois up this way) has dropped more than a minute from her Under the Lights debut.

Zeeland East

Week Three: An easy victory in the OK Green was sandwiched between a 2nd place in their division at Under the Lights and a 5th at Bredeweg. Emma Drnek has come into her own this year, giving the Chix a formidable 1-2 combo.

Another OK Green victory to go with a bronze at Otsego Bulldog. Taryn DiLaura has been a key figure on their varsity outfit, breaking 20:00 in two of her past three races, nearly a minute quicker than her freshman form.

St. Joseph

Week Four: The rare case of having two low sticks and needing to score three. Among those three, you could have reliable seniors such as Jade Murdoch or Ceci Ruchti. Or perhaps freshmen that are coming along nicely such as Lydia Johnson or Lily Cummings. Like many West Coast teams, the Bears traveled to Ottawa Hills on Friday, coming away from Session 2 placing 4^th of 18.

Make it 4 straight and 13 of the past 14. The Bears have truly established a Berrien County dynasty.

St. Johns

The Redwing top three can hang with anybody. For instance, in the first two CAAC Red Jamborees – Fletcher, Schafer, and Young combined for 17 points. That’s in two meets, folks. SJ has won each of those jamborees.

Spring Lake

Bea Reeser has been ON IT all year. First, opening with her best debut ever, then parlaying that into a personal best she’s been waiting to snatch since her sophomore year. Twice 6^th in the OK Blue Jamborees, contributing to Laker victories each time.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Week 5	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Grand Rapids Christian	11	63	1	1	1	2
2	Otsego	13	194	2	2	2	1
3	Goodrich	15	285	4	4	4	3
4	East Grand Rapids	12	290	3	3	8	6
5	Zeeland East	11	362	5	7	3	5
6	St. Joseph	13	397	6	5	6	4
7	St. Johns	14	415	7	8	7	7
8	Spring Lake	11	463	8	9	9	11
9	Frankenmuth	15	467	9	6	5	8
10	Holland Christian	11	489	11	12	28	10
11	DeWitt	14	520	13	10	10	14
12	Freeland	15	534	12	11	11	12
13	Ludington	10	555	10	15	12	13
14	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	12	604	14	13	13	27
15	Hudsonville Unity Christian	11	650	15	14	14	17
16	Owosso	14	674	21	19	18	26
17	Alma	15	708	17	16	16	15
18	Warren Regina	17	735	16	20	19	34
19	Croswell-Lexington	17	737	19	17	17	29
20	Linden	16	761	20	26	24	20
21	Dearborn Divine Child	16	762	18	22	20	19
22	Petoskey	10	763	23	18	15	18
23	Forest Hills Eastern	12	802	24	24	22	25
24	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	16	869	25	23	25	44
25	Chelsea	18	888	26	25	23	21
26	Grand Rapids South Christian	12	939	29	29	29	22
27	Stevensville Lakeshore	13	982	28	27	27	24

Forest Hills Eastern

Week Three: That’s two years in a row that the Hawks have put the state on notice with an Under the Lights masterpiece. All five scorers were sub-17 on that humid, late August night. With three of those capable of low-16’s or better, much pressure will be placed on other teams to close that gap.

Week Four: Missing Brendan Hoving and Liam Hinman at Sparta, the Hawks still emerged victorious, eking out a 6-point victory over the home team. Youngster Steven Zawacki stepped up in a major way – he’s dropped more than a minute since Under the Lights.

Lost in the TJ Hansen spectacle was the fact that FHE stole the show in the elite race. The field contained tons of top teams from all divisions, yet the Hawks still prevailed. Nearly putting four under 16-flat will tend to lead to those victories

Grand Rapids Christian

Week Three: Saw FHE throw down the gauntlet on a Friday night, then woke up Saturday and decided to match it. Winners of Pete Moss by 88 points, then put seven guys in the top-16 at a star-filled OK White Jamboree.

Week Four: Probably underrated here because of their cruise through Christian Schools and the fact that we’re comparing against the entire state. In actual competition, the Eagles are undefeated, finding another clear victory this past weekend at Ottawa Hills.

It’s not as strong as in past years, but you can’t help who you run against, you can only aim to win. Which the Eagles did at Otsego, completing the sweep from their boys and girls squads. Senior Dylan Clark with the big breakthrough, knocking 15 seconds off his previous best.

Allendale

Week Four: There were a few doubters last week with the Falcons’ #4 ranking. I think their effort at Spartan proved a few wrong. Three in the top-15, half the points of any other school in the White Division.

Even if Grand Haven had Seth Norder competing, the Allendale Falcons would’ve still won their home invite. If that ain’t a show of how impressive they’ve been of late, I don’t know what is.

East Grand Rapids

Week Three: Still missing a piece, but those who have competed have had success. That could come in the form of an Alex Thole, who pulled a massive upset at Under the Lights or a Jack Edison, who navigated his way into the 16’s for the first time ever at the OK White Jamboree.

Week Four: That piece has arrived. Ryan Brinker, with only one race under his belt in ’23 has already raced faster than he had to this point in the ’22 season.

It wasn’t just FHE taking it to those D1 boys, the Pioneers were right there with them. Jonah Workman was a workhorse, reaching wayyyy into the 15’s to sneak into the top-10.

Alma

Ali Kudmani’s return coincides with the Panthers’ 3 meet victory streak – in conference, at Bluejay against many teams they could see at State, and this week at Birch Run.

Adrian

Carter Fenner and Matthew Canales have been steady as they come, both trending towards the 16’s as the Maples have held their own in the SEC White and picked up a victory at Jackson.

Marshall

Week Four: Even missing Kaiden Gore (their five guy) at Holly, the Redhawks triumphed in the D3 race. With five divisions there, you get a mix of D2 and D3 teams in the 3^rd Division, but even if Marshall was in the 2^nd Division this past weekend, odds are that they’d win. When you have four boys capable of going sub-17, many possibilities are on the table.

These past two years, Connor Griffith has been a kid hellbent on dropping time. From 10^th to 11^th grade, he stormed from the 18’s to the very low-17’s. Now he’s knocking on the door of the 15’s, hitting 16:05’s at both Stockbridge and Barney Roy.

Otsego

The Bulldogs were missing a few of their top boys at home, perhaps Jackson was a better show of their capabilities. On those rolling Ella Sharp hills, the Dawgs packed up between 16:39 and 17:02, placing right in the middle of a field complete with D1 teams.

Rank	Team	Region	Score	Week 5	Week 4	Week 3	Summer
1	Forest Hills Eastern	12	198	1	1	1	3
2	Grand Rapids Christian	11	257	2	4	2	2
3	Allendale	11	267	4	3	4	4
4	East Grand Rapids	12	301	3	2	3	1
5	Alma	15	444	7	7	5	10
6	Adrian	18	459	6	6	7	5
7	Marshall	12	464	5	5	6	15
8	Otsego	13	479	9	9	8	13
9	Holland Christian	11	534	8	8	21	8
10	Sparta	10	546	10	10	10	17
11	Pinckney	16	567	23	23	29	6
12	Petoskey	10	575	13	16	15	9
13	Frankenmuth	15	585	15	15	13	21
14	Gladwin	10	598	11	12	9	12
15	Plainwell	13	635	12	11	12	37
16	Hamilton	11	661	19	19	19	16
17	Yale	17	665	14	13	11	19
18	Flint Powers Catholic	15	674	22	22	20	25
19	Fremont	10	698	17	21	NR	14
20	Spring Lake	11	739	20	18	18	18
21	Clio	15	789	26	24	17	28
22	Parma Western	14	834	24	27	25	27
23	Chelsea	18	837	21	20	23	7
24	St. Clair	17	839	16	14	14	31
25	DeWitt	14	899	25	26	24	20
26	St. Johns	14	906	30	30	28	34
27	Shepherd	15	927	28	28	26	33

GIRLS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Natalie VanOtteren

Week Four: Sub-18 at Ottawa Hills was the 3^rd of her career and 40+ seconds faster than her ’22 effort on the banks of the Grand River.

Four straight wins for this Eagle senior. One of those was a 17:35 personal best at Cougar Falcon, another a 17:43 effort at the Otsego D2 Showcase.

Gail Vaikutis

Week Three: Her 18-flat at Lakeview was a massive personal best and over 80 seconds faster than her 2022 performance. In track, she was able to display great speed and now we’re witness to her strength.

Week Four: Gail’s just out here stacking personal best after personal best. Similar conditions, similar courses, 22 second improvement from week to week. Gail now owns the fastest time AND best rating in Division 2.

A senior going out with wins all over the place. In conference, in county, and in her college decision, recently committing to Michigan.

Elena Figueroa

Week Three: Right alongside Vaikutis at both their home invite and the PC Early Bird. Missed out on a great time at Lakeview, I hope for non-injury reasons. Regardless, her early season best is already an improvement from her sophomore year.

Week Four: Her first race in over three weeks, Elena hopped right back on the wagon with a 17:44 at Riverside. A minute faster than her 2022 effort there and a 35 second personal best.

A slight, ever so slight personal best at Cougar Falcon is still a personal best. 17:44.0 to 17:43.9 counts for me. Elena and Gail have gone 1-2 in both of the SMAC West meets along with Berrien County – all Bear victories.

Ava Schafer

Week Three: Adjusting very well to the high school scene. After taking her lumps with a second-place finish at Under the Lights, she’s ripped off two consecutive victories. All mid-18 efforts from this young freshman. The Redwings have some light racing in their future, so we’ll see how much she’s improved come late September at Shepherd.

Week Four: The Redwings took the weekend off racing and well, that looks to be to Ava’s benefit. Girl just blasted a 17:48 to capture the first CAAC Red Jamboree.

Stuck her nose right in there at Bluejay, heading out with the lead girls, coming through the mile in 5:34. Ava faded a bit, but got a good look of what she’ll need to do when similar runners race her in a month. Comparing against only D2 girls in that Elite section, Ava did place 1^st of all 46, so she’s performing admirably against her competition.

Drew Muller

Just announced her commitment to Virginia, a great institution for its education, history, and distance running (the Hoos are currently ranked #11). I’m sure Drew will contribute there as she does here, consecutive mid-18 efforts to begin her senior year.

I believe her trip to Shepherd was the first of her career, and that initial run through produced her best mark of the year, an 18:16.

Katie Berkshire

Has been a barrier-busting season for Berkshire. She first slipped under 19:00 at the Mud Run of all places, then has ripped off three consecutive low-18 efforts at Cadillac, Shepherd, and Mancelona.

Emma Hoffman

Think of all the success, all the accomplishments over Otsego’s past ~15 years. Three titles, a runner-up, plenty of state appearances. And atop of them all, time-wise, was Emma’s 18:03 from this past weekend.

Mary Richmond

Four years of races at Bluejay – all in the low-18’s, all in the top-15. The Frankenmuth senior has taken on a lighter load than in years past and should be ready to roll for the coming month.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Natalie VanOtteren	Grand Rapids Christian	11
2	12	Gail Vaikutis	St. Joseph	13
3	11	Elena Figueroa	St. Joseph	13
4	9	Ava Schafer	St. Johns	14
5	12	Drew Muller	East Grand Rapids	12
6	10	Katie Berkshire	Gaylord	10
7	10	Emma Hoffman	Otsego	13
8	12	Mary Richmond	Frankenmuth	15
9	12	Meghan Ford	Mason	14
10	11	Emma Drnek	Zeeland East	11
11	10	Ellie Scholma	Grand Rapids Christian	11
12	12	Emily Tomes	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	11
13	10	Lilah Poel	Grand Rapids Christian	11
14	12	Logan Brazee	Otsego	13
15	11	Sadey Seyferth	East Grand Rapids	12
16	11	Summer Brower	Ludington	10
17	12	Payton Holtz	Grand Rapids Christian	11
18	11	Sophy Skeels	Adrian	18
19	12	Megan Germain	Otsego	13
20	11	Natalia DeMea	Chelsea	18
21	12	Naomi Nelson	Grand Rapids Christian	11
22	9	Clara Kaczor	Freeland	15
23	12	Allison Kuzma	Zeeland East	11
24	11	Eva Thompson	Croswell-Lexington	17
25	11	Kamryn Lauinger	Goodrich	15
26	10	Natalie Foltz	Frankenmuth	15
27	11	Ezgi Kurt	Alma	15
28	11	Ava Crews	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	12
29	11	Layla Jordan	Goodrich	15
30	12	Jenna Pilachowski	Monroe Jefferson	18
31	12	Abby Young	St. Johns	14
32	12	Emma DeVries	GR West Michigan Aviation	12
33	12	Camille DeCola	Marshall	12
34	9	Jaelyn Ray	Pinckney	16
35	9	Caroline Randall	Hastings	12
36	12	Anastee Davis	Adrian	18
37	12	Clara Fletcher	St. Johns	14
38	9	Olivia Hollebeek	Holland Christian	11
39	10	Berkley Holtz	Sturgis	13
40	10	Linnea Paige	Fremont	10
41	9	Lucy Conzelmann	Frankenmuth	15
42	9	Eliana Stob	Holland Christian	11
43	10	Brooklynn Brown	Cadillac	10
44	12	Ellia Agar	Grand Rapids South Christian	12
45	12	Kyla Meyers	Spring Lake	11
46	9	Ayda Skeels	Adrian	18
47	11	Kayla Williams	DeWitt	14
48	9	Johanna Mulder	Holland	11
49	10	Samantha Brown	Clio	15
50	9	Adeline Armstrong	East Grand Rapids	12

BOYS INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS

Connell Alford

Week Four: Week Three: Cross country is definitely his thing. Facing some fierce competition at Lamplighter, Connell laid down the hammer early en route to a large margin of victory.

Week Four: Unfortunately, couldn’t pull off the win at Spartan, but he did finish first amongst all Michigan competition. His 15:09 nearly matched the 15:06 from last year, and when you’re in the ballpark of your state-winning self, you know you’re in a good place.

Competed in his first SEC White Jamboree of the year, grabbing his third conference win in these past three years. A solid block of training setting up for the future showdowns in the coming months.

TJ Hansen

Week Three: Just continuing and building from his track accomplishments. 15:39 at Under the Lights was a personal best, 15:13 at John Bruder was a massive personal best. It’s a shame Freeland is on the smaller side of D2 schools, we sadly avoid a matchup with Evan Loughridge at Holly.

Week Four: Of the 93 boys that ran at both John Bruder and Holly, only 22 ran faster at Holly. TJ was 0.5 seconds slower, showing his 15:14 through the sharp turns and hills at Springfield Oaks can be sub-15 on the right course on the right day.

An absolutely masterful performance at Bluejay, negative splitting to a 14:46. Let’s just put it this way – in early September, Shepherd hosted the Jeff Drenth Memorial COLLEGE meet. TJ’s 14:46 would have won that.

Solomon Kwartowitz

Week Four: Hung in there pretty well for his first real huge effort of the season. A 15:32 in Spartan Elite earned Kwartowitz a 7^th place (5^th amongst Michiganders) and a massive personal best.

Each year, Cranbrook takes the trip down to Indiana to run in the Culver Academies Invitational. Solomon’s 15:38 there was 40 seconds faster than where he was in 2022, coming back from injury. He placed a second behind Kyle Grove, who just ran a 15:17 at Lavern Gibson. My guess based on limited evidence is that Solomon is ready to head toward the very low-15’s.

Evan Loughridge

Week Three: “Opener at Possum Hollow was a 20+ second win over a ton of talented D1 runners. He’ll be facing some potential D2 All-Staters this weekend at Holly.”

Week Four: 15 seconds at a mile, 30+ at two, and 36 at the finish, Evan’s 15:35 win at Holly was allll on his lonesome. For many that would be a mental grind, but it’s more of the same for this tough-minded kid. His performance on Saturday was over 25 seconds faster than what he raced to in 2022 and given how his October played out last year, big goals are there for the taking.

After working on their toughness at Bennett Park, the Pirates head toward Portage, the site of Evan’s junior breakout race. All indicators show he’s ready to shock us again.

Sean Pettis

Nestled in between his past two WMC Lakes wins was a 15:24 at Cougar Falcon, first amongst a bevy of potential All-Staters.

Alex Thole

Week Four: State Champions, national qualifiers, insane freshmen, talented underclassmen… Alex has won against them all and we’re only in mid-September. Three races, three wins, all considerably better than his 2022 best.

Over the past two years, Alex has surely benefitted from the BluejayBoost. First at the MITCA race, the home of his initial sub-16, the one that paved the way for the enormous success this year. Then again on Saturday, just a show of his progress, 30 seconds quicker than that breakthrough.

Nate Carmody

The Haslett senior has laid low these past few weeks, nabbing his second consecutive win at DeWitt, which was his fourth sub-16 in a row.

Braylon Petty

Hard to believe a school as close as Adrian hadn’t traveled to Jackson in three years. But Braylon showed that he remembered how to attack those long, gradual downhills, rolling to a 15:50 victory.

Rank	Grade	Name	Team	Region
1	12	Connell Alford	Chelsea	18
2	11	TJ Hansen	Freeland	15
3	12	Solomon Kwartowitz	Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood	16
4	12	Evan Loughridge	Pinckney	16
5	12	Sean Pettis	Fremont	10
6	12	Alex Thole	East Grand Rapids	12
7	12	Nate Carmody	Haslett	14
8	12	Braylon Petty	Adrian	18
9	11	Jack Bidwell	Marshall	12
10	11	Simon Triezenberg	Grand Rapids Christian	11
11	12	Logan Ruffner	Riverview	18
12	11	Colin Murray	Dearborn Divine Child	16
13	12	Gregory Janesak	Sparta	10
14	12	Noah Lambers	Holland	11
15	12	Elliott Sirianni	Clio	15
16	10	Jonah Workman	East Grand Rapids	12
17	12	Caleb Palmreuter	Gladwin	10
18	12	Brendan Hoving	Forest Hills Eastern	12
19	11	Kilian Whalen	Allendale	11
20	11	Alex Doneth	Mason	14
21	10	Owen Metzger	Sparta	10
22	11	Henry Dixon	Forest Hills Eastern	12
23	12	Liam Hinman	Forest Hills Eastern	12
24	11	Dylan Lydic	Haslett	14
25	10	Ronnie Silveira	Allendale	11
26	12	Nolan Pinion	Lake Fenton	16
27	11	Dominic Lowrie	Battle Creek Harper Creek	12
28	10	Thomas Larson	Alma	15
29	12	Ryan Brinker	East Grand Rapids	12
30	9	Ezekiel Baltierra	Alma	15
31	11	Abatu Dykstra	Hamilton	11
32	12	Aiden Krueger	Niles	13
33	12	David Murphy	Flint Powers Catholic	15
34	11	Will Engbers	Holland Christian	11
35	11	Nolan Inglis	DeWitt	14
36	9	Bryce Cahoon	Shepherd	15
37	11	Seth Mead	Gladwin	10
38	11	Nolan Longuski	Shepherd	15
39	11	Henry Cox	Plainwell	13
40	10	Moises Salazar	Adrian	18
41	12	Isaac Staib	St. Johns	14
42	12	Connor Griffith	Marshall	12
43	11	Sullivan Zietlow	Three Rivers	13
44	11	Parker Tiethof	Allendale	11
45	12	Brewer Snay	Macomb Lutheran North	17
46	12	Cooper Jacobsen	Forest Hills Eastern	12
47	12	Nolan Nixon	Cadillac	10
48	12	Luke Glasgow	Spring Lake	11
49	11	Landen Wise	Frankenmuth	15
50	12	Shane Izzard	Petoskey	10