Girls Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Girl	2nd Girl	3rd Girl	4th Girl	5th Girl	6th Girl	7th Girl
1	East Grand Rapids	55	2	7	10	16	20	33	41
2	Petoskey	132	5	22	23	36	46	170	188
3	Grand Rapids Christian	140	1	4	28	35	72	78	102
4	Forest Hills Eastern	161	19	21	24	37	60	74	94
5	Otsego	230	13	45	50	55	67	79	82
6	Freeland	244	9	12	29	96	98	145	154
7	Goodrich	290	8	31	51	97	103	162	163
8	Mason	306	3	49	57	92	105	125	150
9	Spring Lake	340	17	43	47	114	119	130	140
10	Marshall	347	26	62	64	95	100	178	183
11	Williamston	366
12	Warren Regina	371
13	Shepherd	386
14	Pinckney	388
15	Zeeland East	390
16	Allendale	405
17	Chelsea	409
18	Cadillac	421
19	Tecumseh	429
20	Dearborn Divine Child	451
21	Grand Rapids South Christian	466
22	Holland Christian	500
23	Marysville	511
24	Remus Chippewa Hills	527
25	Alma	558
26	Bloomfield Hills Marian	578
27	Croswell-Lexington	583

The East Grand Rapids dynasty continues.  They’ve been such a face of Division 2 success that everyone should know their home run hitters.  Cammy Bodine is the 800m star, Drew Muller has range for every distance, and MIS may very well be Ainsley Workman’s home course (three straight top-10’s).  But let’s concentrate on a few others: Abigail Petr returns from a few disjointed seasons to shore up the back of their speedy pack.  Sophia Lado has run in the low-19’s on multiple occasions.  Sadey Seyferth has to be a mudder, her best performance of the year came at Regionals.  While we’re at it, let’s not forget Katie Edison, the senior security blanket who’s been in the low-20’s all year. 

Some were wondering, especially after the loss of Smith, Squires, Liederbach, and Harris – why was Petoskey ranked so high in the summer?  Their returning runners, although not featured as often because of their outstanding 2021 class, had posted some solid times in 2020.  The pre-season rankings don’t account for this, but if they did, this would be a factor.  The North(wo)men just get better throughout the year.  A prime example of that would be CamBrie Corey.  She was above 21:00 at Spartan and has been sub-20 in her past three races.

Grand Rapids Christian is so young, oh so young.  Behind Madelyn Frens, their main group consists of four sophomores.  They’re in a tough conference, constantly running against East Grand Rapids, so the Eagles are gunning for it in any conference meet.  And in the final OK White Meet, they suffered a narrow defeat by the slimmest of margins.  Can they summon another effort on the big stage?

Girls Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	10	Mary Richmond	Frankenmuth	155.3
2	12	Madelyn Frens	Grand Rapids Christian	153.5
3	10	Drew Muller	East Grand Rapids	151.0
4	10	Meghan Ford	Mason	149.9
5	10	Natalie VanOtteren	Grand Rapids Christian	148.3
6	12	Noel Vanderwall	Petoskey	141.3
7	12	Sarah Storey	Remus Chippewa Hills	140.3
8	11	Camryn Bodine	East Grand Rapids	137.9
9	9	Kamryn Lauinger	Goodrich	137.0
10	10	Emma DeVries	GR West Michigan Aviation	136.8
11	12	Whitney Farrell	Freeland	135.4
12	12	Ainsley Workman	East Grand Rapids	134.7
13	10	Allison Kuzma	Zeeland East	134.2
14	12	Mara Longenecker	Freeland	134.1
15	10	Megan Germain	Otsego	133.6
16	12	Lily Mataway	Flint Powers Catholic	133.5
17	12	Grace Zdankiewicz	Warren Regina	133.1
18	12	Julia Finley	Belding	132.7
19	12	Kendall Schopieray	Cadillac	132.1
20	9	Sadey Seyferth	East Grand Rapids	131.6
21	12	Alyna Lewis	Parma Western	130.6
22	10	Clara Fletcher	St. Johns	130.5
23	11	Lily Parker	Spring Lake	129.5
24	12	Mackenzie Hill	Plainwell	129.4
25	9	Nicole Schafer	Williamston	128.0
26	11	Ellory Clason	Forest Hills Eastern	127.0
27	10	Sophia Lado	East Grand Rapids	126.8
28	11	Sarah Dixon	Forest Hills Eastern	126.6
29	12	Caroline Farley	Petoskey	126.3
30	10	CamBrie Corey	Petoskey	125.9
31	10	Ashlyn Smith	Forest Hills Eastern	125.4
32	10	Emily Tomes	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	125.4
33	9	Ava Crews	Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg	125.0
34	10	Cecelia Thorington	Pinckney	123.9
35	11	Lauren Hunter	Haslett	123.4
36	10	Camille DeCola	Marshall	123.3
37	9	Josie Jenkinson	Owosso	123.1
38	11	Chesney Wilke	Tecumseh	122.8
39	10	Payton Holtz	Grand Rapids Christian	122.7
40	12	Haileigh Bissett	North Branch	122.5
41	12	Maggie Duba	Grand Rapids West Catholic	122.3
42	9	Landrey Kuhn	Freeland	121.7
43	11	Ariel Warner	Shepherd	121.0
44	10	Olivia Giza	Goodrich	120.8
45	12	Hannah Fisher	Marysville	120.4
46	11	Abigail Petr	East Grand Rapids	119.7
47	10	Zoe Hoke	Pontiac Notre Dame Prep	119.6
48	10	Alyssa Butterfield	Allendale	119.4
49	10	Naomi Nelson	Grand Rapids Christian	119.3
50	11	Emma Janesak	Sparta	119.2

If there’s some sort of career achievement award, Madelyn Frens deserves it.  Not just for her accomplishments and accolades, but the curveballs thrown her way.  She didn’t complete her 2019 State Meet, having to be helped off the course.  She came back from that to finish top-5 the following year, and then the next spring, capture her first State title.  This fall, she busted out a 17:56 opener at Benzie.  The following week, it was unbearable to even run.  The Alter-G became home as she worked through a thigh split (12 years of working in run specialty and I’ve never heard of this), and she’s back and ready to hurt for another title. 

Mary Richmond, on the other hand, has run a TON of races this year.  And at first glance – are there any poor performances?  Quite amazingly, no.  Her lowest rated races came in victories at TVC 8 meets, understandable.  Her defeats to other competitors, she was pulled along to a 17:56 at Shepherd. 

After a bit of a slow start (though I was at each of the races, she was cruising), Meghan Ford has come back into her own in October.  She’s posted three 150+ races in October, the equivalent of 18:30 and below.  She’s won her second consecutive Regional championship.  Hard to not mention this as well – she’s the top returner in the field.

Boys Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Boy	2nd Boy	3rd Boy	4th Boy	5th Boy	6th Boy	7th Boy
1	Otsego	132	6	18	20	36	52	56	97
2	Chelsea	147	3	9	40	46	49	107	132
3	Pinckney	181	1	29	43	45	63	70	85
4	Grand Rapids Christian	186	7	10	47	58	64	90	130
5	St. Johns	191	15	21	24	57	74	163	194
6	Adrian	200	14	19	32	39	96	119	125
7	Linden	273	16	17	72	81	87	151	167
8	Freeland	284	11	13	25	67	168	174	187
9	East Grand Rapids	310	28	61	62	76	83	95	121
10	St. Clair	331	44	51	53	73	110	135	145
11	Petoskey	334
12	Fremont	348
13	Flint Powers Catholic	381
14	Ionia	399
15	Mason	421
16	Battle Creek Harper Creek	424
17	Yale	428
18	Clio	429
19	Dearborn Divine Child	458
20	Spring Lake	464
21	Sparta	468
22	Holland Christian	529
23	Grand Rapids South Christian	536
24	Allendale	558
25	Grand Rapids Catholic Central	580
26	Three Rivers	587
27	Hamilton	606
28	Armada	689
29	Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood	753

The Otsego boys were aghast at their pre-season ranking and rightfully so.  As the season started revving up, so did the Bulldogs ranking.  Their coming out party was at Spartan, where they placed 6^th and beat many top tier D1 teams.  They continued that hot streak to Cougar Falcon, Otsego Bulldog, and haven’t been challenged since.  Nick Cockerel has been the low stick at the front, but their rise was fueled by two “newcomers”, Tristin Canales and Chase Brown.  Chase has had an unfortunate string of injuries derailing his career, but he’s completed this entire season, a wonderful accomplishment.  Tristin took the 2020 season off and in that two year absence, managed to drop a minute+ from his 2019 best.

As Jacob Tanner noted in his “Top Fives” (seriously cannot thank him enough for putting that out earlier in the week, makes this job a ton easier), Chelsea has been a bit polarizing in their performances.  Their great performances are title worthy (Region 18, Spartan), their subpar performances are Top 5 worthy.  They’re basically the D2 Boys version of Brighton, although they have recent evidence of a great race.  Bram Hartsuff and Connell Alford should be able to mix it up with Canales and Cockerel, their 3^rd through 5^th will need to give a similar effort to Lake Erie to stoke the upset.  Jonas Norwood seems to be the bellwether, at Spartan and Lake Erie, he ran the equivalent of 16:30-40.

As the weather began to change, so did Grand Rapids Christian.  The Eagles rise began to come about at Otsego Bulldog, where they bested an Adrian squad.  Tinsae Nelson and Ben Zwart have been frontrunners all year, almost inseparable.  That combination is lethal in a pressure-filled setting, they can key off each other deep into the race.  But the aforementioned rise was the result of Simon Triezenberg, Dylan Clark, and Reuben Wiering decreasing their time and upping their game.

Pinckney has been extremely selective in their racing and that should leave their squad fresh and ready to compete.  Caleb Jarema is a known quantity, their success will come from the rest of the pack.  In the Pirates victory over Chelsea at SEC 2, their pack of Ben Richards, Zach Debeauclair, and Evan Loughridge finished in front of Chelsea’s 3^rd boy.  The task is expanded for this race, can they stay ahead of everyone’s 3^rd boy?

St. Johns is the biggest riser of the bunch.  Unbenownst to myself prior to the season, Joey Bowman transferred in from Lansing Everett.  Joey was an outstanding freshman, having finished the year breaking into the 16’s.  It’s taken a bit of time to find that form, but it’s been found come championship season, especially prominent in his Region 14 victory.  Griffin Armbrustmacher and Michael Dennis are holdovers from last year’s runner-up squad, Isaac Staib and Tyler Dohm are rapidly improving.  If these ratings only included the past month of racing, I have no doubt the Redwings would be a top-3 outfit.

Boys Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Caleb Jarema	Pinckney	218.1
2	12	Ian Hill	Spring Lake	210.2
3	10	Connell Alford	Chelsea	204.7
4	11	Michael Hegarty	Dearborn Divine Child	204.0
5	12	Conor Somers	Fremont	203.7
6	12	Nick Cockerel	Otsego	202.6
7	12	Caden Meyer	Zeeland East	200.1
8	12	Ben Zwart	Grand Rapids Christian	199.8
9	12	Parker Lambers	Holland Christian	199.7
10	12	Garrett Winter	Parchment	199.6
11	11	Bram Hartsuff	Chelsea	199.3
12	12	Tinsae Nelson	Grand Rapids Christian	198.9
13	11	Braydon Honsinger	Freeland	198.2
14	9	Killian Whalen	Allendale	198.1
15	9	TJ Hansen	Freeland	198.0
16	10	Braylon Petty	Adrian	197.1
17	12	Ethan Leitner	Tecumseh	197.1
18	11	Aiden Sullivan	Forest Hills Eastern	197.0
19	12	Griffin Armbrustmacher	St. Johns	196.6
20	11	Kyle Eberhard	Linden	196.4
21	12	Race Bettich	Stevensville Lakeshore	196.3
22	11	Camden Johnecheck	Williamston	196.0
23	12	River Meckstroth	Linden	195.9
24	12	Mason Kolhoff	Otsego	195.6
25	11	Aiden Smith	Adrian	195.0
26	12	Tristin Canales	Otsego	194.9
27	11	Joey Bowman	St. Johns	194.0
28	12	Josiah Magley	Ionia	193.3
29	11	Carter McCalister	Monroe Jefferson	192.8
30	12	Lucas Danic	Flint Powers Catholic	191.8
31	12	Michael Dennis	St. Johns	191.4
32	12	Jacob Singleton	Parma Western	191.1
33	12	Jacob Wurtzel	Freeland	191.0
34	11	Lukas Kriesch	Yale	190.6
35	12	Samuel Smith	Petoskey	190.6
36	10	Alex Thole	East Grand Rapids	190.0
37	10	Evan Loughridge	Pinckney	188.9
38	12	Owen Gilbert	Battle Creek Harper Creek	188.9
39	12	Gabriel Phillips	Clio	188.9
40	11	Bryce Soule	Adrian	188.7
41	12	Kyler Dean	Vicksburg	188.1
42	12	Chase Dietrich	Flint Powers Catholic	187.9
43	10	Shane Izzard	Petoskey	187.7
44	12	Jackson Jones	Sparta	187.5
45	11	William Winter	Parchment	186.8
46	10	Nolan Pinion	Lake Fenton	186.8
47	12	Chase Brown	Otsego	186.2
48	11	Jake O’Neil	Remus Chippewa Hills	185.4
49	12	Landon Buskirk	Mason	185.4
50	9	Alex Doneth	Mason	185.2

I realize that I control a lot of the narrative and discussion on XC in this state, so this is partially my fault (and partially Riley Hough’s fault), but Caleb Jarema has ran under the radar all year long.  He’s slipped under the 15:00 barrier at Portage, he’s been undefeated against D2 competition all year.  He was part of that blistering fast New Balance 3200m in May. 

Ian Hill ran 15:33 on that same day at Portage, although there was a bit of weather change throughout said day.  Against a field of D2’s biggest hitters, Ian sped away with the crown by a 15+ second margin.  His only defeat was at Benzie, since then he’s been undefeated. 

I have to explain a little bit on the ratings.  Mike Hegarty and Connell Alford have gone against one another twice this year, Mike coming ahead both times.  But Connell is rated higher.  What the ratings try to do is compare when runners aren’t racing.  In the most appropriate scenario, these will be two runners from separate areas of the state on different courses on different days.  When they haven’t faced one another, Connell has run some of his better races.  But that begs the question: what if Mike had run with Connell at Coaching Legends or the SEC White meets? 

Enough of my rambling, Mike is Mr. October year in, year out.  This year’s version of his exploits was a 15:34 at Otsego.  Connell has been Mr. Consistent in his sophomore campaign.  His only “subpar” efforts were equivalent the very low 16’s. 

If we were judging on the final three races of the year, Conor Somers would be a clear #3.  Breaking 17:00 on the legendary Branstrom Park course might go unnoticed by many, but not to the Fremont folks and myself.  That itself was the equivalent of a 15:30 effort and that was almost duplicated in the hills of Remus.

TUCK COMIN’

This section is dedicated to all the college football coaches, players, and teams that are rollin’ hot through the season, ready to beat Ohio State in November and crash the MIS party on Saturday.

I have been hearing talk in the Cross Country Heartland about how I had Shepherd underrated.  And that is valid talk given their past results.  They’re always at State, they’re always a D3 contender, but THIS IS D2.  It’s a whole different ballgame, right?  Well, I thought I was right until Carly Judge had to ruin it.  In her past two meets, she’s gone under 20:20 both times.  Neither effort is a personal best, but if they’re a glimpse at her State Meet, that may be enough to move the Bluejays near the Top 10.

Our first glimpse (other than if you scour middle school results, who would do that?) of Kamryn Lauinger’s talent was a runaway victory at Holly.  She’s built on that victory with four consecutive 140+ ratings, the equivalent of sub-19.  That area between Flint and Detroit is known for its tough courses.  Kayla O’Mara is hilly, Lake Fenton was a mudbath.  On a fair, dry course, watch out.

Has Ionia all collectively peaked at the right time?  You can point to any of the Bulldog boys and see progress from their St. Francis Regional to meets earlier in the year.  Jacob Montgomery, Ellis Yokom, Josiah Magley, and Heath LaPointe all crushed expectations last Friday and if you plug in their ratings at St. Francis for the rest of the season, Ionia is capable of finishing in the Top 10.

Parker Lambers is hot off a regional effort where he dispatched a number of the state’s best.  And he did it pulling away as well.  I know Otsego is traditionally fast, but 15:36 is an impressive time nonetheless.  Parker has the attributes necessary to be successful (and if anyone is able to spot talent, it’s MSU).  He’s shown it’s not a one-time occurrence either, his wins at Cougar Falcon and Under the Lights were against similarly tough competition.

Girls Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Girl	2nd Girl	3rd Girl	4th Girl	5th Girl	6th Girl	7th Girl
1	Hart	115	2	3	9	41	60	107	127
2	Traverse City St. Francis	173	13	15	20	56	69	80	81
3	Lansing Catholic	180	7	11	14	48	100	151	157
4	Kent City	182	8	32	38	51	53	66	94
5	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	216	12	27	46	49	82	121	135
6	Jackson Lumen Christi	220	5	10	36	55	114	122	138
7	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	246	6	34	43	70	93	97	99
8	St. Louis	249	17	19	33	71	109	116	134
9	Ithaca	273	1	24	42	77	129	155	165
10	Pewamo-Westphalia	278	16	45	68	73	76	83	88
11	Caro	328
12	Benzie Central	351
13	Grandville Calvin Christian	377
14	Harbor Springs	395
15	Reese	417
16	Sandusky	420
17	Manton	429
18	Bridgman	479
19	Onsted	481
20	Clinton	496
22	Monroe St. Mary CC	502
21	Elk Rapids	502
23	Leslie	528
24	University Liggett	532
25	Buchanan	557
26	Schoolcraft	610
27	Clawson	650
28	Madison Heights Bishop Foley	807

Can Hart make it five straight State Titles?  With fifth runner Lauren VanderLaan in their corner, very likely.  As 2020 closed, a few teams looked like they had an outside shot at breaking Hart’s streak, and their hopes pinned on a subpar performance from Lauren.  But she went out, ran 21:02, and finished a good 20+ spots better than her pre-race expectation.  Hart’s unreal streak continued and we’re having this same conversation this year.  Although the Ackleys have moved on (from the girls squad), the Pirates are still led by another side of the family, the Enns and bolstered by freshmen Jessica Jazwinski and Lexie Beth Nienhuis.

The question then becomes: who’s second?

Jackson Lumen Christi would be in here, mainly behind the efforts of transfer Sydney Fazekas.  We knew about Faith Smith and Madison Osterberg, but Fazekas’s transfer from Hanover-Horton solidified their depth.  Sadly, Sydney is out with a stress fracture, thus dashing Lumen Christi’s hopes.  They are well-set for future runs with glory here.

Traverse City St. Francis has been remarkably consistent all year, even in the meets without Grace Slocum and Sophia Rhein.  I’m particularly happy for Sophia, as she missed nearly her entire sophomore year.  She’s back and has a great shot at finishing All-State.  Rylee Duffing has been reliable, usually finishing 4^th or 5^th on the team, while Mary Masserant and Ava Pomaranski have a bit higher variance.  If those two can bring it Saturday, they’re the clear favorite to finish second.

Lansing Catholic is as strong as any through four.  Hannah Pricco has finished 16^th in two consecutive State Meets.  This spring, we saw CC Jones respond to Coach Simpson’s training and that has carried over into cross.  The key lies with Hailey Prokop, when adjusting for ratings, she’s improved nearly a minute from her September form. 

Championship Season has been kind to Kent City.  At Portage, they lost to Lumen Christi and finished ahead of Lansing Catholic and St. Francis.  At Saturday’s Region 21 race, they defeated Calvin Christian and Covenant Christian.  Kent Ottawa was their best performance, knocking off Lowell and West Michigan Aviation, both top-25 teams in higher divisions.

Girls Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Lani Bloom	Ithaca	167.9
2	12	Rylee Tolson	Stockbridge	158.7
3	10	Alyson Enns	Hart	157.0
4	12	Allison Chmielewski	Roscommon	153.3
5	9	Jessica Jazwinski	Hart	148.4
6	10	Mylie Kelly	Benzie Central	147.5
7	10	Madison Osterberg	Jackson Lumen Christi	146.5
8	9	Eliza Bush	Ypsilanti Arbor Preparatory	145.7
9	12	Meghan Beute	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	144.4
10	11	Hannah Pricco	Lansing Catholic	144.2
11	9	Lila Volkers	Kent City	143.0
12	12	Audrianna Enns	Hart	141.2
13	12	Faith Smith	Jackson Lumen Christi	138.6
14	10	Miranda McNeil	Morley-Stanwood	135.5
15	11	CC Jones	Lansing Catholic	133.7
16	12	Gianna Hoving	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	132.0
17	11	Sophia Rhein	Traverse City St. Francis	131.5
18	10	Tessa Roe	Lansing Catholic	131.3
19	10	Kendra Koster	Lawton	128.4
20	9	Betsy Skendzel	Traverse City St. Francis	127.3
21	9	Whitney Werner	Pewamo-Westphalia	127.3
22	11	Ava Maginity	Boyne City	125.7
23	12	Libby Munderloh	St. Louis	124.1
24	9	Kerith Short	University Liggett	123.0
25	12	Mikenna Borie	St. Louis	122.4
26	9	Grace Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis	122.4
27	9	Makenzie Kreger	Sandusky	122.2
28	12	Leanne Krombeen	Grandville Calvin Christian	121.0
29	12	Maye Burns	Harbor Springs	120.2
30	12	Rachael Sierakowski	Ithaca	119.7
31	10	Ava Viegelahn	Grass Lake	119.5
32	12	Elise Johnson	Benzie Central	119.0
33	12	Ava Genovese	Coloma	118.9
34	12	Claire Thomson	Clawson	118.8
35	12	Marian Avila	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	118.7
36	10	Kinsie Jacques	Pinconning	118.6
37	9	Erin Lubahn	Leslie	118.1
38	12	Molly Harding	Manton	117.0
39	11	Kara Terakedis	Onsted	116.9
40	9	Emmry Ross	Onsted	116.7
41	12	Alyeska Linsley	Kent City	115.4
42	10	Jaiden Dickman	St. Louis	115.3
43	9	Ashley Choponis	Stanton Central Montcalm	115.1
44	10	Amber Koole	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	114.8
45	12	Brooklyn Rochow	Stockbridge	114.0
46	11	Allie Koch	Manchester	113.8
47	9	Jaidyn Smith	Leslie	112.9
48	9	Layla Lopez	Jackson Lumen Christi	112.8
49	12	Gabriella Wingard	North Muskegon	112.5
50	10	Sophia Reynolds	Hanover-Horton	112.5

Lani Bloom is the favorite here.  What a career, what a ride it’s been.  Three All-State honors, three track titles (one indoor, two outdoor).  Adversity from tough races at MIS, joy from sophomore breakthroughs and overcoming said adversity.  She’s taken this season the right way too, not going to the well every single race, and this sets her up for success this weekend.  She has the strength (sub-17 on the track), she has the speed, she has the experience.

Rylee Tolson hasn’t lost once this entire fall.  She has the mettle of a champion, evidenced by two instances: her comeback from injury during track and her crawl to the finish a year ago.  She didn’t have to finish that race, but she did.  That speaks volumes.  She’s been a frontrunner this entire year, setting a quick early pace and daring others to hang on.  I can all but guarantee these two will duel until the other falls off.

I said this over the summer and I’ll say it again: we will see Allie Chmielewski on the starting line of the Olympic Trials in 2028 or 2032.  It might be the marathon, it might be the 10k, who knows.  She’s oozing in talent and doesn’t come from a traditional D3 power.  Imagine when she gets to MSU, a program that develops talent, and has girls to train with.  I’ve been a major fan of her season, she hasn’t redlined it in too many races, that extra bit of energy should help her in the final 1000m.

Beyond the seniors, I’m interested to see who sets themselves up for titles in 2022:

Alyson Enns has fallen off a bit in the past month, but when she’s on, she’s really freakin’ on.  17:53 at Shepherd has been her best, but 18:18 at Portage is significant here in that she defeated many of the D3 girls she’ll be competing against. 

Mylie Kelly just set a Benzie school record of 18:08.  Her string of races at Cadillac, Bluejay, and Portage show she can bring it when pushed, likely into the low-18’s.

Madison Osterberg finished second behind Enns at Portage, scorching the rest of the field in the final mile.  She has better speed than anyone sans Bloom and also the confidence to let the rest of the field go, knowing she’ll reel them back in. 

Eliza Bush has been the lone wolf over at Ypsi Arbor Prep.  She hasn’t faced the D3-centric competition that most in the field have gone against, but she has run in the mid-18’s on fair courses.

Jessica Jazwinski has actually supplanted Enns in the past month as Hart’s #1.  She’s been through the ringer of races and has been steady each time out.

Boys Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Boy	2nd Boy	3rd Boy	4th Boy	5th Boy	6th Boy	7th Boy
1	Hart	158	11	13	32	49	53	70	105
2	St. Louis	160	14	17	19	45	65	71	77
3	Lansing Catholic	166	5	10	36	40	75	120	132
4	Grandville Calvin Christian	176	3	15	16	30	112	177	186
5	Traverse City St. Francis	184	28	29	33	37	57	66	78
6	Ithaca	277	9	12	51	96	109	125	161
7	Grand Rapids Covenant Christian	306	42	50	52	80	82	85	106
8	Stockbridge	307	24	27	39	98	119	138	180
9	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	312	21	44	63	87	97	102	130
10	Charlevoix	350	4	23	74	121	128	133	142
11	Caro	355
12	Bronson	362
13	Pewamo-Westphalia	369
14	Harbor Springs	371
15	Benzie Central	372
16	Saugatuck	397
17	Hanover-Horton	405
18	Madison Heights Bishop Foley	408
19	Manton	425
20	Erie Mason	427
21	Saranac	433
22	Coloma	448
23	Hudson	466
24	Bath	493
25	Sanford-Meridian	569
26	Constantine	655
27	University Liggett	678
28	Memphis	855

Hart hasn’t been the most flashy team all year.  But you don’t need to be flashy to win titles, you need to be reliable.  At any major meet, you’ll find that their average rating hovers between 170-175.  Noah Bosley, Wyatt Dean, and Clayton Ackley have been low sticks up front.  Max Stitt has been surprisingly reliable considering his freshman status.  If he can have Max Nienhuis and Seth Ackley follow his lead, the Pirates have a shot.

St. Louis is again doing that thing where they peak at the right time.  The March brothers in particular have been running their best in the last month.  Although Shepherd’s course has been running a bit quick this year, they both ran below 16:30 at the Scottie Classic, efforts that suggest they’re the among the best 2^nd and 3^rd runners in the state.  Can they push back another team’s 1^st or 2^nd?

Lansing Catholic has been bolstered by the addition of Josh Otten.  First a soccer player, then a 4:27 miler, now an XC star.  He didn’t even need a break-in period, placing 2^nd behind D2 standout Mike Hegarty at Michigan Catholic.  The Cougars will rely on Stephen Fair as their 5^th runner, he’s been in the low-18’s/high-17’s for the past seven races.  That time slot will likely have a mass of runners – a few seconds could make a huge difference. 

Grandville Calvin Christian’s Squires face the extreme example (we’ll see this in future writeups) of four runners and needing a good day from their fifth.  For Trevor Dornbos, he’s had more good days lately than not.  He’s in the same boat as Lansing Catholic’s Fair, where his best performance could move them to a contender.  Nathan Jenkins is battling an injury, but listed in the entries, so he’s included in here.

Traverse City St. Francis might take home the title of the most polarizing team of all-time.  Their Portage performance will win them the state title.  Their Bluejay performance could knock the Glads out of the Top 10. 

Boys Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	11	Hunter Jones	Benzie Central	216.8
2	12	Noah Morrow	Manton	203.8
3	12	Tyler Guggemos	Kalkaska	194.1
4	11	Nathan Jenkins	Grandville Calvin Christian	192.9
5	12	Sam Peterson	Charlevoix	192.3
6	12	Josh Otten	Lansing Catholic	192.0
7	11	Rogan Melling	Hanover-Horton	191.0
8	10	Collin Farmer	Pewamo-Westphalia	191.0
9	11	Cal Benjamin	Harbor Springs	188.1
10	11	Parks Allen	Ithaca	187.2
11	12	David Pruder	Lansing Catholic	186.9
12	10	Samuel Martini	Kent City	186.8
13	11	Clayton Ackley	Hart	186.6
14	12	Jacob Walker	Brooklyn Columbia Central	186.2
15	12	Espen Lehnst	Ithaca	186.2
16	12	Noah Bosley	Hart	183.4
17	11	Rhett Reif	Quincy	182.9
18	12	Carson Brunk	Potterville	182.3
19	10	Ben March	St. Louis	182.2
20	12	Dan Kehoe	Grandville Calvin Christian	180.7
21	12	Logan Manion	Grandville Calvin Christian	180.6
22	12	Aaron Bowerman	St. Louis	180.4
23	12	Chase Hobson	Montrose	180.4
24	12	Adam Martinson	Saugatuck	179.6
25	10	Jaden Barnes	Bloomingdale	179.2
26	11	Andrew Hardy	Stanton Central Montcalm	177.3
27	12	Nate March	St. Louis	176.9
28	11	Connor Stefanovsky	Caro	176.4
29	10	Simon VanderVlucht	Monroe St. Mary CC	176.3
30	10	Sunishthh Singh	Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard	175.0
31	10	Boden Genovese	Coloma	174.8
32	12	Dominic Schwein	Charlevoix	174.6
33	11	Micah Bolton	Stockbridge	174.5
34	10	Alex Czeiszperger	Hudson	173.9
35	10	Matthew Pattullo	Caro	173.6
36	12	Dalton Satkowiak	Stockbridge	173.0
37	9	Josh Slocum	Traverse City St. Francis	173.0
38	12	Thomas Richards	Traverse City St. Francis	172.9
39	11	Ben Wertz	Grandville Calvin Christian	172.7
40	11	Levi Maier	Chesaning	172.4
41	12	Liam Harlan	Bath	172.4
42	11	Wyatt Dean	Hart	172.3
43	11	Josh Kerr	Traverse City St. Francis	171.9
44	11	Jackson Ansel	Erie Mason	171.9
45	11	Ashton Wells	Bronson	171.3
46	12	Gabe Nelson	Clinton	171.3
47	12	Cameron Haraburda	Lansing Catholic	170.8
48	11	Caiden Kippnick	Manchester	170.7
49	10	Tucker Krumm	Traverse City St. Francis	170.6
50	12	Lance Smar	Harbor Springs	170.3

2019 was the Hunter Jones show.  2020 was the Hunter Jones show.  This year is the Hunter Jones show.  Next year will be the Hunter Jones show.  Hunter is the clear favorite and it should be a fun, lonely 14 or 15 minutes for Hunter.  He took a few lumps early from Hough and Baracco, but a hit to the ego is always good, you can’t win every race and expect to get better.  I have confidence those early losses and the lessons learned will serve him well in the post-season races. 

Noah Morrow made #TheLeap during track season.  A 9:33 at Shepherd’s Bluejay Elite led to a 4:20 in the 1600m, which then led to a 3^rd place in the D3 3200m.  He’s continued that progression into cross, where he’s notable for legitimately not having a bad race.  As far as my numbers go, his worst race was one in which he broke 16:00. 

Tyler Guggemos, Cal Benjamin, and Sam Peterson have battling it out in Northern Michigan all year.  Sam had the edge early in the year, Tyler has had the upper hand lately, and Cal has seemingly finished second in this triumvirate each time they’ve faced one another. 

Rogan has upheld the Melling tradition (but did he complete the infamous workout?) in leading the Hanover-Horton squad and being King of the Irish Hills.  Rogan hasn’t just stayed in the area, when the Comets traveled to Portage and Bluejay, he was able to defeat many potential All-Staters (Martini, Pruder, etc.).

TUCK COMIN’

Just as Mel Tucker came into the State of Michigan like a wrecking ball, these runners and teams are coming to MIS on a roll:

The Bridgman Bees are back at their old stomping grounds after a year’s absence.  Contact tracing decimated any hope of returning in 2020, and their dear departed Karsyn Stewart was left to race alone.  But they’re back and fresh off a regional victory.  The Fast sisters, Clara and Summer have run their best to close the year and seniors Jane Kaspar and Arie Hackett have been great leaders.

Gianna Hoving’s times of late might not represent major growth, but it’s there.  19:40 on an always tough Possum Hollow course (and a victory over potential D2 All-Staters Zdankiewicz and Koss) paved the way to a 3^rd place finish in the loaded Region 27. 

This might not be the glory days when Yami was winning everything in sight, but Caro is still the best team in the Thumb (Yale won Thumb Area but to me they’re more Port Huron than Thumb).  Nearly everyone on the Tigers ran their best race at Thumb Area, particularly Tristan Lovett, and Tyler Miller doubled that up with an excellent regional race.  Expect them to challenge for a Top 10 spot.

Rhett Reif chilled in the low-17’s for much of the year, save for a 16:38 at Otsego Bulldog.  He’s begun to turn it up a notch in these past few weeks with a 16:25 at Little Guys and a 2^nd place finish in Region 23, that silver medal coming in front of potential top-30 runners Jacob Walker and Alex Czeiszperger. 

Girls Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Girl	2nd Girl	3rd Girl	4th Girl	5th Girl	6th Girl	7th Girl
1	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	117	1	3	25	33	55	73	87
2	Hillsdale Academy	166	8	24	29	49	56	58	111
3	Kalamazoo Christian	179	16	26	32	51	54	89	99
4	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	193	6	19	20	62	86	96	110
5	Johannesburg-Lewiston	203	4	42	45	48	64	67	126
6	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	263	7	22	57	85	92	113	120
7	Whitmore Lake	315	15	35	37	107	121	145	170
8	Adrian Lenawee Christian	343	9	21	90	104	119	141	157
9	Beal City	360	23	36	78	84	139	146	147
10	Harbor Beach	365	28	31	71	80	155	160	166
11	Allen Park Cabrini	366
12	Unionville-Sebewaing	377
13	Royal Oak Shrine	382
14	Fowler	384
15	Lansing Christian	393
16	Leland	408
17	Pittsford	423
18	The Potter’s House	433
19	Lake Leelanau St. Mary	444
20	Frankfort	455
21	Battle Creek St. Philip	456
22	Ubly	460
23	Petoskey St. Michael	469
24	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	489
25	Mendon	495
26	Vestaburg	536
27	Gaylord St. Mary	572

Muskegon Western Michigan Christian vaulted into the top spot in the D4 Girls Rankings following.  Abby VanderKooi was her usual self and we saw a glimpse of her sister, Grace VanderKooi.  WMC has always had a solid squad behind Abby, but never quite enough depth to make a state title contender.  Grace hasn’t run since Portage, but her name is listed in the entries.  For these projections, I feel it necessary to include runners listed in the entries.  If she runs, they’re the favorite.  If not, they still have a great chance!

Kalamazoo Christian is your defending champ and just like last year, they get it done by their outstanding pack.  At the SAC Championship, the Comets put 5 girls under 21:05 en route to a conference title against many D3 foes.

Hillsdale Academy features the same sort of tight-knit racing.  Megan Roberts highlights the bunch, she’s at the front yet again, just another year in her bid for 5 All-State honors.  The Colts are bolstered by 8^th grader Ruth Brownlee and are fresh off winning the Class D crown over fellow top-10 team, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart

Johannesburg-Lewiston is ready to pounce onto the podium in the case of a Grace VanderKooi absence.  Regional week saw the continued emergence of Madalyn Agren.  Madalyn kept showing last winter and is reaping the rewards of that training. 

Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest is about as battle-tested as they come.  The Crusaders won the MIAC over Whitmore Lake and captured the Region 36 crown over Allen Park Cabrini, Royal Oak Shrine, and a perennial power, Clarkston Everest Collegiate.

Girls Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	12	Abby VanderKooi	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	160.8
2	12	Makenna Scott	Maple City Glen Lake	142.2
3	10	Aiden Harrand	Buckley	141.7
4	9	Presley Allen	Mendon	140.3
5	9	Grace VanderKooi	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	138.3
6	11	Adelaida Gascho	Johannesburg-Lewiston	125.8
7	10	Ava Teed	Allen Park Cabrini	124.0
8	11	Erika Van Loton	Huron Valley Lutheran	122.3
9	11	Mackenzie Lemke	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	120.2
10	10	Amelia Thompson	Big Rapids Crossroads Academy	117.6
11	12	Nicole Olivieri	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	115.3
12	11	Megan Roberts	Hillsdale Academy	114.8
13	9	Izzy Brooks	Adrian Lenawee Christian	114.3
14	9	Eliza Keith	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	111.8
15	10	Ivy Andreas	The Potter’s House	111.8
16	9	Ava Mallar	Pittsford	111.0
17	11	Ashlyn Kephart	Lansing Christian	109.9
18	9	Natalie Gibbs	Birmingham Roeper	104.4
19	10	Miriam Murrell	Gaylord St. Mary	104.3
20	10	Brooke Smith	Pittsford	102.5
21	10	Natalie Meadows	Whitmore Lake	101.9
22	9	Alaina Klooster	Kalamazoo Christian	101.7
23	11	Maze Gusa	Ubly	101.5
24	12	Adrianne Rector	Dansville	100.6
25	12	Taylor Myers	Frankfort	99.2
26	10	Abby Rice	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	97.9
27	11	Madeleine Barge	Rochester Hills Lutheran NW	97.6
28	11	Dani VanLente	Tekonsha	97.1
29	12	Elizabeth Scharer	Adrian Lenawee Christian	97.0
30	12	Riley Hacker	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	96.6
31	11	Maia Romeyn	Ellsworth	95.5
32	11	Kaylee Locke	Beal City	95.2
33	9	Ella Walton	Hillsdale Academy	94.8
34	11	Brianna Zuidema	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	94.6
35	11	Aubrey Herder	Kalamazoo Christian	93.1
36	11	Petra Foote	Grand Traverse Academy	92.9
37	11	Helana Napiorkowski	Austin Catholic	92.9
38	10	Allison Glendening	St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic	92.9
39	12	Paige Anderson	Harbor Beach	92.8
40	8	Ruth Brownlee	Hillsdale Academy	92.0
41	9	Jane Manthei	Petoskey St. Michael	91.4
42	10	Gracy Walker	Kingston	90.9
43	9	Reece Wruble	Harbor Beach	90.4
44	11	Annika Sytsma	Kalamazoo Christian	90.4
45	12	Ava Rotman	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	90.0
46	11	Sydney Van Es	Kalamazoo Hackett	89.7
47	9	Ella Knudsen	Leland	89.4
48	11	Brooke Craven	Whitmore Lake	88.9
49	10	Jessie Ross	Fairview	88.7
50	12	Rachal Weber	Beal City	88.3

Not much needs to be said about Abby VanderKooi.  Twice 3^rd place at FootLocker, 3-time State Champ.  She suffered a toe injury in track that hampered her ability to grab multiple titles and it appears she’s still recovering from that.  And by recovering, I mean she’s the clear favorite.

Makenna Scott is your defending champ.  She burst through given the opportunity last year when many succumbed to the unseasonable heat.  Her steady style and even pace was a benefit compared to the masses who were redlining.  She’s been battling all season with Aiden Harrand.  It’s amazing to me how there’s these two talents in the same conference, in two tiny schools, going head to head seven times this year.  The count right now is Makenna 4, Aiden 3.  I am not attempting to create a rivalry here, I sense a mutual respect between the two, and constant drive to push one another. 

Presley Allen has been a middle school phenom that’s panned out.  The pride of Mendon, when she’s pushed, she can really rip it.  Mid-18’s at Portage and Otsego, along with a 19:01 on a wet day at Jackson.

Boys Team

Place	Team	Score	1st Boy	2nd Boy	3rd Boy	4th Boy	5th Boy	6th Boy	7th Boy
1	Johannesburg-Lewiston	101	8	11	15	25	42	84	111
2	Hillsdale Academy	153	6	27	32	38	50	57	61
3	Concord	171	3	10	18	41	99	172	173
4	Breckenridge	219	2	29	35	60	93	160	164
5	Kalamazoo Christian	242	9	21	40	64	108	116	143
6	Petoskey St. Michael	255	5	16	28	96	110	130	175
7	Whitmore Lake	268	30	45	54	62	77	112	156
8	Riverview Gabriel Richard	283	12	43	55	75	98	155	169
9	Carson City-Crystal	290	13	46	65	78	88	101	126
10	Dansville	291	7	33	48	68	135	138
11	The Potter’s House	312
12	Adrian Lenawee Christian	319
13	Royal Oak Shrine	324
14	Mason County Eastern	363
15	Gobles	383
16	White Cloud	385
17	Lutheran Westland	392
18	Muskegon Western Michigan Christian	412
19	Frankfort	416
20	Unionville-Sebewaing	428
21	Battle Creek St. Philip	477
22	Deckerville	524
23	Mayville	540
24	Fairview	549
25	Hale	561
26	Coleman	579
27	Eau Claire	641

With a shocker at Pete Moss, Johannesburg-Lewiston vaulted to the front of the rankings.  Coach Marcum puts an emphasis on a few meets a year, one of those being a good opener, and boy did the Cardinals put the state on notice.  They have firepower up front with Malaki Gascho, Jacob Wartenberg, and Blake Fox all likely to hit All-State status.  But their 4^th and 5^th aren’t bad either, both are rated as the best 4^th and 5^th in the field. 

Concord put a scare into Johannesburg-Lewiston at Portage, finishing a mere 14 points back.  Jonathon Mikovits has been a mainstay, three-time All-Stater.  Joe Bulko and Adair Artis are running the best that I’ve seen them run and the Yellowjackets are strong through 4 runners.  If they can find a 5, they’re a good bet to finish in the Top 2.

If not, Hillsdale Academy is sitting right there.  Hillsdale has been ranked #2 for the majority of championship season, mainly based on two factors – their outstanding race at Holly earlier in the year and their 8^th grade addition, Grayson Rorick.  The Colts also have the added benefit of having the strongest 6^th and 7^th runners in the race, they can absorb a subpar effort, but also can be a bit more aggressive given quality depth to fall back on.

Boys Individual

Place	Grade	Name	Team	Rating
1	11	Lezawe Osterink	The Potter’s House	197.8
2	12	Mason Sumner	Breckenridge	195.3
3	12	Jonathan Mikovits	Concord	187.2
4	12	Brock Lynch	Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart	186.0
5	12	Nile Devers	Gobles	183.7
6	12	Samuel Paga	Petoskey St. Michael	182.7
7	12	Emil Schlueter	Hillsdale Academy	180.7
8	9	Theodore Davis	Dansville	178.8
9	12	Nathan Lott	Webberville	178.7
10	10	Malaki Gascho	Johannesburg-Lewiston	178.2
11	12	Isaac Bos	Kalamazoo Christian	178.0
12	12	Joe Bulko	Concord	177.0
13	11	Jacob Wartenberg	Johannesburg-Lewiston	176.7
14	11	Tyler Bays	Reading	174.9
15	11	Alex Meszaros	Riverview Gabriel Richard	174.4
16	12	Ashton Keiffer	Carson City-Crystal	174.4
17	12	Ty Pavlichek	Unionville-Sebewaing	173.8
18	10	Blake Fox	Johannesburg-Lewiston	173.7
19	10	Owen Patton	Vestaburg	172.9
20	10	Utah Gusa	Ubly	172.2
21	11	Macartan Moore	Petoskey St. Michael	170.6
22	10	Alex Wanty	Hale	170.4
23	11	Adair Artis	Concord	169.5
24	12	Logan Johnson	Novi Christian Academy	168.8
25	12	Isaiah Beiter	Lawrence	168.5
26	12	Jonah Cerone	Royal Oak Shrine	168.4
27	11	Logan Swiney	The Potter’s House	167.5
28	11	Isaac Bogard	Kalamazoo Christian	167.3
29	12	Ethan McFarland	Auburn Hills Oakland Christian	166.9
30	11	Lars Huffman	Mackinaw City	166.8
31	11	Dakota Dykhuis	Montabella	166.1
32	11	Christopher Russelburg	Allen Park Cabrini	165.7
33	11	Ethan Green	Kingston	165.3
34	12	Noah Haskell	Coleman	165.2
35	11	Nate Wing	Mason County Eastern	164.9
36	11	Evan Suydam	Petersburg-Summerfield	164.0
37	11	Caleb Howard	Webberville	163.2
38	10	Luke Sprague	Battle Creek St. Philip	162.1
39	11	Kade Spahr	Pittsford	162.0
40	12	Toby Hall	Johannesburg-Lewiston	161.3
41	9	Tom Shafer	Lutheran Westland	160.0
42	12	Jonas Lanser	McBain Northern Michigan Christian	159.9
43	10	Thomas Holm	Hillsdale Academy	159.9
44	10	Kaden Forward	Bear Lake-Onekama	159.9
45	10	Aiden Fitchett	Dryden	159.8
46	11	Zachary Maendel	Petoskey St. Michael	159.8
47	10	Sawyer Stoneman	Breckenridge	159.7
48	12	Cole Rinna	Whitmore Lake	159.7
49	11	Jackson Kulawiak	Buckley	159.6
50	11	Bryson Bachelder	Morenci	159.5

Lezawe Osterink was all ready to show us what he had in 2020, then he was sidelined for the State Meet.  We’re blessed that last year was his sophomore year and we’ll have plenty of opportunities to see his prowess.  In the opportunities we’ve seen thus far, we’ve seen him make the most of it.  This spring, he raced to a 9:41 at Shepherd’s Bluejay Elite 3200m, then followed that up with a 5^th place finish in the D4 3200m.  His 2021 cross campaign has been domination, pure and simple.  All victories with multiple sub-16 efforts to boot.  His most impressive effort was a 15:42 at Portage, laying to waste a great D4 field filled with potential All-State athletes.

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.  Mason Sumner is a champion and will always be one.  He won here in 2019, his team won here in 2019, and he’s got a special someone watching over him.  When he’s had to run fast, he’s gotten after it, with 16:0x efforts at Happy Acres, Saranac, and Bluejay.

TUCK COMIN’

Just as Mel Tucker came into the State of Michigan like a wrecking ball, these runners and teams are coming to MIS on a roll:

Whitmore Lake Girls: Natalie Meadows brings the firepower up front, fresh off her regional (and first ever) win.  Brooke Craven and Lauren Price have experience running at MIS.  Isabella Nelson-Daniels and Savannah Pomorski both finished much higher than expected at the Webberville Regional.  The Trojans made easy work of a region that should come out to be fairly strong – Lansing Christian and Fowler are both expected to be in the top-15 at State.

Nicole Olivieri: The sprint star (and maybe 800m star, just sayin’) running cross for the first time as a senior.  After taking a few races to find her groove, she’s moved to the front of the Sacred Heart pack.  20:58 at John Bruder turned to a 20:08 and now two consecutive sub-20’s.  She’s still learning how to push herself in the latter stages of races, and she should have plenty of bodies to go after on Saturday.

Riverview Gabriel Richard Boys: Gabriel Richard emerged victorious from one of the tougher regions on the D4 side.  No, it wasn’t the three-team strength of Region 33 or 34, but 36 had the ringer of Shrine, Lutheran Westland, Plymouth Christian Academy, and a disappointed Cardinal Mooney team (there were some results issues – Cardinal Mooney initially thought they were in). In particular, John Borowicz and Johnny Benko ran above expectation, while Alex Meszaros nabbed first, leading the way through an abnormally slow Chandler Park course.

Brock Lynch, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart: Sorry, I can’t help it with two Sacred Heart Irish in this section.  2021 and in particular, October, has been winning season for Brock.  Mid-season, a few people doubted his inclusion in D4’s top-10, he’s more than silenced his critics.  16:48 at Portage, easily a sub-17:00 equivalent performance at Freeland, then three straight victories.  One of those victories was over Sumner, his Class D victory over Schlueter and Lott, and the MSAC one over Ashton Keiffer.  All of those names are accomplished and will be in the mix in three days. At the close of his career, Brock has made a major move to etch his name into Sacred Heart lore.