Cross Country from a Numerical Perspective
Clinton Township Chippewa Valley
Fraser
Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse
Macomb Dakota
Macomb L’Anse Creuse North
New Baltimore Anchor Bay
Port Huron
Port Huron Northern
Rochester
Rochester Hills Stoney Creek
Romeo
Sterling Heights
Sterling Heights Stevenson
Troy
Troy Athens
Utica
Utica Eisenhower
Utica Ford
Boyne City
Charlevoix
East Jordan
Elk Rapids
Grayling
Harbor Springs
Houghton Lake
Kalkaska
Mancelona
Oscoda
Roscommon
Tawas
Traverse City St. Francis
Traverse City St. Francis (1), Charlevoix (8), Harbor Springs (14), Roscommon (19)
Incoming senior went through a major improvement last fall (and winter, too). In the late season, went on a streak of sub-17 performances, including an 11th place at Northern Michigan and 6th place at Regionals. Continued to show progress during the winter, dropping his 1600m PR from 4:34 to 4:30.
Xander earned a massive PR at Regionals last year, his 16:31 (4th place) a good 18 sec. better than his previous best. He doubled that up with his first All-State finish a week later.
Evan’s State Meet leaves him a little further back than the previous two, but he’s shown he’s capable of running with or even being ahead of them. 7th at Northern Michigan and 5th at Regionals. He’s also gone through improvement in the past two years, dropping 40+ seconds in both seasons.
I’m breaking the trend and putting both of these guys here because they are that interchangeable. They finished a spot away from each other at both LMC (top-3), Regionals (top-3), and State (top-15). Their PRs are 2 sec. apart (16:18/16:20), and it’ll undoubtedly be a battle between them for the next two years.
I think Sam would like re-do on his championship season, and his training over both the winter (1600m, 4:35) and this summer indicates that. For a sophomore he did run some impressive times, including a 17:04 at Bluejay.
I always prefer to highlight underclassmen in these spots, and runners such as Josh make an easy selection. Without his regional performance, one would say Josh had a very good year. Sub-18 on multiple occasions, top-100 at State. With his regional performance (17:01, 14th place), St. Francis becomes even more formidable.
Charlevoix (10), Traverse City St. Francis (13), Harbor Springs (14), Roscommon (21), Boyne City (25)
Alayna has been in the mix in all three of her years, very tough to consistently be this good. In each season, she’s broken 20:00, been in the top-10 at Regionals, and top-50 at State. Last year was also her highest finish at Northern Michigan, a 14th place.
Charlevoix’s girls will benefit from their ability to run as a pack, especially their top 4. Megan has been in big races throughout her career and has performed admirably. Last year, she ran her best both in time and finish at the end, with a 20:23 on an increasingly tough MIS course, that time helping her reach her lowest spot yet, 51st.
As with the previous two, Ella has been right there in her career. All-Region each time out and consistently in the 20:00’s at the end of each season. In 2019, she had her lowest places at both Northern Michigan (31st) and State (70th).
Profile.Â
Maye underwent an extreme transformation, especially late in the season. Beginning with a 6th place finish at Northern Michigan (19:09), she went on a late season tear. 3rd at Regionals and then 8th at State, all in the 19:0x range. On average, these times were 50+ seconds lower than her freshman year.
Sophia flashed her potential on quite a few occasions last season. She showed she can be speedy, evidenced by an 18:45 opener at Pete Moss. She showed she can place high at important meets, examples being a 2nd place finish at Portage and 12th place at MIS.
Ava shocked the world here last year at Regionals. Projected 3rd going in, she ran away with the crown, setting a 40+ second PR in the process. The following week, she nabbed a 7th place finish at State.
All freshman in this section just makes one salivate at the competition in this area in the coming years. Early in the season, Anna didn’t necessarily run as fast as the previous two, but she sure did late. She broke 20:00 at Northern Michigan, then continued that momentum into 6th and 28th place finishes at Regional/State.
I don’t really want to give out too much info here, because it’ll spoil the 50 Tickets list, but let’s just say there are some boys, girls, and boys teams that will feature pretty prominently down the line. Must be something in that Muskegon River water…
Here are the teams that were included:
Coopersville
Fremont
Fruitport
Fruitport Calvary Christian
Grand Haven
Holton
Montague
Muskegon
Muskegon Catholic Central
Muskegon Mona Shores
Muskegon Oakridge
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
North Muskegon
Ravenna
Spring Lake
Whitehall
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Fremont |
| 2 | Grand Haven |
| 3 | Spring Lake |
| 4 | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 5 | Montague |
| Rank | Grade | Name | Team |
| 1 | 12 | Nathan Walker | Fremont |
| 2 | 11 | Conor Somers | Fremont |
| 3 | 11 | Klay Grant | Muskegon Reeths-Puffer |
| 4 | 12 | Callen Carrier | Spring Lake |
| 5 | 12 | Joshua Zerfas | Fremont |
| 6 | 11 | Ian Hill | Spring Lake |
| 7 | 12 | Ben Paige | Fremont |
| 8 | 12 | Adam Ward | Fremont |
| 9 | 11 | Jonathan Tysman | Grand Haven |
| 10 | 12 | Emerald Lawrence | North Muskegon |
| 11 | 10 | Logan Vining | Grand Haven |
| 12 | 10 | Nolan Clark | Grand Haven |
| 13 | 12 | Cole Rowden | Grand Haven |
| 14 | 12 | Addison Bluhm | Whitehall |
| 15 | 11 | Jackson Helmer | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 16 | 12 | Colton Best | Fremont |
| 17 | 11 | Ben Pease | Grand Haven |
| 18 | 9 | Jaxon Allen | Muskegon Orchard View |
| 19 | 10 | Abram Freye | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 20 | 11 | Gavin Schuler | Fremont |
| 21 | 12 | Christian Colvin | Grand Haven |
| 22 | 11 | Cale Coppess | Montague |
| 23 | 10 | Owen Fairchild | Montague |
| 24 | 10 | Caleb Branch | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 25 | 10 | Logan Hough | Grand Haven |
| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Grand Haven |
| 2 | Muskegon Reeths-Puffer |
| 3 | Fremont |
| 4 | Spring Lake |
| 5 | Whitehall |
| Rank | Grade | Name | Team |
| 1 | 11 | Abby VanderKooi | Muskegon Western Michigan Christian |
| 2 | 11 | Ryann Jibson | Whitehall |
| 3 | 11 | Taylor Mater-Gerth | Fremont |
| 4 | 12 | Ari Antor | Muskegon Reeths-Puffer |
| 5 | 11 | Rebekah Sweany | Muskegon Reeths-Puffer |
| 6 | 10 | Ariana Treat | Whitehall |
| 7 | 10 | Ava Buitenhuis | Grand Haven |
| 8 | 10 | Cecilia Conrad | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 9 | 9 | Nora Boufford | Spring Lake |
| 10 | 11 | Alex Amores | Grand Haven |
| 11 | 11 | Gabriella Wingard | North Muskegon |
| 12 | 9 | Lilly Houle | Muskegon Mona Shores |
| 13 | 12 | Allison Kelly | Grand Haven |
| 14 | 9 | Payton Hosley | Grand Haven |
| 15 | 10 | Margot Frendt | Grand Haven |
| 16 | 10 | Lily Parker | Spring Lake |
| 17 | 12 | Annika Hauser-Brydon | Grand Haven |
| 18 | 9 | Hallie Shrewsburg | Fremont |
| 19 | 11 | Allie Baker | Spring Lake |
| 20 | 12 | Holly Waite | Grand Haven |
| 21 | 11 | Hayli Fagan | Whitehall |
| 22 | 12 | Dreea Atchison | Montague |
| 23 | 12 | Hannah Galentine | Coopersville |
| 24 | 10 | Kennedy Hynde | Muskegon Reeths-Puffer |
| 25 | 12 | Eliza Taylor | Grand Haven |
