Category: Uncategorized

Madison Ebright had a spectacular freshman year, breaking 19 minutes and continued that into her sophomore year.  She mostly ran conference meets, but in state competition, ran her most impressive times.  In track, she ran 11:01 early, but no results into May.  Hopefully she’s healthy, as that time is an indicator of potentially fast performances.

Seems like there’s been Ohlssons and Frasers at NDP for hundreds of years.  Jennifer Ohlsson is just another example.  Her best race was at Northern Michigan, hanging right with some girls I have ranked higher.  As with many, she PRed in the 800-3200, the 5:10 standing out the most.

Ellie Kendell pulled off quite the double at Division 4 Track Finals, winning in both the 16 and 32.  Neither were PRs, but both very close.  She’s another one that comes from a running background.  Her XC campaign was a major improvement from 2017, in most races, dropping more than a minute.

Mia Patria was a steady influence on Clarkston’s title run.  While others may have had more impressive credentials, she came up huge in November with a 160 rating, beating many that beat her earlier in the season.  Track season was cut short but I’m sure she’ll use that as motivation.

Rylee Tolson showed great improvement in her track season.  Hard to tell which is the most jaw-dropping time, but her 10:48 is the largest predictor of XC success.  That time (a 25 second PR on the big stage… doubling at that) was good for 3rd at States and her 1600 netted her 5th.

East Grand Rapids just reloads.  There’s got to be some good coaching going on over there.  Ainsley Workman is one in a long list coming in and producing.  Consistent improvement throughout the season, her 145 ratings at both Regional and State helped EGR secure a state title.  Concentrated on the 1600 in track, that 5:02 was good for 5th at States.  Would imagine if she ran the 3200 later in the season, she’d be in the 10s.

Another EGR runner contributing in her first season of XC was Anna Petr.  Undoubtedly spurred by XC competition and training, she dropped nearly a minute from her 3200 marks.  I probably have her underrated, not a knock on those ahead of her, she’s obviously young in her running career.

Gillian Fiene’s 2018 track season was exceptional, a potential omen for XC.  The 4:57 won at Division 2 States, she also came back and placed 4th in the 800.  Her and Kuipers make a formidable duo at the top of any race.

Andrea Ruiz spent a great amount of time in the 18s last year.  While her track times may not stack up (still dropped time in the 3200) with others, that consistency places her here.  Most impressive performances were at an always tough Hess Hathaway regional and probably the most solid invitational every year, Jackson.

Lani Bloom ran a lot of races as a freshman, many of them very good.  Early in track season, she commented that she had to learn to race, it looks like that happened, receiving that All-State honor in the 1600.  That 5:10 was an 8 sec. PR from earlier in the season.  Scary thing is Ithaca knows how to develop runners (see Allen, Ransom), so she should be in contention for that Division 3 crown.

 

 

 

 

These are some profiles of the top 30 returners on both the boys and girls sides.  They are in no particular order, though when we get to the top 10, I’m sure it’ll be easy to discern who rates higher.  Expect the girls 30-21 list later this afternoon.

Tyler Buchanan didn’t run quite as fast as his sophomore year, but had that same remarkable consistency.  He capped off the season with another top 10 showing at the State meet.  After a surprising 800 relay split in 2018, Linden’s coaches decided to work towards more 800/1600 specific training this spring.  It worked with 7 and 12 second PRs, respectively.

Tyler Pritchett has shown some speedy track times, setting huge PRs in the 800-3200.  He’s another guy who just wins races, only lost 4 times last year.  Made a colossal leap in XC, setting a 70 second PR to win at his regional.

Corey Bowers leads a Cedar Springs team making the jump from Division 2 to Division 1.  He had a great freshman year, breaking 16:30 and turned in an equally impressive sophomore campaign, with a few sub-16 performances, most impressively at their home invite.  Although his 1600 and 3200 times stayed the same, he did drop 3+ seconds in the 800.

William Minnette is the guy who wasn’t on this list at the start of track.  Set three PRs, 9:18 at the Golden Triangle being the most notable.  It’s not that he had an average XC season, but a paradigm shift seems to have occurred.

Koby Fraaza had a superb September last year, marked by wins at Holly and Cougar Falcon.  Faded as the year went on, culminating in a 65^th place finish at State Finals.  Gull Lake moves down to Division 2 this year, but even if they were Division 1, I think he finds his way close to All-State.  4:26/9:26 greatly outperformed XC times.

Justin Hill was an integral component of a Walled Lake Central squad that finished 2^nd last year.  They lose some of those contributors, though him and Reddy should be near the front of any race they’re in.  Hill improved as the year went on, setting a PR at States.  Although he didn’t qualify this spring, he set two PRs as well.

Adam Jesse “only” ran 7 seconds faster at MIS this year, but dropped 23 places.  His 205 speed rating at Hess Hathaway is the most impressive, if regional assignments are the same, it should be a great battle with him and Baracco.  Two PRs set in track, most notably the 3200, an 11 second drop.

Nik Pettinga has the highest returning speed ratings of any Division 3 runner.  Save for a rustbuster at St. Joseph, he stayed within 5 points (15 seconds, adjusted) at races that I measured.  After following in Gorgas’s footsteps, now his time to shine.

Shawn Little has been first in >50% of his races the last two years.  It’s tougher to run fast there vs. chasing someone, but he still manages to do it.  Appears to be more of an XC runner than a track speedster, but still managed to lower his PRs, most notably a 4:28 which netted 2^nd in his region.

Ethan Senti’s 9:25 netted him 6^th in the Division 2 3200.  Much improvement too, dropping 15+ seconds in the 1600 and 3200.  Has shown steady improvement in XC too, knocking nearly 50 seconds off his PR and moving up 119 places at last year’s State Finals.  Zeeland West moves up to Division 1 but he should still be on the podium.

What a weekend at those state finals.  I was unable to attend (weekend sandwiched between Bayshore and Camp Saucony), but it looked like quite the adverse environment.  That being said, some gutty, selfless performances, many breakthroughs, and a few learning experiences.

These rankings are a combination of last year’s XC ratings, projected improvement, and track times.  Track has an impact on these, obviously events such as a 3200m will be more predictive of XC performance than an 800.

Regional assignments will be coming out soon.  The idea is to highlight top returners first, post regional previews for a majority of the summer, then wrap it up with an extensive summary in the weeks before the official season begins.

Anyhow, here’s some rankings:

DIVISION 4 BOYS

DIVISION 3 BOYS

DIVISION 2 BOYS

DIVISION 1 BOYS

DIVISION 4 GIRLS

DIVISION 3 GIRLS

DIVISION 2 GIRLS

DIVISION 1 GIRLS

 

Have fun in summer training!