Charlevoix Championship Tradition Reborn with Team, Individual Finals Sweep
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — The Charlevoix boys cross country dynasty took place decades before Hunter Eaton was born, but that history is never far from him and his teammates.
“You think of those guys and all the history and we’ve got to start it back up a little bit,” Eaton said. “We’ve got to keep up with it.”
Consider Charlevoix’s tradition revived.
The Red Rayders clinched their first MHSAA Finals championship since winning seven Class C titles during a 10-year span from 1982-91 by emerging victorious in a three-way battle Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Charlevoix scored 131 points to win by seven over Lansing Catholic. Jackson Lumen Christi was third with 143.
In the process, Eaton became the first Charlevoix boy to win an MHSAA Finals individual championship since two-time winner Scott Miller won the Class C team race in 1989. Eaton finished in 15:30.8 to win by three seconds over Gage Hoffman of Central Montcalm.
The Red Rayders did their alumni proud.
The team even has a Drenth, junior Maxwell Drenth, who continues a family lineage. Walt Drenth coached at Charlevoix in the 1980s and is the former coach at Michigan State University.
“We have Walt Drenth come talk to us every year,” Eaton said. “He’s our coach’s brother. They had a brother, Jeff Drenth, who passed away. We have another guy who came to us last summer, Bill Taylor (from the 1982 and 1983 championship teams). He’s a really good guy. We also have some other alumni who come. It’s very motivating, because they want to see us do well.”
Eaton was in a three-way battle with Hoffman and Christian Craanen of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central through two miles, as the runners were separated by one second. Eaton opened up a four-second lead during the third mile and had enough left to win a kick to the finish.
“It was just like, ‘I’ve got to go,’” Eaton said. “I don’t care how I feel. I’ve just got to run right through the line. I was getting tired though. If there was another 100 (meters), I don’t know.”
Eaton was ninth last year and 42nd as a freshman. Had he continued on his original path, he might have been playing football for Charlevoix this fall instead of running cross country.
“I started running in fifth grade,” Eaton said. “I played Pop Warner football in fourth grade. The coach told my dad I’d be a good cross country runner. My dad made me think about cross country, and I did. It obviously worked out. I’m glad I chose this sport.”
Ryder Hopkins was 10th in 15:58.4, Matthew Solomon 19th in 16:10.2, Drenth 57th in 16:36.5 and Aurie Selph 119th in 17:12.2 for Charlevoix.
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton approaches the finish line first in the Division 3 Final at Michigan International Speedway. (Middle) The Rayders’ Ryder Hopkins (995) leads a group down the stretch including Jackson Lumen Christi’s Gibson Shore (1045) and Centreville’s Will Hulin (2015). (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)
Ronfeldt Makes Most of Finals Return, Northville Makes History with 4th-Straight Title
November 1, 2025
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Kamari Ronfeldt of Ann Arbor Pioneer came to Michigan International Speedway last year with dreams of winning a championship and left after receiving medical attention on the course.
Ronfeldt was among the contenders to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals championship as a sophomore last season, having set a freshman record of 15:08.6 while placing fourth in 2023.
The race was going according to plan when he hit the mile with the lead pack in 4:51.6. But he experienced breathing issues after that and had to drop out before reaching the two-mile mark.
The 2025 season has been a redemption tour for Ronfeldt, who broke the school record for a tradition-rich program and ran the fastest time in Michigan this season by going 14:47.9 at the Jackson Invitational.
The coronation came Saturday when he won a kick to the finish just ahead of Northville junior Brandon Cloud, taking the championship with a time of 14 minutes, 50.6 seconds. It’s the fifth-fastest time ever at MIS.
“I’m just so happy I was able to push through today,” Ronfeldt said. “Last year I had a rough run. At two miles, I couldn’t breathe and dropped out. I took care of that, so I’m happy I won.
“It was kind of cold-induced asthma. I started taking inhalers before races now, and it seems to work pretty well.”
Ronfeldt and senior teammate Beckett Crooks are the first runners in Pioneer history to break 15 minutes. The previous school record of 15:03.1 was set by Nick Foster in 2018.
Crooks finished fourth Saturday in 14:59.0, making he and Ronfeldt the only teammates to break 15 minutes at MIS. The previous fastest duo was Rockford’s Jason Hartmann and Dathan Ritzenhein, who ran 14:51 and 15:11, respectively, in 1998. Ritzenhein went on to be a three-time Olympian, and Hartmann was a four-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier.
“I’m only here right now because of him,” Ronfeldt said of Crooks. “Every day the practices are just amazing. I couldn’t be more thankful for him.”
As for breaking Foster’s record, Ronfeldt said: “I have so much respect for him. He was a great runner, who ran for Michigan, a crazy miler. That’s my motivation for getting to where I am.”
It was expected that Crooks would be Ronfeldt’s greatest competition for the individual title, but it was Cloud who was neck-and-neck with him as the finish line approached. Cloud’s time of 14:52.8 shattered his personal best of 15:24.6, which he ran while winning the Regional meet.
“I did not think I was going to be anywhere near him in this race,” Cloud said. “I was like, ‘I’m here. I’m going to try to take it’ with 200 out. He had more than I did.”
Cloud came away with the championship he and his teammates have been pursuing all season, as Northville won a fourth consecutive Division 1 team title by a 125-134 margin over Pioneer.
The Mustangs are the first boys team to win four consecutive championships in the MHSAA’s largest classification since Kalamazoo Central won four in a row in the open division and Class A from 1925-28.
Only four other teams have won three championships in a row in Class A or Division 1.
Cloud and senior Ben Hartigan have been part of Northville’s last three championships. Hartigan came to MIS as an alternate but didn’t run as a freshman.
“Even in middle school, people see the success the program has,” Cloud said. “People come up and they’re like, ‘Oh, Northville’s good at cross country.’ It encourages people to get into cross country in middle school. They want to be part of a state championship, too.”
Northville offset Pioneer’s firepower up front with some star power of its own. Following Cloud across the line were Hartigan in eighth place (15:12.8), Ryan Stojov in 10th (15:17.6), Ethan Hertza in 61st (16:00.7) and Emmanuel Coates in 103rd (16:18.7).
PHOTOS (Top) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kamari Ronfeldt pulls away from Northville’s Brandon Cloud at the front of Saturday’s Division 1 championship race. (Middle) Northville’s Ben Hartigan (312) stays a pace ahead of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Jackson Lam. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)