Preview: Northville, Trio of Reigning Individual Winners Set to Chase Championships Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 6, 2026
One of the most notable winning streaks in MHSAA boys cross country history will be on the line – and could become even more extraordinary – Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.
Northville has won four straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals championships, and a fifth in a row this weekend would tie the Mustangs for the longest Finals winning streak in Lower Peninsula history. The Mustangs are attempting to catch Dexter (2002-06) and Charlevoix (1987-91) for that honor.
Three of last season’s four individual champions – Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kamari Ronfeldt, Whitehall’s Robert Jazwinski and Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton – also are headed back to Brooklyn seeking to repeat.
See below for several more team and individual contenders. The "season bests" list referred to frequently is a ranking of every runner's best time this season, maintained by Athletic.net. The first boys race, in Division 4, begins at 9:30 a.m.; click here for the full schedule and ticket information.
Additionally, all eight races Saturday at MIS will be streamed live and viewable with subscription on the NFHS Network: Divisions 1 & 2 | Divisions 3 & 4.
Division 1
Reigning champion: Northville
2025 runner-up: Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-ranked: 1. Brighton, 2. Ann Arbor Skyline, 3. Traverse City West.
Northville is ranked No. 5, and Brighton will run as the favorite to break the Mustangs’ streak and is the last team not Northville to win Division 1, doing so in 2021. The Bulldogs return five of their runners from last season’s fourth-place finisher. Skyline is running for its first Finals championship and is expected to make a major jump from 16th a year ago with four runners back from that team. Traverse City West also is seeking to become a first-time champion and brings back four runners from last year’s 11th-place performance. Titans senior Liam Wierzba has the fastest time this season from those three teams, a 15:04.5 to rank 13th on the Division 1 top times list, just ahead of Northville senior – and last season’s individual runner-up – Brandon Cloud (15:06) at 14th, Skyline junior Roman Stilwell (15:20.6) ranking 18th and Brighton sophomore Grant Kulesza (15:25.2) listed 23rd.
Individuals: Three juniors were the first three to cross the finish last season, and four juniors total placed among the top six – and all four will run again this weekend. Ann Arbor Pioneer senior Kamari Ronfeldt is the reigning champion and has the second-fastest top time in Division 1 this season at 14:44.3, just behind the 14:43 of Grandville senior Caden Livermore – last year’s third-place finisher. Northville’s Cloud placed second in 2025 and is noted above, and Howell senior Jack MacGregor placed sixth last fall for the second-straight season and has the sixth-fastest top time this year at 14:58.3. Macomb L’Anse Creuse North junior Xavier Solgot was 11th last season and ranks fifth (14:55) on this year’s top times list, with Grand Haven senior Luka Hammond third this season (14:50.1) and sophomore teammate Archer VerHage fourth (14:51.8). Hammond was 14th at MIS last year and fifth as a sophomore. Fenton junior Gavin Katic finished fourth in Division 2 last season and enters the Division 1 race tied for the ninth-fastest top time in this field.
Division 2
Reigning champion: Flint Powers Catholic
2025 runner-up: East Grand Rapids
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Christian, 2. Pinckney, 3. East Grand Rapids
As in Division 1, the reigning champion enters ranked No. 5 this time and certainly still in the mix. Holland Christian is looking to make a jump from sixth last year to win its first championship and returns four runners from a year ago with sophomore Grant Lampen (16th) and freshman Drew Franken (20th) on the Division 2 top-times list. Pinckney has two among the top 18 – seniors Cole McCraw (fourth, 15:22.2) and Lincoln Reed (18th) – as it looks to jump from 10th last season while returning five runners. East Grand Rapids returns only three runners after finishing second last season, eight points off the lead, but among them are junior Micah Becker – who placed seventh individually. He ranks ninth on the top times list (15:32.7), and senior teammate Thomas Fisher ranks 21st.
Individuals: Whitehall senior Robert Jazwinski won last season’s championship by five seconds and will attempt to repeat with the top time in the state this season in any division by 20 seconds at 14:23 – which is also nearly 44 seconds faster than anyone else in the Division 2 field this fall. Flint Powers junior Lennox Naswell is the next-highest returning placer after coming in fifth a year ago, and he has the second-fastest top time in Division 2 at 15:06.6. Alma senior Ezekiel Baltierra (sixth), Becker (seventh) and Grand Rapids Catholic Central senior Mitchell Dunlap (eighth) also are back from the 2025 top 10, Baltierra ranking third on the top times list (15:08.6) and Dunlap seventh (15:29.2).
Division 3
Reigning champion: Charlevoix
2025 runner-up: Lansing Catholic
Top-ranked: 1. Hart, 2. Hanover-Horton, 3. Charlevoix.
Charlevoix’s first championship last season since 1991 was among the stories of the day at MIS, and the Rayders will turn to five returning runners led by reigning individual champion Hunter Eaton, now a senior, and 10th-place finisher Ryder Hopkins, also a senior. Hart was 10th last season but without a senior, and five of those runners are back as well. Hanover-Horton has two runners among the top 19 on the Division 3 top times list, seniors Cooper Flick (sixth) and Chad Tyson (19th) and six runners back total from last year’s 13th-place finisher. Hart last won Division 3 in 2022, and Hanover-Horton most recently claimed the title in 2019.
Individuals: Only four seniors finished among the top 17 last season, and Eaton leads a large group of returning runners after claiming last year’s title by three seconds. He ranks eighth on the fastest times list this fall at 15:30.9, with Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest junior Nole Lorenzen setting the pace at 15:10.3 after finishing fifth at last year’s Final. Hillsdale senior Logan Youngman finished fourth a year ago and is second on the top times list at 15:18.3, and Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central junior Christian Craanen placed third last year and has the third-fastest top time this fall at 15:21.3. Caro senior Luke Herron (sixth), Holland Black River senior Jonas Ballard (seventh), Bath junior Owen Poppema (eighth), Saugatuck senior Marcus Silva (ninth) and Hopkins also are back from the top 10, and Jonesville senior Caleb Blonde also could be in the mix ranking fourth on the top times list (15:27.1) coming off a 17th-place finish a year ago.
Division 4
Reigning champion: Holland Calvary Christian
2025 runner-up: Maple City Glen Lake
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Calvary Christian, 2. Breckenridge, 3. Hillsdale Academy.
Calvary returns its top five runners and six total from last year’s program-first championship team, with seniors Noah Schipper (15:39) and Christian Getz (15:39.6) ranking third and fourth, respectively, on the Division 4 top times list and six runners total among the top 23. Getz was eighth and Schipper 18th at last year’s Final. Breckenridge last won in 2019 and placed eighth last season with four freshmen and three juniors; the Huskies return their top five with senior Anthony Rowe 14th individually last season and entering this weekend with the top time in Division 4 this fall at 15:33.2. Hillsdale Academy is seeking to move back into the top spot after finishing third last season but winning Division 4 three times over the last six seasons. Three runners are back from the 2025 lineup, and sophomore Stephen Holm ranks 14th on the top times list.
Individuals: Getz was one of only two non-seniors to finish among the top 10 last fall, and he’s the only one back this weekend. Wyoming Tri-unity Christian junior Lincoln Laansma placed 20th last season and ranks second on the top times list this year at 15:35.8, and Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart senior Brady Edwards ranks fifth (15:41.7) after placing 11th last season. Mesick senior Kyle Redman finished 13th as a sophomore and 12th last fall, and could make a move as well entering 10th on the top times list.
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton pulls away from the field during his team’s Division 3 Regional championship run last week at Mancelona. (Middle) Several runners including those from East Grand Rapids break from the starting line during the Oct. 21 Ottawa-Kent Conference White championship race. (Top photo by kishba media. Middle photo by Michigan Sports Media.)
Two-Sporter Chavez Enjoys Double Success
February 8, 2021
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CLINTON – Nathan Chavez took a job at a farm because he wanted to learn more about biology and chemistry. He developed a green thumb.
He joined the Clinton soccer team and helped it to the program’s first District title.
And Chavez was on the cross country team that this fall finished 10th at the MHSAA Finals.
Whatever Chavez touches, he seems to turn to gold.
“I don’t think I have a competitive nature,” Chavez said. “I just enjoy it.”
As calm and collected as Chavez is, he seems to excel at everything he does. In the classroom he takes mainly AP classes and had an adjusted GPA of 4.3 as the first semester of his senior year concluded
He takes everything in stride. But don’t let that fool you, says his father, Clinton varsity boys basketball coach Jeremy Chavez.
“He’s got a lot going on and works really hard,” Jeremy Chavez said. “I’m very proud of him.”
Chavez lives in Tecumseh but started attending Clinton in the second grade. He started running cross country in high school and has been a steady performer for the team, which has been on the cusp of a big Finals finish the last couple of seasons.
He placed just outside the top 10 at the Lenawee County Athletic Association meet and 17th at the Lenawee County meet. At Michigan International Speedway, Chavez finished 117th overall with a time of 17:39.14, which helped Clinton place in the top 10 in Lower Peninsula Division 3.
“Our team has been developing for four years,” he said. “It was great to see it all come together.”
Chavez never could decide which sport he liked better – cross country or soccer. Instead of choosing between the two, he decided to be a dual-sport athlete in the fall. The soccer team lost several seniors from a year ago, and Chavez was unsure what to expect. Clinton, however, won 10 matches and turned some heads with that first District championship.
The District Final was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation and two overtimes, but Clinton won it in a dramatic shootout, sending the team to the Regional for the first time.
“It definitely went better than I expected from last year,” Chavez said. “We did really well this year, all season. We lost a ton of seniors, so I really didn’t know how it was going to go.”
Chavez is grateful his parents – Jeremy and Leslie – allowed him to compete in both sports.
“I have a great support system at home,” he said. “They are very supportive of me in whatever I do.”
Dual-sport athletes typically have to choose which will have priority in the event of a conflict. Chavez said that was never an issue.
“When it came to the more important events, it seems like I could always do both,” he said. “Every year that I did it, it went smoothly.”
He’s glad he didn’t have to choose between the two.
“I started out by running cross country, but over the years I ended up playing soccer. I don’t really have a favorite,” he said. “I just like both sports equally. I feel like I was able to show my talents at both.”
Besides helping those two fall teams bring home hardware, Chavez was celebrated a bit on his own by earning academic all-state honors in both sports, which is no small fete. Not only was he practicing or participating in two sports every night and just about every Saturday, he also had to maintain his high GPA.
“During the season it always seems more hectic,” he said. “I always try to get as much homework done in my free time at school. I always studied on the bus, and there were a few all-nighters too. … My teachers are all very understanding, especially during the season that I dual-sport. They understand.
“When I’m in the moment, I don’t notice how much I really put into it.”
While he won’t be playing a winter sport, Chavez is already gearing up for track season, which is just around the corner. He’ll try to help earn more hardware for a school district that has seen a ton of sports success in recent years.
Chavez was recently accepted into the University of Michigan, something that has been a goal of his for some time. He’s pretty sure he wants to go into chemistry or biology, which is one of the reasons he began working at a Britton farm a few years ago.
“I just enjoy everything,” he said.
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clinton’s Nathan Chavez charges through a stretch in a cross country race. (Middle) Chavez (5) runs down the ball during a soccer match this fall. (Photos courtesy of the Chavez family.