Preview: Rankings Call for 1st-Time Championship Celebrations
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
November 5, 2021
If rankings hold true, Saturday could see at least a few first-time boys cross country celebrations at Michigan International Speedway.
Otsego in Division 2 and Johannesburg-Lewiston in Division 4 are the top-ranked teams heading into the day, and both are seeking their first Lower Peninsula Finals championships. Caledonia is the top-ranked team in Division 1 and seeking its first title in 1996. St. Louis is No. 1 and won last year – but surely the Sharks will be up for celebrating a repeat as well.
Individually, Hartland’s Riley Hough will finish a high school career that has seen him rank among the state’s best all-time, and Pinckney’s Caleb Jarema and Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones are mere steps away from joining him.
The day’s first races at Michigan International Speedway begin at 9:30 a.m., and all eight will be broadcast live on MHSAA.tv – click for full details.
DIVISION 1
Reigning champion: Romeo
2020 runner-up: Caledonia
2021 top-ranked: 1. Caledonia, 2. Brighton, 3. Grand Haven.
After finishing 32 points behind Romeo at last season’s Final, Caledonia is favored to win its first championship since claiming the Class B title in 1996. The Fighting Scots graduated their top runner from last season’s team but return their next four finishers led by senior Josh Oom, who placed 24th a year ago. Brighton also graduated its top runner from last season but brings back the next four from the Finals lineup. Sophomore Seth Norder and Grand Haven as a team didn’t reach the Finals a year ago, but he was a Regional champion last week and is backed by 2020 individual qualifier Nolan Clark, a junior. Romeo is ranked No. 4 and returns four of its top six from a year ago, led by senior Jack Kelke, who placed 10th individually.
Individuals: Hartland senior Riley Hough has been one of the headliners statewide this season, and his best time of the fall (14:37) is well ahead of the field after he also ran the second-fastest time in MHSAA 5K Finals history (14:49.62) in 2020. He’s one of three top-10 and five top-20 finishers returning to this race. Farmington senior Peter Baracco was fourth at the Finals last season, 19th as a sophomore and 17th as a freshman, and Traverse City Central senior Luke Venhuizen has the division’s second-fastest time this fall after finishing 18th in LPD1 last season. Third on this year’s list is Lapeer senior Jeremy Williams, who was second to Venhuizen at their Regional at Saginaw Heritage.
DIVISION 2
Reigning champion: Fremont
2020 runner-up: St. Johns
2021 top-ranked: 1. Otsego, 2. Grand Rapids Christian, 3. Pinckney.
After Fremont won the last two team titles and Chelsea won back-to-back the two seasons before those, it may be Otsego’s time to climb the podium after finishing runner-up in both 2015 and 2019 and third last season. The Bulldogs return three runners from the 2020 Finals lineup, with senior Nick Cockerel having finished 20th individually and now leading the way. Grand Rapids Christian is seeking its first championship since 2014 and brings back six runners from last season’s ninth-place team. Pinckney was fifth last season and brings back four of its top six finishers including senior Caleb Jarema, the individual runner-up a year ago. Senior Conor Somers was fifth individually last season, but Fremont graduated its other four scorers from that repeat champion.
Individuals: Jarema and Somers top a group of nine returning from last season’s individual top 20. Jarema has the division’s fastest time this fall at 14:57, and Spring Lake senior Ian Hill is second on that list and finished eighth a year ago. Dearborn Divine Child junior Michael Hegarty has the third-fastest time in Division 2 this fall and finished 10th at the 2020 Finals. Chelsea has a chance to make a push in the team competition, with sophomore Connell Alford leading the way after finishing 11th individually a year ago. Parchment junior William Winter is running in Division 2 and finished 10th in Division 3 in 2020.
Division 3
Reigning champion: St. Louis
2020 runner-up: Hart
2021 top-ranked: 1. St. Louis, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Hart.
After winning its first championship last season since 2005, St. Louis is favored to come out on top again. The Sharks return four of last season’s top six including three runners who placed among the individual top 23, led by senior Aaron Bowerman in ninth and senior Nate March in 17th. Hart was a close second last season, just 13 points back, and despite graduating its top two from that lineup returns the next four runners. Traverse City St. Francis was third a year ago and has three of its top six runners back. Ithaca is intriguing; the Yellowjackets graduated their top runner after finishing seventh, but return the other sixth including two from the individual top 20 in junior Parks Allen (12th) and senior Espen Lehnst (15th).
Individuals: Seven of the top eight from last season graduated, but champion Hunter Jones is back. The Benzie Central junior is seeking his third individual Finals championship in three tries, and his best time this fall (14:44) is 42 seconds faster than the field. Manton senior Noah Morrow has the second-fastest time this season and was the next-closest placer returning from last fall after coming in eighth. Kalkaska senior Tyler Guggemos is a two-time Regional champion, and he has posted the division’s third-fastest time.
DIVISION 4
Reigning champion: Carson City-Crystal
2020 runner-up: Breckenridge
2021 top-ranked: 1. Johannesburg-Lewiston, 2. Concord, 3. Hillsdale Academy
Johannesburg-Lewiston is seeking its first Finals championship in this sport, with five of its top six back from last year’s team that finished 23rd. Concord is looking to return to the top after winning three of four Division 4 titles from 2009-12, and three of the team’s top five from last year’s third-place team are back led by senior Jonathan Mikovits (ninth individually). Breckenridge is ranked No. 4 and is an interesting possibility after also winning the 2019 championship. The Huskies have four runners back from last year’s runner-up team led by senior Mason Sumner, who placed third individually. Reigning champion Carson City-Crystal also has four runners back despite graduating individual champ Coleman Clark.
Individuals: Sumner is the highest-placing of 10 runners back from last season’s top 20, and he has the second-fastest time in the division this season. Petoskey St. Michael senior Samuel Paga is back after coming in fifth, and Webberville senior Nathan Lott is running after placing sixth in 2020. Wyoming Potter’s House junior Lezawe Osterink has cut nearly a minute from his best time from a year ago and is undefeated this season, with his 15:42 topping the list of Division 4’s fastest this fall.
PHOTO Davison’s Iain Forrest (28) and Dexter’s Brandon Anderson (45) are among runners returning in Division 1 this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. (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.)