(Otsego senior, Alex Comerford owned the state's best 5K time - 14:59.00)
This past season, Michigan's elite cross country runners served notice to the country that they're a force to be reckoned with. Highlights from the 2018 campaign included Ericka VanderLende and Abby Vanderkooi posting sub 17 times and Alex Comerford and Carter Solomon clocking efforts under the 15 minute standard.
Aside from times, representatives from the Wolverine State made their presence known at the big-time national meets. Solomon and Vanderkooi took top 5 placements at Foot Locker and Evan Bishop, Jaden Theis and the aforementioned VanderLende all resided in the top 10. At NXN, Corey Gorgas secured ninth place and University of Michigan commit, VanderLende took eighth. These are just a sample of the many notable performances from what was a remarkable year for Michigan-based XC.
To conclude our cross country coverage, we've created a modified virtual meet that pits the state's top 7 runners, based on season-best 5K times, against state representatives from throughout the country. Our lists show a breakdown of individuals, as well as combined group scores.
Thanks to MileSplit's product manager, David Everett for compiling the data used in this article.