Go, compete, have fun, elevate the kids opportunities for experience and recruiting. MHSAA has no appetite for legal action to be brought against them.
Your problem was you asked and got your school and MHSAA involved.
MHSAA will threaten. Your school will get all worried about the possibility of ineligibility for the athletes or possible sanction for the school. Both organizations will drag their feet and hope you go away.
You won't get information from MHSAA. They hide behind walls. Their rules are arcane and discriminate against athletes that want to gain exposure to the best competition and increase their scholarship potential. They live in the past, are seldom visible at their major events. Logistics of their events are centered around money extraction versus benefit to the athletes. Their biggest move recently was to allow kids to wear running watches during cross country events (big deal). Their salaries are not known, their rules are very difficult to get ones hands on. MHSAA needs to be exposed in order for it to ever change into an athlete-centric organization. They have had past legal action against them that they are still reeling from financially. I understand they had to mortgage their building. MHSAA is in no mood to go to court. Take them on (legally) if necessary and after the race is over. But please go! You will help your athletes and future Michigan athletes to better reach their potential by bringing this to a head.
Many individual athletes from MI have gone to national championship meets or competed outside of MHSAA's venue distance rules. Some have competed internationally. Believe it or not... MHSAA doesn't want MI athletes to represent the United States. Can you imagine... instead of supporting kids that have trained and qualified for a national or international championships, MHSAA wants to hold them back. Precedent has been set with individual athletes going to these kinds of events and it is time that team president is set. MHSAA wants to control an athlete through the entire year and it is none of their business what a kid does outside of the high school season.
Just do it!