Athletes Shine At Regionals—
Sun, Not So Much

Highlights, organized by event groups (and as in much of my coverage, I’m not dividing things up by division and giving equal time for each division. Rather, the focus is on the top of the all-division lists).

Girls Sprints: Renaissance soph Jayla Dace caught a windy 11.91 (2.9) in Detroit. West Bloomfield’s Kamryn Tatum went 24.70/56.08. Elizabeth Anderson of New Boston Huron tripled in 12.34/24.93/56.62. Ann Arbor Huron’s Mackenzie Robinson went 12.11 and 24.74 (0.0). Keyanna O’Tey of Sturgis hit 12.10 and 24.93w. Addison Hovey of Hart led D3 100 qualifying with her wind-legal 12.38. Onsted’s Emmry Ross ran 57.07 (and later a 2:15.03).

Boys Sprints: St Joseph’s Trey McGinnis pulled off a sprint triple, running 10.69 (-0.4), 21.95 (1.1) and 49.22 in weather hardly conducive to sprinting… Shamar Heard of Chippewa Valley is recovering from his hamstring problem and hit 48.46 (plus anchored 4×2 and 4×4). U-D Jesuit’s Jaiden Reed is coming around right on time with his 10.60w (2.2) and 22.10 (0.0). And the Grand Haven regional saw a classic 100 race between Muskegon’s Destin Piggee (10.62) and Rockford’s Keiton Fase (10.63). At Saline, Huron’s Braxton Brann blistered 10.70 & 21.65, both with zero wind.

Girls Distances: East Lansing’s Anna Delgado produced a sweet 4:52.35/10:45.95 double. Rachel Forsyth of Pioneer doubled in 2:10.02/4:58.22. Mia Rogan of Saline PRed at 2:12.43. Camryn Bodine of East Grand Rapids looked strong in running 2:13.14. Selma Anderson of Ottawa Hills ran 4:55.93. Madison Osterberg of Lumen Christi tripled at 2:16.56/4:59.62/11:01.05.

Boys Distances: Last week’s interview, Benne Anderson of Ottawa Hills tripled at 1:52.98/4:14.23/9:10.53. Brendan Herger of Northville (1:53.9/4:13.74). Samuel Allen of Norrix ran a 1:53.85 PR and defending champion Trent McFarland of Utica 1:53.91. Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones is also going for an individual triple; he ran 1:57.76/4:19.78/9:24.89.

Girls Hurdles: Oak Park again wins the headlines. Nonah Waldron clocked 13.61 (1.2) to lead teammates Morgan Roundtree (14.14) and Carrie VanNoy (14.45). In the 300s, it was Roundtree’s 41.86 (the No. 4 time ever) that won. Waldron ran 42.70, VanNoy a 44.71 PR. Lauren Bickerdt of Renaissance got in there with a 44.28 PR. At Saline, Maya Rollins of Pioneer proved herself with a legal 13.83 (0.0). Annabelle Densmore of Charlotte clocked 44.97.

Boys Hurdles: Braxton Brann joined the all-time greats with his 13.92 (0.0) and Kayenn Mabin of Kalamazoo Central hit an impressive 14.33 PR into a stiff 1.0 headwind. He added a 38.,64 win in the 300H. However, Cass Tech’s Michael Davis-Hawkins stepped out big with his 37.82 state leader.

Girls Jumps: Holland’s Eva Whitman surprised with a 5-8 in Grand Haven. Maddie Morson of Salem cleared 5-8. In the vault, Salem’s Stewart sisters keep improving. This time Katie tied the state lead at 12-6 and Emma cleared 12-3. At Grand Haven both Taylor Diemond of Cedar Springs and frosh Maiya Corrigan of Rockford cleared 12-0. Top LJ marks went to Rockford’s Maya Anderson (18-5.5) and Portage Central’s Layla Wallace (17-8). Mia Hinz of Hillsdale jumped a legal 17-3.75 at the only regional to provide long jumpers with wind readings.

Boys Jumps: Big breakthrough 6-8.5 for Liam McHugh of Reeths-Puffer topped D1 high jumpers. Xavier Santiago of Onaway hit 6-7, as did Bath’s DeVondre Chandler. In the vault, the big one went to Dolan Gonzales of Saline, who cleared 16-1 despite a season where he has struggled with back problems. Soph Tryce Tokar of Ovid-Elsie impressed at 14-8.25. In the long jump, Ferndale University’s Xavier Davis went 23-5.5 at Hazel Park. Corunna’s Tarik Bower went 22-9 at Frankenmuth.

Girls Throws: Allen Park’s Abigail Russell threw 42-5, 4+ feet off her shot lead, but she continues to be consistent in the disc, hitting 148-3. Howell’s Sophie Daugard hit 42-7. Elyse Finch of Royal Oak went 41-10/136-1.

Boys Throws: Battle Creek Lakeview’s Andrew Berryhill, Mr. Consistent, led D1 qualifying at 58-6.5/166-0. The state’s leader in both, Kellen Kimes of Hart, hit 57-11/181-9

Girls Relays: In the 4×1, Renaissance topped Oak Park, 47.51-47.84. Oak Park turned the tables in the 4×2, winning 1:39.78-1:40.52. Three teams broke 4:00 in the 4×4: Oak Park (3:56.83), Renaissance (3:59.05) and Grand Blanc (3:59.40). No surprise that Pioneer dominated the 4×8 qualifying at 9:14.21, with West Ottawa at 9:21.07.

Boys Relays: Detroit’s King HS put itself in the 4×1 mix at 42.32. Detroit U-D Jesuit went 1:28.54. Rockford impressed at 42.42, 1:28.83, 3:24.15. Adams improved its state leader to 3:20.39. Northville went 3:27.34 & 7:48.36. Perhaps the biggest news is that Chippewa Valley, a potentially sub-3:15 squad, ran only 3:34.26 in driving rain and will be in the slowest heat at D1.

Biggest Teams: Looks like Rockford leads the entries in D1, with 44 (boys/girls, including alternates). Luckily, home meet, so no bus needed. Crosstown rival East Kentwood entered 43. In D2, it’s Divine Child with 52 over Country Day at 46. D3 leader is Hart (51) just ahead of Pewamo-Westphalia (50). D4 leader is Potter’s House (50) over Reading (49).

What About All The AQs?!

We need to touch on one side-effect of all the great races over the weekend. In short, too many people made the automatic qualifying (AQ) times in many of the distance races. This despite the fact that conditions weren’t remotely ideal, with many of the regionals getting some serious rain and cold. What gives?

Were the AQ numbers too easy in some cases? In effect, yes, but they’ve been set the way they “always” have—they are a 3-year average of the 2nd-place regional finish. As Dan Wytko points out, the data might have been skewed by hot weather regionals in recent years, as well as the limited participation numbers we saw in 2021 (pandemic-related).

Another factor, possibly, is the rapid advancement in carbon fiber shoe technology. While “super spikes” are still quite expensive, we are hearing that most of the distance runners who aim to finish in all-state positions are wearing them. One shoe rep estimated that 95% of the distance athletes at Indoor nationals had them on. Do they help that much? In a word, yes. Here’s the data on the World & NCAA level.

Farmington distance coach (and New Balance rep) Jeremy Auer estimates a 1% boost, which means 5-6 seconds in a 3200. Our professional running friends at the Very Nice TC say it’s worth about a second-per-lap. Enough to throw off any AQ numbers. Before you open up your calculator and suggest a conversion figure, just stop. No one’s got time to figure out what everyone has been wearing in every race. And no reliable conversion is even possible, because based on biomechanics, some athletes will benefit more than others.

What will happen at the Finals? The 3200 is normally a single-section event. But the 49 qualifiers in D2 posed a possibly dangerously situation. Not to mention forcing the lead runners to do a lot of lapping. It’s an issue the MHSAA took seriously, and the organization’s track guy, Cody Inglis, spent much of Sunday and Monday in consultation with the games committee to come up with a fix, knowing that pleasing everybody would be impossible. I don’t envy the committee its task.

(For what it’s worth, Inglis points out that 50+ sections have been run before: “That has happened…..doesn’t mean that it was right to go that many but that was the decision.”)

The 2023 Solution: At 8:26 or so Monday night, coaches were emailed the plan. For the 4×8, current rules call for 1 (fast) heat of 12 and the rest of the runners the previous heat. New guidelines call for 3 heats if there are more than 28 teams: last heat (fastest) with 12, middle heat of 12, and the rest in first heat.

For the 3200, in the past run as one heat, the new guidelines stipulate that if there are more than 35, it goes to 2 heats with the fastest 24 in the second heat.

The split of the 3200 into sections will have a big effect on the D2 boys. The two fastest in the field, Divine Child’s Mike Hegarty (8:56.70 PR) and Cranbrook’s Solomon Kwartowicz (9:00.61 PR), will be stuck in the slow section. It will be very interesting to see how they decide to race.

For future seasons, maybe we should do state finals seeding based on seasonal bests, and not regional performances? Now that the data is readily available on A-net, is there a down side to this?

Legend: Henry Carr -
Detroit Northwestern High School 1961

Henry Carr was large and powerful even as a 9th-grader at Southwestern, when he weighed in at 200lb. He won the West Side titles in both the 100 and 220 that year. The next season he won his first City titles, before transferring to Northwestern.

As a senior, he clocked 9.5 for 100 yards (only 17 men in the world were faster). In the 220y, run on the straightaway as was typical back then, he went 20.6. In a wind-aided race in Detroit on May 18, 1961, he blistered a 20.0. He never went to the state finals, because from 1931-61, Detroit schools did not go. In all, Carr won 3 City titles at 100, 2 in the 220, and 2 in the long jump.

At Arizona State, Carr won 1963 NCAA title at 200m in 20.5. He took 2^nd in the NCAA 100 that year though the photo later showed that he won. The same year he ran 20.69w to tie for the USA title. Twice he ran World Records: an unratified 20.4 for 200m, and a 20.3 for 220y three days later in a college three-way meet. He hit 45.4 for 400, becoming the No. 6 man ever.

In 1964, Carr ran even faster, hitting a WR 20.2 for 220y, but missed the NCAA with an injury. At the Final Olympic Trials, Carr was assured of an Olympic spot as long as he demonstrated fitness. He finished 4th and his selection to the team was controversial.

In Tokyo, Carr delivered by winning the gold in the 200 in 20.36, an Olympic Record. "I didn't think it was that fast," he said. "This was the easiest of my races." He came back to anchor the United States team to victory in the 4 x 400, his 44.5 anchor--the fastest of the race--finishing off a World Record 3:00.7 for the Americans.

Watch Carr’s gold medal race at the Tokyo Olympics in Italian!

During his career, he earned 3 Track & Field News World Rankings at 100, topped by a No. 3 in 1963. In ’63 and ’64, he ranked No. 1 in the world at 200. He also made the World Rankings at 400 (No. 5 in ’63). He would go on to play three seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants.

Michael Johnson wasn't the first man who could sprint both the 200 and the 400 well. Many experts feel that, had the schedule allowed, Carr would have won gold in both events some 32 years before Johnson completed the historic double in Atlanta.

Carr died May 29, 2015, in Georgia.

Interview: 5-11 jumper Addi Hovey of Hart

It was one of those magic days, the kind of day that can change lives. Sophomore Addi Hovey of Hart High School, jumping in Holton at the WMC Rivers Finals on May 12, won the meet in a season best-tying 5-4. Then she cleared 5-6, breaking her PR of 5-5.5 from last year. Then, in a dizzying series, she flew over five more PRs: 5-7, 5-8, 5-9, 5-10 and 5-11!! She wrapped up her day with three tries at a state-record equaling 6-0.

Suddenly, Hovey is on the radar of every D1 college recruiter in the Midwest. To put her achievement in perspective, nationwide only 9 girls cleared 5-11 or better last year. In Michigan history only three girls have gone that high--Gwen Wentland of Grand Blanc, the state recordholder at 6-0, was an 8-time All-America at Kansas State, went on to pro competition and represented the U.S. at the World Championships; Ellie Hayden of Capac, who was a Mid-American Conference champion for Eastern Michigan, and Jailah Mason of Sterling Heights Stevenson, who was a conference champ at Morgan State, an All-American and an Olympic Trials competitor. Pretty good company.

We caught up with Addi before regionals, where she won her specialty at 5-3 on a cold and windy day, then also won the 100 with a legal wind 12.38. She anchored the winning 4x1 and the second-place 4x2.

Michtrack: Tell me about the day that you jumped 5-11. What was that experience like?

Hovey: It was pretty shocking. I was totally not expecting it. My personal best was 5-5.5; that's what I jumped last year. And so this year I have only been getting like 5-2 or 5-4, so I was really aiming for 5-6. And so when I jumped 5-6, that was the jump I was most surprised with because that's what I've been aiming for all year. And so when I got that, I really wasn't thinking about, “Oh, I can jump higher. I was just trying to go for the next height. And so after I cleared 5-8, I was still in shock, but I was still really excited. And then as we kept bumping it up, I guess I didn't realize how high of a height I jumped. It hasn't really sunk in yet. But overall, I felt really good and I realized that my jumps that I had jumped earlier, they were all in sync. Like they all matched with each other after each jump, which was pretty impressive. The last couple of meets, I would be doing something weird with my run or whatever, but this one, everything was the same and that's what, you know, Mr. Kimes was telling me or the high jump coach, he was telling me, “Keep doing the same thing, keep doing the same thing.” And so that's what I really focused on.

Michtrack: When you were jumping at 5-11 and 6-0, was it kind of surreal? Were those numbers even real to you?

Hovey: No, not really. I feel like I kind of blocked everything out, and I just focused on jumping and trying to clear that next height.

Watch Addi Hovey’s 5-11 leap here

Michtrack: What led up to it in practice? Did something click that week?

Hovey: Honestly, I think it was the box jumps. That week Mr. Kimes was like, “Okay, now you guys are going to do box jumps.” And so I think that really helped, standing on the box and jumping off and landing onto the mat, but reaching for the sky and throwing my arm back and having that arch. I think that's really what helped.

Michtrack: What do you want to accomplish in the high jump this year?

Hovey: I definitely want to get 6-foot, because I think that would be great. A big mark for my high jump career, so I really want to aim for 6-0.

Michtrack: Have you realized just how good 5-11 is?

Hovey: I think I'm just like starting to realize that, honestly. Now I'm like, it's really mind-blowing how crazy it is for a girl to jump that high.

Michtrack: Is the expectation to do it again a little scary or do you think you're ready for it?

Hovey: It makes me a little nervous, but I know that I have to have the right mindset. I know I can jump that high again, but I just have to make sure I'm doing the same thing over and over and being consistent with the high heights.

Michtrack: I understand that you've got a big basketball background as well.

Hovey: Yeah.

Michtrack: Is there a little war playing out in your head between basketball and high jump right now?

Hovey: Yes, there is. I mean, basketball is really a big part of my family and basketball is what I really like to do, so I think I'm going to go basketball for college, for sure. But I think high jump has made its way into my mind, and I’m maybe thinking about doing that too, as well. I think it definitely opens another door for me, the opportunity to do high jumping in track. But, I'm still pretty young, so I still have a little time to think about it. Things might change, you know?

Michtrack: What grade did you start trying high jump?

Hovey: Sixth grade. I did high jump all through middle school.

Michtrack: What do you like about it?

Hovey: I don't know. I think I just, you know, fell in love with it. I just really like it. There's really nothing, particular I like about it, but I just love jumping.

The Little Stuff At The End

Other reading: Again, not a Michigan article, but I got to interview Jaydon Hibbert. The Arkansas triple jumper just turned 18 and in just 8 collegiate jumps he has won 2 SEC titles, the NCAA Indoor, broken Collegiate Records indoors and out as well as the World Junior Record. Fun talk.

Timing is Tough! I’m not talking about race timing, but fitting in the time I need to write this newsletter every week. There have been more than a few late nights, something that was a lot easier when I was in college than now, when both my kids are out of college! One of the ironies is that I started the newsletter to raise awareness and support for Michtrack’s historical projects and now I’m finding I have less time than ever to work on my research. And yes, there’s a way for you to help. Please consider opting for a paying subscription to the Michtrack Newsletter.

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