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Brocks Shatters Record Again!
OAK PARK, June 11—Zacchaeus Brocks destroyed his own State Record in the 110 hurdles with a stunning 13.19 clocking at the Motor City TC’s Nationals Tune-Up. The Ohio State-bound hurdler signaled that he was ready with a 13.31 heat (0.8), the No. 2 legal clocking in Michigan history.
For the final, the US flag near the start was indicating a slight headwind. Brocks rocketed out of the blocks, and zipped over the hurdles with precision form. He streaked across the line in 13.19. The gauge indicated a headwind of 0.8mps. It knocked an even tenth off the State Record he set in Rockford at the D1 Finals, and ranks as the =3 time ever in U.S. history, with Brocks now the No. 3 individual on that list.
Said Brocks, “I knew it was in me. I knew I could run it, but it was just kind of putting some pieces together. And obviously there's way more room for improvement. But I was a little surprised. I was a little shocked.”
He added, “I was happy with it.”
Doing the Gold Book math, if he were to have a perfect 2.0 tailwind behind him, the race might have been in the neighborhood of 13.05! The national high school record is 13.08 by North Carolina prep Wayne Davis in 2009.
He had closer company than usual, as Schmar Gamble, the former Belleville athlete who ran 13.36 last year, joined the race and ran 13.49. Gamble finished his senior year at Archbishop Carroll in DC and is heading to USC in the fall.
On a 90-degree evening with swirling winds, Brocks wasn’t the only one to turn up the speed. Peyton Trammer won the 100 in 10.59 over Chance McNeill’s 10.60 (1.0). Tristan Wallace took the 200 in 21.43 (-0.1). De-Mani Roberts won a 47.60 race in the 400 over Kinley Poole (48.00). Kingston Magnotte won the 400 H in 54.21.
Greg Myers hit 1:51.37 in the 800. Behind him, PRs for Shondell Warren (1:53.31), Hayden Murray (1:53.65) and a stunning 8th-grade state record (by 5 seconds!) for Langston Bickerdt in 1:53.73. The evening closed with a great 4×4 as Track Life led for the first half before Rondre’ Austion, coming back from injury, caught them with a 47.0. On the last lap, Track Life’s Joel Hill brought his team the victory in 3:13.05. Motor City, an all Oak Park foursome) clocked 3:13.78, the No. 5 performance in state history (Alex Patterson 49.4, Shondell Warren 48.6, Rondre’ Austion 47.0, Quinton Blakely 48.8).
On the girls side, Willow Mason won the 100 in a PR 11.71 with a 1.4 headwind, beating Aubrey Douglas (11.85, 11.82 PR in heat) and Kamryn Tatum (11.99). Payton Gee PRed at 200 in 24.40 (0.0); earlier Gee had won the hurdles in 13.98 (-1.8) after a 13.90 (0.0) heat. Clara Slattery of Hackett won the 400H in 64.50.
Malise Brown produced an incredible stretch run in the 400 to PR in 54.13 over Nevaeh Burns (54.70). Note the future stars in the middle school 400: Aubrey Burt at 55.52 and Bailey James 56.06.
Barton Wins NCAA Decathlon
Ben Barton never won a state title for Birmingham Seaholm. Oh, he did well, though. As a senior in 2018, he placed 4th in the D1 Finals in the 110H (14.62 PR in the heats), 2nd in the 300H (he had run his PR of 37.66 at Oakland County), 2nd in the high jump with a PR 6-9, and he anchored the Seaholm 4×4 to a 10th place finish.
What a long way he has come.
On Thursday, Barton, a senior at BYU, won the NCAA title in the decathlon, scoring a personal record 8169. It was close. In the end, he had to beat Louisville’s Kenneth Byrd by 7 seconds in the 1500 in order to win. He succeeded, with 1.5 seconds to spare.
Barton opened on Day One with a 10.65 in the 100 (1.4 wind), leading the field. Then he long jumped an outdoor PR 24-3.5 (-0.4)., placing 3rd in that competition He threw the shot 44-0.75, high jumped a PR 6-11.75 (leading with Byrd) and led the 400 in 47.25. At the end of the day he had 4414 points, which gave him a lead of 138 points.
On Day Two, he hurdled 14.20 (-0.2), the second-best time; threw the discus a PR 138-3, vaulted 14-1.75, threw the javelin a PR 180-11, and in that decisive 1500 grinded out a PR 4:32.61. He won by a mere 9 points. He is the first Michigander to win the title since the NCAA started contesting it in 1970. We have had three runners-up over the years: Chad Smith (Ypsi Lincoln/Tennessee) in 1995, Phil McMullen (Cadillac/WMU) in 1997 and Paul Terek (Livonia Franklin/MSU) in 2002.
Said Barton, “It was my first time over 8000 points, last time I missed it by two points. It felt good to get that. I gave my best effort and I’m just exhausted now so that’s all I can say. Coach did a really good job putting me in a position to succeed today. I made a couple stupid mistakes along the way, but we made up for it in other areas.
“The first five events went great for me. Day two I had a horrible pole vault, but my coach did a good job of keeping me locked in there and pushing through it and I got a couple of PRs to finish it off today.
“At the end, I needed to focus on all the events. I needed to have a PR in the javelin just to be in a spot to be competitive in the 1500 meter, and then I needed a PR in the 1500 meter to have a chance to win. I had to pull out all my best stuff for those events and luckily it all fell into place.”
NCAA: McFarland, Novak Runners-Up
We had three Michiganders make the 1500 final. Mixed fortunes awaited them, As winner Simeon Birnbaum of Oregon stayed on the outside and had a clear path to the victory, UM’s Trent McFarland (Utica) was boxed most of the way and did not get out in time to do anything other than win the race for 2nd in 3:37.18, final lap 52.99 compared to Birnbaum’s 52.08.
Teammate Brendan Herger (Northville) did a commendable job of staying in contention near the front but faded in the final 100, placing 10th in 3:38.91. Benne Anderson (Ottawa Hills) of Syracuse had a rough day and stayed at the back, finishing 12th in 3:40.06.
Sophie Novak (Lake Orion/Notre Dame) tried to lead the steeplechase from start to finish. She just couldn’t shake BYU’s Taylor Lovell, who went past her on the last lap to claim the win. Novak finished 2nd in 9:26.53. Her PR is 9:23.04 from last year.
Braxton Brann (AA Huron) impressed in one of the fastest hurdle races in history, the first collegiate contest with 2 under 13-seconds. The Ohio Stater finished strong to grab 3rd in 13.07 (-0.2). He becomes the No. 7 collegian ever and the No. 2 Michigander ever. He can now call himself world class and note his remarkable progression in three years of running the 42-inch barriers: 13.69 in ‘24, 13.36 in ‘25 and 13.07 in ‘26. He is now =7 on the world list this season. Brann also anchored the Buckeye 4×1 to 3rd at 38.44.
In the 800, Michigan’s Miles Brown (Novi) was 4th at halfway (50.92) but slipped out of contention in the final 200 and finished 7th in 1:45.59.
Kaila Jackson (Renaissance/Georgia) ran 11.13 (0.3) for 4th in her 100 heat and did not advance. In the 200, she was the fastest non-qualifier at 22.64 (1.1). On finals day, she led off the Georgia 4×1 which finished 3rd in 41.89. Georgia won the team title.
Abby Russell (Allen Park/UM) placed 13th in the shot at 54-6.
Mya Georgiadis (AA Huron) ended up not running on the Vanderbilt 4×4.
Maria Velat (Houghton/UM) placed 8th in the wheelchair 100 in 25.90. In the Para/Wheelchair 100 for men, Luke Bowman (Anchor Bay-UM) took 6th in 19.85 and Johnny Osborn (Sault-UM) 7th in 22.45.
Previously reported: Tamaal Myers II (Cass Tech-UCLA) finished 6th in 400H heat in 50.87; did not advance. Quincy Isaac (Canton-UM) long jumped 9th with a 25-6.25.
NAIA Round-Up: Shinaberry Wins Hammer
Michigan HS alumni who made the top 5 at the national meet in Asheville, North Carolina, May 22-25—
1500 - Camden Khon (Armada-Spring Arbor) 3rd, 3:59.65
Steeple - Brian Langlois (GR Catholic-Aquinas) 5th, 9:13.47
400H - Camren Krebs (Walled Lake N-Lawrence T) 4th, 51.49
4×1 - Madonna 4th (include Jakevis Neal-Saginaw Heritage)
HJ - Bradley Richards (Fruitport Calvary/Muskegon CC-Cornerstone) 3rd, 6-9
PV - Isaac Bowden (NM Christian-Cornerstone) 4th, 15-9
DT - Alexander Pranger (NorthPointe-Cornerstone) 2nd, 175-5
HT - Ryan Shinaberry (Hudsonville UC-Cornerstone) 1st, 198-3
400 - Charity Jones (Waterford Kettering-Madonna) 3rd, 53.93
1500 - Madison Rempalski (Northview-Aquinas) 5th, 4:29.75
HJ - Emma Valentine (Morrice-Siena Hts) 2nd, 5-9.25
HJ - Alexis Furgason (Eaton Rapids-Aquinas) 5th, 5-7
PV - Emma Stewart (Salem-Siena Hts) 3rd, 12-8.75
DT - Maelie Hope (Whitehall-Aquinas) 2nd, 156-0
HT - Hope 5th, 181-1
Heptathlon - Lindsay Strutz (Hartland-Aquinas) 4th, 4913
Pro Action
Anavia Battle: Placed 3rd in the Rome Diamond League in 22.39.
Erika Beistle placed 2nd at the LA Grand Prix, throwing the disc 213-5.
Grace Stark’s comeback from injury is going well. She hurdled to 3rd in Los Angeles in 12.48 (1.5).
Donavan Brazier placed 3rd in LA in 1:45.41.
Anna Cockrell ran a meet record 53.43 to win the 400 hurdles at the LA Grand Prix.
Morgan Beadlescomb placed 9th in the 5000 the night before at the USATF Distance Classic, running 13:18.32.
Myles Kerner won the shot in Windsor (6/7) with a 67-10.75.
Olympian Crittenden To Retire
Hurdler Freddie Crittenden has announced that he will retire at the end of this season: “I wanted to announce it because I would like to cherish these last few meets that I have and take the time to say thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey – competitors through the meets that I’ve met, agents, teammates, coaches. I wanted to announce it so when I see everybody I can be in that moment and express gratitude. There are very many reasons why I’ve decided to retire this year even though I think I can still run some of my best times ever right now but the biggest reason is my family. I wanted to prioritize time with them as it’s growing. I wanted to prioritize time with my wife and support her in this time as well.”
After starting his track career in Missouri, Crittenden moved to Utica for his last two years in high school. As a junior he placed 3rd in the D1 Finals in 2012 and the next year he won the highs (14.36, -2.6) and placed 2nd in the 300s (38.05). His HS PRs were 14.10, 13.6h and 37.38.
At Syracuse he won four ACC titles (2 in, 2 out) and was NCAA Indoor runner-up twice. As a pro, he won the ‘23 USATF Indoor crown, placed 3rd at outdoor nationals, and finished 4th at the World Championships. In 2024, he was 2nd at the Olympic Trials and 6th in the Paris final. His 12.93 at the Olympic Trials is the only performance under 13 ever by a Michigander, and makes him No. 10 in world history. Five times he made the Track & Field News World Rankings; he was No. 5 in 2024.
His Instagram announcement in full.
MITCA To Offer Middle School XC Champs
In a promising event for middle school programs, MITCA has announced its first middle school XC championship. (Side bonus—this should mean the end of attempts to organize such an event by out-of-staters in recent years.) From the Facebook announcement:
MITCA is excited to announce that we will be hosting the Inaugural Middle School Championships on Saturday, October 24th! Although a few sites have reached out to host we believe it is fair to provide this opportunity to any program interested!
Site location will be announced on July 15th!
Apply Here: https://forms.gle/k1eSDp11vjKZBVq2A
Meet paperwork will be finalized soon and the event is posted on a/net.
The meet will be open to all MS Teams and will have several divisions of competition.
The State Record We All Missed
Throwing at the Michigan AAU Open & Masters Champs in Olivet June 6, Hart senior Shelbie Choponis threw the hammer 157-2 for a new state record. The old best was the 155-10 thrown by Farmington’s Valadian Pallet in 2020.
Choponis will be attending Muskegon Community College in the fall.
Interview: Hurdle Champion Zacchaeus Brocks
One of the biggest revelations of the year came with the return of Zacchaeus Brocks. A promising hurdler from his early days (he won the AAU national title over the 80H in 2019), last season he ended up sidelined with a stress fracture in his big toe after a 13.69 PR early in the campaign. The previous year, as a sophomore, he had been D1 runner-up.
For the Catholic Central senior, this 2026 season was all about reclaiming his spot—and much, much more. He went undefeated indoors, breaking the State Record 4 times and claiming the New Balance national title in a stunning 7.44, the No. 2 time in U.S. history.
Outdoors, the Ohio State signee has been just as amazing. A wind-aided 13.26 at the Catholic League gave a sneak preview of his promise. He ran PRs of 13.57 and 13.43 prior to the D1 Finals. In Rockford he put on a show, crushing the State Record with a 13.29 heat, and then running an impressive 13.40 into a stiff headwind to win the final in the biggest margin in the meet’s 132-year history.
At Oak Park’s Nationals Tune-Up, Brocks rocketed to a 13.19 to slice another tenth off his record. Only two preps in U.S. history have ever run faster. As he made his final preparations for Nationals (USATF U20s & Nike Outdoor), he talked with us about the process (“If you’re not having fun in track, I don’t know why you’re running”) and his hopes for the future.
Michtrack: Tell me about your 13.19 last night. If you were grading it, what kind of grade would you give it?
Brocks: I give it an A, a solid A. I feel like I did a lot of good things, a lot of things right. I feel like I could do a few things better, but I grade it an A.
Michtrack: What do you think you can improve? Is there a weak spot in your race?
Brocks: I don't think there's any weak spot. I just think there's some technical stuff I can improve on, a few things that I'm working on right now, and I think that if I can improve on those things, I think that I'll be great.
Michtrack: Last night [Oak Park, 6/11] was the closest I've seen anyone to you outdoors. Is it easier to race with competition next to you?
Brocks: I feel like it's a little bit easier. It puts your body in different positions when people are next to you, and they kind of push you a little bit. So I think it was a great race to have my boy Shamar [Gamble] running with me.
Personally, I think this year was a blessing with me running by myself and everything because I was able to just kind of learn how to be in a race mode at all times and not ever give up anything. I think it just prepares me even more leading up to nationals.
Michtrack: What was it like kind of being on the sidelines last year?
Brocks: It was hard. I'm not going to lie. It was really hard. I had a lot of ‘why me’ moments, a lot of times where I didn't know what was happening. But I think God set me out for something better. I knew he had something better for me, so I just stayed humble. Just kept praying and kept believing in myself. I knew it would come, and I kept my head down. I kept working, and through all the trials and tribulations, you know, he always shows up.
Michtrack: Tell me about the injury itself.
Brocks: I had a stress fracture in my big toe. I got it around May 1st, and I was in the boot for around three or four weeks. And when I got it off, it was like two days before the state meet. I didn't have enough time to get back on my feet and even be able to compete. And even when I got it off, there was still a lot of stuff that I was going through. It wasn't fully healed. I had to go to PT and try to get it completely healed to the point where I didn't really feel any pain. That was a little learning curve, something I had to be patient with and not try to rush.
Michtrack: Now you're only 0.11 away from the national record. Is that an achievable mark in the right conditions?
Brocks: Yes, I would say so. For me, it's all about executing the right race plan and just putting my trust in the Lord.
That was one of my goals for this year, and being able to see myself get so close is an accomplishment in itself. So for me right now, my intention is just to execute my race and to have fun. You know, there's nothing else I can really do except for honing in on a few things that I can control, not really worry about everybody else, and end the season with a bang.
Michtrack: No high schooler's ever gone wind-legal under 13. Is that a number you dream of?
Brocks: One of my coaches says whenever you achieve your dream, dream another dream. So whenever I do some of the things that I'm dreaming about, I just always dream about something bigger. And those are some of those, that sub-13 is one of those goals that I dream about a lot.
Michtrack: You started young as a hurdler. How did you end up in the hurdles?
Brocks: It's all due to Motor City Track Club. I used to run with them when I was coming up, when I was like 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. And one of my coaches, Coach [Vernon] Lynch, he would be like, ‘hey, do you want to do hurdles?’ Because I was always a taller kid. I would just run over those markings on football fields that are really small, but they're next to the yard markers. He would have me run over those, and I'm like 9 or 10.
When it was time for the 80-meter hurdles, that's when I met one of my coaches to this day, Coach [Michael David] Johnson, and he helped me. He's helped me to this day. He's helped me to get better and better.
And also, one of my Indiana coaches, Coach Jeff Williams. I met him too around this time, and I was able to get even better. It really helped me build my confidence, knowing that I was able to kind of achieve those things when I was younger and just to keep building on to it and keep getting better and better. So, I owe it all to those coaches.
And also, this year another coach stepped in to help me get even better on the sprint side. Coach Hannukkah [Wallace], he's helped me tremendously with just my start and my flat speed.
Brocks as a 9-year-old champion.
Michtrack: You were able to work out your coaching set-up with Catholic Central’s staff?
Brocks: It was one of those things that was in my head for a little bit, because I didn't know if I was going to be able to run high school. But being able to do it, it's been a blessing. And I thank the CC coaches for allowing me to do that.
Michtrack: It seems like you and your CC guys, there was some magic going on this year. You almost won the state finals as a team.
Brocks: We knew we had a lot of special, special people in the mix, and we knew we could get something going. And that was kind of our motto was to win states. Obviously, we fell a little short this year. But even being able to do that and come that close as a team in my senior year of high school, it's a blessing. And I appreciate all my guys on that team coming together as brothers and just being able to do our best.
Michtrack: I'm no technical expert, but you are exceptionally smooth and fast over the hurdles. And how many hours of drilling does it take to get to be at that level?
Brocks: A lot of drilling and a lot of just over the years getting used to it, getting used to your body, because, you know, as you grow as a hurdler, you get bigger, you get stronger, you get faster.
I think there's a few things I could do a little bit better, but it's all about doing one thing right at a time. And it's not about being perfect all the time, but just, you know, making sure you're doing one thing right over maybe a few hurdles, not every hurdle.
Michtrack: What's your racing schedule like for the rest of the summer?
Brocks: I think it's just U20s and Nike. And then after that, depending on my showing and how I do at U20s, if I make the team, it'll probably be U20 Worlds and probably just a few meets here and there in the summer. I don't want to go too crazy. And then probably just getting over 42s and getting ready for college.
Michtrack: One of the things we were hoping to see this year was you go after Kenneth Ferguson's record in the 300s.
Brocks: Going into this year, [Coach Johnson] said, ‘It's up to you how you want to do it.’ I told him I wanted the record. I was willing to put the work in and get it. And I fell a little short during the high school season… I don't really know if I'm going to do it one more time. I feel like being able to come out there and run 36 low in itself is a great, valiant effort. I might just try to just focus on the 110s because that's some of the stuff that I'm running in college. And if the 300 isn't God's plan, it's just isn’t God's plan. Right now, I think I'm just going to stay focused on the short hurdles.
Michtrack: Tell me, why Ohio State?
Brocks: First of all, the academics is top tier in my major, which is engineering. They're one of the top schools, that's one of the major reasons.
And number two is the coaching staff. I love the coaching staff there. They really wanted me, and they advocated for me. And I really appreciate them for that because going into my senior year, obviously, being injured and stuff like that, I didn't really have a lot of colleges coming after me. So Ohio State being one of those major colleges coming after me and advocating and being that good in my field really stood out to me. And then just being close to my family, my village, and my coaches.
Michtrack: The math says your 13.19 might have been a 13.05 with ideal wind conditions.
Brocks: For me, it's just all about putting it all into perspective. I know there's a lot in the tank, and I know that God has a lot for me and being able to just work on those little things and not really think about the time or anything, but just kind of staying level-headed and just making sure I'm doing what I need to do. I think that's what's going to help me to do the things that I want to do. I feel like for the 110s, obviously, it's such a technical race that all you have to do is just change maybe one thing and maybe two hurdles, and you run that much faster.
It's just about focusing on the technique and the execution part of it, which is what I've been focusing on this whole season. And we see it kind of coming together later on into the season rather than earlier due to weather and everything like that. But I'm proud of myself for how far I've come so far, and I know there's even higher levels that I'm going to achieve.
Other Things
Rachel Forsyth: The Pioneer alum has transferred from MSU to NC State.
Shamar Heard: The 400 State Record holder from Chippewa Valley is transferring to East Texas (Southland Conference, D1).
Matt Chovanec: The head coach of track & XC at Alma College is stepping down after 13 years at the helm.
Outdoor Top 25 All-Time List (updated at end of season) - Girls - Boys
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