#14 - Udodi & Kaila Are The Exceptions

In This Issue

• Onwuzurike & Jackson Rock The NCAAs, But They’re The Exception

• Post-Season Nationals Round-Up

• Full Michigan Results From Brooks PR, New Balance Nationals and Nike Nationals

• Who’s This Man?

• The Little Stuff At The End

Onwuzurike & Jackson Highlight NCAA Meet

Still only a sophomore at Stanford, Brother Rice grad Udodi Onwuzurike, the 2021 MHSAA 100 & 200 champ, has made himself a national champion. After placing 6th in the 100 final in 9.98 (his PR is 9.92), he won the 200 by mere inches with his 19.84 performance. That didn’t match the 19.76 he ran in the qualifying heats. Needless to say, he has stamped himself as the fastest sprinter ever to come from Michigan (next best on the ATL is 10.10 and 20.09).

Watch Onwuzurike’s NCAA 200 win

Watch his interview.

Kaila Jackson has had a dream of a freshman campaign at Georgia, finishing as runner-up in the NCAA Indoor 60 and making All-American in the 200. Outdoors, she ran the fastest 100 ever by a Michigander at 11.04 (with a windy 10.95. She finished 4th in the NCAA 100 and ran on the 6th-place 4×1. Not many athletes can claim to be 4-time NCAA D1 All-Americans while they’re still 18.

Watch Jackson’s NCAA Indoor 60

Watch Jackson’s NCAA 100

As fun as it is to celebrate the national success of young people we saw grow up on the tracks of Michigan, it’s also important to remember how relatively rare it is. Like many, I watch our high school state finals and find myself thinking, “Oh, this one’s going to be great in college, that one’s going to be an Olympian someday…” And yet so often, when I look at results from a few years back, I’m reminded of some of those great prospects and I think, “What ever happened to…?”

While most every high school track star says they want to succeed in college, the truth is, making it in the world of track & field at that level is harder than we often think. And it’s a much more complex situation than just saying, “So-and-so wasn’t good enough.” Having the physical potential is one thing. Having the stars align so that potential can be realized is dependent on so many other factors.

Not a scientific study, but looking back at the D1 individual champions from 5 and 6 years ago gives me a list of 43 names. Remarkably, 26 of them competed for a full 4 years in college track & field. Several became All-Americans, and two became Olympians. But 17 of them didn’t complete a full college career. In fact, 8 of them never made it to the first meet, and of the 9 others, most didn’t survive their first year.

Sometimes it’s because they’ve finally discovered a social life, or discovered that they didn’t actually want to be great athletes as much as their parents wanted it for them. Or they discover that the team environment and the coaches weren’t exactly what they thought they signed up for.

However, maybe we should also consider that sometimes it’s not a bad thing at all for an athlete to move on to other things. Academics, careers, relationships can in the long run be more important than sports. And that’s OK.

The Post-Season Nationals

Wow! What a flurry of activity this week has been! Perhaps the highlight came from Kellen Kimes. The Liberty-bound senior from Hart would have been a good, but not exceptional, shot putter and discus thrower. But he fell in love with the hammer, an event we don’t even offer to preps in Michigan. He didn’t let that stop him. Last year he won Nike Nationals. This week, he finished 2nd to a Canadian but he destroyed his own state record by more than 27 feet! One might be inclined to say, “Well, Michigan doesn’t offer the event, so the record must be weak.” Hardly. His 223-4 ranks him No. 4 in the nation. And he had slim fouls that were several feet farther. He says he’s done with competing this summer: “I know I have a lot more in me but I want to get to summer training and prepping for the 16 pound… I’m super excited.”

National titles at the championship level (as opposed to “rising stars” or “emerging elite”) were few, but impressive. The Northville boys won the NBON 4×8 in the No. 3 time in state history, 7:36.81. David Whitaker broke the race open with his 1:52.33 and Brendan Herger closed with a stunning 1:49.79.

Motor City’s men won the 1000 sprint medley (formerly the “Swedish” medley) in the state’s No. 3 time ever, 1:56.48. Gavin Rawls, Deon Cleary, Quinton Blakely, Rondre Austion continue to improve. Three of the four came back two days later to record a state leader in the 4×4, 3:17.95.

Many others impressed as well—here’s an incomplete list—Morgan Roundtree winning the Rising Stars 100H in 13.79 wind-legal; Rachel Forsyth getting All-American honors in 5 events, including a 4:41.48 mile; Kamryn Tatum sticking to the 9th grade events but recording the state’s fastest times this year in all the sprints: 11.82, 23.93, 55.28; Hunter Jones closing out his career with a blazing 8:43.71 two mile at Brooks and then a 4:06.93 mile at Nike; Owen Westerkamp chopping more than five seconds off the state record in the 2000 steeple with his 5:56.38 for 5th at New Balance There’s so much more.

Below you will find how all the Michigan entries did at the post-season shoe championships. There are surely some names missing, but you’ll let me know, right?

Brooks PR Invitational Results

Renton, Wa., June 13—Boys 2M, 6. Hunter Jones 8:43.71 (#3 MI history) (8:10.30, 8:40.73). Girls 2M: 7. Arianne Olsen 10:57.78 (10:13.42 @ 3K, 10:53.80 @ 3200). 100H(0.6), 6. Nonah Waldron 13.68. MS Mile, 8. Kaylie Livingston 5:03.59 (4:43.38 @ 1500, 5:01.90 @ 1600).

New Balance Outdoor - Championship Events

Notable all-time marks in bold, plus All-Americans. Dates for each event in parentheses, ie. 15, 16, 17, or 18.

IF THERE IS ANYONE MISSING, PLEASE LET US KNOW!! With so many kids being listed as “unattached” with no towns or states, if a name didn’t jump out at me as one I recognized among the thousands of names, of course I missed it. But I want to be complete and show everyone for the historical record, even if they had a bad day.

Philadelphia, June 15-18—

Boys Sprints: 200(18, 2.7), 5. Braxton Brann 21.18w. Heats(17), Brann 21.11w q (3.0), Shamar Heard 21.69nq (2.0); Ruben Esparza 22.61nq (0.4). 400(17), Heard 47.92; Jonas Morris 48.41; Drew Graves 49.38.

Girls Sprints: 100, Heats(16): Mackenzie Robinson 12.09nq (1.7). 200 Heats(17): Robinson 25.41 (-0.5).

Boys Distances: 800(18), 41. David Whitaker 1:53.43; 53. Jake Eagling 1:54.55; 60. Matthew Canales 1:55.32; 66. Brendan Herger 1:55.80; 67. Owen Westerkamp 1:55.84; 69. Owen Patton 1:56.02; 76. Samuel Allen 1:58.56. 1M(17), 16. Herger 4:12.50 (3:56.38); 54. Tyler Lenn 4:22.95 (4:02.26). 2KSteeple(16), 5. Westerkamp 5:56.38 STATE RECORD (old record 6:01.79-Luke Anderson-Harbor Beach 2015); dnf—Nathan Riddering. 2M(16), 14. Mike Hegarty 9:01.42 (8:26.58); 28. Matthew Short 9:07.47 (8:30.50); 30. Paul Moore 9:10.25 (8:31.38). 5000(15), 14. Jackson 15:25.20.

Girls Distances: 800(18), 44. Payton Scheffler 2:13.44; 45. Lilianne Aittama 2:13.76. 1M(17), 6. Rachel Forsyth 4:41.48 (No. 4 performer MI history) (4:23.13 @ 1500, No. 3 performer MI history); 39. Drew Muller 4:59.31 (4:39.13); 48. Annika Sandman 5:03.90 (4:43.51); 53. Lucy Cook 5:17.07 (4:53.99) (tripped hard and trampled—was in position to possibly win her 4:51 heat before that). 2M(16), Cook 10:26.74 (9:48.37); A. Sandman 10:33.68 (9:52.93). 5000(15), 4. A. Sandman 17:03.58 (No. 11 MI history).

Boys Hurdles: 110H(18, -0.9), 4. Braxton Brann 13.77=PR (No. 9 performer in state history). Heats(17): Brann 13.98 (0.5), Joshua Hurt 14.23 (0.5), Kayenn Mabin 14.25w (5.0). Semis: Brann 13.91q (0.2), Mabin 14.16nq (-2.4), Hurt 14.27nq (0.2). 400H(16), 28. Mabin 57.49.

Girls Hurdles: 100H(18, -1.5), 6. Maya Rollins 13.90. Heat(17): Rollins 13.95 (0.2). Semis(17), Rollins 13.78 (-1.1) (=9 performer MI history). 400H(16), 2. Morgan Roundtree 60.59 (No. 2 performance MI history).

Boys Field: HJ(18), 2. Brad Richards 6-8; 15. Joe Mullett 6-4.75; =24. Nathan Levine 6-2.75; =24. Christian Purchase-Ofoeme 6-2.75; =31. Liam McHugh 6-2.75; 33. Andrew Harding 6-2.75; =35. Braden Preilipp 6-0. PV(18), 26. Joey Bonacci 14-9. LJ(18), 29. Quincy Isaac 22-1.5. SP(18), 18. Mason Mayne 55-4.75; 28. Lukas Ray 52-1.75. DT(16), 24. Mayne 145-7.

Girls Field: HJ(18), =19. Addison Hovey 5-4.5. PV(16), 2. Brooke Bowers 12-5.5. SP(18), 3. Abigail Russell 45-6.5 (44-4.25, 45-5.25, f, f, f, 45-6.5); 10. Kayla Harris 42-0.5. DT(16), 3. Russell 162-1 (No. 6 MI history); 14. Lillian Lince 135-4.

Boys Relays: 4×1 Heats(17), Kzoo (KC) 42.61nq; Shore (HWO) 42.63nq; Spirit of Pre (Saline) 47.44nq. 4×2(16), 16. Kzoo Central 1:28.69; 19. Shore 1:28.88; 28. Byron AC 1:29.83, 40. Spirit of Pre 1:30.73; 43. Kentwood (EK) 1:31.24. 4×4(18), 41. Shore 3:24.05. 4×8(16), 1. Six Mile (Northville) 7:36.81 (No. 3 performance MI history) (Brandon Latta 1:55.06, Brock Malaikal 1:59.65, David Whitaker 1:52.33, Brendan Herger 1:49.79); 9. Spirit of Pre 7:46.68 (Jason Whitton 1:56.10, Stewart Berryhill 1:56.90, Andrew McNally 1:57.40, Noah Lepore 1:56.30); 21. Adrian 7:53.09; 43. Knights (KLN) 7:59.96. 4×1M(15), 10. Jackalope (Pinckney) 17:46.28. 4×110H(17), 22. Rockford 1:03.31. 800SMR(17), 12. Byron 1:33.71; 21. Ann Arbor Youth 1:34.69, 32. Kentwood 1:36.21; 48. Spirit of Pre 1:40.60. 1000SMR(16), 1. Motor City (OP) 1:56.48 (No. 3 MI history) (Gavin Rawls, Deon Cleary, Quinton Blakely, Rondre Austion 48.68); 12. Ann Arbor Youth (Belleville) 1:59.25 (No. 10 Mi history, No. 5 school); 17. Byron 2:00.47 (No. 8 school). 1600SMR(17), 55. Kentwood 3:39.39; 56. Spirit of Pre 3:39.64.

Girls Relays: 4×2(16), 10. Courageous (CT) 1:41.91; 12. Purple (AAP) 1:42.10; 22. Kentwood (EK) 1:43.92; 43. Spirit of Pre (Saline) 1:49.43. 4×4(18), Motor City (OP) 3:49.04 (Kelis Hunter-Young, Morgan Roundtree, Nevaeh Burns 58.04, Kylee King 56.88). 4×8(16), 3. Purple 8:59.50 (No. 12 performance MI history) (Sylvia Sanok Dufallo 2:13.58, Natalie Mello 2:18.76, Emily Cooper 2:15.62, Rachel Forsyth 2:11.54); 18. Spirit of Pre 9:30.72; 23. Highlands TC (Howell) 9:37.31; 24. Six Mile (Northville) 9:37.52. 4×1M(15), 2. Purple 20:26.23 (No. 7 performance MI history); 18. Spirit of Pre 21:57.19. 800 SMR(17), 15. Kentwood 1:49.56; 35. Spirit of Pre 1:52.72. 1000SMR(16), 26. Kentwood 2:21.23.

1600SMR(17), 2. Motor City 3:59.28 (No. 6 performance MI history) (Morgan Roundtree, Carrie VanNoy, Nevaeh Burns, Kylee King 2:12.78); 7. Purple 4:05.34 (Mahawa Kaba, Maya Rollins, Rachel Forsyth, Sylvia Sanok Dufallo 2:15.82); 26. Spirit of Pre 4:13.11; 36. Kentwood 4:18.79. DMR(18), 3. Purple 11:47.21 (No. 4 performance MI history (Emily Cooper 3:37.52, Natalie Mello 59.86, Sylvia Sanok Dufallo 2:18.51, Rachel Forsyth 4:51.33); 10. Lansing Catholic 12:06.37 (No. 13 performance ever, No. 7 school) (CC Jones 3:42.95, Frances Melinn 62.19, Hannah Pricco 2:15.31, Tessa Roe 5:05.93); 13. Six Mile 12:20.71; 18. Spirit of Pre 12:34.11.

New Balance Rising Star Events

Boys Sprints: 100 Heats(17), Peyhton Wade 11.04nq (-0.2). 200(1.5), 52. Will Jaiden Smith 23.22nq. 400(17), 11. Smith 49.04.

Girls Sprints: 100 Heats(17): Jayla Dace 12.13nq (0.4); Madison Sheard 12.27nq (1.3); Jayla Graham 12.35nq (0.3). 400(17), 2. Nevaeh Burns 55.36; 7. Gabrielle Jeffries 55.94; 13. Jada Wilson 56.27; 17. Kelis Hunter-Young 56.78; 39. Williams 58.83; 42. Lundon Johnson 59.56.

Boys Distances: 800(18), 7. Pierce Gryzmkowski 1:54.67; 12. Drew Graves 1:55.10; 31. Will Banfield 1:56.66; 42. Braydon Honsinger 1:57.86. 1M(18), Connell Alford 4:15.20 (3:58.70); 4. Matthew Short 4:16.45 (3:58.39); 12. Dakota Dykhuis 4:18.68 (4:01.46); 22. Ethan Pruzinsky 4:21.51 (4:03.51); 31. Aiden Smith 4:23.98 (4:05.77). 2M(16), 3. Alford 9:13.64 (8:37.63); 6. Dykhuis 9:14.83; 10. Pruzinsky 9:17.73 (8:42.67); 19. Nathan Katic 9:23.86 (8:47.97).

Girls Distances: 800(18), 7. Kylee King 2:13.77; 25. Ella Christensen 2:15.85; 29. Anna Gdowski 2:16.69; 44. Katrina Sandman 2:18.44. 1M(18), Emily Cooper 5:02.53 (4:42.59); 25. K. Sandman 5:10.63 (4:49.14). 2M(16), 10. K. Sandman 10:55.92 (10:14.15); 13. Madeleine Hill 11:04.39 (10:20.48).

Boys Hurdles: 110H, Heats(17): Holden Van Poppel 14.72nq (0.7); Mill Coleman 15.29 (0.7).

Girls Hurdles: 100H(17, -1.7): 1. Morgan Roundtree 13.79 (No. 10 performer MI history); 2. Carrie VanNoy 14.27; 7. Lindsay Johnson 14.82. Heats(17): Roundtree 14.17q (0.2); VanNoy 14.37q (1.1); Johnson 14.61q (-0.2); Lauren Bickerdt 15.39nq (1.2), Celeste Davis 15.51nq (0.2). 400H(16), 1. Johnson 61.88; 6. Bickerdt 62.98; 15. VanNoy 64.77; 29. Jada Wilson 67.23; 32. Rylie Bacon 1:12.36; 33. Davis 1:12.81.

Boys Field: HJ(17), 3. Deepak Laungani 6-4.25; =23. Brock Furgison 6-0. PV(17), 24. Clark Sheldon 13-7.25. LJ(17), 21. Alexander Jones 18-10.5. SP(17), 3. Merrick Hocking 54-6.5; 22. Garrett Weeden 49-7.25. DT(17), 4. Hocking 162-10; 14. Weeden 155-5. HT(17), 16. Hocking 151-8 (No. 11 performer MI history) (f, 140-7, 151-8).

Girls Field: SP(17), 3. Cora Williams 39-3.25.; nm—Lily Parker. DT(17), 4. Kayla Harris 131-5; 11. Madison Leifer 119-4; 29. Jayla Procter 112-5; 43. Parker 101-9. HT(18), 23. Leifer 106-4 (No. 10 performer MI history).

Boys Relays: 4×1(17), 17. Byron AC 43.49. 4×2(16), 3. Motor City 1:27.46 (Gavin Rawls, Deon Cleary, Jaiden Weaver, Rondre Austion); 16. Track Life 1:30.45. 4×4(18), 1. Motor City 3:17.95 MI leader (Deon Cleary, Rondre Austion, Phillip Burney 49.60, Quinton Blakely 48.45). 4×8(16), 1. Fray Town (Fraser) 7:54.59 (Connor Steepe 2:02.43, Justin Roose 1:55.60, Michael Susan 2:03.01, Tyler Donovan 1:53.56); 21. Kentwood (EK) 8:16.73. 1600SMR(17), 36. Motor City 3:45.62. DMR(16), 6. Jackalope 10:31.77 MI leader (Zach Debeauclair 3:14.57, Colten Lumadue 51.80, Zach Newman 2:04.02, Evan Loughridge 4:21.40); 16. Novi 10:59.82.

Girls Relays: 4×1(17), 24. Tone-Up Elite (GROH) 49.80; 25. Purple (AAP) 49.80; 36. Track Life (DR) 51.84. 4×2(16), 1. Track Life 1:40.05 (Jayla Dace, Jayla Graham, Madison Sheard, Asia Elder); 22. Runners Campechanos (Sturgis) 1:47.42. 4×4(18), 1. Motor City 3:51.33; 2. Courageous (CT) 3:52.00; 3. Track Life. 3:55.24. 4×100H(17), 9. Kentwood 66.82. 1600SMR(17), 1. Track Life 4:08.03 (Destiney Williams, Lundon Johnson, Shelby Sanders, Lauren Bickerdt 2:18.33); 2. Motor City 4:09.01 (Jayda Watson, Mahlan Tate, Dayshana Kellogg, Jordin Jones-Maddox 2:18.53). DMR(16), 9. Spirit of Pre (Saline) 12:55.69.

New Balance 9th Grade Events

Boys Sprints: 100 Heats(17): Quinton Blakely 11.14nq (0.7); James Rush 11.68nq (0.7); Devin Wroten 12.10nq (0.2). 400(17), 2. Rondre Austion 48.64 9th GRADE STATE RECORD (old 48.85 Malachi Mosley-East Kentwood ‘22).

Girls Sprints: 100(17, 1.6), Kamryn Tatum 11.82 MI leader. Heats(17), Tatum 12.02 (-0.5). 200(1.5), 2. Tatum 23.93 MI leader. Heats(17), Tatum 24.16w (2.2). 400(17), Tatum 55.28 MI leader.

Boys Distances: 1M(15), 21. Moises Salazar 4:33.95 (4:15.91); 38. Brennan Larusso 4:38.08 (4:19.29); 63. Jackson Lam 4:47.87 (4:25.98). 2M(16), 1. Andrew Wright 9:25.81 (9th GRADE RECORD—old 9:28.39 TJ Hansen-Freeland ‘22) (8:48.84—3000m 9th GRADE RECORD, old 8:52.65 Hansen).

Girls Distances: 800(18), 4. Berkley Holtz 2:16.88; 28. Jordan Jones-Maddox 2:24.76; 35. Lily Schlack 2:27.70. 1M(15), Berkley Holtz 5:18.32 (4:57.79).

Boys Hurdles: 110H(17, -0.8), Schmar Gamble 14.56. Heats(17), Gamble 14.60 (1.0). 400H(16), =12. Caleb Washington 61.15.

Girls Hurdles: 100H(17), 9. Alana Bracey 15.70 (1.9). 400H(16), 8. Bracey 66.98.

Boys Field: HJ(16), =15. Drelen Lillard 5-9.75. SP(16), 15. David Williams 41-8.5.

Girls Field: HJ(16), =18. Kimiyah Vallar 4-8.25. PV(17), 1. Evie Mathis 11-1.75.

New Balance Middle School Events

Boys: 100 Heats (15): Connor Nealon 11.54wnq (2.2). 200 Heats (16): Nealon 23.96nq (0.1), Chanon Palmer 25.95nq (1.6), Caleb Hohn 26.30nq (0.1). 400(15), 24. Wesley Rogan 57.51; 25. Palmer 57.73. 800(18), 39. Rogan 2:16.62. 1M(15), 2. Jack MacGregor 4:37.68 (4:19.48). 2M(16), 20. Gavin Katic 10:44.76 (10:02.24) 100H(15, 0.7), Palmer 15.38. Heats: Palmer 15.45 (-0.3).

Girls: 100(15, 0.5), 7. Kahlia Hart 12.69. Heats: Hart 12.70q (0.7); Lexi Austin 13.29nq (-0.3). 200(17, -0.1), 3. Nevaeh Burns 25.33. Heats(16): Burns 25.27q (0.2).; Jordin Nichols 28.13nq (1.0); Colette Wierks 28.49wnq (2.3); Ella Wierks 29.16wnq (2.7). 400(15), 1. Janae Coleman 56.32; 12. Leah Thomas 59.46; 20. C. Wierks 61.70; 25. E. Wierks 62.32; 37. Nichols 63.49. 800(18), 2. Coleman 2:14.26 7th GRADE STATE RECORD (old 2:14.42 Anna Jensen-Midland Jefferson ‘15); 6. Thomas 2:17.41. 1M(15), 23. Lyla Dowling 5:31.92 (5:08.50). 2M(16), 34. Dowling 12:37.83 (11:50.66). 100H(15, 1.1), 6. Hart 15.49. Heats, Hart 15.79q (-0.3); Austin 21.38nq (0.7). SP(15), 3. Elizabeth Watkin 36-11.5.

Nike Nationals Championship Events

Boys Sprints: 200 Heats(17): Krish Gupta 21.99nq (0.1). 400(17), 18. Joseph Iaquaniello 49.00; 20. Gupta 49.08; 31. Stuart Gould 49.91.

Boys Distances: 800(17), 20. Nick Adams 1:53.45. 1M(18), 7. Hunter Jones 4:06.93 (No. 5 performer MI history) (3:50.54-No. 8 performer). 2M(17), 13. TJ Hansen 9:10.56 (8:36.59). 5000(16), 10. Nathan Jenkins 15:24.24.

Girls Distances: 800(17), 20. Aiden Harrand 2:12.85; 29. Caroline Vance 2:15.06. 1M(18), 21. Harrand 4:55.44 (4:36.30); 39. Taylor Pangburn 5:10.16 (4:48.16). 2KSteeple(16), 19. Mariah Belmont 7:35.52. 5000(16), 9. Chloe Nixon 17:27.07; 11. Allison Kuzma 17:32.82

Boys Hurdles: 110H Heats(17), Nakia Willis 14.42nq (0.4). 400H(18), 22. AJ Martel 57.33; 24. Ashton Clark 57.74; 25. Camron Krebs 58.15.

Girls Hurdles: 100H(17, -0.1), 2. Nonah Waldron 13.50. Heats(17), Waldron 13.74q (0.2). 400H(18), 5. Waldron 60.46.

Boys Field: HJ(17), =20. Tyler Baker 6-3.25. SP(16), 13. Kellen Kimes 57-11.25. 27. Michael Howey 53-9. DT(15), 21. Kimes 159-3. HT(17), 2. Kimes 223-4 STATE RECORD (199-11 STATE RECORD, 214-7 STATE RECORD, 223-4 SR, 218-2 [No. 2 performance MI history], f, f) (first American).

Girls Field: HJ(18), 2. Milena Chevallier 5-8.5. PV(16), NH-Victoria Spitzley. SP(17), 16. Sophie Daugard 38-6.25.

Heptathlon (16-17), 15. Margaret Monaghan 4250 (No. 11 MI history) (15.01 [1.1], 4-10.5, 29-7.25, 26.20 [-0.1], 17-2 [2.0], 75-11, 2:38.92).

Boys Relays: 4×4(18), 6. Briggs Athletics (HCTC) 3:25.31; 13. Goodnight TC (WLN) 3:29.50. 4×8(16), 20. Goodnight 8:04.63; 22. Hart 8:07.12. 4×1M(17), 8. Hart 18:13.81; 11. Up North (JL) 18:33.72. 1600SMR(16), 13. Up North 3:57.96.

Girls Relays: 4×8(16), Very Nice (AAS) 9:43.29. 4×1M(17), 2. Very Nice 21:31.78 (A. Mayer 5:24.50, Natalie Kessler 5:12.75, A. Balazer 5:29.23, Lydia Cocciolone 5:25.30). 1600SMR(16), 6. Up North (JL) 4:24.93. DMR(15), 7. Very Nice 12:23.52 (Natalie Kessler 3:48.06, Leah White 61.70, Lydia Cocciolone 2:30.03, Caroline Vance 5:03.73).

Mixed 4×4(16), 3. Goodnight (WLN) 3:41.81.

Nike Nationals Emerging Elite

Girls Sprints: 100(16, 0.0), Taryn Henderson 11.99. Heat(16), Henderson 11.96 (2.0). 200 Heats(17): Henderson 25.04nq (0.0); Emma Thomas 25.50nq (0.0). 400(17), 5. Henderson 57.34; 7. Thomas 57.39; 18. Joy Evans 58.71.

Boys Distance: 800(17), 5. Ty Parker 1:55.31; 58. Jacob Montgomery 2:02.38. 1M(18), 21. Parker 4:22.30 (4:05.86); 38. Nolan Pinion 4:25.35 (4:08.73); 42. Aiden Moore 4:27.08 (4:10.12); DQ-Parks Allen. 2M(17), 5. Vishvaa Ravishankar 9:21.75 (8:46.23); 28. Sebastian Ramirez 9:36.25 (8:59.21).

Girls Distance: 800(17), 18. Ava Kurczewski 2:16.16; 54. Kendra Koster 2:22.15; 61. Madelyn Gordon 2:24.07. 1M(18), 15. Kurczewski 5:07.42 (4:48.06); 16. Caroline Vance 5:09.21 (4:48.98); 39. Koster 5:23.17 (5:00.14). 2M(17), 28. Larissa McGrath 11:45.17 (10:59.19).

Boys Hurdles: 110H(17, -0.4), 3. Tyler Baker 14.93. Heats(17): Baker 15.06q (-0.4), Camron Krebs 15.89nq (-0.4). 400H(18), 5. Nakia Willis 56.15.

Girls Hurdles: 400H(18), Anna Plum 64.42.

Boys Field: HJ(17), 4. Nakia Willis 6-3.25. LJ(16), 5. Willis 21-8.25 (0.9). SP(16), Devin Dennison 42-0. DT(15), 7. Michael Howey 162-6; 9. Dennison 157-0.

Girls Field: HJ(18), =10. Grace Wolfe 4-10.5; NH-Emily Cuthbertson, Margaret Monaghan, EmaLee Noack. LJ(16), 3. Maya Anderson 18-0.5 (1.1); 21. Breanna Hyde 16-4.25 (1.1). SP(17), 9. Avery Lahti 38-1.5. DT(16), 12. Lahti 106-9.

Girls Relays: 4×8(16), 11. Up North (JL) 10:15.11.

Nike Nationals 9th Grade Events

Boys: 100(15) Heat-Sam McDonald 11.68nq (0.6). 1M(15), 1. Thomas Larson 4:25.05 (4:08.12); 28. Luca Lebron 4:51.02 (4:31.61).

Girls: 100(15), heat-Emma Todd 13.35wnq (2.4).

Nike Nationals Middle School Events

Boys: 100(15) heat-Cameron Adams 12.05nq (1.0). 200(16), 19. Adams 25.08 (-1.6); 43. Anthony Rowe 26.68 (-1.6); 50. Makaeson Kuhl 27.24 (1.1). 800(16), 4. Cameron Cochran 2:01.04; 6. Samuel Baker 2:02.06; 32. Rowe 2:09.34; 49. Wesley Chaffee 2:13.86. 1M(15), 21. Cochran 4:48.51 (4:30.32); 27. Baker 4:49.58 (4:30.00); 30. Rowe 4:51.16 (4:32.60). LJ(15), 13. Adams 17-2.75. SP(15), 8. Andrew Clark 40-7.75; 11. DJ Harrison 34-11.75.

Girls: 100(15), heat-Lilly Saunders 12.95nq (1.5). 200(16), 16. Saunders 26.87 (-0.4); 23. Elle Cesa 27.06 (0.2); 36. Giovanna Clark 28.04 (1.1). 400(15), 7. Cese 60.04; 11. Saunders 60.42; 17. Clark 63.35. 800(16), 14. Clara Kaczor 2:22.71; 36. Emily Alt (2:28.69). 1M(15), 22. Kaczor 5:25.45 (5:04.34); 34. Alt 5:31.24 (5:10.89); 70. Reese Palmer 6:09.52 (5:46.70).

Who’s This Man?

I’m sorry to disappoint the history buffs with no “Legends” article this week. High School nationals and Father’s Day made time management especially challenging. But maybe you’ll have fun trying to figure out who this long jumper is (and where he is). The only hint I’ll give you is that this Big 10 champion is now a noted artist.

The Little Stuff At The End

The Maltese Beat: I don’t know how many of you follow the Maltese track & field scene, but I can make a wild guess. Anyhoo, the Mediterranean island nation has picked up some new star athletes. Northville’s McNamara sisters, Gina and Clare, apparently exercised their dual citizenship options and transferred their nationality via World Athletics so that they can represent Malta instead of the U.S. internationally. In their first competition for their new nation, the Games of the Small States of Europe, Gina won gold in the 800 (2:12.46), 1500 (4:36.81) and 5000 (17:11.32), and Clare won bronze at 800 (2:16.92). You might remember Clare as a sophomore at the D1 Finals, winning the long jump, taking 2nd in the 400 and running on two All-State relays. She later competed for Michigan, where, like her big sis, she was an All-Big 10 athlete.

Help Us Out: Still trying to figure out how to do this newsletter in a way that’s sustainable, as several of our recent issues have helped create horrible weeks for me in a time management sense. I need to find a way to do this and still get some sleep. And I’d also like to get back to the bigger Michtrack task, that of researching our state’s track history and publishing that material. Can the idea of Michtrack as a functioning nonprofit work? You can help by signing on as a monthly supporter.

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