#46 - Crazy Performances At Regionals

Author

Jeff Hollobaugh
May 23, 2024

Inside This Issue

Regionals: Ten Crazy Performances

What a weekend! Statewide, weather generally cooperated and the kids in the speed events often got very nice conditions. The lists are on fire. Here’s just a few highlights that jumped out at me—in no particular order, and I know I’m leaving out tons of highlights (please forgive any omissions).

Photographer Miles Postema caught the finish of an historic relay race.

  1. Shamar Heard’s 46.80: The Chippewa Hills senior has been making weekly performance jumps and this latest was huge. His 46.80 for 400 is the No. 14 time in state history, but most significantly, no one has ever run that fast before the state finals. In fact, 11 of those times came in the summer. Can Heard threaten his 46.02 state record before he heads off to Tennessee for college? Note also that he prefaced his 400 win with a 22.75 in the 200 heats, and an anchor on a 1:26.73 relay. Afterwards, he won the 200 in 21.49 and anchored a state-leading 3:16.88 in the 4×4 with a 46.8. Video of the 46.80. Video of the 3:16.88.

  2. Holland West Ottawa 41.66 & 1:25.99: The Panthers have been battling Rockford all spring for sprint relay supremacy. In their latest matchup, HWO burned a historic 1:25.99 for the 4×2. It’s the No. 2 time in history, second only to the 1:25.0 that Cass Tech ran at the state finals 30 years ago. We’d love to see that hand time wiped off the board, to be honest. In the 4×1, the same team of Charlie Sanders, Ruben Esparza, Andrew Spilotro and Desmond Chapa clocked 41.66, the No. 7 performance ever and No. 5 school. Rockford’s performances are not to be ignored: 1:26.17 (No. 4 performance ever) and 42.17. Can’t wait for the state meet rematch!

  3. Rachel Forsyth Everywhere: The Pioneer senior, healthy and thriving, is considering tackling a state final quadruple at East Kentwood. At the Lincoln regional, she ran 2:10.5 anchoring a 9:09.35 relay, followed by individual wins in 4:54.92, 2:11.26 and 10:35.05. To pull off victories, she’ll have to go faster at EK, but in doing so she would make history. Only Audrey DaDamio of Seaholm has ever won the 1600-800-3200 triple in D1. No one has ever won the quad. And no one in D1 has ever won all of those track events during a career with the XC title added in.

  4. Lindsay Johnson 42.39: The senior is the flagbearer of a resurgent Cass Tech program, a tough spot when you have Oak Park and Renaissance dominating the action in the Motor City. However, the Michigan-bound senior has shown she may be poised to give ‘22 champion Morgan Roundtree a real race over the 300H. That 42.39 makes her No. 4 ever after Nonah Waldron. Roundtree, and Sami Michell. In the same meet she 14.51h/14.61 into headwinds, plus legs on 48.47 and 3:54.75 relays.

  5. Andrew Harding 6-8: The Huron senior may have jumped “only” 6-8 at regionals, but that has been the lowest height he’s hit outdoors this year. The state leader at 6-10.5 has more in him. When he cleared that 6-10.5 he thought he was going over 7-feet. A re-measurement of the bar showed it wasn’t quite that. One can safely assume he’s hungry to go higher soon.

  6. Abigail Russell Throws: The Allen Park senior, throwing at the Lincoln regional, opened up her discus throwing with the biggest throw of the day, 151-10. In the shot, she had a round 3 best of 45-11, a state leader, then blasted past that with her 47-3.5 on her final try. Only 12 throwers in state history have gone farther.

  7. Belleville’s speed crew went nuts. Junior Elijah Dotson moved to No. 14 in history in the 110H with a state-leader 13.89 (-1.5) and took 3rd in the 300H at 38.64. Junior Will Jaiden-Smith was all over the place, hurdling 14.27 (-1.5) and and a state-leading 38.03, plus sprinting 21.61 (-1.6). Soph Schmar Gamble won the 100 in 10.85 (-1.1), then finished 2nd in the 110H at 14.24 and 4th in the 300H (38.87). And in the 4×2, Jason Graddy, Dotson, Colin Williams and Smith combined for a 1:27.29. The good hurdling wasn’t just confined to the men. Jada Wilson ran 14.88 (-2.4) and 45.33.

  8. Lincoln Park senior Leonardo Peralta-Castro didn’t even win, but I’m just floored that the guy who got nicked at the end of the 300H, who shares that 38.03 state leading time, is basically a newcomer to speed. As a junior he ran just 42.59, plus a 2:11.51 in the 800. Pretty big jump to 38.03! And a few days later at the Downriver League he runs 48.52 to cut 5.63 off his open 400 best! Recruiters, take note!

  9. And it’s absolutely wrong that Oak Park and Renaissance are in the same regional, even if it did make for some fabulous relays. Renaissance took the 4×1 in a list-leading 47.19 to OP’s 47.95. The 4×2 went the other way, with Oak Park at 1:38.37 (No. 13 performance ever) to Renaissance’s 1:40.41. The Knights finished off their day with a 3:47.05 leader in the 4×4, good for No. 12 ever.

  10. More 400 heat came at Grand Ledge, where Jackson junior Ahmed Ahmeen won the one-lap in 47.66 to Cameron Cheetam’s 47.75. Both broke into the all-time top 25. In the 200 they were even closer, Ahmeen 21.64-Cheetam 21.66.

Stiverson Stuns: 49-2

Addyson Stiverson, the 9th-grader from Montrose, has hit the high school scene in a big way. Last year as a middle schooler, she threw the 6lb ball 47-10.5. Promising, but she didn’t even win that meet. This indoor season she opened up with a 43-5.5 with the 4K shot and placed 2nd at the MITS Finals at 43-4.25. Outdoors she first smashed the 9th-grade record with her 45-11.5 on May 1. Then, at the MMAC league championships in Mt. Morris, she broke the record three times in her series: 46-7*, 47-7*, 46-2, 46-8, 49-2*, foul.

That 49-2 is just a few inches short of the national 9th-grade record of 49-5.75 set by Ashlie Blake of Nevada in 2011. And if only Stiverson had been born a couple of weeks later! She turned 15 on May 8, and so just missed being eligible for the national age-14 record. That’s 48-5.75, set by one Michelle Carter of Texas in 2000. Sixteen years later Carter became the first American to win the Olympic gold medal in the event.

Other News

  • Lost in the rush last week was a notable performance from Anchor Bay senior Thomas Westphal. Running at the Davison Twilight Classic (5/10), Westphal cruised a solo sub-9:00 in the 3200, hitting a PR 8:55.11 to win by 47+ seconds. The MSU-bound athlete won a triple at his region: 4:16.82, 1:53.72 PR, 9:28.96. Will he pursue them all at the D1 finals? He says, “More than likely not… I’m honestly not sure which ones I’ll go for.”

  • Allen Park’s Abigail Russell threw a PR 47-6.5 at the Downriver League meet in Wyandotte (5/21).

  • Forest Hill Central’s Brooke Bowers cleared 13-3 at the OK White conference to remain atop the state list. While she’s gone higher indoors, that clearance makes her =5 on the outdoor all-time list. Behind her, Lowell’s Isabel German went over 12-9. And note that Brooke’s frosh sister, Aubree Bowers, cleared 12-6 at regionals, breaking her sister’s 9th-grade state record.

Your Stats Update

I’ve been working in my abundant free time on making Michtrack all-time lists more accessible. This week I’m introducing Top 25 All-time Lists that will be easily viewable from your phone while at a meet, something the 100-page PDF files weren’t. Plus the year lists have been mostly updated (though I’m cleaning up some odds and ends). You’ll notice that our top 10 in the sprints/hurdles/long jump is starting to look a lot different than Athletic-net’s, as we have been sorting out what has been wind-aided and not.

Why I Love Research

So yesterday, when I had much more pressing work to do, I fell down a rabbit hole trying to solve the Chris Boehmer mystery again. The mystery is that in 1982, the year she won the Class A long jump for Flushing High, she is reported to have jumped 19-9.5 by Track & Field News. It’s a reliable mark—I know Mike Kennedy, who was the girls HS editor at the time, and he was rigorous. Unfortunately, some years later when I asked him for meet/site/date info, he confessed that those index cards (lay off, it was 1982!) had been lost.

Why it matters is that until Kennedy Jackson went farther a few years ago, Boehmer’s mark was the state record—it lasted for nearly 40 years! It’s still No. 2 on the all-time list but it drives me nuts that I don’t know where it happened. I think it was a summer mark (which Michtrack, just like Track & Field News, counts). But where?? I even once tracked down Chris Boehmer herself, who competed collegiately for Vermont. And while she was flattered that someone was thinking about her, she confessed that she didn’t remember where she had set her prep PR.

So yesterday I dived into all three of my newspaper archives, hoping to slay this beast once and for all. I found a few more good marks for Boehmer, but not the one I wanted. However, I stumbled upon unexpected treasure! The results of a mid-June meet in Carmel, Indiana, where Michigan girls were competing under their high school affiliations after the state finals. And the mark that stood out was by Flushing junior Angie Hafner. She high jumped 5-10, a mark that would have made her No. 2 in state history at the time and still rates her =7. It had been lost to history for 42 years, but now it’s back in its rightful place.

Lose Those Discus Fractions!

No. 24: from the MHSAA rulebook

I have seen so many discus marks this spring measured to the fraction of an inch, I was starting to question my own memory of the rules. For the lists, I lop those fractions off (as does Athletic-net on its lists). But who one earth thinks they can spot the landing of a disc to 1/4-inch accuracy?? Thanks to Jan Ferguson Burch Williams for giving the state’s track coaches and officials a reminder on Facebook.

Other Stuff

Kessler’s statement on his finishing tactics.

  • The USATF Los Angeles GP produced a few amazing moments for Michigan runners. In the 800, Hobbs Kessler went out in last, got near the front, then threaded his way through the crowd on the homestretch to claim the win in a PR 1:45.07. In the 1500, it was Morgan Beadlescomb who produced a monster kick to win in a PR 3:35.84. The marquee race was the 5000, with a field packed with top Ethiopians and Ugandans (you know, the guys who won World Records and gold medals). Grant Fisher was the top American with his 12:53.30.

  • Michigan State’s Riley Hough is among those who have been scratched from the NCAA East Regional.

  • The East and West NCAA Regionals will be streamed for free. You’ll find the links here: https://www.ncaa.com/championships/trackfield-outdoor/d1/championship-field

  • Saturday is the Prefontaine Classic, America’s best (and only) Diamond League meet. This year, an Olympic year, it will be huge. Check out the men’s mile, for instance—safe to say it has a field as good as any Olympic 1500 final. Complete entry lists aren’t available yet, but we know a few Michiganders to look for: Freddie Crittenden (110H), Hobbs Kessler (mile). How to watch.

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