Inside This Issue

• D1 Finals - Fire on the Track

• D2-D3-D4-UP Highlights

• Team Winners

• Records Broken

• D1 1500/Mile Times

• This Weekend

• Interview: Brendan Herger

• Other Things

D1 Finals - Fire On The Track

Stunning. I am still trying to absorb everything that went down at the D1 Finals in East Kentwood on Saturday. So many events were simply unbelievably great. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have announced the meet once again. On the long drive home, with only a large burrito from Poncho’s Tacos to keep me company, I kept replaying some of those races through my head. Without further ado, here are some of the events that are going to get some ink in the next edition of our history of the state finals, The Fleet Feet of Spring.

Boys 4×2: 1:25.66 for 3rd Place??!!

We all knew the boys 4 × 200 had the potential to be good. So often, though, the event doesn’t live up to its promise in the state finals, with so many of our top sprinters having to do too much in too little time in a meet that should have gone to a 2-day event years ago. This spring, we saw blazing duels between West Ottawa and Rockford, and below them on the list, suddenly 1:27s became almost commonplace. When West Ottawa ran its 1:25.99—the first 1:25-point-anything in 30 years, that just amped up the pressure.

It was a blessing that all the top teams ended up in the last heat. That’s not always the case. In announcing the race from the best seat in the house, to be honest I had no real idea how fast the athletes were going. There’s no way to take accurate splits in a 4×2 (no matter what your coach says). So it wasn’t until the final stretch that it hit me. After three smooth hand-offs, West Ottawa and Rockford hammered each other down the straightaway, and Chippewa Valley’s Shamar Heard furiously chased them to end up 2nd. And then the times: West Ottawa 1:25.53, Chippewa Valley 1:25.65, Rockford 1:25.66. The numbers 2, 3 and 4 times in Michigan history. Unbelievable.

Girls 1600: Forsyth’s Work of Art

For fans of Rachel Forsyth, Saturday was a gift. We always knew she was talented. That was obvious to anyone who saw her take 2nd in D1 XC and run 4:48 as a 9th-grader. But in between then and now, she has faced some huge challenges, and had the courage to talk about them publicly. Saturday was her last event in a Pioneer uniform, and it didn’t start out the way Pioneer had hoped, with West Ottawa putting together an amazing 9:00.27 relay and beating Pioneer after three straight wins. Forsyth’s 2:09.40 anchor was gutsy but futile.

Then came the 1600. She went to the front—no surprise there. In truth, nothing in the first two laps looked surprising. But it took amazing talent and guts to accelerate after that 2:20.18. With the exception of Selma Anderson, the field started to fall back drastically as Forsyth went deep, driving herself to speeds she had never hit before. She passed 1500 in 4:21.39 (No. 3 performer in history). She hit the finish in a meet record 4:38.28 (No. 2 ever)… and she kept going to the camera at the mile mark, which caught her in 4:39.90 (No. 2 in MI history, and No. 8 in the nation this year). Her second half took just 2:18.10. Selma Anderson moved to No. 7 all-time with her 4:40.54 at 1600.

Afterward, Forsyth tackled the 3200 as well, which her sister Anne had won it in 2018. She ran 10:15.57 in the rain. It’s a tough double in D1, but she pulled it off with style. We can’t wait to see what Rachel does next.

Boys 110 Hurdles: Belleville Rocks It

What has Candice Davis wrought? Suddenly Belleville is a speed powerhouse, with extra emphasis on the hurdles. Sophomore Schmar Gamble, in the process of doubling at 100m/110H, fought his way past another soph, Zacchaeus Brocks of Catholic Central, to take the win in 13.85 (No. 11 performer ever), into a -1.4 wind. Brocks hit 13.91. Belleville juniors Elijah Dotson (14.08) and Will Jaiden Smith (14.11) followed. The Tigers finished 1-3-4. No program has had that kind of dominance since Mumford went 1-2-5 in 1999. And the top 4 in this event are all back next year. Will we finally see the state record of 13.48 (set 42 years ago by Thomas Wilcher) be challenged? Or perhaps Kenneth Ferguson’s 13.65 D1 meet record from 2002?

Boys 1600: Norder Can Kick

We’ve seen Seth Norder’s kick before, but Saturday’s was more than impressive. Anchor Bay’s Thomas Westphal took it out hard, 2:03.52. That’s the kind of pace that’s supposed to sap other people’s kicks. But Grand Haven’s Norder was more than ready. His final 800 took just 1:59.20! He passed 1500 in 3:48.23 (No. 6 performer ever), 1600 in 4:03.01 (No. 4), and raced to the mile in 4:04.42 (No. 4). Westphal hit a PR 4:06.98 at 1600 (No. 13), and Kalamazoo Central’s Jasper Cane 4:08.80.

Girls 300H: Roundtree on a Mission

She won this race as a sophomore. Last year she took 2nd to teammate Nonah Waldron as they wiped out the records in the event. This year, she wanted it all. Roundtree put on a master class in hurdling, despite having already run the 2 rounds of the 100 hurdles, as well as running legs on winning 4×1 and 4×2 relays. The way Brandon Jiles coaches the 300 hurdles, the event is about going out fast and being tough enough to hold on. That’s the reason Oak Park has won 6 out of the last 9 titles. Roundtree did just that, sprinting through the race as if her life depended on it. And she didn’t hit any wall, a demonstration of how hard she has trained for the moment. At the line she earned a lifetime best of 41.31, ahead of Lindsay Johnson’s PR 42.31. Now it’s on to summer track, the 400H and Miami (FL) University.

Boys 300H: Peralta-Castro Somersaults Into History

Last year, Lincoln Park’s Leonardo Peralta-Castro had a hurdle best of 42.59. He was 8th in his regional, so didn’t get close to the state finals. Things played out quite differently this year, as he decided to take his senior year very seriously. He came into the D1 Finals with a state-leading best of 38.03, Eleven days before he had improved his 400 best from 54.31 to 48.52.

At East Kentwood, he went to the wire with Belleville’s Will Jaiden Smith and won with a dramatic dive that turned into a somersault, 37.93 to 37.95.

But Wait, There’s More!

• Want to see video interviews with some of the top stars of the weekend? Visit RunMichigan.com.

• Boys 200/400: Shamar Heard of Chippewa Valley closed out his school career with wins at 200 (21.36) and 400 (46.76).

• Girls 100H: Maya Rollins winning in 13.86 into a -1.5 wind, as Morgan Roundtree dived at the line to finish in 13.89. That’s competition!

• Boys 100: The sprint wars almost seem like playing Survivor. Who will last to the end of the season without injury? Who will survive the rounds? Who will be ready when it counts? This time it was Jeremy Dixon, blasting 10.72 into a -1.6 wind and leading Kalamazoo Central to its first team title in 59 years.

• Girls 100: It was senior Keyanna O’Tey from Sturgis who had it when it mattered. Her 12.08 into a -1.7 was better than it looked. According to the Gold Book, turn that race around and run with a tailwind and she would have hit 11.90.

• Boys 1600: Seth Norder of Grand Haven had the best finish in a tough 1600 match-up, winning in 4:03.01 (1500 in 3:48.23, mile 4:04.42). It was the No. 2 performance in meet history, after only Grant Fisher’s 4:00.28. Thomas Westphal of Anchor Bay took 2nd in 4:06.98 and later won the 3200 in 9:07.56. Jasper Cane of Kalamazoo Central ran 3rd in 4:08.80.

• Girls DT: A third-straight discus crown for Allen Park’s Abigail Russell, with the second-longest winning throw in history at 156-6. She and Jae-vyn Wortham of L’Anse Creuse (2012-14) are the only two to ever pull off 3-in-a-row. And Russell regained the shot crown she won as a soph, this time throwing 46-10.

• Boys 4 × 100: Holland West Ottawa still on a roll, with a convincing 41.35 win over Warren DeLaSalle (41.64) as Saline was DQed.

• Girls 4×1 & 4×2 & 4×4: Oak Park was everywhere, winning all three relay crowns on the way to team title #8. In both the 4×1 and 4×2, the Knights won 4-straight from 2014-17, then Renaissance took the next 5. This year it was Oak Park in 1:38.10 and 47.53. In the 4×4, OP clocked 3:47.99, the No. 4 winning time in meet history. Splits: Dayshana Kellogg 55.9, Kelis Hunter-Young59.0, Nevaeh Burns 56.62, Kylee King 56.50.

• Boys 4 × 400: Three teams under 3:20, led by Chippewa Valley and Shamar Heard at 3:17.51. He ends up with 7 state titles, counting relays. Resurgent Oak Park takes 2nd in 3:18.66.

• Girls 4×8: Holland West Ottawa deserves props for putting together the No. 14 performance in history at 9:00.27, and becoming the No. 6 school ever. The lineup: Collette Wierks 2:16.28, Emma Gunnett 2:13.84, Ella Wierks 2:15.15, Helen Sachs 2:15.00.

• Boys Shot: A stirring battle with PRs for the top 4. Garrett Weeden of Zeeland East took the win with his final throw 59-0.25.

• Girls 200: After blistering legs on West Bloomfield’s 47.53 and 1:42.68 relays, defender Kamryn Tatum ran to just 13th in the 400 at 58.90. Not to worry—the sophomore was ready to rock for the 400, which she took in a convincing 24.63.

• Boys High Jump: A thriller as Brock Furgison of Sturgis and Andrew Kraft of Zeeland West battled up to 6-10. At a meet-record tying 6-11, Furgison had three oh-so-close attempts.

• Girls High Jump: Equally thrilling, the girls saw a great duel between Madison Morson and Milena Chevallier. Salem’s Morson won at 5-10 before taking some decent shots at a state record 6-0. Mercy’s Chevallier scored with her 5-9.

• Girls 800: Kylee King, pedal-to-the-metal. That’s how the Oak Park senior likes to race. She burned through the first half of the 800 in 62.10, then finished with a 2:10.53 lifetime best. In 2nd, St Joe’s Gail Vakutis (2:12.08) held off Holt’s Lauren Walker (2:12.52).

• Boys Pole Vault: How special is a sophomore winning? Before Reece Emeott, it had last happened in 1970! The EK sophomore won at 15-3 to tie his PR and went out at a soph record 15-8.5.

• Girls Pole Vault: No surprise this year when Brooke Bowers wins. The Forest Hills Central senior defended her title at 12-9 and took some shots at a meet record 13-4.

• Boys Long Jump: Another great dual between defender Quincy Isaac of Canton (23-3.75) and Ann Arbor Huron’s Charlie Garner (22-10.5).

D2 - D3 - D4 - UP Highlights

• One veteran coach called it the “best state meet EVER.” That’s the D3 quadruple win by Onsted’s Emmry Ross in the 1600 (4:57.81), 400 (56.25), 800 (2:10.74 PR) and 3200 (10:55.27 PR). “It was fun because I got to run in the rain.” She singlehandedly captured Onsted the 2nd-place trophy with 40 points, as Hart won with 53, helped along by three wins from Addison Hovey (100, 200, HJ). MHSAA feature on Ross.

• Jake Machiniak led Berrien Springs to the D2 boys crown with his sprint double (10.74/21.76) along with anchors on both sprint relay wins (42.13 MR, 1:28.24).

• Pinckney’s Paul Moore took 2nd in the D2 1600 in 4:12.76 to TJ Hansen’s 4:11.31, then edged Connell Alford of Chelsea in the 3200, 9:07.53-9:07.62.

• Marshall’s Jack Bidwell ran a 1:50.80 anchor on Marshall’s D2-winning 4×8 (7:48.49). He later placed 4th in the 1600.

• Only No. 11 on the elite list going into the meet, shot putter Coopersville’s Gabe Vansickle rocketed to No. 1 with his 61-2 win over Brennan Faber of Parma Western (59-10.5 PR).

• Stevensville Lakeshore has a bright future, with two different freshmen winning D2 jumps titles. Declin Doroh took the high jump at 6-7, and Kaden Griffiths the long jump at 22-9.25.

• Divine Child won the D2 women’s trophy, helped along by frosh Aubrey Wilson, who won the 100 in 12.33.

• Sydney Kuhn of Swan Valley continued her amazing season. The junior won D2 400 in 55.06 and then the 200 in 24.89.

• The D2 meet record in the 800 fell to Layla Jordan of Goodrich in 2:09.92 in a race where the top 8 all PRed.

• Drew Muller of East Grand Rapids closed out her prep career with a 2:13.45 anchor on the winning 4×8 (9:20.39), a 4:51.49 win at 1600, and then an anchor on the winning 4 × 400 (4:01.88).

• It’s a shame that field event series weren’t published for D2, because the shot match between Kalia Monroe of Eastpointe and Janae Hudson of Marysville looks like it was a doozy. Monroe’s 45-6 won by two inches over Hudson’s 45-4. Hudson won the discus at 140-3.

• Trevor Smith of Pewamo-Westphalia took a close D3 100 over Hunter Wilson of Hillsdale, 10.81-10.82.

• Jerry Wiegers of North Muskegon took the long sprint double in 48.56 and 22.02. In the heats Cobey Cureton of Dearborn Advanced Tech ran 21.77 (-0.1), before finishing 8th in the final.

• After finishing 3rd in the 1600, Brad White won the 800 in a near-MR of 1:53.16, then led off Clare to the 4×4 win (3:22.38).

• The D3 shot was another great contest. Wish we knew who threw what when, but at the end, it was Pewamo-Westphalia’s Gavin Nuremberg topping Lawton’s Mason Mayne by a mere inch, 60-2 to 60-1.

• Hart’s Addison Hovey burnished her track resume with some D3 sprint wins to go with her high jumping. She won in 12.27 and 25.60, plus jumped 5-6 to equal that meet record.

• Owen Patton of Vestaburg won the D4 800 in a meet record 1:53.53.

• Kalamazoo Hackett smashed the D4 4×8 meet record with its 7:55.49.

• Aiden Harrand finished off her career for Buckley with D4 wins in the 400 (58.25) and 1600 (4:53.25). She ends up with 8 career wins on the track plus 2 in cross country.

• The best mark out of the UP boys meets was sophomore Gabe Litzner’s 9:35.63 for Sault Ste Marie in D1.

• Danica Shamion of West Iron County finished off her career with 13 wins in the UP’s D2. Her latest victories came in the 100 (12.85), 200 (26.17), 400 (56.94), and HJ (5-1).

• In UPD3, Emily Jokela of Lake Linden-Hubbell hurdled a PR 44.80, and also won the 100 (13.04) and 400 (58.61). She ends up with 10 career wins.

Team Winners (with links to MHSAA stories)

• D1 Boys - Kalamazoo Central 41

• D1 Girls - Oak Park 88

• D2 Boys - Berrien Springs 40

• D2 Girls - Dearborn Divine Child 46

• D3 Boys - Pewamo-Westphalia 57

• D3 Girls - Hart 53

• D4 Boys - Fowler 56

• D4 Girls - Fowler 70.5

• UPD1 Boys - Marquette 163

• UPD1 Girls - Sault Ste Marie 117

• UPD2 Boys - Pickford 137

• UPD2 Girls - Bark River-Harris 127.5

• UPD3 Boys - Newberry 96

• UPD3 Girls - Lake Linden-Hubbell 72

Records Broken

While no state records fell at this year’s finals, here’s a tally of the meet records that were set:

Division 1

• Boys 4 × 200 - 1:25.53 Holland West Ottawa (Charlie Sanders, Ruben Esparza, Andrew Spilotro, Desmond Chapa)

• Girls 1600 - 4:38.38 Rachel Forsyth (Ann Arbor Pioneer)

Division 2

• Boys 4 × 100 - 42.13 Berrien Springs (Zander White, Samuel Magesa, Kameron Autry, Jake Machiniak)

• Girls 800 - 2:09.92 Layla Jordan (Goodrich)

Division 3

• Boys 4 × 100 - 42.94 Standish Sterling (Aiden Coggins, Graysen LaPan, Andrew Stewart, Brody Sullivan)

• Girls HJ - 5-6 (ties record) Addison Hovey (Hart)

Division 4

• Boys 800 - 1:53.53 Owen Patton (Vestaburg)

• Boys LJ - 23-2 Anthony Buford (Detroit Douglas)

• Boys 4 × 100 - 42,86 Mt Clemens (Chris Walker, Neco Landers, Adrian Walker, Marquis Cribbs)

• Boys 4 × 800 - 7:55.49 Kalamazoo Hackett (Marek Butkiewicz, Alexander Dumont, Gavin Sehy, Sean Siems)

• Girls 800 - 2:13.51 Allie Nowak (Johannesburg-Lewiston)

• Girls 4 × 100 - 49.70 Frankfort (Alice Luther, Sofia Alaimo Schindler, Addison Jarosz, Gwyneth Dunaway)

• Girls 4 × 200 - 1:45.09 Portland St Patrick (Izzy Kissane, Sophia Schrauben, Kenzie Fedewa, Rylee Scheurer)

UP Division 2

• Girls 200 - 26.17 (-2.4) Danica Shamion (Iron River West Iron County)

• Girls 400 - 56.94 Danica Shamion (Iron River West Iron County)

UP Division 3

• Boys 4 × 200 - 1:34.64 Bessemer (Landon Peterson, Tommy Trudgeon, Alvin Holst-Larsen, Vinnie Triggiano)

• Girls 1600 - 5:14.91 Samantha Taylor (Newberry)

• Girls 300H - 44.80 Emily Jokela (Lake Linden-Hubbell)

• Girls LJ - 16-11 Samantha Kedsch (Carney-Nadeau)

D1 1500 & Mile Times

Thanks to Jacob Kuyvenhoven of Michiana Timing and Dan Wytko for taking the trouble to get 1500 and mile times for the runners in the D1 1600.

1500 BOYS Heat 1: Carter Fox 4:05.87; Mason Jett 4:06.32; Ishaan Kundapur 4:06.44; Ferdinand Viereck 4:06.84; Braxton Sipes 4:07.07; Willem DeGood 4:07.58; Vaughn Meyer 4:08.08; Vincent Peterson Sand 4:08.45; Carter Lukas 4:08.92; Brandon Blandino 4:09.45; Jack Martin 4:09.57; Jacob Essenmacher 4:10.57; Andrew Foshag 4:10.85; Ben Hartigan 4:16.78. 

1500 BOYS Heat 2: Seth Norder 3:48.23; Thomas Westphal 3:50.86; Jasper Cane 3:53.54; Kenny Lewis 3:53.64; Sebastian Ramirez 3:54.24; Anirudh Krishnan 3:56.97; Vincent Guaresimo 3:58.07; Seth Conner 3:58.37; Eric Overdier 4:02.51; Tyler Langley 4:04.55; Ty Parker 4:06.01; Brandon Anderson 4:07.69; Aiden Moore 4:09.51; Luka Hammond 4:09.75; James Cusick 4:10.34; Jackson Lam 4:13.04; Blake Peardon 4:32.27. 

1500 GIRLS: Rachel Forsyth 4:21.39; Selma Anderson 4:23.10; Helen Sachs 4:33.33; Victoria Garces 4:33.91; Elena Figueroa 4:34.21; Morgan Brown 4:34.41; Ella Christensen 4:34.78; Jayden Harberts 4:35.14; Emma Drnek 4:38.93; Carrigan Eberly 4:44.92; Leah Corby 4:45.44; Daisy Cox 4:45.64; Sylvia Sanok Dufallo 4:47.55; Aviana Skinner 4:47.85; Nora Gerzema 4:48.34; Mackenzie Dicken 4:48.76; Hannah DeRoeck 4:49.37; Kaelin Hughes 4:52.47; Alexandra Brigham 4:48.55; Ava King 4:58.78; Lucinda Paliani 4:59.35; Anyla Robinson 5:02.86; Violet Hrabovsky 5:03.89; Zofia Lutoborska 5:08.55.

The mile times were a different beast, since not everyone passed that line. Luckily, however, both winners went through at full-speed. Here are the times for the others who ran through that line.

MILE BOYS: Seth Norder 4:04.42; Jasper Cane 4:10.97; Sebastian Ramirez 4:14.97; Ty Parker 4:25.24.

MILE GIRLS: Rachel Forsyth 4:39.90; Selma Anderson 4:43.59; Victoria Garces 4:53.52; Elena Figueroa 4:54.58.

This Weekend

• MITCA Champion of Champions (6/7-8): Back for a second year, the first of the big post-season meets will once again be hosted by Davison. The race to watch: the girls 800 features 8 of the 10 fastest in the state, led by Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth. Geena Gall’s state record 2:05.05 could be in trouble. Live results. Streaming at freetracklive.com.

• NCAA D1 Championships (6/5-8): Last week I mentioned all the Michigan HS alumni competing. Live results. On ESPN2/ESPN.

• USATF NYC GP (6/8-9): The 1500 on Sunday brings together three of our favorites: Hobbs Kessler, Morgan Beadlescomb, and Grant Fisher (It’s a shame it’s not a mile… Fisher’s PR there is still his high school mark). Discus on Saturday will feature Alex Rose, Brian Williams and Andrew Evans. Live results. On Peacock/NBC.

• European Championships (6/7-12): Ann Arbor Huron grad Cindy Sember will be competing in the 100H. Live results.

Interview: Northville’s Brendan Herger

For all of Brendan Herger’s accomplishments over the last few years for Northville High School, his D1 800 win marked his first individual state title. From humble beginnings as a 2:06.57 performer as a 9^th grader, he has become one of the top runners in Michigan history.

His sophomore year saw his breakthrough to elite levels. After anchoring the Mustangs to the 4 x 800 win in 7:44.71 at the D1 Finals, he finished 4^th in the 1600 in 4:10.65 and 7^th in the 800 in 1:55.81. Last year he ran 1:50.71 on anchor for a repeat relay win, destroying the state record with a 7:35.52. Then he improved his 800 to 1:52.19 and placed 2^nd.

This season, he has demonstrated better speed than ever, with PRs of 48.73, 1:49.44 and 4:07.80 (4:09.31y) prior to the Finals. At East Kentwood, he anchored the winning relay for the third-straight time, with a 1:54.58. In the 800, he followed for the first half in 56.27 before sprinting his second lap in 53.81 to leave the field far behind as he won in 1:50.08, a time only Donavan Brazier bettered in meet history. Then came the 4 x 400, a race he described as the “most fun of all.” Running in heat 3 of 4, Herger anchored in 47.67, helping the team to a 3:22.65 that placed them 7^th overall.

With one more weekend of high school racing in his future, he is looking forward to his future as a Michigan Wolverine.

Michtrack: Did you have fun at the state finals?

Herger: I had a blast. My favorite part was the 4x4, though, for sure.

Michtrack: Cool. Go through the day for me. What did you think of how the 4x8 went?

Herger: Hopefully this isn't offensive to them, but I did not expect my team to perform so well. I think all of them had their best days. They stepped up big time, especially Ethan, his workouts had been reflecting that he could run like 1:54. And I just think he never was able to really put it together in the last 200, but Ben Romero was the guy he was running against. And I think the fact that it was just like a one-on-one, I've never seen Ethan that fueled up to just race.

Michtrack: And that ended up being kind of a gift for you in the sense that you did not have to go to the wall on that race, so you could run the 800 fresh.

Herger: Yeah, I was thrilled. But also, I kind of have some regrets because now our seed time for New Balance Nationals is a little worse.

Michtrack: Yeah, there's that. Now, the decision to scratch the 1600, did you do that that day or was that a decision made days in advance?

Herger: That was decided probably 35 minutes before the race.

Michtrack: Really? What was the thinking?

Herger: This was probably the best overall team that Northville has had. My coach thought we had a chance at winning the meet. We were basically just waiting to see what our points looked like before the mile because I didn't want to do it, but he was going to have me do it if we had a chance to win. And it was just looking a little out of reach [Northville eventually placed 5th, 10 points behind the winner]. And I think he felt kind of bad for me because it was my dream to win an individual title. And so, he let me scratch the mile.

Michtrack: How did you feel during that 800?

Herger:  I've been just doing speed for the last two or three weeks. And I've never felt this fast. I don't know, aerobically, if I'm in my best shape of my life. But in terms of my top speed and ability to sprint, I've never been this fast in my life. And I've been really focusing on kind of opening up my hands and really using my arms to power through the homestretch. Last year, I was closing my 800s in 29s and 30s. And I think that was, like, a 26 or 27 low [for the last 200].

Michtrack: Then you finished up with a 4x4. Did the meet live up to your hopes as your senior year state finals?

Herger: Yes, most definitely. I loved that the race was in the rain for the 800. I don't even know why I loved it. It just feels like it makes it a little more unique, a little extra challenge. I feel like some guys see bad weather and they shut down. And I love that because I know I won't shut down. So that eliminates some of the competition.

And then, I had so much fun with my teammates. Every year, Northville always has a great team, so I'm never alone. I never have to warm up by myself. I always feel very confident and kind of excited to run the relays with my teammates, which reduces my nerves for the rest of the week.

Michtrack: What's next? What do you have on the calendar?

Herger: I'm going to New Balance Nationals after this weekend. And I decided I'm only running the 800 for the rest of the year. We’ve got the 4x8 and the open 800 there. I don't feel too confident in the mile, and also, I don't think I could really win anything. And I think that the 800 shape I'm in right now would give me a decent chance at winning it. All-American, hopefully, but the win would be great.

Michtrack: No Brooks PR? No USATF U20?

Herger: No. Brooks reached out to me to see if I could make it. The race is on a Wednesday, and I run the 4x8 the same Friday [at New Balance]. And so, I would have to fly home on Thursday and then fly out again because we already have our flights booked for New Balance. And it was going to be super crowded.

I'm honestly excited to finish up the season and get to the summer so I can do some traveling and just like some easy runs and just chill out. Because track is super stressful, especially when I have so many expectations. I love that team. And I think the most awesome part is that like after last year, it was three new guys coming before me in the relay. Huge adjustments there. But I think Northville is going to do it again. We're going for it again. I'll be there to watch for sure.

Michtrack: How do you like your chances of going after Donavan Brazier’s state record 1:47.55 at New Balance?

Herger: It might be a bit of a stretch, but I feel like I'm in shape for it. We did a shortened version of the Michigan workout. My last two reps, there was an 800, I did it in 1:56. And then a 600, I did it in 1:20. That workout right there just made me feel like I could take a crack at sub-1:48 if I'm on a fast pace. I think Patrick Hilby will be there [from Illinois]. He loves to go out hard. And I have yet to go out hard in a race this year. Hopefully I can stick right on his shoulder and see what I can do. 1:47 would be amazing.

Michtrack: It would be fun to see. I'll be watching.

Other Things

• Thanks to the folks at Michiana Timing for their yeoman work this weekend! They care about getting it right. I emailed Don Passenger about missing wind readings in D3 and a couple hours later he had them online. Much appreciated!

• Many thanks to Pete Draugalis: The master himself, his photo wizardry has been invaluable to Michtrack. You can contact him through Draugalisphotography.net.

• East Kentwood took state meet hosting to a new level with live throw-by-throw, jump-by-jump results from every field event, and the use of the big stadium video board for athlete interviews. The fans thank you!

• Megastar Moves to Thursday: The big Megastar middle school meet at Shepherd is moving from Wednesday to Thursday because of expected storms.

• RunMichigan Photos of the State Finals: Click here.