#84 - Regionals Set The Stage

Mini-Newsletter this week

May 23, 2025

Inside This Issue

HS Highlights

A few regional results that will make the upcoming state finals even more interesting…

Rockford’s Greta Caprathe leads the state.

  • Aubrey Wilson of Dearborn Divine Child is looking very dangerous, with wind-legal clockings of 11.82 and 24.39.

  • Heritage’s Jordynn Young sprinted wind-legal times of 11.97 & 25.21.

  • Sydney Kuhn of Swan Valley hit 54.03 in the 400 and 24.87 into a big 2.0 headwind. She also hurdled 45.33 and anchored her team to a 3:56.32 relay.

  • Watch out for Cass Tech! Fast-improving Caylin Ivy (55.11) and Malise Brown (55.12) dominated the 400 at the Grosse Pointe Regional.

  • Midland Dow’s Sydney Roberts clocked 56.07 at her regional.

  • Emmry Ross ran 4:49.62, 55.12, 2:06.16 and 11:13.95 for 2nd in the 3200 (to Eliza Bush’s 10:55.50).

  • Belleville’s Jada Wilson hurdled 14.10 into a headwind, then 43.52 and 24.87.

  • Oak Park’s Carrie VanNoy hurdled 14.20, also into the wind, then 43.51.

  • Salem’s Natalia Bohn hurdled 44.95 at Novi.

  • Brooklyn Harmon of Middleville hurdled 44.81 at Portage.

  • Rockford’s Greta Caprathe jumped a state-leading 5-9, plus 18-1.25.

  • Celeste Davis of Renassance flew a windy 18-10.25 at Rochester.

  • Oak Park’s relays hit state leaders of 1:40.02 & 3:48.42.

  • Holland West Ottawa relayed 9:15.20, ahead of Zeeland East’s 9:18.07.

On the boy’s side…

  • Jaiden Melton emerged as a force in the dash, with a wind-legal 10.71 for D2’s River Rouge. Teammate Donpaul Keith took the 200 in 21.77.

  • Cass Tech’s Jaelyn Martin ripped a state-leading 47.73 in the 400.

  • Ann Arbor Huron’s Kinley Poole ran a near-PR 48.26 at 400.

  • Belleville’s hurdlers did not hold back at Lincoln. First, Will Jaiden Smith edged teammate Schmar Gamble in the highs, 13.79-13.81. Then Smith took the 300s in 36.94.

  • Mason Darke of Reeths-Puffer put together a nice 38.13 in the 300H.

  • At Milford, Giovanni Charles of Walled Lake Central and Billy Drake of Lapeer both leaped 6-8.

  • Tryce Tokar of Ovid-Elsie cleared 15-0 in the vault.

  • Midland’s Maxwell Stoecker threw the shot 60-8.

  • Holt’s Carl Finton threw 179-5 in the discus.

  • Petoskey blasted 41.83 in the 4 × 100, becoming the No. 7 school in state history.

  • Sterling Heights Stevenson also broke 42.00, with a 41.98.

  • Oak Park relayed a state leader 3:17.98.

  • Ann Arbor Huron won with its 3:19.44.

  • Cass Tech also broke 3:20, at 3:19.96.

  • Pioneer impressed with its 7:48.18 for 4×8.

How Did We Do?

With our regionals being the biggest set of meets organized by the MHSAA, it’s fair to ask how many of them produced credible results through the use of wind gauges. Overall, it’s very encouraging for the big schools, with 14/20 D1 and D2 regionals using them. For the rest, it’s pretty ugly. Zero out of 28 for D3/D4/UP.

Kids deserve times they can count on, and school record boards that are accurate. They pour their hearts out on the track, and deserve accurate results. This is becoming even more of a factor in the age of EQ, when we need to get a real statistical handle on the outliers that are populating some of those lists.

It’s become clear that the answer is to rely on the timing companies. They do it without asking for the college meets. It can be done at the high school level too, as other states have shown us. Is it one more thing on an already-crowded to-do list? Yes. Is it hard or expensive? Nope. It can be done with a $15 gauge and 2 minutes of explanation to a kid on the hurdle crew.

I used to happy when I heard of high school coaches buying wind gauges. However, it seems they generally stay in their desk drawers, even for big meets. So our profound thanks go to the companies that are doing it right: Michiana Timing, Fairchild Sports Timing, LAB Timing, and DL Pro Timing. (Hopefully I didn’t miss anyone; if so, let me know.)

This Weekend

Of course, lots going on, including college nationals for D2, D3 and the NAIA. Distance Night Under the Lights in Grand Rapids will feature an 800 match-up between Emmry Ross and Sydney Kuhn, among other great races. TJ Hansen will be racing in Huntsville, Alabama, at the RunningLane Championships. MITCA will host its team meets, and Oakland County athletes will have their championships as well.

College/Pro Highlights

Big 10 in Eugene

Evan Bishop (left) stayed on his feet to finish 3rd in the Big Ten 10,000.

  • Trent McFarland (Utica/UM) placed 4th in 3:53.82 and Brendan Herger (Northville/UM) was 5th in 3:54.21. The story, as usual in the Big 10 1500, was the kick: McFarland 51.82, Herger 51.93.

  • Evan Bishop (EGR/Oregon) placed 3rd in the 10K at 29:25.13.

  • Riley Hough (Hartland/MSU) placed 4th in the 5000 in 13:34.19 PR.

  • In the 110H, Braxton Brann (AAH/OSU) was 7th in 13.98 after a 13.66 heat. Brann also ran a 46.15 third leg on the winning Ohio State 4×4.

  • In the steeple, Caleb Jarema (Pinckney/UM) finished 2nd in 8:42.53. Andrew Nolan (Lake Orion/MSU) was 4th in 8:42.88.

  • High jumper Brady Schultz (Menominee/MSU) placed 7th at 6-9.

  • Zane Forrest (Carson City C/UM) was 7th in the discus at 186-11.

  • Eli Winter (Alpena/UM) placed 6th in the hammer at 218-8.

  • Decathlete Dylan Terryberry (Onsted/MSU) placed 7th with 7140 points.

  • In the women’s 800, Shae Harbaugh (Clarkston/MSU) ran 7th in 2:04.63.

  • Rachel Forsyth (AAP/MSU) placed 5th in both the 1500 in 4:15.70 and 5000 in 15:43.81.

  • Nonah Waldron (Oak Park/USC) hurdled to 3rd in 13.05.

  • High jumper Gabriella Newman (AAP/UM) cleared 5-8.75 for 7th.

  • Elle Adrian (Standish-Sterling/MSU) threw 200-0 for 7th in the hammer.

  • Clare McNamara (Northville/UM) placed 6th in the heptathlon at 5698.

Other Meets

  • Ben Barton (Seaholm/BYU) won the Big 12 decathlon at 7865.

  • Samari Finney (Warren Mott/Northwestern Louisiana) won the Southland Conference long jump with a 20-9.25 PR. She also has PRed in the sprints this season: 11.83, 22.68 & 54.05.

  • Kaila Jackson (Renaissance/Georgia) placed 3rd in the SEC 200 (22.66) and 4th in the 100 (11.19).

  • Kellen Kimes (Hart/Liberty) was 2nd in the Conference USA hammer (202-3).

  • Adelyn Fairley (Hart/Liberty) took the 10,000 in 35:55.45 and was runner-up at 5000 (16:52.96).

  • At the Mid-American Conference, Isabella Brent (Divine Child/EMU) placed 3rd in the hammer at 188-9.

  • Drew Knieper (Lake Orion/EMU) speared 2nd in the javelin at 194-11.

  • Emily Paupore (Negaunee/CMU)won the MAC steeple in 9:57.18. Teammate Emma Janesak (Sparta/CMU) was 3rd in 10:45.27. Paupore came back to take the 5000 in 17:00.64.

  • Mill Coleman III (GR Catholic) and George Gage (Avondale) ran on EMU’s winning 4 × 100 (41.05).

  • Michael Hawkins (Cass T/EMU) placed 3rd in the 400H (53.17).

  • Micah Martin (L’Anse Creuse/EMU) placed 2nd in the high jump at 5-9.25.

  • At the Atlanta City Games, Udodi Onwuzurike (Brother Rice) placed 2nd in the 100 in a wind-aided 10.05.

  • At a local high school track in Atlanta, Nick Foster (AAP) PRed at 1500 in 3:37.97.

  • Freddie Crittenden (Utica) ran 2nd in the 110H in 13.33.

  • Grace Stark (Lakeland) finished 3rd in the 100H in a barely windy (2.1) 12.36.

Other Things

  • Help to Keep This Newsletter Going! Details here.

  • Will Jaiden Smith - One of the long-awaited college decisions was just announced. The Belleville star will compete for South Florida next year.

  • Cayden Broadnax of Houston, who won the Big 12 dash in 10.15, is the grandson of Detroit prep legend Delisa Walton Floyd and her husband, former world class sprinter Stanley Floyd.

  • Remembering Don Lukens: The late Loy Norrix and Traverse City Central coach will be honored in a ceremony Sunday, May 25, at 1:00 pm at the TC Central track. You can find details here.

  • Thanks to the timing companies who have been using a wind gauge and reporting the readings on athletic.net!

  • The 2025 Boys Outdoor Lists

  • The 2025 Girls Outdoor Lists

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