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- #88 - Don't Doubt Brazier
Inside This Issue
In Case You Doubted Brazier…
On Sunday night he raced another 800, this one in Portland. He went out in 52.74, in 4th place. Then he turned on the jets and crushed his opposition with a 51.07 final lap. Barring disaster, the Kenowa Hills alum will definitely be in the mix for a spot on Team USA at the World Champs.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said afterwards. “It felt good. It felt organic and natural.” He says that his time away has taught him to be smarter about his workouts. “I’m not so hard-headed about my workouts and my running days. If I’m not feeling good, I just don’t run… I don’t think if I miss a day or two running it’s the end of the world like I used to.
“I had three total [surgeries] with that right foot that kind of had issues, but it just took time to heal. Like I did all the PT I could possibly do and tried to recover as best as I could with machinery, but it's just sometimes it has to come naturally and sometimes it naturally takes a while.”
Besides the never-ending physical therapy, how did Brazier keep busy for three years? “Hunting and fishing and enjoying Northern Michigan. You know, I don't get to join a Michigan summer as much as I'd like to this year, but it's a good sacrifice to be running fast and be on the track scene again.”
What’s next? “No clue, no clue at all. I'm just taking it race by race and he likes to reevaluate, see how my body's doing, which is the main priority. And if I'm feeling healthy, I'll probably try to get in a faster race against great guys.”
Michigan HS Alumni At The NCAA D1
Decathlete Ben Barton.
Here’s how our people did in Eugene:
Ben Barton (Seaholm/BYU) placed 6th in the decathlon with 7777 points. His breakdown: 100—10.67; LJ—23-0; SP—41-7; HJ—6-7; 110H—14.22; DT—120-11; PV—14-1.75; JT—169-11; 1500—4:33.76.
Dylan Targgart (Coldwater/South Carolina) made first team All-America with his shot put 7th (63-11).
UM’S Brendan Herger (Northville) & Trent McFarland (Utica) both made the 1500 final. In that final, Herger placed 9th in 3:47.88, McFarland 11th in 3:47.94. Their final 400s say a lot about how the race went—Herger 51.60, McFarland 51.76. Amazingly, they had qualified out of a heat where some very big names did not advance, including the collegiate record holder.
Emily Paupore (Negaunee/CMU) took 11th in the steeplechase at 9:54.94 (after a 9:43.24 semi).
Kaila Jackson (Renaissance/Georgia) ran 5th in her 100 semi at 11.15. We missed our chance to see her in the 4×1 when the Bulldogs were DQed in the semis.
Fatouma Conde (AA Huron/Ohio St) was 5th in her 200 semi in 22.91. She also ran second leg on the Buckeye 4×1 that finished a non-advancing 5th in the semis.
Braxton Brann (AA Huron/Ohio State) placed 8th in his hurdle semi in 13.83. He also led off the Ohio State 4×1 that was 7th in its semi.
Taamal Myers (Cass Tech/UCLA) ran 8th in his 400H semi at 51.24.
Kellen Kimes (Hart/Liberty) placed 24th in the hammer at 199-0.
Andrew Nolan (Lake Orion/MSU) was 12th in his steeple semi in 8:45.83.
Clare McNamara (Northville/UM) placed 20th in the heptathlon at 4980. Her breakdown: 100H—14.96w; HJ—5-3; SP—42-11.5; 200—25.86; LJ—17-4.,25; JT—66-9; 800—2:13.17.
Abigail Russell (Allen Park/UM) finished 21st in the shot at 53-9.
Zofia Dudek (Pioneer/Stanford) was 17th in the 5000 in 15:53.91.
Rachel Forsyth (Pioneer/MSU) was 18th in the 5000 (15:57.28).
Quick 400s: Austion 47.00, Burns 53.86!
Last Thursday Oak Park hosted the Motor City Nationals Elite Meet, a tune-up for New Balance Nationals. With an extra weekend between our state finals and nationals, this seemed a perfect opportunity to give athletes one more chance to sharpen up. Given the quality of the performances, the timing was perfect.
In the, junior Rondre Austion continued his post-season improvement, smashing the state-leading time in the 400 down to 47.00. Behind him, there were PRs for Jaelyn Martin (47.43) and Demari Caldwell (48.17). Austion’s mark makes him =No. 10 in state history, and the second-fastest junior ever. (Hopefully this video link from his dad’s account works for you: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1053703706694498).
Nevaeh Burns continued showing her improvement, with a 53.86 PR win over Mauriel Seeberger (54.73). She is now No. 7 in state history.
In the boys 100, Jeremy Dixon blistered a 10.55 with a legal 0.4 wind. That got him home barely ahead of the shocking 10.57 from Peyton Trammer. A junior at Belleville, Trammer is the biggest shock of the meet. During the school season, he had legal bests of 11.09 and 22.35; he ran on the Tigers’ D1 championship 4×1 and 4×2 teams. Good stuff, but nothing to prepare us for his breakthrough Thursday. First he slashed his PR by 0.36 in the heats with a 10.73 (0.1). Then another 0.16 improvement in the final. He’s definitely one to watch.
Dixon also won a swift 200 in 21.03 (1.2 wind). Behind him came Chance McNeill (21.16), Devin James (21.28 PR), Santino Cicarella (21.29 PR) and Austion (21.44 PR). In the hurdles, Schmar Gamble won in 13.99 (0.6) with Will Jaiden Smith taking the 400 hurdles in No. 7 all-time 52.33 over Phillip Burney (52.57 for No. 9).
Kamryn Tatum won the 100 easily in 11.75 (0.8). The 200 is where things got really interesting. It was breaklthrough Seeberger who took the win in a state-leading 23.89 with a 0.7 tailwind. Tatum (23.93) and Malise Brown (23.94) also followed her under the 24-second barrier.
In the hurdles, Carrie VanNoy popped a state-leading 13.72 with a 1.0 wind, Jada Wilson hitting 13.97 in 2nd. Sydney Kuhn tried the 400 hurdles and fared quite well, her 58.64 the No. 2 performance in state history after Nonah Waldron’s record 58.10.
Other HS Highlights
Sydney Kuhn won the B section of the 400 hurdles at the pro meet in Windsor in 59.02. That ‘s the No. 4 performance in state history.
Nolan Stubblefield threw a PR 162-7 n the hammer to win the SC Amicus Throws meet in Grand Rapids.
More big hammer throws came at the USATF Open meet at Olivet. Allyson Broaddus threw 130-2 and Shelbie Choponis 128-9. They move to Nos. 8 and 9 all-time in Michigan history. Liam Takace uncorked a 186-4 to move to No. 2 in state history.
Coming Up: The big shoe company nationals are this weekend. Nike is in Eugene (livestream here). New Balance is in Philadelphia (livestream). Adidas will be in Greensboro (livestream). Also, the USATF U20 Championships are being held concurrently with the first 2 days of the Nike event.
Don’t forget the Meier State Games! The track & field events will be Saturday at East Kentwood. Details here.
College/Pro Highlights
Stark wins in Stockholm.
In the Stockholm Diamond League, Grace Stark (Lakeland) produced a beautiful flight of hurdles, taking the victory in 12.33, her second-fastest time yet. Wind 1.4. Morgan Beadlescomb (Algonac) placed 8th in the 5000 at 13:13.37. Watch: video of Stark’s race.
Shuaib Aljabaly (Coldwater) placed 6th in the USATF 4 Mile Road Champs, running 18:22.
Aasia Laurencin (Oak Park) racing in Windsor, hurdled a windy 12.87 (2.8) heat before rocketing to a St. Lucia Record and PR 12.69 in the final (2.0). Only 4 Michiganders have ever raced faster.
Trevor Stephenson (East Kentwood) vaulted 17-7 at WIndsor for the win.
Ben Haas (Clarkston) hammered 211-10.
Kristen Leland (Chippewa Hills) vaulted 14-6.
Other Things
RIP Mary Angell - A sad farewell to Mary Angell, who was one of our state’s best throwers ever while at Byron Center. She went on to become an All-American at Kentucky and then an operations and student services administrator at a number of the nation’s top track & field programs.
Also, by popular demand, the 1922 Michigan Girls Elite List!
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