In This Issue

• The Forgotten All-Around Athlete

• 300M Rule Gone, But…

• High School News - State records for Waldron & Kimes

• Alumni News: Some big D1 conference champions!

• Legend: John McLean, our earliest Olympian

• Interview: Benne Anderson, Ottawa Hills’ Reigning Distance King

• That little stuff at the end

Who’s The Best All-Around Athlete On Your Team?

Now, I’m not talking about the person with one exceptional skillset, for instance, a middle distance runner who can do big things at 400 and the 1600. Rather, I’m looking for the person that can do pretty darn good things at events that aren’t necessarily related. The pole vaulter who runs distance, the sprinter/hurdler/thrower, etc. Sometimes these athletes might not even make it to the state finals because they are not great in any one thing, but they can do almost anything really, really good. And it seems like every team has one.

At the college level, we know these people as multi-eventers, our decathletes and heptathletes. They can use their versatility to shine and score points. But many of our HS all-arounders never make it to a college team. We’ve given them no place to shine beyond the high school dual meet, and college recruiters often don’t notice them in time.

Sometimes they do get spotted. I watched Sophie Daugard of Howell while I was having a blast announcing the KLAA meet on her home track. First in the long jump (16-9.75 into a headwind), 1st in the shot (42-10 PR), 4th in the 100 (12.83 PR) and I’m pretty sure she ran a leg on the 4×4. Ball State smartly signed her to be a heptathlete.

Grand Haven’s Mason Mahacek was not a big high school star. Junior year, the one they say is important for recruiting, he finished 10th in the D1 pole vault, 19th in the high jump. Senior year he improved to 4th and 15th… and ran lots of relays. Luckily he got his chance at Michigan. This weekend he finished 4th in the Big 10 decathlon with a PR 7560.

Too often, though, these multi-eventers never get their shot. It’s something we can change. Consider this: after the state meet, a HS decathlon/heptathlon state championship could be held under the MITCA banner, and if it’s successful, maybe it would be something the MHSAA would endorse. Already at least 6 states host a similar event: Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington. (And I particularly like Connecticut’s version that offers competition in other unrecognized events, the hammer and steeplechase.)

And even if all these multi-talented kids don’t continue on in college, someday they’ll be watching the Olympics on television and they’ll see part of the decathlon or heptathlon. They’ll be able to say, “Hey, I did that once.” How cool would that be?

The 300-Mile Rule is Dead—Now how do we kill its replacement?

The big news for our sport is that the rule that high school coaches have complained about forever is gone. The MHSAA’s infamous 300-mile rule that severely limited our athletes’ ability to compete out of state. Now they can compete in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Ontario. For the full release, click here.

It’s a step in the right direction, but in our opinion it’s flawed on two counts. One is that the MHSAA feels compelled to craft a rule that is one-size-fits-all so that it works for all of its sports, be they team or individual. And I know that many of our readers will insist that high school T&F is a team sport. It is in many contexts, but it usually functions in the real world as an individual sport. I think the MHSAA should consider a carve-out that would let standout individual athletes represent their schools as individuals in national in-season events such as the Arcadia Invitational in California or the Penn Relays.

(And yes, individuals can compete in two “unattached” events per season, but they can’t represent their school in those. Arcadia and Penn both forbid unattached athletes in their HS events. The only reason Dathan Ritzenhein got to run in the Penn Relays while in high school is that he was good enough to run in the Olympic Development 5000, which was not a high school event.)

My other issue with this type of rule is a touch more philosophical. Rules like this are paternalistic in nature. They rest on the assumption that the MHSAA knows better how to parent our athletes than their own parents do. We hear horror stories of the mayhem that could result if those rules went away. But yet, high school dance teams fly across the nation to perform at Disney World, debate teams will be gathering this June in Arizona, and those young spelling bee geniuses will be flocking to Maryland. And I don’t hear anything about mayhem. Instead I see schools honoring and celebrating those achievements. Maybe we can also trust track kids to represent us honorably?

This Week In HS Track…

What a week. I still haven’t absorbed it all and I’m far behind on catching up with the lists. So many big results… and yet I saved this section for last and it’s past my bedtime and I see a crash coming. So once again I ignore too many deserving performances and give you only the biggest highlights. And forgive the typos because my proofreader just went to bed.

Hurdlemania: Oak Park just won’t quit being Oak Park! Brandon Jiles’ hurdle crew went nuts again at their conference meet Thursday. USC-bound Nonah Waldron nailed a PR 13.54 in the 100 hurdles (wind -0.4), with soph Carrie VanNoy 2nd in a PR 14.47 and Morgan Roundtree 3rd (14.52). Then came the 300 hurdles, where Waldron stunned by cutting an amazing 0.45 off Roundtree’s recent state record with a 41.17 that makes her No. 4 in the U.S. Behind her, Roundtree hit 41.68, now the No. 3 performance in MI history. And VanNoy got a PR 45.57.

Sub-4:00? Will the season end with another sub-4-minute miler to join the exclusive club that only Grant Fisher and Hobbs Kessler hang out in? Benne Anderson of GR Ottawa Hills went after it at the OK Gold champs at historic Houseman Field. After a 2:03+ first half, he closed well to pass 1600 in 4:01.70 and the mile in 4:03.04. He’s now No. 2 in state outdoor history (remember, Kessler’s sub-4:00 was indoors. Outdoors he did his big running at 1500m).

Kimes is at it again: Hart High’s national champion, Kellen Kimes, continues to excel at an event the MHSAA doesn’t even offer. At a throws meet Sunday in Caledonia, Ohio, he broke his own state record in the hammer with a throw of 197-8. That makes him No. 5 in the U.S. And he had a foul of 211+ (the current national leader is 211-11). The same day the Liberty-bound senior hit state leaders in both the shot (62-1) and discus (183-4). Check out some of the videos here.

Alumni News

Udodi Onwuzurike (Brother Rice-Stanford) placed 2nd in the Pac-12 100 in 10.23, then came back to win the 200 in 19.91 (0.9). That makes him the No. 2 collegian ever, as well as the first Michigander under 20. Watch the race.

Kaila Jackson (Renaissance-Georgia) took 2nd in the SEC 100 in 11.04, then 3rd in the 200 at 22.65. Both are PRs, and the 100 is the fastest time ever by a Michigander.

Trevor Stephenson (East Kentwood-MSU) won the Big 10 vault at 18-0 (5.49).

Aasia Laurencin (Oak Park-UM) won the Big 10 hurdles in 12.85 (1.3) after a PR 12.95 heat. Here’s a fun look at her 12.95 qualifying heat.

Corinne Jemison (East Kentwood-UM) won the Big 10 discus with a 190-7 (58.08) after placing 4th in the shot the day before.

Malin Smith (Lansing Waverly-Texas Tech) won the Big 12 discus with a 185-1 (56.41).

Carter Solomon (Plymouth-Notre Dame) won the ACC 10.000 in 30:18.84.

Matthew Moorer (Ypsi Lincoln-Baylor) led off the Bears’ Big 12 winning 4×4.

Morgan Beadlescomb (Algonac-MSU-adidas) continues to be on a roll, with 6 PRs in his last 9 races. The latest is a 13:12.95 for 5000 at Mt SAC on May 6. Only Grant Fisher and Dathan Ritzenhein are faster among native Michiganders.

Legend: John McLean - Menominee 1897
Michigan’s First Track Olympian

The first track & field Olympian from Michigan hailed from the Upper Peninsula town of Menominee. John Frederick McLean was perhaps better known as a football player, being an All-American in 1899 for the University of Michigan despite only weighing 151 pounds. In his final game for the Wolverines, he scored on a 40-yard run against Wisconsin.

On the track that spring he had set UM records in the 120-yard hurdles and the long jump.

In the 1900 Olympics in Paris, McLean competed in four events: the 110 hurdles (silver medal in 15.5), the long jump (6^th place at 21-1.25), the triple jump and standing triple jump.

McLean was born in Canada on January 10, 1878. After the Olympics he became a football coach, leading the programs at Knox College and the University of Missouri. He was quite successful. In his time at Knox, his teams outscored the opposition 469-90. However, he was fired from Missouri in 1906 for his part in a scandal involving payments to an athlete.

Little is known about his post-sports life. He lived in Detroit, and at various times was a carpenter, a clerk, a salesman and unemployed. He was married with three children. He died on June 4, 1955, and is buried in Menominee.

Interview: Benne Anderson - Ottawa Hills

Benne Anderson is no stranger to the highest levels of prep running in Michigan. As a junior he placed 3^rd in D1 cross country. Then in track, after an 8:56.38 in Farmington, he kicked to the D1 win at 3200 over favored Riley Hough. This year, though, Anderson has moved to a new level. He captured the D1 XC title by a few strides ahead of Grand Haven’s Seth Norder. Then he qualified for nationals—twice—becoming the first Michigan boy to race in both the NXN finals and the Champs (ex-Foot Locker) finals in the same year. On the track, he ran 4:08.33 for the mile at the GR Elite Challenge, clocking 4:07.33 for 1600 en route. A week later, he dominated the Shepherd BlueJay 3200, his 8:41.50 cementing his claim as one of the nation’s best. We initially talked after that race, and then again after his next big one, his attempt to break the 4:00 mile at the OK Gold meet. He hit 4:03.04 (4:01.60 for 1600), becoming the No. 2 outdoor miler in state history.

Michtrack: Tell us about that 8:41 race at Shepherd.

Anderson: We went out way too fast in that first lap, we were on like a 61. So that made the rest of the race a bit harder. Cause I was pretty… not worn out, but I could definitely notice it compared to if we got in a nice 65 or something. It was overall a pretty good race. I think it was more a mentally challenging race than anything. Before the end I was a little bit alone for a while, so I was trying to just keep myself on pace and try to run 65s for the rest the race.

Michtrack: Were you surprised you didn't have company much of that way?

Anderson: A little bit. Then I was a little surprised when I started to hear that I was getting company when Seth [Norder] started coming back (laughs). That scared me a bit. But yeah, I was expecting to maybe be alone for the last maybe two or three laps.

Michtrack: Did you hit the number you were looking for?

Anderson: I was actually hoping for a little bit more. I was hoping to break 8:40, to be honest. But I felt really good after the race too. So I feel like this is just like the tip of the iceberg. It's my first real two mile of this year. A rust buster's the wrong word, because this was definitely an actual race.

Michtrack: Judging from what I saw of you in cross country and then your 4:08 mile a few weeks ago, it looks like you're a much better runner than you were last year.

Anderson: I think so. Especially for track, I feel a lot better this year. My mileage has gone up. I was doing 70 miles a week, which was 10-15 up from what I was doing last year. Obviously, I'm not doing that right now during the track season, but my base is way higher now. I'm feeling pretty good too.

Michtrack: You've always been a savvy racer. There were people that were really quite surprised that you beat Riley Hough last year in the D1 Finals 3200. Did you enter that race confident that you could win?

Anderson: It was definitely my plan. I had been plotting with my coach a little bit. We had been really hoping that Seth would give Riley a good run for his money in the mile. And he did that. So we were definitely scheming a little bit more than you would in a regular race. I think one thing that helped me was I was really focused on my 4x8 that day. My team's pretty small and that was the first time I'd ever been running with a full team with the same goal in mind, if that makes sense. So I was really focused on that race and I think it kind of helped me. If I hadn't had that, I think I would've been a bit more stressed out about actually racing Riley. Back to what you said, yeah, the goal was to beat him. Was I surprised it happened? Yeah, very (laughs).

Michtrack: Were you happy with your cross country season last fall?

Anderson: Overall I enjoyed it. I was really happy with the end of it for the most part. The national races were fun.

Michtrack: It’s a tough double to do both Nike team and then Champ/Foot Locker race. Was it tougher than you bargained for?

Anderson: I had picked one of the two to be more of a go all-out type of race. I was going to try at the other one, but I was trying to look at it more of a meet other runners, make connections… networking. I don't know if that's what you want to call it. I didn't get to go my junior year and so I was really just hoping to get a bit of that runner experience.

Michtrack: How did you get started as a runner?

Anderson: Oh gosh. Back in sixth grade, one of my teachers started this thing called the Running Club. And it was mandatory for all students in his class. And you had to run three laps around the school. I think it was probably 1200m altogether, maybe a little more. I ran it, I think I was one of the first, in what I thought was fast. And then I remember telling my teacher, “You know, someday I could be a really good runner.” And I remember him just kind of laughing and kind of thinking, “Oh, this sixth grader, who does he think he is?” And then later in eighth grade, one of my friends joined the middle school cross country team. And so I joined up with them and, and my sister started too. I just built up from there. I met one of my best friends, Liam Walters. He used to be way, way better than me back in middle school. I always wanted to beat him and that drove me to start putting in real effort and real work. And then it kind of just domino effected, I guess. Now here I am.

Michtrack: Your sister has really improved this year also.

Anderson: Oh yeah. She's figuring out how to race is my, my guess at it. She's been doing really good. She just ran a 10:28—that's crazy.

Michtrack: Looking back, you went into the pandemic shut-down year as a decent 9^th-grade cross country runner and came out as one of the better runners in the state. Did you do a lot of training that freshman year?

Anderson: That was the year I started taking things seriously. It was more towards the end of freshman year. It was at Benzie, and I just remember I missed qualifying for state by like five places. My mom came up to me after the race and told me, some coach had been talking about how I was a fast freshman or something. I just remember thinking, “Am I actually good at this?” Because I hadn't really thought of it as an actual act, a thing I could a legitimately do outside of high school as well. So then I started not cutting runs short. I started tracking my mileage. And then going into 10th grade was when I made the biggest training jump because I started putting in actual mileage.

Michtrack: Tell me why you chose Syracuse to continue your running career.

Anderson: Oh man, this is always a tough question. Um, honestly, it was just kind of a gut feeling. I had narrowed it down to Syracuse, Michigan State and Wisconsin. They're all such good schools. I was really totally fine going to any of them. At that point it was just, where do my instincts tell me I should go? I ended up going to Syracuse off my gut feeling and I'm feeling pretty good about it. I'm excited.

Michtrack: The rest of the season, what are you hoping to do?

Anderson: I'd like to break 4:00. And then I'd like to—this is a bit more ambitious—go for three for three. D1 States 800/ mile / two mile. I feel like that could be fun. I don’t think anyone’s ever completed in D1.

Michtrack: Which nationals do you think you might aim for?

Anderson: I sadly can't go. It's a real bummer. I'm going to the German nationals, so that's something. But no, I'm going to be in Japan and then Korea for a vacation trip. I think I miss the date for New Balance and Nike by a few days. But I think it's a smart choice. Even though I want to go [to nationals], I feel like it's better to also prioritize some other stuff over running sometimes, you know what I mean?

Michtrack: Tell me about the German nationals. Are you a dual citizen?

Anderson: Yeah, so my mom's German. She was born there and moved here to the U.S. with my dad. I have a dual citizenship and then we had a 3000m camera set up at the BlueJay race so my time from that qualified me for the Nationals there. And because they do everything with club teams, I'm already on a club team there.

Michtrack: If you get to the point where you want to go after international championships, which country would you represent?

Anderson: I think I'd probably have to go with the U.S. just because I've lived here so long. I've never lived in Germany, actually… but maybe leave it up to a coin toss, you know?

Michtrack: My final question, did I see right in that webcast? Is your hair pink? 

Anderson: It is right now.

Michtrack: Sweet. Is it going to stay that color this season? I need to be prepared because I’ll be announcing a few of your races.

Anderson: Right now, it's probably going to stay pink, but there's a chance that I might show up with blue or something. I originally dyed it for prom to match my girlfriend's dress. And then, I kind of like it, so we'll see. I don't know, it's kind of fun, like why not mess around with the color spectrum a bit?

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Benne and I had a quick chat after he went after the 4:00 mile at the OK Gold meet…

Michtrack: How did it play out?

Anderson:  I had one of my friends try to pace me for the first two laps. He got me through about a lap and a half. And then I took over. We went through a bit slow… I ended up going through the third lap in a 3:04 or something. And then, I just tried kicking as hard as I could, for as long as I could. I should have kicked a bit earlier because I maxed out my top speed, but I think I could have held it longer. I think I ended up running 57 for my last lap.

Michtrack: You think there's more there with the right pacing?

Anderson: Oh, yeah, I think I could, totally. I think if I had run it with competition, it would've turned out way differently. I think there's a lot more there personally.

Michtrack: What was the scene like? Was there a lot of support from all the people in the conference?

Anderson: It was pretty cool actually. Normally I don’t hear the crowd, but I could actually hear the people. I think everybody kind of realized what was going on. And so, the other teams, the fans and parents, they were starting to cheer for me. And all the guys in our conference are really awesome. They're really, really nice people. I really like my conference because, I don’t know how it is for other conferences, but I feel like running can be kind of toxic sometimes. And all the guys that I run against are really, really nice people. Nobody holds grudges or anything, which is nice.

Michtrack: I hear you might go for it again at the Distance Night Under The Lights on the 27^th.

Anderson: I might give it another shot. Just because, why not, right?

The Little Stuff At The End

Other reading: He’s not a Michigan guy, but my interview with Cordell Tinch (I know, who?) turned out to be one of the craziest I’ve ever done. How does a guy go from cell phone salesman to one of the world’s best hurdlers in just a few months?? Read it here.

More than a newsletter: Michtrack encompasses far more than this weekly newsletter. For 30+ years I have kept track of the records and stats that matter in the sport in this state, keeping detailed yearly lists and frighteningly deep all-time lists. Lots more history as well. Explore the michtrack.org website to get an idea of it all (and please forgive the fact that I’m a writer and not a web designer). The goal is to grow all of this and make it a true resource for every athlete and fan out there. If you can help us out, even with a tiny monthly contribution, you will be my hero.

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Back issues: You can read our 7 previous newsletters in all their glory. Just hit that subscribe button above—it takes you to links to all of them.

Photo thanks: I can’t show enough appreciation for Pete Draugalis and his fine track photography. He does great senior pictures too. Reach out to him at https://www.draugalisphotography.net/

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