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- #77 - Isaac Shatters Long Jump Record
#77 - Isaac Shatters Long Jump Record
Day 2 of the Michigan Indoor State Finals
Isaac Flies 25-1¾!!
Isaac’s mark would have placed 4th in the Big 10 Indoor long jump.
Boys LJ - One jump. Defending champion Quincy Isaac of Canton didn’t waste a second. The senior bolted down the runway on his first attempt, hit the board squarely and flew to the far reaches of the pit. The UM recruit landed at 25-1.75, the farthest distance of any U.S. high schooler this season. His effort crushed the state record of 24-6 that was set by Jackson’s Anthony Owens at Hillsdale in 2016, and is only three-quarters of an inch away from the outdoor state record of 25-2.5 set by Marcel Richardson of Lansing Everett nearly 36 years ago. Isaac’s second jump was measured at 24-7, the No. 2 performance ever. That was followed by a pass and three fouls. Jordan Paige jumped a PR 22-10 for 2nd, more than two-feet behind.
Girls 4 × 800 - Oakland Count’s Breen TC ruled. Ella Abraham of Rochester led off in 2:16.5, handing off with a healthy lead to El McMahon of Adams, who ran 2:19.7. Then Avery DeGrendel of Clarkston covered the third leg in 2:25.4. Lucy Cook of Rochester anchored in a confident 2:15.7. Defending champion Shore TC finished 2nd in 9:24.90.
Boys 4 × 800 - 6 Mile came in as the favored club and the boys from Northville did not disappoint, winning an unprecedented third-straight title. They had to overcome a strong challenge from the Saginaw Striders to do so. TJ Hansen, one of the best milers in state history, led off for the striders in 1:54.8. Rece Grezak ran 1:57.2 for 6M, the two teams well ahead of the rest. Ben Hartigan ran second for 6 Mile in 1:56.0, handing off just behind the Striders’ Owen Fennelly. Logan Mullan broke the race open for 6 Mile with his 2:00.0, and Ethan Powell anchored in 1:56.8. Their time, 7:50.02, is the No. 2 performance in state history and a meet record for a 200 track. A mixed Saginaw Striders team ran 7:55.41 in 2nd.
Girls 60H - Chippewa Valley senior Mia Barnett got out fast and hammered to the finish in a PR 8.73, edging Cass Tech’s Laila Hawkins (8.84) and Celeste Davis of Renaissance (8.94). List leader Payton Gee (8.60) was not present, and Motor City teammate Carrie VanNoy (8.62), still recovering from illness, finished 5th in 9.11.
Boys 60H - Without his prime competition from Belleville, it was clear that defending champion Zacchaeus Brocks of Catholic Central stood as the favorite. He ran like it, taking the lead early and pressing all the way to the win in 7.91, the same time he won with last year. Chesaning’s Caleb Walker impressed with an 8.14 runner-up performance.
Girls 60 - In a race that was much tighter than expected, long jump winner Aubrey Wilson of Divine Child got to the line first in 7.68, just barely ahead of a trio of outdoor state champions: Jayla Dace of Renaissance (7.69), Kamryn Tatum of West Bloomfield (7.71) and Keyanna O’Tey of Sturgis (7.71).
Boys 60 - Chance McNeill, the Novi junior, has been the most consistent dashman of the indoor season and had no problems dispatching the field in the final with his 6.88. Surprisingly, his was the only performance under 7.00 in a season in a season in which 14 athletes have done so. Sophomore Andrew Willemsen of Grand Haven was 2nd in 7.00. State co-leader Karson Gonyea ran a 7.14 semi but did not make the final; curious whether there might have been a technical issue with his 6.85 at SVSU. The other co-leader, Sean Blaser, ran 6.99 in his semi but did not show for the final.
Girls 1600 - The young ones came out on top after Jessica Jazwinski set a 72.3, 2:26.8, 3:43.7 pace, with Otsego’s Emma Hoffman following closely. Hanging back much of the race was Ludington 8th-grader Eliza Schwass, who made her big move at the bell and passed the field before she hit the 1500 mark (4:39.7). On her heels came Pioneer frosh Natasza Dudek, and the two showed real speed on the final straight, Schwass winning 4:55.03 to Dudek’s 4:55.49. Jazwinski ran 4:57.04 while Hoffman clocked 4:57.86. Schwass’s time is an 8th grade record, while Dudek broke the 9th grade standard. Schwass’s splits: 72.9, 74.8 [2:27.7], 77.3 [3:45.0], 70.0.
Boys 1600 - Patience worked for Northville’s Ethan Powell. Up front, Bobby Jazwinski led through the 400 in 63.0, then Cayden DeGrendel took over, hitting 800 in 2:09.2 with Powell back in 5th. With 500 to go, Powell charged into the lead. He passed 1200 in 3:15.3 and covered his final 400 in 62.2. His splits: 63.9, 65.9 [2:09.8], 65.3 [3:15.1], 62.2. The UP’s Gabe Litzner kicked well for 2nd in 4:19.61.
Girls 400: This event got hit hard by athletes choosing to sit out this weekend, most of them focused on nationals. Altogether, nine athletes with times faster than the top seed did not enter, among them the trio of 54-second performers the state has produced this winter. That left the race wide open. Troy Athens junior Madelyn Piotrowski went out hard and stayed there, holding on for a 57.69 PR. Claire Long of Saginaw Nouvel had a great finishing drive to move up to 2nd (and nearly win), clocking 57.79. Renaissance senior Lauren Bickerdt ran 57.88 for 3rd.
Boys 400 - East Kentwood’s Malachi Mosley went to the front in the final section and had to work hard to keep that lead, finally pulling away on the homestretch to win in 50.10. Good thing he didn’t let up, because he just barely edged the 50.13 that Darnell Hall II recorded two sections earlier. Missing were the state’s two fastest, Motor City’s Rondre Austion and Demari Caldwell, pointing for nationals next weekend.
Girls 800 - Dominating. Onsted’s Emmry Ross took no prisoners in leading from the gun through scintillating laps of 29.7, 31.1 (60.8), 32.0 (1:32.8) and 32.8. Her time of 2:05.55 is not only a meet record, but is second only to her own state record. It is also, of course, a state record for a 200 flat track. Goodrich senior Layla Jordan stayed close for a couple laps before being overtaken by Swan Valley’s Sydney Kuhn, 2:10.27 to 2:11.34. Both Ross and Kuhn are committed to Michigan; Jordan to Ohio State.
Boys 800 - Wendell Childs is the real thing. The Clarkston sophomore, running for the Str8 Smokin TC, has been undefeated all year. Here he went to the front immediately, as is his style. He passed 200 in 27.0, 400 in 54.5. By that time he had a 10-meter lead. 600 went by in 1:22.9, and he closed with a 29.3 lap to hit 1:52.23. That makes him No. 5 in state history and the 10th grade state record holder. He is the No. 2 sophomore in the nation, after national record holder Cooper Lutkenhaus of Texas.
Girls 200 - Kamryn Tatum., hoping to bounce back from her close loss in the 60, got out well here and built a nice lead on the backstretch. However, 60 champ Aubrey Wilson charged hard on the turn and started eating into the margin. At the finish, it was Tatum, but barely: 24.74-24.78.
Boys 200 - The win went to Jason Hamilton II who ran in the second of three sections. The Troy senior blasted a 22.09 and then had to wait to see if it would hold up for the win. In the final section, Jackson Gee, the Spring Lake senior who anchored the winning 4×2, came off the turn with a slim lead, but it was 60 winner Chance McNeill who came out of last place to nearly catch him at the line. Gee 22.22, McNeill 22.30, and Hamilton came home the winner.
Girls 4 × 400 - With most of the Motor City TC choosing to bypass this meet because of its proximity to nationals, that opened a door to other competitors. The 4 × 400 has long been a Motor City property, with wins in 9 of the last 10 years. This year, though, it came down to the Saginaw Striders vs. Michigan Mustangs in the final section. The Striders got out well with Kaya Arnold’s 59.8, then Jordynn Young clocked a 59.3 but fell behind a motivated Mustangs squad. On third leg, Claire Long ran 61.4 and gave the stick to Sydney Kuhn about 7-meters behind Mustang anchor Kamryn Tatum, winner of the 200. Kuhn, who still felt the fatigue of a 2:10 in her legs, took off after Tatum and went by her without hesitation. Her split of 56,5 capped a 3:57.15 win.
Boys 4 × 400 - Michigan Racers may have come in as the #12 seed, but they decided to show up big time. Running in the second of four sections, they basically soloed a 3:25.89 with the foursome of Rodney Endsley of WL Western 51.3, Caleb Washington of Saline 50.6, Brennan Smith of Catholic Central 53.4, Abenezer Cerone of Shrine 50.6. In the final section, Track Life ran 3:27.39, not enough to topple the Racers.
Girls LJ - In the absence of the state’s top 2, Leigha Whitman (18-7) and Greta Caprathe (18-3), the long jump looked wide open, with plenty of 17-footers in contention. Sophia Blackwell of Big Rapids took the early lead at 16-10 and held it till round 4, when Natalie Formsma of Byron Center reached 17-2.5. Divine Child soph Aubrey Wilson took over in round 5 with her 17-10.25. Both Formsma (17-6.25) and Blackwell (17-5) improved on their final jumps, but not enough to unseat Wilson.
Girls TJ - A surprisingly good competition here, with state leader Erica Proctor of Rochester leading after round 1 at 33-2.5. In round 3 Midland Dow sophomore Gwen Thill came within a quarter-inch (33-2.25) and Proctor improved to 33-5. In the final round, Thill produced a PR 33-7 that gave her the win.
Boys TJ - Malik Roumayah of Detroit UD Jesuit found himself in 2nd behind St. Joe’s Chase Bingaman after the first round, but he righted that on his next try, his 43-10 surpassing the best leap of the season in Michigan by an inch. That would prove to be the winner, as Jordan Paige of Novi leaped 42-7.75 on his last try and Bingaman improved to 40-2 for 3rd. Justin Minard, the previous state leader, may have run into injury problems. He went 35-1.75 on his first attempt, then passed his remaining tries to finish 10th.
Girls DT - Lorelai Zielinski, the sophomore from Traverse City Central who finished 3rd in the shot put, dominated the platter competition. Her opening toss of 145-1 broke the state record of 144-0 set by Quincy’s Sophia Snellenberger two years ago. That stood up for the win, but any one of her five legal throws would have been far enough. Jada Ewell took 2nd at 126-10 and Addy Stiverson threw a PR 125-9 for 3rd.
Boys DT - Ty Ellis of Grand Ledge led the lists by just an inch coming in, but he threw as if he were the dominant favorite. He led from the start with his 160-6, improving it in round 3 to 166-3 and then 168-0 in round 4. In all, four of his throws were farther than the 154-11 that teammate Jackson Shaltry threw in 2nd.
MS Events - In the 60, Eris Young won in 8.23, and Anthony Brown III won the boys race in 7.44. In the 1600, winners were Clara Cook (5:10.10) and Hudson Doll (4:28.28, an 8th grade record). In the 400, it was Olivia Whitlow (61.36) and Easton Harrand (54.38).
Next Week: Nationals
Two big national championships meets are coming up—Nike in NYC and New Balance in Boston. Plus there’s the adidas meet in Virginia Beach, one that typically gets little Michigan (or national) attention.
We’re still not sure what our coverage will look like, because we have a lot going on with our day job coverage of the NCAA championships. We’re hoping to at least produce a daily digest of Michigan performances, but don’t hold us to it.
Check This Out
The big interview in Track & Field News this month is my talk with Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell. Fans of the MITS indoor circuit will remember her as the 8th-grader who made the state 60 hurdle final in 2012. She credits Tyrone Logan and Shelby Johnson with introducing her to the hurdles.
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