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Meet officials honored former champions
and officials at a nice ceremony before the evening finals. |
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Bridgette Owens-Mitchell produced a
wind-legal 14.08 (FAT) to
handily defeat the 14.56 of Lake Orion's Chiara Allen (right). |
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Christine Cahill dominated the
sprints, winning this 100 in 12.13w
after long jumping 17-2.5 for second behind Joylisa Davis' 17-4.
She later added the 200 crown in 25.18 (wind legal). |
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Southfield's Nico Williams-Richey
(center, with "S" on chest) produced a 10.57, aided by a stiff 3.4mps wind.
He is now the 12th-fastest Michigan prep ever, on a combined legal/windy
list. He will be running for South Plains College in Texas next year, along
with Lamphere's Stephen Murphy (to right, in headband). |
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For many, the 1600 would be the evening's
highlight, as it promised a monster showdown between Shannon Osika (left)
and Megan Goethals. Neither disappointed. Osika, who had earlier anchored
the winning 4 x 800 to the fastest time in the state this year at 9:24.08,
went out hard from the gun and led most of the way. Her splits: 1:09.3,
1:14.8 [2:24.1], 1:12.5 [3:36.6]. With 300 left, it looked as if she had it
wrapped it up, as Goethals had slipped to as much as 10m behind. Then on the
final backstretch, the Rochester junior picked up speed like a runaway
train. She passed Osika on the final turn, and poured it on to the line. Her
time, an historic 4:47.04, making her No. 3 all-time behind Laura Matson and
Geena Gall. Osika produced a lifetime best 4:51.27. Last laps: Goethals
1:08.4, Osika 1:14.7.
At 1500m, Goethals split 4:30.2 (the state record is
4:29.4 by Sue Parks 37 years ago); Osika hit 4:31.0. |
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Defending D1 state 800 champ Joe
Reynolds (left) kicked to a 4:21.54 win in the 1600 over Rochester's Kenny
Laskowski (4:21.65), after Lake Orion's Jeremiah Hargett (obscured behind
Laskowski here) led for the first 1500m. |
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Southfield's 4 x 100 crew dominated with
a 42.56 win. |
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The 4 x 100 foursome from Farmington
Hills Harrison eaked out a 0.03 win over Novi, 50.31 to 50.34. |
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Mile star Mike Atchoo of Troy
concentrated on speed here, anchoring the third-place 4 x 800 (Rochester
Adams won the race in a state-lading 7:53.02). Then he placed 6th in the 400
in 51.19 before running on the 4 x 400. |
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Stephen Murphy has become one of the
most intriguing stories of the season. The Lamphere senior is in his first
season of running track after concentrating on baseball. The AAU meet last
summer was his first track meet. Said a coach who athletes knew Murphy when
he attended middle school in Southfield, "They knew he was fast, but they
couldn't get him to run track." Now he is one of the state's best in the
long sprints, dominating the 400 here in 48.53, winning the 200 in a
wind-legal 21.61, and anchoring his 4 x 400 in an eased up 48.8. |
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Bridgette Owens-Mitchell also had a big
day, winning the 100 hurdles, then winning the 300 hurdles in a PR 43.99
after going out like a rocket. She also produced a 60.5 leg for the winning
4 x 400. |
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Travon Johnson, earlier disappointed by
his 4th-place in the highs, celebrates after coming back in the 300s to
catch Kyle Podvin at the last hurdle, winning in 38.65 to 38.81. |
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Waterford Mott's Osika sisters pulled off
a rare feat in the 800, taking a sisterly 1-2. Shannon (right) won from the
front in 2:15.76, while Alyssa kicked her way out of the pack to snatch
second in 2:19.39. |
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Brendan Lagios made believers out of
many in the 800. The Holly senior, fresh off his defeat of Joe Reynolds in
the regionals, came to Farmington with his eyes on the Holly school record
of 1:52.4 (1:53.0y) set by Jeff Lewis in 1978. He took off from the gun,
registering his first lap in a shocking 53.2--then it was all a matter of
hanging on. He nearly succeeded, clocking a final circuit of 59.9 for a PR
1:53.11. That time, and the convincing manner in which he ran it, sold many
on his prospects as a favorite in next weekend's state finals. |
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For Megan Goethals, the 3200 marked the
third race of the day. She ran it conservatively (for her), clocking a mere
5:24.0 for the first four laps. That helped Michele Morriset of Troy stay
with the pace and run a PR of her own. Goethals upped the ante with a 5:14.5
second 1600, clocking 10:38.50. Morriset ran 10:46.03. |
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Southfield's girls won the 4 x 400
impressively in 4:01.10, but that wasn't enough to keep Mott from pipping
them in the team standings by one point. |
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