Comeback Jump as Meaningful as Record
June 4, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special to Second Half
HUDSONVILLE — Because it was wind-aided, the performance by Jackson senior Anthony Owens on Saturday won't count in the MHSAA track and field record books.
But while it won't go down officially as the best long jump ever at an MHSAA Finals, it was one of the greatest jumps, given the circumstances.
Owens was in third place going into the final jump at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet on Saturday at Baldwin Street Middle School. He not only had to overtake the two jumpers ahead of him, he had to overcome the pain of a hamstring injury that he suffered on his second jump of the day.
"It really wasn't working for me and things weren't going my way," Owens said. "But my coaches talked to me and told me this is my last year, to finish strong and leave it all out there and just have fun with it. That's kind of what I did for my last jump. It paid off a lot."
Did it ever.
Owens delivered a jump of 24 feet, 1.25 inches to pass Ann Arbor Pioneer's Terius Wheatley (23-10.75) and East Kentwood's Andre Welch (23-7) and win the long jump championship. Owens' jump eclipsed the 24-1 performance by Flushing's Jeff Kline in the 2009 Lower Peninsula Division 1 meet as the longest ever in any division of an MHSAA Final. However, the wind was at 2.4 meters per second when he jumped, more than the 2.0 that is allowable for record performances.
There is precedent for not including jumps that are wind-aided in the record book. In 1996, Midland's Okoineme Giwaagbomeirel won the Lower Peninsula Class A meet with a jump of 24-6 that was wind-aided.
The guts that it took for Owens to come through and win the long jump means more to him than the record. He was third with a jump of 23-3.25 going into his final jump.
"It was a big deal for me, because I didn't think I was going to be able to get 24 feet with my hamstring pulling on me," Owens said. "The fact I fought through it means a lot. I'm glad I could compete with those guys. Those guys, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have got to 24-1 and got first."
While Wheatley and Welch are rivals, they are also friends who respect one another's ability.
"I know a lot of them," Owens said. "(Wheatley) is a great kid. I love competing with him. We get the best out of each other. He actually PR'd (personal record) today a lot. I think he was excited as much as me. He deserves the glory as much as I do. Without those guys, I don't think we'd be able to compete at our best, because we all know we're right there by each other."
Owens also felt inspiration from a former teammate, Maseo Moore, who died in an automobile crash on I-94 on May 24, 2015. Moore, a member of the track and field team, would have been a senior this season.
"Going into this track season, it really wasn't all about me," Owens said. "It was about the people around me. Our football coach would always tell us, 'It has everything to do with you and nothing to do with you.' When you take away what you're doing for yourself and define your 'why' and why you're doing it, you'll be successful and be a champion. Once I found my 'why' and why I was doing it and why I wanted to be at the top, it paid off. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my coaches and Maseo and all the support I have."
One all-division MHSAA Finals record that will stay in the books is the throw of 67 feet, 5.75 inches by Oxford senior Connor Bandel in the shot put. Bandel's throw broke the all-division record of 64 feet, 0.5 inches set by Todd Duckett of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix in the 1999 Lower Peninsula Class A meet. Bandel won by 13 feet, 1.25 inches.
Bandel also chased the discus record of 210-1 set by Cullen Prena of Walled Lake Central in the 2012 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals, but he had to settle for a decisive victory with his throw of 198-11. Bandel won by 20 feet, 11 inches.
Bandel's record throw in the shot put came in the fifth of his six throws.
"It definitely felt like a good throw," he said. "I was actually kind of surprised by the distance, because I threw 57-2.5 last week, and that one actually felt better in comparison. I guess I did something a little bit different that I didn't notice and I ended up throwing a little bit farther."
While the wind aided Owens in the long jump, it may have hindered Bandel's bid for the discus record. His personal record is 204-2.
"The big difference today was the wind," said Bandel, who also swept both events last year and hit 198-11 twice on consecutive throws Saturday. "The 204-2, I had a pretty decent headwind to help lift the disc up a bit. The back wind knocked it down a bit."
In the team competition, Oak Park scored 55 points to win its first MHSAA boys track and field championship since the 1972 squad won the Class A title. Rockford was second with 46 points, while East Kentwood was third with 37. East Kentwood had won five of the previous seven Division 1 championships.
Oak Park's only victory came from junior Cameron Cooper, who took the 800 in 1:51.68. Senior Dekaryea Freeman was third in the 800, giving Oak Park 18 points in the event.
Miles Daniel was second in the 100, third in the 200 and ran on the fifth-place 400 relay team for Oak Park.
"The biggest thing we've got going for us is we got some football players to come out," Oak Park coach Robert Lynch said. "The football players came out, have been part of the track team and have put us over the edge."
East Kentwood's Khance Meyers won two events, taking the 100 in 10.73 seconds and helping the 800 relay team set a Division 1 meet record of 1:26.27. Ansel Jeffries, Shane Harris and Welch also ran on that relay team.
The other individual champions were East Lansing's Kentre Patterson (110 hurdles, 14.03); Ann Arbor Skyline's Anthony Giannobile (1,600, 4:11.48); Wayne Memorial's Montel Hood (400, 47.30); Dearborn's Adnan Hamka (300 hurdles, 39.62); Fenton's Jacob Lee (3,200, 9:07.72); Rockford's Jonny De Haan (pole vault, 15-0); and Mount Pleasant's Kalebb Perry (high jump, 6-7).
The other winning relays were run by Rockford (3,200, 7:43.92); Detroit Cass Tech (400, 42.26); and Saline (1,600, 3:19.37).
PHOTOS: (Top) Jackson's Anthony Owens prepares for launch on the way to winning the long jump championship. (Middle) Oxford's Connor Bandel stands atop the awards podium after repeating as shot put champion. (Photos by John Brabbs/RunMichigan.com.)
Jones Era Ends with 3 More Race Wins - But Better Yet, Benzie's 1st Team Title
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KENT CITY – For four years of MHSAA cross country and track, Benzie Central’s boys runners and competitors alike have been trying to keep up with the Joneses.
Specifically, Benzie Central senior All-American Hunter Jones.
Well, Pol Molins lives with the Joneses (Hunter’s family) as a foreign-exchange student from Spain. Over the last few months, Molins has done a better job keeping up with Hunter Jones.
Now Jones, Molins and their Benzie Central teammates are all on the same level – as MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 champions. The Huskies captured their first MHSAA Boys Track & Field Finals title, powered by Jones’ three individual championships along with strong efforts by Molins & Co. at Kent City High School.
Benzie Central totaled 51 points to hold off runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia, which tallied 44 points. Hart finished third (38), Sanford Meridian fourth (36) and Ottawa Lake Whiteford fifth (28).
“I’m very proud of myself, but ultimately my biggest goal today was to win a team state championship. We came out here, that’s what we did,” said Jones, a 6-foot, 160-pound Wake Forest signee, who cruised to victories Saturday in the 800-meter run (1:57.60), 1,600 run (4:17.48) and 3,200 (9:10.19).
Jones expressed much gratitude for not only Molins – who earned valuable points by taking second in the 1,600, fifth in the 3,200 and seventh in the 800 -- but for the other two runners on Benzie Central’s runner-up 3,200 relay team: Lucan Louwsma and Dorian Olson.
Benzie Central veteran coach Asa Kelly said Olson had never competed at Finals track meet before, and that this was the first time this foursome had run the 3,200.
“I really praise the 4x8 – those other two guys, they put us in the race and we got those eight points we needed,” Jones said. “If we didn’t run the 4x8, we would have lost. I thank those guys and I feel very blessed to finally get a team state championship. That’s been my biggest goal since I’ve gotten to Benzie.”
That’s a big statement coming from a generational runner who closes his MHSAA career with 10 individual Finals championships: four in Division 3 cross country and six in track & field.
Jones is a multiple-time national champion in various events as well as an indoor state champ numerous times. He holds MHSAA LP Division 3 Finals records in the 800 and 1,600, and he missed the Finals record in the 3,200 on Saturday by 1½ seconds.
After he learned Benzie Central had wrapped up the team title, he said he didn’t even care if he had won any events Saturday.
“It’s an overwhelming feeling, you know,” Jones said. “A couple of minutes ago, I was getting tears in my eyes and I was like, ‘It’s all over now.’ But I’m really happy that it ended with this and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m very, very happy.”
There was plenty of joy to go around Saturday. North Muskegon junior Jerry Wiegers, who was making his Finals debut, raced to victories in the 200 and 400 with personal-record times in both. In the 200, he won with a time of 22.11 seconds. In the 400, he finished first with a time of 49.49.
Wiegers also anchored North Muskegon’s 800 relay team that placed seventh (1:32.44) for all-state honors.
“Yeah, I’m still processing it,” Wiegers said. “It’s just, like, a good feeling to have when all the work you put in through the whole year finally comes to a close out of everyone. I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time.”
It was a bit of a “bittersweet” day for Hart senior standout thrower Kellen Kimes. The Liberty University signee defended his Division 3 title in discus with a toss of 174 feet, 3 inches, but he came up just short in winning the shot put with a second-place toss of 57-¼.
It was the second-straight year Kimes finished runner-up in shot put, but the New Balance Indoor national champion in the weight throw was trying to keep proper perspective.
“I’m pretty sad that it’s over. I’ve got two more meets this year with the high school events, but from then on I’m going to be moving to college (competition),” Kimes said. “It’s easy to be, like, ‘OK, next chapter in my life,’ but I do need to spend some time reflecting on it and just realizing just how blessed I am with all the people that God’s put in my life.”
Kimes is a fierce competitor, but he’s always willing to help others, including his direct competition.
That was the case with Pewamo-Westphalia junior Gavin Nurenberg, who launched a personal record in shot put by two feet with an effort of 57-¼ that edged Kimes.
“I mean, it means a lot. It’s just, we were competitors – honestly, he taught me the most out of anybody in shot put,” Nurenberg said. “Like, this guy is telling me, get like certain cues and stuff and I do credit him for some of that for sure.”
Other champions Saturday included: Warren Michigan Collegiate’s Jailin Spikes in the 100 (10.71 PR), Napoleon’s Holden Van Poppel in the 110 hurdles (14.48 PR), Delton Kellogg’s Torren Mapes in the 300 hurdles (40.01 PR), Meridian’s Sawyer Moloy in high jump (6-4), Ovid-Elsie’s Tryce Tokar in pole vault (15-0), Grayling’s Mitchel Harrington in long jump (22-1.75), Meridian’s 400 relay (Kenneth Emmerson, Madix Saunders, Nickolas Metzer and Brayden Riley; 43.47), Burton Atherton’s 800 relay (Romiel Clausell, Joseph Embury, Jaymes Vines, Patrick Rice; 1:30.51), Whiteford’s 1,600 relay (Shea Ruddy, Ryin Ruddy, Dylan Anderson, Jacob Iott; 3:27.28), and Hart’s 3,200 relay (Clayton Ackley, Seth Ackley, Guillermo Ortega, Wyatt Dean; 8:04.54). Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett junior Jake Juip won the adaptive 100 race (1:04.21), and Perry junior Alec Chapman competed in the adaptive shot put (3-8¼).
Benzie Central was the Division 3 runner-up in 2021 and 2001. This time, the Huskies got over the hump.
Dominant as Jones was, Molins provided quite the boost in the way of quality depth.
“It’s crazy with Pol (when he applied to be an exchange student) – they said he liked to run and he checked off track & field as an interest, but can’t find anything else about the kid,” Kelly said with a smile. “… In cross, he was maybe like 23rd (in the state) or something like that, but then over the course of the winter running every day with Hunter, he just exploded.”
Kelly said that Molins will head back to Spain in a few weeks and he’ll race in the Spanish U18 Nationals. Kelly noted that after this season with Benzie Central, Molins is ranked second in Spain for his division in the 1,500 and 800.
Molins, a sophomore who recently turned 16 years old, said he could not have asked for a better experience or better host family than the Joneses.
“They’ve pushed me in every way,” he said. “I’ve learned lots of stuff, a lot of discipline. I’ve worked a lot, put in a lot of miles. All of this, I’m going to take it to Spain. I’m going to get better and if I can, I’m going to come back in a couple of years for college. It would be great.
“I’m really grateful,” added the lanky, 6-foot-3 Molins. “l couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I’m looking forward to coming back one day and checking on everyone, how they are doing.”
(PHOTOS) Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones, far right, leads one of his races by a significant margin Saturday at Kent City. (Middle) Teammate Pol Molins, second from right and leading the rest of the field, follow Jones. (Photos by Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)