East Kentwood Follows Perfect Plan
June 1, 2013
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
KENTWOOD – Devin McKinney and his East Kentwood teammates had a plan going into Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final.
“We knew that if we won our two relays, that we would win the meet,” explained McKinney, a star junior sprinter and hurdler for East Kentwood.
The host Falcons executed that plan to perfection and won the MHSAA team championship for the fourth time in the past five years – previously winning in 2009, 2010 and 2011, before placing eighth last spring.
East Kentwood did not have any individual event champions, but coach Dave Emeott’s team did have place-winners all over the board and then dominated the sprint relays to take the title with 43 points.
Grand Blanc was second with 32 points. The Bobcats were led by sophomore Grant Fisher, who won the 3,200-meter run and took second in the 1,600 meters, missing out on a double win by six thousandths of a second.
Lake Orion, paced by senior 1,600-meter champion T.J. Carey, placed third with 29 points, followed by Walled Lake Central (27) and Davison (24).
McKinney ran the anchor leg of East Kentwood’s winning 400-meter relay team (42.41) and ran the second leg on the winning 800-meter relay team (1:27.72). He also was third in the 110-meter high hurdles.
“I just wanted to bring it for my team,” McKinney said. “We really wanted to get that state championship back.”
McKinney was joined by Justin Harris, Onrekus Carter and Kewon Getter on the winning 400-meter relay team and Getter, Houston Glass and Kevin Smith on the 800-meter relay team.
The threat of rain and possibly thunderstorms never materialized, but competitors had to deal with a steady wind throughout the day. The wind was blowing into the runners’ faces as they headed toward the finish line, resulting in higher-than-expected times in many events, particularly the sprints.
One athlete who said that going against the wind actually helped his performance was Walled Lake Central senior Cullen Prena.
Prena was the only boys athlete to win two individual events, even though he delivered an amazing end to his high school career away from the grandstands, in the throwing area.
Prena came in seeded second in the shot put, but overcame top-seeded Kevin Weiler of Swartz Creek with a winning throw of 60-11. But he was just getting warmed up. Prena hurled the discus more than 200 feet three times, including his final throw of 210 feet, 1 inch, which broke the old Division 1 Final record by more than 12 feet.
Afterward, Prena launched into an impromptu physics lesson to explain how throwing into the wind helped him.
“It was a perfect wind for the discus,” said Prena, who will compete in several major national events this summer, including the Chicago Throws Challenge and the New Balance Outdoor Nationals later this month before competing at the University of Oregon next year.
“A headwind is better because it gets under the disc and lifts it up. I felt great coming into today, and that wind just got me going even more.”
The discus win avenged his second-place finish in the event a year ago, when it was won by Matt Costello of Bay City Western, the Mr. Basketball winner who now plays for Tom Izzo at Michigan State.
While Prena was a shocking 34 feet further than the second-place thrower, most of the events were much closer.
Surprisingly, the closest race of the day was not in the 100-meter dash or a sprint relay. On a day when all eyes were on three of the top girls distance runners in the country in the 1,600-meter run, it was actually the boys’ 1,600-meter run which produced the day’s tightest finish.
Carey, a senior at Lake Orion, edged out Grand Blanc’s Fisher by the narrowest of margins, after the fans cheered both of them on as they ran neck-and-neck down the stretch. The final times showed Carey in first at 4:15.763 and Fisher second at 4:15.769 – a scant six thousandths of a second difference, which wasn’t official until a photo finish was used.
“I’m known for my kick and I needed every single bit of it today,” said Carey, a University of Missouri commit, with a grin. “It was the closest finish I’ve ever had, but I had a feeling that I got him right at the end.”
Fisher responded from that heartbreaking finish to capture the 3,200 meter title later in the meet.
Davison senior Gabe Hodge was a dual winner, capturing the 400-meter dash and then anchoring his team’s win in the meet’s final event, the 1,600-meter relay.
Saline captured the 3,200-meter relay title.
Other individual champions were Ato Condelee of Holland West Ottawa (long jump), Robert Atwater of Lincoln Park (high jump), Dylan Kole of Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills (pole vault), Freddie Crittenden of Utica (110-meter hurdles), Joshuwa Holloman of Auburn Hills Avondale (100 meters), Ross Williams of Birmingham Groves (300-meter hurdles), Andrew Middleton of Holt (800 meters) and Brandon Wilks of Southfield Lathrup (200 meters).
PHOTO: (Top) The East Kentwood boys track and field team poses on the medal stand after claiming the LP Division 1 championship. (Middle) Grant Fisher won the 3,200 in leading Grand Blanc to the team runner-up finish. (Photos by John Brabbs. Click to see more photo coverage from RunMichigan.com.)
Alwine's Risk Rewarded with Top Vault
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2019
Wyatt Alwine was one more failed attempt away from having a very bad day at last Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals.
With some of his adrenaline reserve drained from a long rain delay, the Constantine junior — seeded No. 1 entering the meet — described himself as a “mental case” after having missed his first two tries at an opening height of 12 feet, 3 inches, one of which ended in the grass.
After finishing third overall for all-state status a year earlier, Alwine was in danger of not posting a height at all.
“My head just wasn’t there,” he said. “The rain delays didn’t help. I think that was one of the main reasons for a lack of focus.”
A calming influence for Alwine throughout the storms was first-year Constantine pole vault coach Stephanie Teeple — a past three-time Finals champion at Sturgis (1998, 2000, 2001) who went on to do big things at the University of Nebraska and Western Michigan University, including breaking the WMU outdoor record. She always could count on her coach and father, Wes Teeple, who set a school record at Eastern Michigan University and won two league titles, and her mother, Cheryl, who also coached at Sturgis. Oh, and there was older brother Brad to lean on as well. Brad Teeple won a Class B crown in 1999 and went on to compete for Alabama and Nebraska.
Wes and Cheryl Teeple have made it to most Constantine meets this season after Stephanie joined the staff.
“It’s good to have their whole family,” Alwine said. They all come out and support us. It’s a family thing. They definitely know what they’re talking about.”
And when Alwine found himself on the brink of elimination Saturday, he was ready for some encouragement.
“He struggled a little bit on the first two and put it together on the third one,” Stephanie Teeple said of Alwine’s start to the day. “You can either give up or want it, pull through and clear it. Once he got those jitters out, he just improved from there.”
Alwine ended up with a personal-record of 14-3 to win the LPD3 championship, edging Beaverton junior Will Aldrich, who topped out at 14-0 in what ended up being a much more high-flying finals than in 2018. Alwine jumped 13-3 last year for his third-place finish — a height that was not even good enough for a top-eight spot this year.
But even after regaining confidence, Alwine had to trust his coach in crunch time. After clearing 13-9, it was time to take a chance.
Teeple told Alwine to move up to a 15-foot pole that he had never tried. This might not sound difficult to the uninitiated. But for anyone who has had the guts to vault, it’s a rocket ride into the unknown. Added length requires more speed, more strength, a rock-solid plant and nerves of steel. Breaking one out on the biggest stage amplifies the importance of all the above.
“I said, ‘I don’t know about this,’” Alwine recalled. “It’s a big pole. I just listened to her, and it ended up working out.”
“If he wouldn’t have gotten on that bigger pole, I’m not sure he would have gotten over 14-3 to win the meet,” Teeple said. “That’s all it takes, is one kid to get on a bigger pole and it makes all the difference. But that’s what’s good about Wyatt; he is pretty fearless. He has the tools to be a good vaulter, so I’m just glad I get to coach him and do what I know how to do best. I’m really excited for the future to see what he can do.”
Alwine wasn’t able to get over 14-6 cleanly as his leg caught the bar on his descent. After reviewing film of the attempt, Alwine said his body was nearly a foot over the bar.
“I knew I had something special when I got third at state,” Alwine said. “This year, with Miss Teeple coming in, she gave me pointers that really helped me more. It was a lot different. But it kind of clicked a lot better with me. Miss Teeple brought up how the bottom arm is your power. The plant is most important. That and moving up poles got me up to higher heights.
“It kind of got me stoked to do some summer vaulting with her because I know the height is there. It’s exciting (that I won), but I’m already excited to get back to it.”
Wes Morgan has reported for the Kalamazoo Gazette, ESPN and ESPNChicago.com, 247Sports and Blue & Gold Illustrated over the last 12 years and is the publisher of JoeInsider.com. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Constantine’s Wyatt Alwine clears the pole vault bar during the 2018 season. (Middle) Alwine, this spring. (Top photo courtesy of JoeInsider.com; middle courtesy of Wyatt Alwine.)