Performance: Waverly's Keshaun Harris
May 24, 2019
Keshaun Harris
Lansing Waverly senior – Track & Field
The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 1 champion in the 300-meter hurdles, Harris put himself in position to challenge for multiple titles at next weekend’s MHSAA Finals with wins in both the 300 (38.71 seconds) and 110 (14.23) at last week’s Regional at East Lansing, earning him the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Harris’ winning 300 time was his season best, as was his 14.14 prelim time in the 110. Also an all-league football player during the fall and starting guard in basketball, Harris is among the state’s elite on the track and undefeated in both hurdles races this spring despite getting a slow start after hurting his right ankle in his final basketball game this winter. As noted, he won the LPD1 title in the 300 last season in a personal-record 37.81 seconds and just missed the double finishing seventh hundredths of a second behind East Kentwood’s Job Mayhue in the 110. Harris also finished second in the 110 and third in the 300 at the LPD2 Finals as a sophomore, and qualified for the LPD2 Finals in both races as a freshman, earning seventh place in the 110.
The 37.81 at last year’s Finals and the 14 flat he ran in the 110 at the 2018 Regional are Waverly school records – which says a lot as the Warriors have produced a number of state contenders over coach David Pike’s 29 seasons leading one of mid-Michigan’s strongest programs. Harris will announce next week where he’ll continue his academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level – he has Division I and II opportunities – and will bring both first-class hurdling skills and a 3.6 GPA with aspirations of studying kinesiology and becoming an athletic trainer.
Coach David Pike said: “Keshaun’s success in the hurdles is due to his focus on getting better every day. He’s always the last one off the track, taking time each day to get the repetitions he needs to become fluent with each motion. The quickness and fluidity of his hurdling action come from years of focused practice. That’s not to say he’s hurdling 365 days a year. In fact, much of his success in track and field comes from his involvement in other sports. Football has helped him develop the strength and toughness needed to run through hurdle contact. Basketball with all of its jumping and rapid changes of direction has helped him become a more explosive and kinesthetically aware athlete. In the end, the bottom line is that Keshaun’s dedication to daily incremental improvement as an athlete has put him in position to compete for the state title in both the high and 300 hurdles.”
Performance Point: “Nobody really knew this but my coach, but I was sick,” Harris said in recalling the Regional. “I was pushing through it, so I just went out there and ran my best races of the season. I was dealing with the flu. .... Before the race I had to hydrate a lot. My body was a little weak. I had to make sure I got my body moving, got in a good warm-up, stayed loose and warm. I just went out there and gave it everything I’ve got and ran my best.”
Remembering runner-up: “(Last year’s 110 Final) has been in the back of my mind since it happened last year. My goal is still to be the state champion in both the 110 and 300. That’s been the goal since I came to Waverly, since I’ve been a freshman. That’s always been the goal, and always been a motivation too. … Last year I wasn’t as good with my form as I am this year. So this year as I go into this last week, I’m just working on form, getting over hurdles and getting back down quick and keeping everything tight.”
Multi-sport mechanics: “I think (all my sports) work together, because I’m always active doing something. Even in the winter or the summer, I’m always doing something. When track season comes around, I’m already in shape, and I’m already feeling good and strong. (Track has) made me even faster on the court or the field. I’m very elusive. I’m very flexible. So it’s helped me in a lot of areas.”
Looking up, looking ahead: “Aries Merritt, he’s an Olympic champion, and Grant Holloway goes to Florida and he’s another guy I look up to. I also look up to guys I ran against – Kentre Patterson (East Lansing), Noah Caudy (Lake Odessa Lakewood), even Job Mayhue who beat me last year. I still look up to all those guys, figure out what they’re doing and how I can input it into my hurdling. In track, you run against these guys so much. Once they’re gone, you’ve built a relationship with them, so it’s cool.”
Staying in sports: “I just like working with athletes and just being around sports, so I think (trainer) would be the perfect job to do. Actually, at the start of this season I had an ankle injury, I sprained it during my last basketball game, and that had me out for a month. As I worked with the athletic trainer at my school, I developed a love for wanting to become an athletic trainer and wanting to study kinesiology.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Past 2018-19 honorees
May 16: Gabbie Sherman, Millington softball - Read
May 9: Nathan Taylor, Muskegon Mona Shores golf - Read
May 2: Ally Gaunt, New Baltimore Anchor Bay soccer - Read
April 25: Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers softball - Read
March 28: Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison basketball - Read
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Waverly's Keshaun Harris charges toward the finish during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final in the 300 hurdles. (Middle) Harris clears a hurdle during the 110 championship race in 2018. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Beecher's Townsend Ready to Lead Chase Among State's Speediest Sprinters
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
April 13, 2022
Jaylin Townsend’s introduction to the state’s track & field scene came a year later than planned, but it was quite a first impression.
As a sophomore, the Flint Beecher star walked out of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals with two individual titles, one relay title and a runner-up finish in another relay.
“It kind of surprised me,” Townsend said. “Coming into the season off of COVID, we could barely get into the weight room, and it was hard to get on the track and run. We couldn’t get the blocks out. It was kind of an eye opener, really.”
Despite it being his first season – the 2020 season was canceled completely – Townsend was dominant throughout. He won all but one of the individual races he competed in, with the lone loss coming in the 200 meters in the first meet of the season.
That was quickly corrected, as he cut nearly four seconds off his time in his next meet and never lost the race again.
He won the 100 meters at the Division 4 Finals with a personal best of 10.98 seconds. He won the 200 in 22.75. His personal best in that event is 22.37, which was run in the prelims of the Regional.
Beecher’s relay teams that featured Townsend were equally dominant. The 800-meter relay team suffered just one defeat – disqualification at the Genesee Area Conference championship meet. Townsend, Micah Brown, Danny Bradley and Jacoby Sanders ran a season-best 1:30.59 to win at the Division 4 Finals.
The 400 relay team of Townsend, Bradley, Carmelo Harris and James Cummings II took second at the Division 4 Finals with a time of 44.11. It was their first non-DQ loss of the season.
It was close, but Jaylin Townsend (@Jay23Trip) took home two State Championship medals for Flint Beecher, winning the 100 Meter Dash and the 200 Meter Dash.#StateChamps x @MHSAA pic.twitter.com/BMnhp2GaPV
— STATE CHAMPS! Michigan (@statechampsmich) June 19, 2021
Townsend’s contributions were good for 38 team points, which alone would have placed fourth in Division 4. Beecher as a team finished third with 54 points.
While the immediate success came as a surprise to Townsend, it didn't to his coach.
“I saw it in him,” Beecher coach Joe Wilkerson said. “I knew he could be something special. I told his mother when I talked to her, ‘This guy is going to be a state champ this year.’ There was just something about him that I saw it in him. Lo and behold, he was a three-time state champ. It just made me feel good, because I could trust my own instincts a little bit right now.”
Townsend knows his success will motivate his future opponents even more, but he’s fine with that.
“Going into this year, I know they’re coming for me,” he said. “I know I have to put in some extra work.”
Putting in extra work is something Townsend is used to, as he had to a year ago to get up to speed. He said working on his stride and coming out of the blocks were the main points of emphasis.
“I had to learn a lot, actually,” he said. “Most of the stuff, I was just doing off raw talent. I would make sure to ask Coach, ‘Hey, do you have an extra 30 minutes? Can you stay after?’ My first-ever track meet, when I came out of the blocks, I used to pop right up.”
That has Wilkerson excited, as he believes the sky is the limit for his young star.
“This guy, he’s exceptional,” said Wilkerson, who has coached track at Beecher on and off since 1979. “I’ve been coaching for a long time, and I’ve never had a student quite like him with that kind of natural ability.”
Townsend’s focus on track is essentially limited to the spring season, as he also plays football and basketball for the Buccaneers.
“I’ve always been a great athlete, and I wanted to continue to be great,” Townsend said. “Going into basketball, it keeps me in shape for track.”
He was a key reserve forward for the Beecher basketball team, which advanced to the Division 3 Semifinals this season. He plays mostly in the post, despite being a shade under 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds.
Football is the sport he’s most focused on, particularly when it comes to competing in college. He plays receiver, free safety and cornerback for Beecher, and said he’s had talks with Central Michigan, Ferris State and Grand Valley State.
It was his performance on the track, though, that really helped to start those.
“When I started posting the speed, some of the colleges started to look like, ‘Hey, we can use this kid,’” Townsend said. “It helped out a lot.”
Heading into his junior track season, he hopes to turn a few more heads. He knows the best way to do that is to hold off the challengers who now have him in their sights, and continue to improve on his times. His goal is to work his 100 time down to 10.5 and his 200 time into the mid 21s.
“It kind of goes together,” he said. “Coming off last season, it put a target on my back, but it made some college coaches want to come to the track meets. They want to see me run. They want to see my speed. It’s nothing I can’t handle, though.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Flint Beecher’s Jaylin Townsend, right, turns a corner as he works to get a pace ahead of Saugatuck’s Benny Diaz on the way to winning last season’s LPD4 200 championship. (Middle) Townsend gets ready to defend during last month’s Division 3 Semifinal against Schoolcraft. (Top photo by Will Kennedy; middle photo by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)