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Performance of the Week: Rochester Adams' Armon Howard
June 3, 2022
Armon Howard ♦ Rochester Adams
Track & Field ♦ Senior
Howard won the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles and ran on champion 800 and 1,600-meter relays at the 63rd Oakland County Championships on May 27 at Clarkston. His 37.30-second time in the 300 was the fastest in that race in the state this season and tied for ninth-fastest 300 in state history according to MichTrack.org.
Howard’s best time in the 110 hurdles this season was 14.37 seconds heading into Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals, and it ranked third across all divisions this spring. He also entered this weekend undefeated in the 110 this season and with only one second place in the 300, coming in Adams’ first meet. His Oakland County-winning relays also included his twin brother Amarion, and the times – 1:28.96 in the 800 and 3:22.03 in the 1,600 – were the fastest Armon Howard had been part of this spring. (UPDATE: Armon Howard won the 300 hurdles [37.32] and was third in the 110 [14.66] at the June 4 LPD1 Finals.)
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2021-22 Honorees
May 27: Brock Porter, Orchard Lake St. Mary's baseball - Report
May 20: Brady Schultz, Menominee track & field - Report
May 13: Robert Burns, Flint Powers Catholic golf - Report
May 6: Bo Lockwood, Hartland lacrosse - Report
April 28: Nonah Waldron, Oak Park track & field - Report
April 21: Theryn Hallock, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central soccer - Report
April 14: Kaitlyn Pallozzi, Farmington Hills Mercy softball - Report
April 7: Mason Docks, Williamston basketball - Report
March 24: Mya Petticord, Ypsilanti Arbor Prep basketball - Report
March 16: Charley Bayer, East Grand Rapids diving - Report
March 9: Ja'Marcus Smith, Detroit Mumford wrestling - Report
March 2: David Schaberg, Holt bowling - Report
Feb. 24: Adelaide McRoberts, Kingsford swimming - Report
Feb. 17: Christopher Kavanaugh, Petoskey hockey - Report
Feb. 10: Ira Jenkins, Whitehall wrestling - Report
Feb. 3: Emma Stewart, Salem gymnastics - Report
Jan. 28: Tyler Ray, Pinckney swimming - Report
Jan. 21: Elle Craven, Traverse City Central skiing - Report
Jan. 14: Nevaeh Williams, Mount Clemens basketball - Report
Dec. 2: Lucas Dunn, Chelsea football - Report
Nov. 25: Riley Nugent, Plainwell swimming - Report
Nov. 18: Harper Murray, Ann Arbor Skyline volleyball - Report
Nov. 11: Abby VanderKooi, Muskegon Western Michigan Christian cross country - Report
Nov. 4: Arianne Olson, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Oct. 28: Jack Guggemos, Okemos soccer - Report
Oct. 21: Sachiv Kumar, Northville tennis - Report
Oct. 14: Kate Brody, Grand Blanc golf - Report
Oct. 7: Lilly Nelson, Negaunee tennis - Report
Sept. 30: Stella Chapman, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Sept. 23: Riley Hough, Hartland cross country - Report
Sept. 16: Josie Bloom, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Report
(Photos courtesy of Armon Howard and the Rochester Adams athletic department.)
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Pioneer's Johnson Focused on Finish
May 24, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
At 6-foot-1 and a solid 205 pounds, Drake Johnson looks every bit the college running back he’ll become this fall at the University of Michigan.
And amid chasing the MHSAA record for single-season rushing yards this fall, he became a recognizable face as well.
But not long ago, Johnson was known primarily for the elite times he ran during track season. And that allowed the Ann Arbor Pioneer hurdler to have a little extra fun.
A self-admitted jokester, Johnson would get a chuckle before races while watching opponents keep a lookout for him, not realizing he was standing next to them.
“Let’s see who they think I am before the race,” Johnson would say to himself. “And once they figured out who I am, they’d be like, ‘No way! This can’t be Drake.’
“I’d just win the race.”
Now there are few in MHSAA track and field who don't recognize him – or know of the legacy he's about the leave.
Johnson is a two-time MHSAA Division 1 champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and won both that race (14.25) and the 300 hurdles (38.63) at Friday's Division 1 Regional at Saline. He owns the Pioneers’ record in the 110 hurdles of 13.7 seconds, and also will run as part of the 1,600 relay at next weekend’s Division I Final at East Kentwood High.
A Second Half High 5 recipient this week, Johnson has two goals for his final high school meet: Break the all-Finals record in the 110 of 13.6 seconds set by Detroit Central’s Thomas Wilcher in 1982, and win the 300 intermediate hurdles – a race he qualified for last season, but did not advance in past the preliminaries.
Johnson won both hurdles races at last weekend's Regional by more than a second – margins that also have become the norm. After finishing third in the 110 hurdles as a freshman at the 2009 Division 1 Final, Johnson won that race in 2010 by 34 hundredths of a second and last season by 44 hundredths.
His 13.9 Finals qualifying time this spring is the second-fastest among all four divisions. And his best time in high school competition – 13.7 – is faster than them all.
“He’s always had high aspirations to do really well,” said Pioneer coach Don Sleeman, who is finishing his 39th season coaching the Pioneers' boys team. “He’s basically been (this) way from the get-go. I’ve had kids you could see as freshmen would be really good if they developed … but Drake was really good from freshman year on. His talent was pretty obvious.”
And it’s not restricted to hurdles. Johnson would do just fine as a sprinter – for example, he’s beaten Ann Arbor Skyline’s Nathan Hansen, who posted the fifth-fastest Division 1 qualifying time in the 100 of 10.8 seconds. Johnson uses his strength to power through races like he has a ball tucked under his arm, continuously accelerating as others begin to fade.
And the hurdles offer a canvas on which he can create what he describes as his art.
“Everyone has a top speed. It's only one variable -- are you fast, or are you not fast? With hurdles, … it’s a combination of speed and hours of working on technique,” Johnson said. “There's almost that second variable to it, that X factor. A lot of people … can work on technique for hours and hours.
"It’s deeper, but at the time, it’s so incredibly simple. Whoever gets there faster wins the race. Whatever form allows me to finish the fastest, then technically I have better form than you do.”
Johnson has seven entries in the MHSAA football record book, thanks to his incredible numbers in the fall. In 12 games, Johnson ran 344 times for 2,809 yards and 37 touchdowns, and scored 38 times total. His yardage is sixth-most for one season in MHSAA history.
A downfall of his final run through high school track has been the outside expectation that he would post super-fast times in every race – although doing so hasn't always been necessary to win. Sometimes, Johnson focused more on working on nuances, or saving up energy for other events.
But he’s looking forward to one last opportunity to let fly before moving down the road and onto the next level of competition.
“Knowing that it’s my last chance to get the record, I have a sense of urgency almost,” Johnson said. “Also, if I had an actually good start, and a full race, if I run the way I feeI could run it, I’m hoping I could possibly go 13.1 – if I were to run the perfect race.”
Click to read more about Johnson's career aspirations and favorite football runners.
PHOTO: Ann Arbor Pioneer's Drake Johnson won last season's MHSAA Division 1 110 hurdles Final by nearly half a second.