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.
Kloss Raring to Make His Move in D3
April 20, 2018
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
HARBOR SPRINGS – Jeremy Kloss is growing weary of northern Michigan’s cold, snowy spring.
“I’m a little frustrated,” said the Harbor Springs junior, who won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at last June’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track & Field Finals. “I really want to get a meet in.”
A mid-April snowstorm blasted the area with more than a foot of snow last weekend. Most schools were closed Monday – and some Tuesday.
Kloss used the extended weekend break to put in an eight-mile run – his longest of the year.
“I had to find roads that weren’t as snow-covered as others,” he said. “It wasn’t the best footing.”
No sport has been able to gain traction.
According to the National Weather Service in Gaylord, this is the coldest and snowiest April on record in the northern Lower Peninsula. Some 37.3 inches of snow has fallen in Gaylord this month, eclipsing the previous record of 27 inches in 1923. Traverse City has had 27.1 inches, surpassing the mark of 17.3 in 2007. In addition, the average daytime temperature has been running 18 degrees below normal in this part of the state.
Harbor Springs had its first three track meets cancelled or postponed. The weather is expected to start turning this weekend, so there is hope the season will get underway next week, about three weeks from Regionals.
“I looked on athletic.net and it appears most schools, even downstate, haven’t had too many meets,” said Mike Kloss, Jeremy’s father and the longtime Rams boys track coach. “That makes me feel a little better. If they’re running downstate, and you’re not, then you feel like you’re behind the 8 ball.
“The weather’s got to give us a break.”
Jeremy sure hopes so.
“I don’t know if my mom (Emily, the girls track coach) has taken the snow tires off her vehicle yet,” he said. “I haven’t taken the sand bags out of my truck.”
Once the season starts, Jeremy Kloss is hoping to build off last year’s accomplishments when he set personal bests in capturing the 1,600 (4:25.73) and 3,200 (9:46.25) at the Finals. He was also on the 3,200 relay team that took third and the 1,600 relay that placed seventh. That helped spark the Rams to a third-place team finish.
Kloss, whose three older brothers previously ran for the Rams, jokingly noted last June before the championship meet that his brothers always had one question for him – “Why aren’t you running faster?”
“If you’ve been around us, you know it’s not an easy crowd at times,” said Mike with a laugh.
The 17-year-old put that to rest and now owns bragging rights in the family with the fastest 1,600 and 3,200 times.
Now he’s hoping to keep dropping and challenge school marks in the 800 (Jacques Henning, 1:56.36), 1,600 (Tec Adams, 4:16) and 3,200 (Adams, 9:24).
“My goals are ambitious,” he said. “Aim high.”
“He’s self-motivated,” added his father. “Like (Monday), he went out and ran eight miles in crappy weather. He has big goals in what he wants to do, and that’s what drives him. He wants to be good. He works hard.”
Kloss finished second to Caro’s Yami Albrecht (15:44.7 to 15:47.1) at the LP Division 3 Cross Country Final in the fall. Then, for the most part, he put training on hold to play basketball during the winter.
“Toward the end of the (basketball) season I would wake up at 6 a.m. and run three times a week, and then on the other two mornings I would go to the gym with a couple buddies for workouts (before school),” he said.
All in hopes of getting off to a fast start in track.
Then, Mother Nature intervened.
Kloss is motivated since he’ll have to now prove himself in Division 3.
“There’s a really good group of (distance runners) in Division 3,” he said. “It’s a tough group to hop in with, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
The field includes Albrecht, Hanover-Horton’s Landon Melling, Cass City’s CarLee Stimpfel, Saugatuck’s Corey Gorgas and Kent City’s Fraser Wilson. Gorgas was second (9:20.16), Stimpfel third (9:30.77) and Wilson fourth (9:36.23) in the Division 3 3,200 last June. In the 1,600, Melling finished second (4:17.04), Albrecht third (4:18.49), and Stimpfel fourth (4:19.55).
“That 9:20 Corey (Gorgas) ran in the 3,200 is fast, and I think he ran that fast indoors (over the winter),” said Mike Kloss. “D-3 is a lot different. In D-4 you might have one or two (vying for the title), but in D-3 you’ll have five or six. It’s another challenge, another step.”
In D-4 a year ago, Kloss won the 1,600 by nearly three seconds and the 3,200 by nearly eight.
“I think Jeremy could have gone 4:20 (in the 1,600) in the right type race,” said his father.
East Jordan coach Matt Peterson agrees that Kloss will face a stiffer challenge in Division 3.
“The times will be quicker and the fields will be deeper,“ he said. “But having said that, he was close to winning the D-3 cross country title. It wouldn’t surprise me if he placed very well or won at the state track meet.
“It goes back to his persistence. That’s the one word I would use to describe him. I’ve seen him run since middle school and I’ve never seen him run what I consider a bad race. I’ve never seen him mentally quit in a race, no matter how he feels. Every runner has an off day where they don’t feel right. He runs through that. That’s huge in anything, including life.”
Peterson and Mike Kloss were college teammates at Ferris State in the mid-1980s. He’s watched Jeremy grow up, starting when Jeremy was just weeks old and his parents brought him along to the state cross country meet.
“He’s a nice kid,” said Peterson. “I’ve watched him run at numerous state meets and the way he conducts himself, his attitude, is unbelievable. I was at the D-4 track meet last spring, and after he won the 3,200 he ran across the track and hugged me – and I’m an opposing coach. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Mike Kloss will let the next few weeks play out to see what events Jeremy will run come Regionals and, most likely, the Division 3 Finals.
“It’s way too early to make those decisions,” Mike said.
Jeremy, meanwhile, is excited to see what the 3,200 relay can do. Senior Max Sydow and sophomore David Harrell return from a unit that posted a podium finish last year. Sophomore Austin Smar will join the mix.
“If we all drop our times, which I think we can, we can be pretty good,” Jeremy Kloss said.
It will be an important few weeks for Kloss as he also tries to showcase his talents for college coaches. He’s received attention from some Division I schools outside the state, although his preference is to remain in-state.
“I would like to be closer to home,” he said.
For Mike and Emily Kloss, this is their 28th year coaching in the Harbor Springs system. They also lead the cross country programs. Mike recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with the Michigan State Police. Most of those years were spent working the nightshift. Now, he’s working days as a court officer.
His training regimen for distance runners is based on low mileage, high intensity workouts.
“It’s not that we went in with that thought,” he said. “We adapted to it. If I ran kids big miles, we would lose them and we don’t have many spares.
“Jeremy has been gradually increasing (his miles), but I don’t want him to run college workouts in high school. It seems to be working for him.”
Jeremy said there’s another benefit to lower mileage.
“Kids are not getting hurt,” he said. “I can’t remember anyone having a stress fracture. The closest thing we’ve had is a couple kids with shin splints for a week or so. We’re staying healthy.”
As a trade-off, runners are asked to test themselves when they do work out.
“My dad likes to say, ‘A little faster if you can stand it,’” Jeremy said. “We have that quote on our sweatshirts and T-shirts.”
Now, if they just had better weather to start applying it.
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Harbor Springs’ Jeremy Kloss leads the pack during last season’s 1,600 championship race at the LP Division 4 Finals. (Middle) Kloss crosses first to win the 3,200 title. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)