Oak Park Girls Hurdle Competition Again to Regain LPD1 Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2023
ROCKFORD – For the fourth time in five seasons Saturday, Oak Park’s girls captured the Lower Peninsula Division 1 team title – this time with a meet-best 80 points at Rockford High School.
Last season’s champion Detroit Renaissance was second with 58 points, while Ann Arbor Pioneer was third at 56.
The Knights – runners-up a year ago – won again mainly thanks to their dominance in the hurdles. Senior Nonah Waldron won the 100 and 300 hurdles, but also Morgan Roundtree was third in the 100 (13.86) and second in the 300 (41.54) and Carrie VanNoy was fourth in both the 100 (14.18) and 300 (44.11).
Waldon said the team’s success was all about pushing each other the best they could in practice every day.
“It takes maturity to understand that you all can be great together,” Waldron said. “It took a lot of love for each other to be the best we can be.”
The Knights also were second in the 400 relay (47.71) and 800 relay (1:38.21), and third in the 1,600 relay (3:55.27).
“I think that dealing with losing and some adversity helps you grow,” Oak Park coach Brandon Jiles said. “I think the kids used the experience from last year to catapult them this year. We know it’s a points game. We know there are no style points in team championships. We spread the kids out to do what we needed to do. We’re not a depth team, but a quality team. They showed out, and I’m happy.”
Waldron won the 100 hurdles in a time of 13.56 before really putting on a show in the 300 hurdles. She won that event in a time of 40.37, which was the second-fast time in that event in the nation thus far this year. Waldron, who will run in college at USC, also won both hurdles events two years ago and won the 100 hurdles last year, but had a mishap that cost her last year’s title in the 300.
“Last year, I fell and tore my ankle,” she said. “That did motivate (me) a lot more than before. It made me want it more.”
If it wasn’t evident that Renaissance sophomore Jayla Dace might be the state’s next big sprinting star already, she established that on the biggest stage.
Dace won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.90 and was a part of winning 400 and 800 relay teams. Dace also took third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.56.
“The starting gun is a horn, so I’m not really used to that,” Dace said of her strategy in the 100. “I had to really adapt quickly and to make sure I wasn’t the last person to get out of the blocks. Once you see people in the 100 ahead of you, it’s over. I just had to make sure when I started the race that I really didn’t see anybody.”
In the relays, Dace ran the second leg in the 400 and the first leg in the 800.
“I’m just happy we were able to execute,” Dace said.
Saturday was quite an inauguration into the pressure of a high school state meet for West Bloomfield freshman Kamryn Tatum. But she performed like a veteran, winning the 400 in a time of 55.74 and the 200 in a time of 24.10.
“I’ve been at big meets so I know how to deal with quite a bit of pressure, but I was still nervous because it was my first high school (Finals),” Tatum said. “I just wanted to run until the end of the line.”
Ann Arbor Pioneer junior Rachel Forsyth won the 800 (2:09.96) and 1,600 (4:44.22), and East Lansing senior Anna Delgado finished first in the 3,200 (10:33.87). Forsyth also was part of Pioneer’s winning 3,200 relay (9:01.19), and Detroit Cass Tech won the 1,600 relay (3:52.82) by 12 hundredths of a second ahead of Renaissance.
Howell senior Sophie Daugard was first in shot put (41-7), Allen Park junior Abigail Russell first in discus (148-7½), and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior Brooke Bowers won pole vault (12-3). Farmington Hills Mercy junior Milena Chevallier won high jump (5-11), and Rockford senior Maya Anderson was champion in the long jump (18-6½). Flushing sophomore Ally Ingrahm competed in the adaptive 100 (42.81).
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park's Nonah Waldron crosses the finish line first in the 100 hurdles Saturday. (Middle) Renaissance's Jayla Dace, right, charges toward the finish. (Below) West Bloomfield's Kamryn Tatum, far left, leads the 200. (Photos by Jamie McNinch [top photo] and Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)
Ross Emerges from Running Family to Earn Historic Finals Accomplishment
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2024
Emmry Ross had some assistance Saturday when she won four individual events at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals.
Her late grandfather, Phil Six, was with her every step of the way.
“Every time I run I think of his presence,” said the Onsted junior. “He helps me get through the harder times of my races.”
Ross won the 400, 800, 1,600, and 3,200, scoring 40 points by herself, good enough to put Onsted in second place as a team.
She was just the third Lower Peninsula girls track & field athlete and seventh in state history to win four events at an MHSAA Finals.
The stunning performance wasn’t all that stunning to Ross.
“It feels amazing, it was such a perfect day, and it turned out exactly as I was hoping, and better,” she said. “It was a very great feeling after I processed what happened, and it was so exciting to share that with all my family and coaches behind me supporting me.”
Ross has been an outstanding runner for the Wildcats since middle school. Her training, she said, set her up for the historic performance.
The daughter of Daryl and Alicia Ross said once she glided past the finish line to win the 1,600, she gained even more confidence. She maintained that level of confidence throughout the day.
“After I ran so good in my 1,600, and felt so good in that race, I definitely thought I could do it,” Emmry Ross said. “I think that was part of the reason I did it. I was ready to do it in my head, and had a positive attitude the whole day.”
Ross always has drawn inspiration from her family, which has a significant sports background.
Her grandfather was an Onsted record holder in the 400 for decades. Her parents were high school athletes. Her older sister Rayne and younger sisters Hadley and Stylar participated in multiple sports, including track. Hadley and Stylar also are on the track team at Onsted.
They are close and push each other. Rayne and Emmry earned all-state honors two years ago together on a relay.
“I set such high goals for myself because I believe the sky is the limit, and there is no limit if you set your mind to it,” Emmry said.
Ross hesitated to pick which race was most difficult Saturday because they all went relatively smoothly.
“They all came with some things that I wasn’t expecting,” she said. “I might have to say the 800, mainly for the fact that the first 200 meters I was nervous because I got boxed in for a split second, but I got out of it, and finished really strong.”
Ross has earned seven individual first-place finishes and ran on a winning relay over her three MHSAA Finals. She isn’t worried about an encore yet.
“I have thought a little bit into next year, and I think it would be awesome to do it again,” she said. “But with MITCA (Champion of Champions Festival) and nationals coming up, I’ve been pretty focused on that and doing the best I can there before I look into next year.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTO Emmry Ross (far left) leads a pack during one of her championship races Saturday at Kent City. (Click for more from Mary Wilson/RunMichigan.com.)