Performance: East Kentwood's Sekayi Bracey
June 9, 2016
Sekayi Bracey
East Kentwood senior – Track & Field
Bracey capped off one of the most celebrated careers in MHSAA track & field history Saturday with two more individual championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at Hudsonville. Bracey won the long jump (18 feet, 10 inches) and 100-meter dash (12.08) to give her 10 championships total over her four-season high school career and earn her the Michigan National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Bracey has come a long way since catching a gym teacher’s attention at elementary school field day and then running her first kids track meet in a leotard and water shoes. The 100 title was her fourth at MHSAA Finals, and the long jump victory – by 4½ inches – was her third straight. Bracey also won the 200 as a freshman, sophomore and junior before finishing fourth this time as that race was won by Northville’s Chloe Abbott, Bracey’s future teammate at Purdue University.
East Kentwood finished fourth as a team and also took third twice and runner-up once at MHSAA Finals during Bracey’s championship-laden career. She finished with five school records: long jump (19-6½), 100 (11.68 seconds), 200 (23.98), 400 (56.4) and as part of the 400 relay (47.62).
Coach Stephanie Stephenson said: "Sekayi is obviously an exceptional athlete. We will miss her performances during meets, but more than that she is a wonderful person. She is humble and kind. She is very coachable. She has developed great leadership skills over the last four years. She is just a joy to be around. We will miss her presence much more than her performances."
Performance Point: I got out fast (in the 200). I’m the type of person who gets tired, so I try to burn out all my energy completely. I don’t even know what happened. I was so frustrated when they were all coming up on me. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ I never had that in my life. It was confusing. … (But) I had a good day, great competition. The 200 was the best competition. Pretty much, I had a great last state meet, honestly. Taking home two state titles is a blessing, even though I wanted better. It was good.”
Great start … great finish: “I didn’t really understand it (when I was a freshman). I was just running. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m doing good.’ I wasn’t paying attention. I just got state titles. I was just running because it was something I love to do. … (Ten titles) means a lot. I’m just really thankful and grateful for it.”
Opponent, now teammate: “(Chloe Abbott) is going to be my roommate. We’re going to Purdue together. We’ve raced our whole lives pretty much. Chloe is a great runner. I’ve seen her become great over time and her fighting through.”
Be the example: “I really started to focus on my grades (in high school), because that’s what was going to get me into the college I wanted to get into. I’m the oldest of all my siblings, and I want to leave an example on the track and academically to show them how important it is.”
Just like Flo Jo: I really look up to Flo Jo (late Olympian Florence Griffith Joyner, who died in 1998), even though she died. I’m inspired by her. I watch her videos all the time, just because she motivates me so much the way she runs. … Long term, my goal is to go to the Olympics. I’m going to work hard to do that. Hopefully in college, with training, I’ll see great improvement.”
– Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor,
and Bill KIhan, correspondent
Every week during the 2015-16 school year, Second Half and the Michigan National Guard will recognize 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 protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2015-16 honorees
June 1: Anna Jefferson, Oak Park girls track & field - Read
May 25: Connor Bandel, Oxford boys track & field - Read
May 18: Kalyn Breckenridge, Birch Run girls soccer - Read
May 11: Morgan Beadlescomb, Algonac boys track & field - Read
May 4: Abby Krzywiecki, Farmington Hills Mercy softball - Read
April 27: Mike Mokma, Holland Christian baseball - Read
April 20: Abby Divozzo, Cadillac girls soccer - Read
March 30: Cassius Winston, Detroit U-D Jesuit boys basketball - Read
March 23: Kierra Fletcher, Warren Cousino girls basketball - Read
March 16: Jacob Montague, Grosse Pointe South swimming & diving - Read
March 9: Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles boys bowling - Read
March 2: Brittney Schnicke, Caledonia girls bowling - Read
Feb. 24: Kamari Newman, Detroit East English boys basketball - Read
Feb. 17: Jason Whitens, Powers North Central boys basketball - Read
Feb. 10: Rachel Hogan, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Read
Feb. 3: Nehemiah Mork, Midland Dow swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 27: Mardrekia Cook, Muskegon girls basketball - Read
Jan. 20: Sage Castillo, Hartland wrestling - Read
Jan. 13: Rob Zofchak, Dexter swimming & diving - Read
Jan. 6: Tyler Deming, Caro wrestling – Read
Dec. 15: Jordan Weber, East Jordan boys basketball – Read
Dec. 8: Kaitlyn Geers, Kent City girls basketball – Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Sekayi Bracey holds off the pack during the 100 at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Middle) Bracey launches during the long jump competition. (Photos by RunMichigan.com.)
Waverly Paces 1st-Time Winners in D2
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 4, 2016
ZEELAND – Quite possibly the most diminutive athlete at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Track & Field Finals on Saturday, sophomore Kayla Windemuller of Holland Christian twice fell to the track at Zeeland Stadium and twice got back on her feet, kept her composure and finished the 3,200-meter run before anyone else.
About an hour earlier, Windemuller won her first individual MHSAA championship, in the 1,600 run.
Nikole Sargent of Flint Powers Catholic also was a double winner taking first in the shot put and the discus. Sargent won the shot put last season as a junior, but said going into this meet that the discus event was a priority. Sargent failed to place in the discus a year ago, fueling her motivation.
Although Tra’chele Roberts of Lansing Waverly took home only one individual first-place medal, her performances helped her team earn the school’s first MHSAA Finals team championship, as it edged second-place Powers, 42 points to 40. Romulus was third with 31 points, followed by Grand Rapids South Christian with 26 and Zeeland East with 24.
Roberts won the 100 dash (12.55) and ran anchor on the winning 400 and 800 relay teams. The 400 relay set a school record with a time of 48.7.
Warriors coach Rex Wilkes, a Waverly graduate, is in his second season running the program and said he kept Roberts, one of three sophomores on the relay teams, out of the 200 dash in an attempt to save her for the relays.
“We didn’t expect this,” Wilkes said. “I was hoping to come out with some fast times. We got some unexpected points in the shot put. Tra’chele can score points on her own. The others can score in the Regionals and run in the relays.”
The other three athletes on the relay teams were sophomores Jazlynn Wilcox and Maya Garrett, and junior Teaghan Thomas.
“It’s very exciting,” Thomas said. “I’ve been at states three times. We’ve been together since the seventh grade. The same girls ran on the relays, and in the same order.”
Thomas led off, followed by Wilcox, Garrett and Roberts.
Last season Waverly also took first in the 400 relay, but no individual placed among the top eight in the 100 dash.
To Wilkes’ point, another factor in the Warriors; breakthrough took place in the field events. Sophomore Malin Smith was sixth after the preliminaries, then moved up to second with a final put of 42 feet. Smith also took fifth in the discus, an event in which she was seeded seventh.
Windemuller was seeded first and third, respectively, in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs, so it’s not surprising she ran well Saturday. She did place seventh in the 3,200 and eighth in the 1,600 last season, so there was some valuable experience gained there.
No one could predict the events that took place and the circumstances that led to her taking first in both this time.
Windemuller, who said she’s 5-foot-1, won the 1,600 (4:58.9) in rather mundane fashion, at least in comparison to her 3,200 trip. She held off a late charge by junior Christina Sawyer of Tecumseh (5:00.2) in a tight race indeed – and Windemuller had to work for it.
“”It made me super nervous knowing she was close by,” Windemuller said. “I was very tired. I gave it everything I had.”
That was small potatoes compared to her extraordinary effort in the 3,200. With approximately two laps remaining Windemuller, Sawyer and junior Erika Freyhof of Hamilton were bunched together at the front. Suddenly, all three fell.
“I got up as quickly as I could,” Windemuller said. “I was still tired from running the (1,600). … I felt so bad. It was like dominos.”
The second spill took place with just over a lap remaining.
“I was in front,” Windemuller said. “When you go down you have to get yourself back up. It was a great learning experience.
“I’m small, but I’m feisty.”
Her time was 10:59.52.
Courageous athletes dotted the green artificial surface, home to both football teams at Zeeland East and Zeeland West. One competitor, in particular, is a multi-sport athlete who played four years of varsity basketball and was a two-sport athlete during the spring season.
Haley Hoogenraad of Zeeland West is one of the state’s top softball players. She will play for coach Carol Hutchins next year at University of Michigan. Hoogenraad competed in the 3,200 relay Saturday morning, then changed uniforms in a car as she was driven to Holland Christian to play in a Division 2 District Semifinal. West lost that noon game to Hudsonville Unity Christian, 12-4, allowing Hoogenraad to get back in a car to be driven back to Zeeland for the 800 run.
Hoogenraad was not just a qualifier in the event. She was seeded first, and as the race unfolded she moved up from fifth place to second with 200 meters left. Hoogenraad grew tired and placed fourth.
“I slid a few times and dove for a few balls,” Hoogenraad said of her time on the softball diamond. “I was dirty. I’m sad of the outcomes, but I tried. I tried to make my move (in the 800) and I said, oh, I can’t. I’m glad I had the opportunity to support my team.”
That would be teams.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Waverly's Tra’chele Roberts runs a relay anchor leg for the Warriors, who went on to win the LP Division 2 championship. (Middle) Holland Christian's Kayla Windemuller. (Photos by Dave McCauley/RunMichigan.com.)