Performance: Lakeland's Grace Stark
June 2, 2017
Grace Stark
White Lake Lakeland sophomore – Track & Field
The Eagles’ speedy standout has made significant strides – literally – this season, cutting more than a second off her fastest 100-meter hurdles time from 2016. How much she’s improved in that race gained the most notice at Friday’s Oakland County Championships when Stark won in 13.54 seconds, earning the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” If she can repeat that time at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals, she’ll break the all-Finals record set by Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Candice Davis in 2003.
Stark’s fastest 100 hurdles time as a freshman was 14.64 seconds, and she also ran 11.82 in the 100 dash. She approached the dash personal record as well at the Oakland County meet, winning in 11.86. She’s undefeated in both the 100 dash and 100 hurdles this season, plus won a Regional title in the 200 in a personal-record 24.99 seconds. Stark owns Lakeland’s records in the 100, 100 hurdles and 200 and as part of the 400 and 800 relays, the last two helped of course by a number of talented teammates, including a strong senior class finishing up this weekend.
After developing bursitis in a hip over the summer, Stark took six weeks off from training. She upped her workouts to near-normal in December and competed indoor before showing her advancing speed on the outdoor track. Also a gymnast during elementary and middle school, Stark focuses solely on track now but said her time on the mat helped her improve physically and become more disciplined. She carries a 3.9 grade-point average, showing discipline and determination in the classroom as well.
Coach John Kababik said: "Grace is the fastest sprinter that I have coached in 40 years of coaching Lakeland girls track. What makes her so good is not only the talent she was born with, but the single-minded determination to be the best. She runs track both in season and out as a club runner. Grace was very good as a freshman, but she has improved by a full second over the last year in the hurdles. For sprinters to improve that much is not common. She came into high school fast, but she’s getting better due to the fact she’s so conscious of her technique. She’s just driven. She wants to be better, and she’s so knowledgeable that she’ll talk to me about former Olympic champions and the techniques they used. Grace will continue to break records and improve because that is who she is: that is part of her personality."
Performance Point: “I think I had a better start that day,” Stark said of the Oakland County hurdles race. “I got out to the first hurdle, and actually I’ve been working on my arms – working on not raising over hurdles, but keeping them low and right in front of me. … I thought I’d pulled off a good time, but I didn’t know it was good enough for a state record. I hit the last hurdle, and I didn’t know how much that slowed me down.”
Give it up for Gail: “Gail Devers (a U.S. Olympic gold medalist in 1992 and 1996), she did the 100 and she did the hurdles too, and she’s the big person I look up to. I’ve been told she has a similar body structure to me, so I thought, well, she’s my height, she did the hurdles and the dash, so she’s very similar to me. And she’s someone I’ve been told to watch by my coaches."
Mat time pays off: “(Gymnastics) made me stronger, my whole body. I did a lot of sprints toward the vault table, and I thought that helped. And the technique we had; it taught me a lot about discipline, helped me prevent injuries, all the workouts that we did.”
Fun to be fast: “I like the pressure of (racing). I like being out on the line, going off and being in the race. I like the thrill of it, really. Not knowing who is going to win, how the race is going to turn out. And giving all of yourself to something you care about is really fun.”
Difference in the details: “I take time with things, make sure they’re done right before I finish them. I think that reflects in both (athletics and academics) how I get stuff done. I’m very critical of myself. If it’s not done almost perfect, I find something to work on or something to fix.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2016-17 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army 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 protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2016-17 honorees:
May 25: Brendon Gouin, Gaylord golf – Read
May 18: Hannah Ducolon, Bay City All Saints softball – Read
May 11: Mason Phillips, Salem track & field – Read
May 4: Lillian Albaugh, Farwell track & field – Read
April 27: Amber Gall, Shepherd track & field – Read
April 20: Sloane Teske, East Grand Rapids tennis – Read
March 30: Romeo Weems, New Haven basketball – Read
March 23: Jaycie Burger and Maddie Clark, Pittsford basketball – Read
March 16: Camden Murphy, Novi swimming & diving – Read
March 9: Ben Freeman, Walled Lake Central wrestling – Read
March 2: Joey Mangner, Chelsea swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 23: Isabelle Nguyen, Grosse Pointe North gymnastics – Read
Feb. 16: Dakota Hurbis, Saline swimming & diving – Read
Feb. 2: Foster Loyer, Clarkston basketball – Read
Jan. 26: Nick Jenkins, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling – Read
Jan. 19: Eileene Naniseni, Mancelona basketball – Read
Jan. 12: Rory Anderson, Calumet hockey – Read
Dec. 15: Demetri Martin, Big Rapids basketball – Read
Dec. 1: Rodney Hall, Detroit Cass Tech football – Read
Nov. 24: Ally Cummings, Novi volleyball – Read
Nov. 17: Chloe Idoni, Fenton volleyball – Read
Nov. 10: Adelyn Ackley, Hart cross country – Read
Nov. 3: Casey Kirkbride, Mattawan soccer – Read
Oct. 27: Colton Yesney, Negaunee cross country – Read
Oct. 20: Varun Shanker, Midland Dow tennis – Read
Oct. 13: Anne Forsyth, Ann Arbor Pioneer cross country – Read
Oct. 6: Shuaib Aljabaly, Coldwater cross country – Read
Sept. 29: Taylor Seaman, Brighton swimming & diving – Read
Sept. 22: Maggie Farrell, Battle Creek Lakeview cross country – Read
Sept. 15: Franki Strefling, Buchanan volleyball – Read
Sept. 8: Noah Jacobs, Corunna cross country – Read
PHOTO: (Top) White Lake Lakeland's Grace Stark clears a hurdle during a race this season. (Middle) Stark begins to break away from the pack. (Action photos courtesy of the White Lake Lakeland athletic department; head shot courtesy of the Oakland Press.)
Future Rivals Shine at Kent City, Hart Beats All for 2nd Finals Win
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KENT CITY – Kylee Poulton and Lani Bloom are small-school standouts headed for the big time of Division I track & field in the Big Ten Conference.
They showed why at Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Kent City High School. They’re about to be arch-rivals in college, too.
Poulton, a Holland Black River senior signed with Indiana University, sprinted to individual titles in the 100-meter dash (12.28 seconds) and 200 (24.83). Bloom, an Ithaca senior signed with Purdue University, ran away with championships in the 800 (2:11.86) and 1,600 (4:49.60). Both runners also anchored relays for their respective teams.
Cross country power Hart was a landslide winner of the team Finals title, the Pirates’ second overall and first since 2018, as they totaled 63 points – 24 more than runner-up Pewamo-Westphalia. Onsted was third (33), Montague fourth (29) and Quincy fifth (28).
“You know, it’s been fun. I know when I started coaching back in ’98 for Hart, they needed somebody and it kind of just grew into a passion. I love coaching – I like teaching school, but I love coaching, too,” said Hart girls track coach Calvin Ackley, who is an assistant for the Pirates’ girls cross country program that’s a five-time reigning champ in LP Division 3.
“It’s fun. It’s fun just to put Hart on the map a little bit in one small aspect of life. … If you’re going to do something, do it all-out, you know.”
All-out is exactly the way Poulton and Bloom performed Saturday.
For Poulton, those were her first two Finals championships. She had the best time of all qualifiers in the 400 but decided not to run that event because she wanted to conserve energy for the 200. Last year, she was LPD3 runner-up in the 100, third in the 200 and fourth in the 400.
Poulton ran the anchor leg on Black River’s 1,600 relay team to close the day Saturday. That quartet did not place, but she still enjoyed herself.
“This year was really fun. I really love my team this year,” said Poulton, who ran into a bit of a headwind Saturday but still felt strong. “Having a 4x4 relay has been, like, a highlight because it’s just so fun.
“In the past years, I wasn’t able to participate in relays, but we were able to put together a pretty good team this year and run in the state finals. I’d say my highlight would be the Regional meet. We were last (in the 1,600 relay) and then we ended up becoming first (at the Regional).”
Bloom is no stranger to MHSAA Finals championships. She also won 800 and 1,600 titles at last year’s Finals, plus she captured an LP Division 3 cross country championship in the fall.
Bloom anchored Ithaca’s 3,200 relay team that placed fourth.
“I was really nervous going into (Saturday’s meet) because I haven’t really had a lot of races where I had to have that get-up-and-go mindset where I had to, like, actually race my hardest, dive over the line every time,” she said. “It was a challenge for me today, but I feel like I really rose to the occasion and I’m really proud of what I did today.”
Other individual champions from Saturday’s LP Division 3 Finals included Onsted’s Emmry Ross in the 400 (57.93), Grand Rapids Covenant Christian’s Meghan Beute in the 3,200 (personal record 10:37.57), Pewamo-Westphalia’s Saige Martin in the 100 hurdles (15.23 PR) and 300 hurdles (46.24 PR), Sand Creek’s Grace Elliott in shot put (40-4.25 PR), Grayling’s Rylan Finstrom in discus (145-2 PR), Lawton’s Heidi Newhouse in high jump (5-5), Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Ally Olszewski in pole vault (11-0 PR) and Benzie Central’s Gloria Stepanovich in long jump (17-4.25).
Two of Montague’s relay teams claimed championships, in the 400 (50.24) and 800 (1:47.10). Ross helped Onsted also win the 1,600 relay (4:06.02), while Hart cruised to victory in the 3,200 (9:30.18).
“I mean, it’s crazy. We just came here with nine girls, and we knew we were seeded decently high. But just to go out here and finally do it has been something that I didn’t expect at the beginning of the season,” Hart senior Kendall Williamson said. “I had no idea we were going to be here.”
PHOTOS (Top) Holland Black River’s Kylee Poulton, middle, sets the pace during one of her sprint championships Saturday at Kent City. (Middle) Ithaca’s Lani Bloom builds a significant lead during one of her victories. (Click for more from Carter Sherline/Run Michigan.)