#TBT: Pioneer Bests Impressive Field
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 22, 2014
Ann Arbor Pioneer owns an MHSAA-best 16 team championships in girls track and field, including a string of seven straight won in Class A from 1985-91.
The Pioneers answered arguably their toughest challenge of that run in 1989, against a Detroit Cass Tech team featuring a record-setting long jumper and a sprint field that remains one of the most star-studded in MHSAA Finals history.
Pioneer won the June 3, 1989, meet at Eastern Michigan University with 70.5 points to Cass Tech’s 58 and Flint Central’s 33.5. The main event for the second straight season was the 100-meter championship race matching the standout athletes from all three top-placing teams.
Repeating their finish in the race from 1988, Pioneer’s Crystal Braddock (11.84) outlasted Central’s Patrice Verdun (11.99) and Cass Tech’s Trinette Johnson (12.10) to cross the line first.
Braddock also won the 200 and ran on the victorious 1,600 relay at the 1989 Final, and finished her high school career with four individual and three relays championships. Verdun also finished runner-up to Braddock in the 200 in 1989, but did win the 100 as both a freshman and sophomore in 1986 and 1987, respectively.
Johnson ran on the winning 400 relay, but left her lasting mark by claiming the long jump title in 19 feet, 8 inches – an MHSAA all-Finals record that continues to stand and was nearly 20 inches longer than the runner-up that day. Johnson also won the long jump the previous spring as a junior. Cass Tech finished runner-up six times during Pioneer's seven-season title string.
High school was just the start of the trio’s track and field successes. Braddock went on to run at the University of Texas, earning All-America honors four times and helping set a relay record at the World University Games. Verdun and Johnson ran together at Florida State, teaming up on relays that earned them All-America honors. Verdun earned All-America five times for the Seminoles, and Johnson was a six-time All-American, including four times for long jump.
Click to see results from the 1989 LP Class A Final.
PHOTO: (Left to right) Detroit Cass Tech’s Trinette Johnson, Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Crystal Braddock and Flint Central’s Patrice Verdun head toward the finish line during the 100-meter championship race at the 1989 MHSAA Class A Lower Peninsula Final.
Performance of the Week: Mackinaw City's Larissa Huffman
April 14, 2023
Larissa Huffman ♦ Mackinaw City
Senior ♦ Track & Field
Huffman – who runs as part of a cooperative team with Indian River Inland Lakes – finished first in the 55-meter hurdles (9.7 seconds), second in the high jump (5-0) to teammate Hannah Robinson, third in the 800 (2:41) and was on the second-place 1,600 relay as Inland Lakes won the Lake Superior State University Indoor Invitational on Friday. She’s been part of seven top-eight finishes during the last two Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track & Field Finals, placing third in the 100 hurdles, seventh in the 300 hurdles, fourth in high jump and running on the eighth-place 1,600 relay last spring as Inland Lakes tied for seventh as a team.
The four-sport standout also ran in her second LPD4 Cross Country Final for Mackinaw City this past fall and helped the volleyball team to its first District title. But she’s perhaps most known for her skills on the basketball court – she went over 1,000 career points this season in helping the Comets to a 25-2 record and league, District and Regional championships this season (and Huffman’s twin brother Lars went over 1,000 career points as well this winter). Larissa also previously played softball for Mackinaw City, earning all-league honors, but couldn't this year because of conflicts with her track schedule. She will continue her academic, basketball and track & field careers at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin.
@mhsaasports 🏃♀️POW: Larissa Huffman #performanceoftheweek #track #field #hurdles #highjump #relay #pr #congrats #mackinawcity #inlandlakes #letsgo #MHSAA #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #TikTok #mistudentaid #fyp @larisksksksksk ♬ original sound - MHSAA
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2022-23 Honorees
April 6: Darius Acuff, Detroit Cass Tech basketball - Report
March 23: Regan Finkbeiner, Hemlock basketball - Report
March 16: Alaina Yaney, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Report
March 9: Braeden Davis, Dundee wrestling - Report
March 2: Gabriel Sanchez-Burks, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Feb. 23: Grace Sobczak, Marquette swimming - Report
Feb. 16: Kaitlynn Demers, Gibraltar Carlson competitive cheer - Report
Feb. 9: Indya Davis, West Bloomfield basketball - Report
Feb. 2: Braydon Sorenson, Onekama skiing - Report
Jan. 26: Shayna Hruska, Iron Mountain wrestling - Report
Jan. 19: Kayla Tafanelli, Warren Woods-Tower bowling - Report
Dec. 20: Brenden Paden, Riverview Gabriel Richard hockey - Report
Dec. 16: Tuff Scott, Holton bowling - Report
Dec. 9: Macey Fegan, Standish-Sterling basketball - Report
Dec. 2: Treyton Siegert, Gladwin football - Report
Nov. 24: Lily Witte, Dexter diving - Report
Nov. 17: Navea Gauthier, Shelby volleyball - Report
Nov. 10: Derek Huisman, Holland Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3: Thomas Westphal, New Baltimore Anchor Bay cross country - Report
Oct. 27: Justin Wickey, Colon football - Report
Oct. 20: Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13: Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6: Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30: Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22: Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15: Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8: Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1: Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25: Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report
PHOTO Inland Lakes' Larissa Huffman runs a hurdles race during last season's LPD4 Finals. (Photo by Nicky Fenstermaker.)