Belleville Boys Follow Davis-Price's Direction to Historic Championship
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
KENTWOOD – Three years ago the Belleville athletic department asked Candice Davis-Price whether she was interested in taking a shot at making boys high school track & field history.
It took little time for her to buy into the notion – and then three springs to see it happen.
Davis-Price led Belleville to its first Finals championship in this sport in any division, and also became the first female coach to lead a Michigan boys track team to a Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals title during Saturday's meet at East Kentwood. Belleville finished with 57 points to outdistance runner-up Northville, which finished with 35.
Previously an outstanding multi-sport athlete at Ann Arbor Pioneer, Davis-Price took over the Belleville program three years ago and quickly built a champion by accomplishing everything from collecting superior athletes for the sport to juggling a busy life off the track.
Heading her beliefs is that talent should be pointed toward where it's most likely to succeed.
"I coach athletes and not positions or events," she said. "It's important to identify talent and get guys to believe in whatever they're doing."
But a Finals title? In just three short seasons? Last year the Tigers came within a hair of winning, scoring 38 points to finish behind only Kalamazoo Central (41 points) and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley (39). Davis-Price said that finish both boosted her coaching status with male athletes and proved to them success could be had at the school in boys track – whoever the coach.
"I won't say (success) was expected, but it's become standard," said Davis-Price, a sprinter who won three Finals titles at Ann Arbor Pioneer and also was an outstanding three-year letterwinner in basketball. "Last year was kinda hard to stomach. We learned we had to be able to spread out the points, and we did."
Giving Belleville's chances a huge boost was senior Will (Jaiden) Smith, who turned a good junior season into going out with a bang this year. He won the 110 hurdles (13.35) and 300 hurdles (37.79) and finishing fifth in the 200 dash after a year after finishing fourth in the 110 hurdles, second in the 300 and just missed scoring in the 200. He was seeded first in the 300 and second in the 200 going into this Finals. He was also part of Saturday's winning 1,600 relay (3:15.52).
Smith said the key to making the jump from good to outstanding is not getting caught up in success.
"You can't get used to it because if you get comfortable, you'll fall back," he said. "I know they were going to be tough races, but you've got to push yourself to do better."
Grand Haven was third with 31 points, while Novi and Oak Park both had 28.
Belleville was outstanding in the relays, also winning the 400 (41.85) and 800 (1:26.50).
Among the other winners Saturday was senior Quincy Isaac of Canton, who claimed the long jump (24-11½) for a third-consecutive season. Each championship, Isaac said, featured a different pathway to the medal stand.
"Each year had different expectations, like with the first one I was nervous because I was one of the youngest guys there." he said. "There were still a lot of nerves as a junior and trying to win it twice in a row. This year I knew what I had to do, then I pulled a hamstring at the conference meet and didn't even go to the Regional. I didn't practice, didn't compete and came here with almost nothing."
One performer who did come to the meet with something was East Kentwood junior pole vaulter Reece Emeott. A Finals champ by nine inches last year and the son of Falcons coach Dave Emeott, Reece said there was one major difference between winning the event this year (16-0) as opposed to a year ago.
"This year was more about relief," he said. "We were expected to win, and it happened. Last year there was no pressure, no expectations. I could just jump how I jumped. This year was a huge relief."
The pole vault was particularly rugged this year as five of the top eight vaulters turned in personal bests.
Emeott said he already has designs on next season and a third individual title, but he expects a radically different showing. In the attempt to bolster the Falcons as a whole, he plans on spreading his talent to the long jump, 100-meter dash and maybe even a relay.
"The main goal will be to win a (team) state title," he said. "This is good, but that would be way better."
Samson Gash of Detroit Catholic Central won the 100-meter dash (10.41) after a strong second half to his race.
"I took the lead about halfway through and I like my time for sure," he said. “I knew it would be a fast (event), but there was no worry about times. It is what it is, but it was pretty exciting," he said. "It feels good, but I've got more work to do."
That work, however, may not come in track. He's being recruited by football programs including Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, West Virginia and Vanderbilt.
"We're talking with the school and family about what we're going to do," he said.
Among other champs were two Walled Lake Central field event performers. Garrod Alexander won the shot (64-1.25), while Giovanni Charles took the high jump (6-8).
Also in field events, Ray Glory Ejoyokah of Birmingham Groves won the discus (179-3).
Other winners were senior Jeremy Dixon of Kalamazoo Central (21.11). A year ago he helped Central to the team championship by winning the 100 and finishing second in the 200 while also assisting on two winning relays.
Rounding out the other Finals champs were Byron Center’s Brady Leyendecker in the 400 (47.96), Wendell Childs of Clarkston in the 800 (1:50.71), Luka Hammond of Grand Haven in the 1,600 (4:09.69) and Beckett Crooks of Ann Arbor Pioneer in the 3,200 (9:00.80).
Northville won the 3,200 relay (7:41.24), and Oak Park the 1,600 (3:15.52).
PHOTOS (Top) Belleville hurdlers Will (Jaiden) Smith, right, and Schmar Gamble approach the finish in the 110 final Saturday. (Middle) Detroit Catholic Central's Samson Gash, right, and Novi's Chance McNeill set the pace in the 100 dash final. (Click for more from Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)
Longtime Coach Lober Steps Away from XC
By
Dennis Chase
Special for MHSAA.com
August 18, 2017
TRAVERSE CITY – When the Traverse City Central boys cross country team opened practice last Wednesday, the gregarious John Lober was nowhere in sight.
Instead, the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame coach was teeing it up on a golf course in Kalkaska County.
Lober, the driving force behind Traverse City Central boys running, stepped down as cross country coach after 28 years. He’ll continue as the track & field coach in the spring - his 49th year at Central and 54th season of coaching overall.
“I’m definitely going to miss it, but I’m lucky to say that a lot of these kids (in cross country) run track so I’ll still have an association with them,” Lober said. “It’s always about the kids and that association.”
Bryan Burns, who coached the Maple City Glen Lake girls to the Lower Peninsula Division 4 cross country title in 2000, is succeeding Lober.
“He’s a legend,” Central athletic director/assistant principal Mark Mattson said of Lober. “The guy’s put nearly 50 years into his craft at our school. That’s unprecedented. Fortunately, we get to keep him for track.”
Lober turned 75 in March.
“He’s 75 going on 35,” Mattson added. “He has such energy and passion. He’s everywhere - all the time.”
Still, Lober thought the time was right to make a change.
“I think it was my daughter who said something about me being in the fourth quarter,” he recalled. “Well, the greatest things happen in the fourth quarter. That’s when everything is on the line. Subconsciously, I’m thinking, ‘What are you going to do in the fourth quarter? How is this going to play out?’”
Lober experienced a taste of life without cross country last season – albeit for just two weeks – when he and his partner of 11 years, Margo Million, took a September vacation to New England.
And, as for any withdrawal symptoms in the last month, Lober’s been too busy for that to happen. He took in eight Traverse City Film Festival movies in late July and then the following week played 18 holes of golf four consecutive days with his visiting grandson and a friend.
“It’s been pretty Lober silent around (school), and I know that’s by John’s choice to stay out of the way and let Bryan Burns and his staff have that program be theirs,” Mattson said. “I’m sure that’s not easy for John because I know how much he cares for kids and how much pride he takes in our school and community. He paved the way for so many years. Nonetheless, he has the utmost respect for Bryan, who he helped put in place, and for what they want to do with the program going forward.”
Lober, and coaching companion Don Lukens, took over the Central cross country program in 1989 and turned it into one of the state’s best. According to statistics compiled by michtrack.org, Central had the fourth best program in the state in the 1990s – based on MHSAA Finals finishes – despite the fact the school was split (with West opening) in 1997. The Trojans were 12th from 2000-2009 and 11th from 2010-2016.
“Excellence is typified by a high achievement level over many years,” Lober said, “and I feel we’ve been an excellent program over the last 28 years.
“The system we established that first year (based on principles popularized by notable New Zealand runner and coach Arthur Lydiard) has proven to be a successful system. Little did Don and I know when we started working together that our talents would dovetail and create such a strong situation.”
Since 1989, Central has won 86 invitationals, eight Big North Conference titles and eight Regionals. The Trojans were runners-up in nine Regionals. Central finished second in Class A in 1996, five points behind White Lake Lakeland.
Central qualified for the MHSAA Finals the first 16 years under Lober and Lukens. That streak was snapped in 2005, but it led to one of the most satisfying seasons in 2006.
“Those kids on the 2005 team were the first not to go to states, and they banded together and came back and took third (in Division 1) the next year,” Lober said. “They were awesome. That was a special team.”
The Finals runner-up team in 1996 was special, too. In fact, Lober is reminded of it every day. That squad, after its successful season, planted a tree in Lober’s front yard. Today, it towers over the front of his property.
Lukens, also in the MITCA Hall of Fame, built his legacy as a cross country and track coach at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix before retiring at 55 and moving north. He had 32 years of service in, but his move was hastened after he accidentally “chemically poisoned” himself.
“I was staining my place and I dumped the bucket all over the front of me,” he said. “But I wanted to finish because I had company coming from Pennsylvania. The next day my knees and elbows were so swollen – you talk about pain.”
Lukens originally was told he had lupus, but a trip to the Mayo Clinic revealed it was chemical poisoning.
He was told his condition would improve as time passed, but it would be advantageous if he could retire.
“They said, ‘Remember, stress is a factor. If you don’t retire, don’t plan much until after age 60,’” Lukens recalled. “Well, that scared the dickens out of me.”
Lukens, now 83, was serving as interim athletic director at the time. In the meantime, he and his wife had fallen in love with northern Michigan and purchased property along the Platte River in Benzie County. Lukens started building their house right before the move.
“Every morning I get up, sit on the porch and look at the river,” he said. “You talk about being blessed.”
His coaching days were not over, however. Benzie Central track coach Pete Moss asked if Lukens could work with the team’s pole vaulter in that spring of 1989. In late May, at the Traverse City Record-Eagle Honor Roll track meet, Lober approached Lukens about becoming his distance coach in track. When the cross country job opened, Lober and Lukens took on that responsibility as well.
It’s a union that still exists. Lukens is assisting Burns in cross country and Lober in track.
“I think my wife is happy I’m not in her hair all the time,” Lukens said. “I enjoy working with the kids. They keep me young.”
Lober, whose track team won the Class A title in 1992, feels the same. He retired from teaching during spring break in 2000 when his wife Julie’s cancer returned. She passed in August of that year. It was in those moments afterwards, seeing the support he had from his teams, that it hit him.
“I need them more than they need me,” he said.
Now that he’s not a part of the cross country program, Lober said he’ll miss the dynamics of team building and team bonding. He’ll miss watching raw athletes develop skills they didn’t realize they had. But he won’t be out of sight totally. He’ll be there for meets, just like he’s at other school sporting events during the year. After all, Traverse City Central has been his home away from home for 49 years.
“When we named Travis Schuba our new boys basketball coach last week, John was the first one looking for contact information to congratulate him and welcome him to our staff,” Mattson said. “That’s John Lober. Traverse City Central is family for John.”
And just how long will he coach track?
“I want to coach track a couple more years because I love it,” he said. “Last year was as much fun as I’ve ever had coaching track. Plus, I want to put 50 (years) in. If I’m lucky enough to do that, I’d love 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) Traverse City Central coach John Lober offers direction at a meet during his half-century career. (Middle) Central assistant Don Lukens, left, with Lober. (Photos courtesy of John Lober.)