Brimley Jumper's Leap Soars On as Finals Best
June 6, 2019
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
BRIMLEY – Thirty years ago this spring, John Payment became an unlikely part of Michigan high school track & field history.
In some respects, it almost seems like yesterday the Brimley High School senior soared 7-feet, 1 inch, to set an MHSAA Finals high jump record that still stands. In fact, Payment is the only Upper Peninsula athlete in this sport to own an all-Finals record – meaning his performance remains the best all-time from any class or division in either peninsula.
Payment is still approached by strangers about his performance that 1989 day in Marquette, and is stunned people remember what he did.
Think about it: A high school senior with a minimal high jump history from a tiny Upper Peninsula town accomplished a feat that has not been duplicated by hundreds of athletes from big cities like Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids.
It is mind-boggling it happened, and mind-boggling the record still stands. Talk about doing something very notable well beneath any radar screen.
"It is kind of neat to say no one in the state of Michigan has ever done this," Payment said in a telephone interview on the eve of the 2019 Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals. "It is actually kind of weird to say it.
"It is very humbling. It is amazing people haven't forgotten. It never gets old."
Payment still finds it hard to believe it happened. He had never been able to break the 6-10 barrier in a meet, even though practice jumps convinced him he could surpass that mark.
At the U.P. Finals, he even passed until the bar got to 6-11. He missed twice at 7-0, then easily cleared it on his final try, by a couple of inches. He then asked officials to put the bar at 7-1, but his next jump was delayed until the height could be measured officially to ratify the record attempt.
By that time, the public address announcer had explained Payment’s opportunity to the huge crowd in attendance at what remains the Upper Peninsula's largest one-day prep athletic contest. The meet basically came to a stand-still as athletes in the infield gathered around the high jump bar.
"(The official) stood on a folding chair and measured the bar at 7-1," said Payment. "He then told me, 'Son, if you do this, it is a state record.'"
After clearing that record-setting height, Payment said, "I was excited. Then I tried 7-2, but my legs got rubbery and I just couldn't do it. They said I cleared 7-1 by 3-4 inches. I just couldn't do it anymore. I had an adrenalin rush, but I just wore out."
Obviously very excited at what had just happened, the request to go at 7-2 came up instantly – and he never really had a chance to collect his thoughts and rejoice.
"I couldn't wait for the other jumpers to jump because they were done. It was like boom, boom, boom. I couldn't just sit down and let it sink in," he recalled.
In the immediate aftermath, Payment said he understood what had just happened. "It was huge; it was like a sigh of relief that I just did 7-feet. I was more in awe than anything. (But) I didn't get a chance to savor it."
The realization of what he did hit home on the way back to Brimley when he learned the Detroit Free Press was trying to contact him for an interview. "It was like, wow, this is something. Now it is a bigger deal. It took a little while to have it soak in about the caliber of the jump," he said.
Payment and teammates Bob Carrick and Kevin Sutton finished 1-2-3 in the high jump in U.P. Class D that day, and Payment said having good teammates and their competition helped him reach record heights. In fact, Carrick helped him adjust his approach by having Payment start a step closer on the blacktop rather than begin on the grass.
"I had three teammates always helping. We would be laughing and joking. It wasn't stressful. That was helpful. It was an individual event, but we made it our individual event," he said.
He also adjusted from a J approach to a straight-on Fosbury Flop to clear the bar.
Blessed with strong legs, Payment said he "messed around in the gym" and then his coach, John Morrison, said he should try the event. "I cleared it pretty good," said Payment.
As a junior, he drove to Mount Pleasant and worked with the Central Michigan University coach, who later came to Brimley for some on-site coaching. "We just jumped. It was fun," he said, indicating he quickly was clearing 6-8 but the mental block struck at 6-10. "I couldn't get past it," he said, even though he was sure he could clear that barrier.
He is still shocked at the response of athletes and fans who focused on his state record effort. "High jump is not a flashy sport, it is not the main (track & field) attraction," he said.
"It was definitely exciting (that day). Once I cleared seven feet, people went crazy. Believe it or not, but I just focused on doing it. I don't think I noticed the crowd until afterward. People shook my hand and asked for autographs. It was really something."
The accomplishment opened a whole new world to the innocent youngster. He competed in all-star track invitationals in Indiana and Chicago against athletes from across the country, quite a leap for someone from the shores of Gitchee Gumee just south of the Canadian border. In fact, he flew to Chicago, which was his first airplane ride.
His part of the world was so small, but suddenly it had enlarged well beyond his imagination.
College track coaches and recruiters were now after the unsung champion, who was somewhat uncomfortable being the talk of the town.
He turned down the chance to attend college and compete at the higher levels of high jump. "The opportunities were there, but for me it just wasn't my thing," he conceded, indicating it became more important to get a job and start earning money.
"It was a real eye-opener. You don't realize what is all out there, and to leave a small town and see what was out there," he said, adding more classroom work was not a priority.
"The schooling I wanted to be done with," he said, noting his parents encouraged him to attend college. "Maybe I was just scared. My grades were not the best. Life goes on, the what-ifs go on."
Payment, who also played football (wide receiver), basketball and baseball at 6-3, 175 pounds, for the Bays simply decided to move on with his life. He got a job with the road commission and still works there, although he now weighs about 275.
"The world is full of what-ifs. I've got some regret I didn't go on and try, but we've got four kids and four grandkids and another one on the way. I'm doing all right," he said.
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012 and currently is in a second stint as the interim in that position. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTO: Brimley's John Payment flies over the high jump bar in 1989 to set an all-MHSAA Finals record in the event that still stands. (MHSAA file photo)
Football Future Awaits, but Mayne Focused First on Finishing Track Finals Sweep
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 22, 2025
LAWTON — One inch. One lousy inch.
That was the difference between a championship and second place for Mason Mayne in the shot put at last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals.
One year later, it is still fresh in the mind of the personable Lawton senior as he begins his quest for more hardware.
“That one hurt,” said Mayne, whose best attempt finished second to a 60-foot, 2-inch toss by Pewamo-Westphalia’s Gavin Nurenberg.
“That really burned. You start to wonder, did they measure it wrong? What if I just literally put a little more into it? It drove me to work harder toward it.”
That harder work paid off during the second event that day as Mayne defeated the then-senior Nurenberg 166-6 to 165-11 in the discus to claim Lawton’s first-ever track & field state championship in that event.
Besides taking home that Finals title last year, Mayne holds school records with an indoor-season shot of 62-6 and outdoor of 60-9, as well as a discus toss of 178 feet.
An all-state football player and outstanding student as well, Mayne had opportunities to continue his athletic careers in both sports before signing with Northwestern University. But he also made the decision to compete for his high school one more time this spring instead of graduating early to begin his college career – much to the delight of Lawton track & field coach Mike Meyer.
“He’s been nothing but a joy ever since his freshman year,” Meyer said. “He’s a good, hard worker, obviously a great athlete. All his talent is definitely a nice problem to have.
“He’s been a two-year captain for us, so a good leader, (he) does everything and more than what we ask. That’s why he has the success that he has.”
All-around talent
Mayne said coaching is one big crossover from football to track & field.
“Listening to someone tell you what to do and then do it, I think that’s a super big part of throwing,” he said. “If someone tells you how to do something better in your throw to make it technically better, and you can’t do it, then you can’t get better.
“Playing football for so long, I’ve had so many coaches tell me to do this just a little bit different. And being able to flip that and make that change and adjustment, that’s what makes me able to get better at throwing.”
Mayne said hurling the disc takes more finesse than the shot.
“Technical-wise, the shot put (12 pounds) is easier because I can base it more on how much muscle I can put into it,” he said. “Discus is lighter, (3.5 pounds) but you also have to use your technique a lot more.
“Also, you have to push your body to a point of really stretching it back, allowing it to create a lot of torque into the disc to be able to throw it far enough for it to be worth anything.”
As for those windy days competing in field events, “A lot of people think that the wind behind you helps you,” Mayne said. “That’s actually not true.
“It actually bats the disc down. In the discus, as a right-handed thrower, you want the wind to come across a little bit from your left to throw into. Think of it as an airplane wing, holding up the airplane, the air coming into it. With the shot, it doesn’t matter. It’s just throwing it.”
Lawton’s athletes who specialize in field events also compete in some running competition. Mayne has run the 200 this season and took a turn running the 100 last spring as well.
“We usually have our throwers run the 200,” Meyer said. “We like athletes instead of just specializing in just one or two things for the (Southwest Athletic) Conference.
“We have all of our kids run two, three and sometimes four events. It can be a long day at a track meet if your events are done and you have nothing to do.”
Mayne is not only an accomplished athlete, but carries a 4.19 grade-point average.
“With the way my mom (Pat) raised me and my brother (Carter) both, she’s a teacher at Paw Paw in the elementary,” he said. “She raised us with the idea that academics are very important. That’s where I’m academically driven.
“She might get mad at me for saying this, but if I miss an assignment, I’m getting a picture on my phone with a circle around it of the assignment missing in my grade book. It’s very important to me.”
That emphasis motivates Mayne’s advice for freshmen who play sports.
“Stay on top of (academics),” he said. “For so many years my mom kept me on top of things. Now I’m able to stay on top of things better myself.
“Your freshman year is the make-or-break it. Having an older brother helped a lot because without him, he wouldn’t have told me that and I wouldn’t have stayed ahead of it.”
Tough decisions
Mayne’s outstanding performances in throwing events last year attracted several college scholarship offers for track in addition to several he’d received previously for football. Choosing a college was not an easy decision for the defensive lineman, who is a two-time Kalamazoo Gazette Dream Team selection in that sport.
“It’s funny because I was really, really considering track for a while,” said the 6-foot-3, 275-pound Mayne. “After my sophomore year when I had a very successful track season, I started to lean toward track.”
But a trip to the Big House to watch University of Michigan play tilted the scale to football.
“I was watching and I realized I just couldn’t give it up,” he said. “I love both sports, but something about football, the team atmosphere, just sitting in the stadium gets me antsy, that atmosphere and that vibe. That’s really what flipped me into the football aspect. That electricity from the fans and the guys around you. I haven’t experienced any other sport like it.
“It was a very tough decision. I was sad that I couldn’t go multiple ways. Many fantastic coaches recruited me. It’s unfortunate that you have to tell coaches you can’t go to their program because you’re choosing a different program.”
Mayne said he had specific criteria in mind when choosing a college. “Academics is a priority here,” he said. “I also want to play football at a very high level, and then the last is a family aspect.
“Northwestern just checked all the boxes.”
Before the season, Meyer thought he might lose Mayne to early graduation since “he’s a very, very good student. We chatted and he said, ‘Coach, I definitely want to be throwing. I love throwing,’ and he’s a man of his word.
“Once he told me that, I was more excited for the season.”
At one point, Mayne did indeed consider leaving high school to enroll early at Northwestern, which would have meant missing his final spring throwing season.
However, “my mom wasn’t ready for me to leave, which I’m fine with,” he said. “I understand that. I’m her youngest child, I get it.
“Also, you get to start throwing indoors and it’s like, ‘I don’t want to give this up, either.’”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Lawton’s Mason Mayne begins to unwind while throwing the shot during a meet. (Middle) Lawton track & field coach Mike Meyer. (Below) Mayne stands tall on the football field. (Action photos courtesy of Mason Mayne; headshot by Pam Shebest.)