Cooper Closing In On Fantastic Finish
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
May 2, 2017
OAK PARK – As good as he is as a runner, Cameron Cooper understands he can’t do it alone.
Running one last high school season guided by knowledgeable veteran coaches and with a friend to help set their team's pace, the Oak Park senior is sprinting toward a captivating conclusion to his high school career and with more exciting possibilities ahead.
Cooper, 18, helped the Knights win the 2016 MHSAA Division 1 title, the program’s first boys track and field championship since 1972, as he placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.68.
He then became just the second runner to go under 1:49.5 indoor when, while running with the Motor City Track Club, he placed first at the New Balance Nationals (March 10-12) held in New York City. His time of 1:49.46 eclipsed his personal-best of 1:49.7. Robbie Andrew of New Jersey owns the indoor record of 1:49.21 run in 2009.
Minutes after running the second-fastest time in the half mile, Cooper said he thought he could run faster – and he believes a time of 1:46 is attainable now that he’s competing outdoors.
“Outdoors, you can run faster,” Cooper said, noting there are only two turns on outdoor tracks instead of four at smaller indoor venues.
Although his times don’t reflect this outdoor advantage yet, Cooper is finding his fastest stride as the season’s most important meets draw near. Cooper has won all of his races this spring – individually or as part of a relay – and his top 800 time of 1:51.79 is only a tenth of a second slower than last season’s MHSAA championship performance.
Mentoring and hard work
Cooper began running competitively at the age of 8 with the Detroit PAL (Police Athletic League). He ran the sprints before his coach, Reggie Osborne, moved him to the 400 and 800 runs at age 10.
“When I was younger, it was way easier,” Cooper said. “In high school now, it’s more competitive. There (are) better runners.”
Cooper said there’s no secret to his success. Sure he’s a gifted runner, but it’s the hours of training that enable him to compete at such a high level.
His coaches at Oak Park – longtime Detroit Public School League coach Bob Lynch, now in his third season at Oak Park, and his protégé, Brandon Jiles – both work with Cooper almost daily. Officially, Lynch is the boys track coach and Jiles coaches the girls team, but in essence they team to coach both squads.
Jiles won the Class A Finals 800 in 1999 at Detroit Mumford with Lynch as his coach. Mumford won the Class A team title that season. The Mustangs would win three more MHSAA Finals titles (Division 1, 2002-04) with Lynch.
Then there’s Chris Richards, a Detroit Pershing graduate, who works with the sprinters on both teams. Although Richards doesn’t work directly with Cooper, his presence allows Lynch to spend more time with a runner like Cooper.
“Lynch’s specialty is the sprints,” Richards said. “I don’t know where, all of a sudden, he became an expert on the half mile and mile.”
That was said partly in jest. Lynch is highly regarded in the sport and has worked well with all athletes in running events whether they’ve been hurdlers, sprinters or distance runners.
Lynch has coached many greats, Olympian Marshall Dill for one, and he said Cooper is one of the best he’s had.
“It’s the work he puts in,” Lynch said. “Whatever I make him do, he does it. But I have to push him. His older brother (Corey Jones) influenced him. (Jones) was decent as an age-group runner, but he wasn’t a great runner. He worked hard to be where he was at.”
Jones ran for Lynch when he was the head coach at Detroit Mumford. Five years older than Cooper, Jones continues to have a positive influence on his brother.
“He wasn’t that talented,” Cooper said of his brother. “He’d run a lot on his own. Just seeing his work ethic made me want to run. He still works harder than I do. I do a lot of stuff on my own, too, like pushups and stuff. Corey had to work harder just to get his times. I have more talent, so I don’t work as hard.”
Even so, Cooper, who also placed fourth in the 1,600 at the Division 1 Final a year ago, understands he needs to work harder to reach his goals.
It’s not easy. When you add that he’s also one of the state’s top milers, Cooper’s work regiment can be overwhelming. To train for the 800 he’ll run 400 meters, then 600 meters, then 200. Then he’ll repeat that sequence. When training for the 1,600, he’ll run 1,200 meters, 1,000 meters and, again, repeat that. By week’s end he’ll run 15 miles or more, not counting what he does in meets.
Last weekend at the Jackson Invitational, Cooper ran the 800 in that season-best 1:51.79, one of the top times in the state. He also ran the 1,600 in 4:18, also one of the state’s top times this spring. Cooper is also the anchor on the 1,600 and 3,200 relay teams, and both ran well in Jackson according to Jiles.
Running mate
Dewan Hawthorne is another senior on a veteran team. Hawthorne is a hurdler and also runs the first leg on the 3,200 relay. Hawthorne qualified for the Division 1 Finals in both hurdle events and placed ninth in the 300 low hurdles last season. Cooper and Hawthorne, along with sprinter KeVeon Clark, are the three athletes Lynch is counting on to set the standard for the other runners – and to score points.
Cooper and Hawthorne feed off of one another and are often seen running laps together in practice.
“Our team is stronger this year,” Hawthorne said. “We have some new guys, but me and Cameron are the big two. We both run cross country, and that helps us going into the indoor season. When the outdoor (season) comes, we’re ready.”
This season’s important meets are coming on quickly. Oak Park will host the Oakland Activities Association league meet on May 11, and the Knights will compete at the North Farmington Regional on May 19. Qualifiers will compete at the Division 1 Finals at East Kentwood on June 3.
After that, Cooper and Hawthorne plan on competing in college, and neither has made a firm commitment to a university. Cooper has narrowed his choices to Clemson, Florida, Louisiana State, Oregon and Texas A&M. Hawthorne is deciding between Michigan State and Morgan State.
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Oak Park's Cameron Cooper runs his leg of the 3,200 relay during a tri-meet against Royal Oak and Ferndale this season. (Middle) Dewan Hawthorne (left) and Cooper. (Top photo courtesy of Darrell Washington.)
Generations of Dedication, Pride Fuel Milford's 34-Year Regional Hosting Run
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 22, 2026
It may seem a bit of a stretch on the surface, but it makes perfect sense to Brian Salyers.
How can planning a wedding feature work much along the same lines as a school hosting an MHSAA Lower Peninsula Regional track meet for 34 straight seasons?
Easy, contends Salyers. Both take an immeasurable amount of planning.
"I have a couple friends who planned a wedding," said Salyers, Milford's girls track coach. "I told them I'd hosted a track meet, and they're so much alike. There are so many things you entrust other people with. There is so much work to be done, you're hoping things go smoothly."
Like a wedding, Salyers said Milford takes great pride in the event's final outcome. The meet's philosophy includes more than being a stepping stone of funneling deserving athletes along to the MHSAA Finals. At Milford, Salyers said organizers have worked diligently for more than three decades to ensure the participants not only leave with lifelong memories, but also that the meet brings together an entire community.
Volunteers from the school work alongside Milford natives not connected in any way to a track program in a multitude of roles from timing races to rototilling and raking long jump pits, selling dogs and T-shirts and taking tickets. Alumni from up to 45 years ago faithfully return to the school to pitch in whenever needed while also taking a moment to rehash old memories with former track teammates.
Put it all together, Salyers said, and the meet is special.
"It's a melting pot," Salyers said of the mostly unpaid volunteers who work the meet. "It's like, who can come and do it this year? It's not always a fluid list because we pull from such a large group."
The large group has been banding together since 1993. Started by former Mavericks track and cross country coach Gene Balawajder, the school hosted its first Regional in 1988. After moving to a nearby site for a couple years, the Regional landed back at Milford for keeps 34 years ago. Whether it was those first Regionals in the late 1980s or the three and a half decades since, Salyers said the school and community's philosophy hasn't wavered: Take care of the athletes foremost, but also bring the community together to ensure that care happens by organization, identifying issues and swiftly taking action to solve problems.
Milford athletic director James Marszalek said the school handily recruits about 30 people for various positions, only a "handful," he said, who are paid. He said the key to ensuring a smooth meet begins with the volunteers and longtime meet organizer Chris Ceresa, a former athletic director and current assistant coach.
"The No. 1 thing is making sure we have competent people in the right positions and that we make sure it's a day the kids will remember," he said. "But it definitely takes an army."
Ceresa said much of the meet's success comes down to planning and the unselfishness of alumni. For instance, at this year's meet there were five alumni working the long jump, four on the throwing events and two on both the high jump and pole vault as well as many involved as timers.
Ceresa begins recruiting for the following year's Regional at the current event. There he seeks commitments from officials and event workers 12 months in advance.
"We take it very personally; the staff is very committed to the meet," he said. "If you talked to our colleagues at other schools, I think they would tell you they love to come here. It's quite a spectacle, a matter of pride."
The meet even features an unofficial system of where and how volunteers are used. Meet newcomers typically start out in smaller roles, eventually working themselves into the meet's most prestigious position: being an official timer for races. Unfortunately, when the meet became the last Regional in the state to go to electric timing more than a dozen years ago, there was no need for about 20 volunteers who worked as hand timers at the finish line.
Milford boys track coach Eric Hincka ran in the meet as a junior and senior before graduating in 1998. He said while some Regionals typically run more smoothly than others, because of the hours upon hours of organization and the quality of the volunteers, the Milford event annually draws praise from visiting coaches and participants. And that's no accident, he said.
"Every year you hear horror stories of meets which have problems," he said. "We try our best to see that everything is done right so we don't run into problems. We want to honor the kids – it's our philosophy and we take pride in it.
"At Milford, it's multi-generational. Gene as the founder set the standard, and we're just trying to follow in his footsteps."
The athletes notice, Milford senior distance runner Kyle O'Rourke said. Headed to run at Michigan State next season, O'Rourke's pedigree in the meet is three-generational. His grandfather has clerked and also made T-shirts for volunteers while O'Rourke has had an older brother and sister run at the Regional. His mother also ran in the meet.
"It's touching for me to see all the old alumni to come back and work; a highlight of the season," said O'Rourke, a six-time all-stater in track and cross country. "They treasured their time here, and now many of them are part of a community that unites to make this meet run well.
"Yeah, it comes in handy (competitive-wise) that this meet is home for us. But there is also a certain pride in us hosting it. I think we all take pride in how we conduct ourselves at the Regional."
PHOTOS (Top) A relay runner sets up in a starting block during the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Regional hosted by Milford on May 15. (Middle) Runners move toward the starting line before their relay. (Below) Milford’s Kyle O’Rourke rounds a curve during a relay. (Photos courtesy of the Milford athletic department.)