Corunna Star Recovers to Shine Again
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
June 3, 2017
ZEELAND – Noah Jacobs of Corunna is another in a long line of tremendous distance runners to come out of this state.
Among the names he’s chased include Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford and Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc.
Jacobs, a senior headed for University of Wisconsin, was the two-time defending Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals champion in the 3,200-meter run and last year he added the New Balance two-mile national championship.
This past fall Jacobs won the Division 2 cross country championship with a time of 15:28.00.
Unbeknownst to him, this year would be different. Challenges always present themselves, but Jacobs was shaken by what he had to face as he began to prepare for the 2017 track & field season.
In February, Jacobs was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left tibia. A stress fracture is more severe. Fortunately for Jacobs, the injury stopped just short of a fracture.
Still, for five weeks he had to shelve his training and deal with the mental anguish of knowing it would be a long, painstaking road back to the MHSAA Finals, if indeed he could return.
A few weeks ago, Jacobs noticed his times were getting back to where they were a year ago. On Saturday, he fought off fierce competition and defended his LP Division 2 Finals titles in the 3,200 (9:11.63) and added a first-place finish in the 1,600 run with a time of 4:14.03 at Zeeland East to complete was has been a courageous comeback.
“Last season I was blessed with great health,” Jacobs said. “This year I was battling. I was losing races, to some good runners. I didn’t have that same kick. I had to break that mental barrier.
“(In February) I was a mental wreck. My teammates and my family kept me going.
“It was around Regional time, in early May, I was running in two or three quality meets. I kind of got my routine back. I got to use the race situations I used to use. The last two weeks have really been good. (My leg) is not perfect. People asked me how it is, and I have one word for them – ready. I’m ready.”
Jacobs had to fend off a couple runners coming into the second-to-last turn to win the 1,600.
“I took the lead with about 250 meters left,” he said. “I knew they wanted it. It could have been a tenth of a second, it could have been five seconds. I don’t know.”
His win in the 3,200 held more drama. He led with 600 meters to go before Shuaib Aljabaly of Coldwater put forth a burst of speed to pass Jacobs by two meters.
“I knew that I had to draft (early in the race),” Jacobs said. “I’ve raced (Aljabaly) before. I didn’t worry about him running. I just had to attack the last half. I had to push and push and push.
“I had a couple of coaches with 100 meters to go screaming at me. When he took the lead, I had to fight, fight. It’s happened before.”
Jacobs overtook Aljabaly with 50 meters left and won by 21 hundredths of a second.
Home cooking
One thing that can top winning an MHSAA Finals title is winning one at home.
Zeeland East won its first boys track & field team title with a score of 71 points. Coldwater placed second with 42.
East had clinched its 1,600 relay team took first as well.
Coach Ralph Neal, in his seventh season, said everything went right for his team.
“It was an amazing day,” he said. “I can look back at two years ago and what we were trying to build. I saw enough talent. I saw the field events. I saw the relays. We had all these pieces that came together. Nothing went wrong today. It’s what a coach dreams about.
“It is special winning it at home. (Athletic director) Tim Ritsema pulls his hair out to get this (event) going.”
Junior Brenden Knoll placed second in both the discus (176 feet, 7 inches) and shot put (55 feet) to earn his team 16 points. He said the formula to winning was basic.
“We put in the work, every day,” he said. “I just had my mind right. I put everything else aside. It feels real good. These are the reasons you work so hard.”
Getting serious pays off
John Adams III of Ferndale never qualified for the MHSAA Finals until this year. Last year he started running track for the first time, to stay in shape for football. That reasoning paid off as Adams, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound slot back and defensive back, will attend Olivet College in the fall with every intention of competing for a starting spot on the football team.
Fearless, Adams competed in the 100 dash, and he certainly wasn’t one of the favorites. That didn’t bother him. With a time of 10.94, Adams placed first in the 100.
“I won because I worked the hardest,” he said. “I didn’t take track seriously until this year. When I got beat in the (Oakland Activities Association) meet (May 11), that’s when it hit me. I finished third. It was hand-held time, and it was really close. I’m not sure anyone knew who won. I didn’t want that to happen again.”
Special days
Sunday is Noah Caudry’s 18th birthday. It’s likely he’ll remember the day before his 18th birthday better in the years to come.
Caudry of Lake Odessa Lakewood won the 110 and 300 hurdles, and helped his team place fifth in the 400 relay even though it didn’t compete in the fast heat.
His time in the 110 (14.05) was a personal best. He’s a three-time champion in that event.
“This is my specialty,” he said of the 110. “I was hoping for (the three consecutive titles). I was hoping to get in the 13s, but I’ll take a PR.”
Caudry is a remarkable person. He graduated with a 3.94 grade-point average and plans on entering optometry school after earning a degree in biology.
New event, new success
Junior Cameron Oleen was a half-miler since he began running track at Fruitport two years ago.
This season, it was suggested Oleen run the 400 dash. He’d never run it before but thought he’d give it a shot.
“I really like it,” he said. “It’s the most difficult race. I can pace myself in the 800. In the 400 you have to run as fast as you can all the way through it. You could pace yourself in the first 300 meters and then die in the last 100. You might as well run as fast as you can the first 300.”
It would be difficult to argue that point with Oleen. He won the 400 with a time of 49.21 seconds.
“It’s conditioning,” he said. “The 800 helps me train for the 400.”
Oleen also competes in cross country and basketball. He added that running cross country helps him maintain the proper conditioning for the other two sports.
PHOTO: Corunna's Noah Jacobs, far right, stays a step ahead of Coldwater's Shuaib Aljabaly during Saturday's 3,200 at Zeeland. (Photo by Janina Pollatz/RunMichigan.com.)
Britton Deerfield Boys Following Bigger Numbers to Championship Results
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 6, 2026
Each week during boys track & field season, Dustin Longnecker gathers his Britton Deerfield team in his classroom. They call it the “War Room.”
Longnecker and his Patriots stand in front of the white board and go through the upcoming track meet or invitational event-by-event, figuring out where they can score the most points. The fact that BD is even focused on dual meets is a complete change of thinking for Longnecker.
“I’m so blessed,” he said. “I could go on and on about this group. I’ve never had numbers like this. My first year I had eight kids on the boys and girls team combined.
“One year I had this phenomenal sprinter, a high jumper with turf toe and some throwers. I’ve never cared about dual meets because we just couldn’t compete.”
As Longnecker says, this is “the good old days” for BD.
The Patriots finished the Tri-County Conference with a winning record at 3-2-1 and head into Friday’s league meet with a good shot at third place. They won a home invitational Friday against some established programs from the Lenawee County Athletic Association and Cascades Conference.
“Before the season Erik (Johnson) asked me what kind of trophy to get for the Bob Beckey Invite. I said I didn’t care because we’d never sniff that,” said Longnecker, referring to a conversation with his athletic director. “Turns out, we won. It was so great for the kids. We score up to eight places and had all sorts of kids contribute. That was the great thing about it. It is more special when everyone contributes.”
The Beckey Invite was named after longtime coach Bob Beckey, who died in 2016.
Ottawa Lake Whiteford coach Jay Yockey coached at BD previously and was elated to hear BD took home the trophy.
“Bob was also a great guy and coach, and he loved track, but he loved our athletes more,” Yockey said. “So, to see BD win an invite that is named after him is incredible. Bob had a saying that he used often when he was happy. He would say, ‘I’m tickled pink.’ Now he probably would be embarrassed to have an invite named after him, but to know the school he last coached at won that invite, I would have to imagine that he would say that he was ‘tickled pink.’”
Longnecker has had to utilize various strategies over the years as a track coach due to BD’s low numbers. For example, he’s seldom been in favor of pushing kids to run in four events in one day. He’s also never concerned himself with winning dual meets.
“We have a winning record in the TCC for the first time in my career,” he said. “I never thought I’d say that. We just don’t win dual meets. We haven’t had the numbers. This year, the kids have been all about it. We have a really strong freshman and junior class. The great thing about it is that it is really from top to bottom. The kids are still getting better.”
Typically, Longnecker is focused on getting kids to qualify for the MHSAA Finals and run record times at BD.
This year he can do both.
“I was a two-miler in high school,” he said. “I’ve never had a kid who would run it here. This year, I have Donovan McCarthy who runs it. He doesn’t like it, but he likes scoring points.”
McCarthy finished third in the 3,200 at the Beckey Invitational in a great finish.
“He fought a kid from Hudson the whole way,” Longnecker said. “Performances like that is why I love this group.”
The Patriots 400 relay is knocking on the door of a Finals-qualifying time. Freshman Elijah Fortune is a talented athlete who vomited twice and took a nap in the parking lot before returning to the track and helping his team win that race.
BD could get multiple distance runners to the Finals, and all four throwers have had an impact this season, especially senior Andrew Bunker.
“He’ll have both records before the season is over,” Longnecker predicted about Bunker.
Bunker has been an amazing story in his own right. He weighed less than 200 pounds when the Britton Deerfield 8-player football season ended in 2024. He’s now up to 275 and will play college football. He’s become a fitness guru, counting every calorie and working out daily with a stringent routine.
“I try to stay clean,” he said. “I track my protein, carbs and fat. I try to eat as clean as I can. You can’t always eat clean 24/7. I’m in high school. I just do the best I can – a lot of chicken, eggs and rice. I think in that first year we went through dozens and dozens of eggs. (My brother and I would) come home and just devour eggs after the gym – eggs, rice and chicken. You just have to eat what you can.”
Longnecker said Bunker has turned into a great team leader for track, too.
“He’s such a cerebral kid. It’s rare to be around a kid who is that committed to anything,” the coach said.
For Britton Deerfield, which has a high school enrollment of 125, the track numbers might stay high for the next few years. Longnecker credits the middle school coaches with helping kids get interested – and stay interested – in track & field.
“We have a good nucleus right now,” he said. “I think next year we’re going to be just as solid.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) The Britton Deerfield boys track & field team gathers around coach Dustin Longnecker after winning its Bob Beckey Invitational. (Middle) Patriots throwers (from left) Drew Bunker, Zach Gonzalez, Kurina Dotson and McKenna Allshouse show off their trophy and medals won at the Clinton Throwers Meet. (Photos courtesy of the Britton Deerfield athletic department.)