Duckett's Mentorship Continues to Inspire as Standout Pair Help Set Pace for Loy Norrix
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
April 29, 2026
KALAMAZOO — After losing their longtime mentor and coach, the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix track & field teams are dedicating their seasons to Ted Duckett, who died unexpectedly Jan. 8.
“We’re still feeling it now,” said head coach Bradley Schmidt, who leads both the boys and girls programs. “When you lose that wealth of knowledge, parts of seven decades of coaching.
“He knew so much. Not just the knowledge of how track works, the Xs and Os, but how to get the most out of kids. There are a lot of kids who ran just because he was the coach. To lose him was tough.”
Senior high jumper Jaylind Motton is one of those drawn to the sport by the legendary coach.
“When I was a sophomore, I was in basketball and I’ve been able to dunk since eighth grade year, so I’ve just had the ability to jump high,” Motton said.
“Coach Duckett convinced me to join track because of it and do high jump.”
Senior Jackson Lam, who owns two school records, also credits Duckett with his success.
“Coach Duckett gave me such good advice,” Lam said. “Compliments didn’t come often from him, but when he did, I knew I was doing something right.
“It’s definitely hard with him gone. It took me a while to get over it. I think I will be able to turn it around and use it as motivation to run the season in honor of him.”
Part of that motivation came during Friday’s Don Lukens Invitational hosted by Norrix.
Lam was named the Coach Duckett Male VIP Award recipient.
The award isn’t new, but the name of the award has been changed to honor the former coach.
A year ago, Lam set the 1,600 school record at the Invitational when his time of 4:13.32 bested the 4:19 mark set by Gary Harris in 1968.
"It was an incredible day for me,” Lam said. “I felt like everything I worked for paid off.
Earlier this season he broke that record again, turning in a personal-best 4:12.07.
Although the Knights boys team finished second to Portage Central on Friday, Lam bested that mark once more at 4:10.6, which is also a meet record.
Using that second-place finish as motivation, Schmidt hopes the team improves on its 33rd-place finish at last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
“It helps that kids are getting more mature, getting more training,” said Schmidt, who finished his fifth Boston Marathon a week ago. “It’s nice to see improvement in kids who did some offseason work. If you just rely on the work in-season, it’ll never happen.”
Lam is one who works on his running all year and already has qualified for the Finals in the 1,600 meters.
“It’s almost like having an unpaid coach,” Schmidt said of Lam. “He talks to the kids at their level, makes sure they’re warming up, they’re stretching, they’re warming down, they’re getting ready at the right times for their events, they’re eating right and sleeping right.
“It’s one thing to come from a coach, it’s another thing to come from a peer, a teammate. It’s nice to have that experience on the team for sure.”
Adapting to change
Going from middle school to high school was a big adjustment for Lam.
“I learned a lot,” he said. “I learned that middle school is nothing like high school running. I came out of middle school feeling good. Like, man, I’m good, I can beat people.
“Then I get to high school and I’m racing guys who are half a foot taller than me, and they’ve been running double the amount of time I’ve been running. They taught me a lot of good things.”
Lam first tasted success in high school in 2023 on the 3,200 relay team as the only freshman running with three seniors – Samuel Allen, Oskar Wiedenhoeft and Gryffin Hurley.
Lam said he looks up to Allen as a mentor. Allen currently holds Norrix’s 800 record of 1:51.1, a mark Lam is chasing.
“He taught me a lot about the 800 – how you pace it, how you prepare yourself for it,” Lam said. “The best way to learn is by watching, so I was able to watch him.”
Another runner who pushes Lam to improve is Hackett Catholic Prep standout Marek Butkiewicz. The two train together often, including on the Kal Haven Trail.
Since Norrix is in Division 1 and Hackett is Division 4, the two don’t compete head-to-head.
“We both like to push each other in runs and workouts,” Butkiewicz said. “We’re close in fitness and that also helps.
“He’s a great kid, super smart, super nice, very down to earth, intelligent, mature. A super hard worker.”
One thing they don’t agree on is colleges. Lam is headed to University of Michigan, while Butkiewicz is going to Michigan State on a track scholarship.
“We both have similar goals,” Butkiewicz said. “He’s going to Michigan academically so there’s a little rivalry there, but it’s healthy.”
Although Lam does not have a spot waiting on the U-M track team, he plans to continue running. “My goal since I was a kid is to break 4 minutes in the mile,” he said.
Soaring to new heights
While dunking a basketball is a lot different than soaring over a horizontal bar in track, Motton uses the spring in his step to reach new heights.
As a sophomore, his personal best was 6-foot-4, “but I was inconsistent with it, going from 6-2 to 5-10 to 5-8,” he said. “My junior year I had a growing (spurt) and was stuck between 5-10 to 6-2.”
Motton, who is 6 feet tall, is having a breakout senior season, and no one is more surprised than he is at his performance: “I came out at the indoor meet and jumped 6-9, then currently PR-ed at 6-10.”
That personal record set a school record as well and was special in many ways.
“Since last year, I didn’t really take track that serious,” Motton said. “I was doing it just for fun. Coach Duckett’s passing sparked something inside of me, made me more determined to do better for him. I went out and jumped for him, PR-ed, broke the school record and I feel good for it.”
Schmidt said going from 6-4 last season to 6-9 during the indoor season and 6-10 at the Eastern Michigan University Relays on March 21 was impressive.
“To see that type of improvement is inspiring to all the kids,” he said. “They can see he put in the time, he put in the effort, he put in the work, watching videos, trying different drills to work on his craft.
“To make that much gain in such a short time is unheard of. It shows the kids that wherever you’re at, you can still improve.”
Motton said the key to being a good high jumper is not the spring in your step, but technique.
“If you have a good form, you can be a good jumper,” he said. “It’s not really about jumping high; it’s how you approach it.”
Motton is not satisfied with the school record.
“My current goal is to clear 7-foot,” he explained, “but once I clear 7-foot, my actual goal is to go 7-3.”
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) Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Jaylind Motton, left, and Jackson Lam are among those competing this year inspired by past coach Ted Duckett’s memory. (2) Knights track coach Bradley Schmidt. (3) Lam shows off his Coach Duckett Male VIP Award won this season. (4) Motton. (Action and meet photos courtesy of the Loy Norrix athletic department. Headshots by Pam Shebest.)
Martin Brings LA Marathon Championship Experience Home as Jackson High Coach
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 23, 2026
Nathan Martin has the best possible example a coach can give when it comes to the old phrase, “It’s never over, until it’s over.”
Last month, the Jackson cross country head coach and track assistant captured national attention when he miraculously came from behind to win the Los Angeles Marathon.
The winning margin was one hundredth (0.01) of a second.
“I didn’t really know if I won,” said Martin. “I tried not to get too emotional or celebrate too much. Then people around me started confirming it.”
Martin, 36, was running his race when, with about five miles to go, he had a surge and passed the pack he was with to get comfortably into second place.
“There was only one guy to catch at that point; he was so far ahead,” Martin said. “I couldn’t even see him. At that point, it was like, ‘Okay, let’s push, let’s finish, be strong, and all that kind of stuff.”
Slowly, the leader came into focus.
“Within the last mile, I’d say, he came into view,” Martin said. “By 800 meters to go I thought I had a serious shot to try and win.
“I made one final surge. That last 800 was super painful. I was thinking to myself maybe I’ll catch him, maybe I won’t, but I definitely wanted to make sure I crossed that finish line with no regrets, knowing I left everything out there.”
As he and the leader, Michael Kimani Kamau of Kenya, approached the finish, the crowed braced for the finish.
“It was the last 50 to 80 meters where the true opportunity to win presented itself and I took full advantage of it,” Martin said. “When I crossed the line, it was so close. I was trying to hold back the excitement and emotions and all of that kind of stuff. People started confirming it, and it was surreal. I just started absorbing the moment and everything going on.”
He credits his own coach, James McCurdy, with preparing him with everything from the right nutrition to handling the Los Angeles heat to the running strategy.”
“It was painful, but I still had something left in the tank,” he said. “If the race would have been a couple miles longer, I would have been okay (to finish).”
Martin finished with a personal best time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, 16.5 seconds. It was the closest finish in LA Marathon history.
“It was pretty special,” Martin said.
Martin was born in Chicago Heights, Ill., and moved with his family to Three Rivers before he started school. He began running in middle school and competed throughout high school. He ran the mile in high school and the 5K in college.
“I had a lot of success in my running journey,” he said. “Eventually, my coach thought I had what it takes to run a marathon.”
It wanted until late in his college career at Spring Arbor University that Martin ran his first marathon. He was 23.
“I won the 10K, then 36 hours later I won the marathon,” he said. “My coach was like, ‘Okay, you need to do this.’”
Martin is now a professional runner and has sponsors. He was at the Boston Marathon on Monday making appearances and connecting with people in the running community.
After college he began substitute teaching while trying to advance his running career. That’s when he launched his coaching career.
“There was a year where I was substitute teaching and going to races to try and place well,” he said. “By year two or three, I was coaching and I’ve continued that on.”
Martin said coaching is rewarding, “Especially seeing a kid overcome some kind of challenge.
“It’s being able to use my experiences to give back,” he added. “I want to help kids along their running journey. Even if they don’t become a big-time runner, I hope the types of lessons they learn, they can apply in life.
“Just see them be able to fight through something makes me feel like I am making a positive impact in the world.”
Martin has run fewer than 20 marathons in his life. “If you are training at an insanely high level, you usually look at doing one, maybe two or three a year,” he said.
He has taken some time away from marathon training recently as he’s made several national appearances.
And an assistant at Jackson this year, he said he’s noticed a buzz around the distance runners.
“There’s way more interest in distance running,” he said. “Normally they give me my two minutes of fame, then they are back to being high school students. This has been different. They’ve made me feel like definitely I’ve done something.”
He will begin ramping up his training and plans on competing in a half marathon soon, then has set his sights on either the New York or Chicago Marathon.
“It’s been pretty cool,” he said of the running community in Jackson. “They’ve been showing me a lot of love, and they are super proud. If I did Chicago, I imagine I would get a chunk of people down to watch. I’ve had so many people supporting me. It’s a really good feeling.”
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) Nathan Martin, middle with clipboard, coaches his Jackson distance runners. (Middle) Martin poses for a photo with a community award he received from the school. (Photos courtesy of Nathan Martin.)