Hailey Helps Carry Berrien Springs Once More, This Time to 1st Track Title
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
ADA – Don't ask Jamal Hailey to explain winning two MHSAA Finals titles without relying on his best effort.
Don't get Hailey wrong. The Berrien Springs senior is thrilled with not only winning Saturday's 100 and 200-meter dashes, but also helping his somewhat undermanned team to the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals championship at Forest Hills Eastern.
Hailey won the 100 with a time of 10.77, a fraction better than runner-up Ian Thompson (10.78) of Wayland. Hailey also took the 200 (22.11) over second-place Julian Bailey of Dearborn (22.25). Neither winning time was a personal best for Hailey, but he'll gladly take both his individual efforts, which resulted in 20 points. And with his inclusion on the winning 400 relay, the Western Michigan-bound Hailey was part of 30 of the team's 41 points – and nearly equaled the 33 points totaled by runner-up Forest Hills Eastern.
"I can't explain it," Hailey said. "It's preparation, being fortunate and knowing what I came here to do. I came here to win."
What is explainable is Hailey's value to a team which brought just 10 participants to the meet. Most track coaches are more comfortable with 15-20 potential point scorers, Berrien Springs coach Jon Rodriguez said. Hailey is also a standout football player who rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 33 touchdowns last fall.
The team championship was Berrien Springs' first in the sport, to go with runner-up finishes in 1953 and 2018.
"We had an idea we could win because Jamal is so special. He scores a lot of points for us," said Rodriguez, who finished up his 10th year as coach. "If we were healthy, we thought we had a chance to win. It all comes down to who can be best on that day. We were the best today."
Berrien Springs senior James York contributed a key first place in the long jump (22-10).
Three other Finals titles were grabbed by longtime friends Patrick Adams of Allendale and Sparta's Lance Riddle. The two seniors have competed back and forth against each other for at least the last six years and culminated in Riddle winning the 300 hurdles (39.28) and Adams capturing the 110 hurdles (14.73). Riddle was third to Adams in the 110 and Adams was only three tenths of a second behind in finishing second to Riddle in the 300.
Adams was the 2021 champ in the 110.
"I ran faster this year," said Adams, who will attend Cornerstone University next season. "But it was definitely more competitive. It's definitely tougher trying to win back-to-back. Me and Lance have been going at it since middle school, so I know him.
"I started kinda slow, but I just trusted my training and ran. The pressure got to me a little, so I just tried harder. Honestly, you just want to get to the finals; nothing is guaranteed in the hurdles. Getting to the final is what counts."
Spring Lake's Ian Hill won the 1,600 (4:16.99) after finishing third a year ago as a junior. Hill said there was one simple explanation for jumping two spots.
"Confidence," he said. "Last year I didn't really give myself a chance. I had a lot of confidence this year even though there are a lot of good runners here. But I was confident in my ability. I have all the respect for the other runners, but I have confidence.”
Even having to bounce back from the flu bug at midseason failed to dent Hill's' confidence. He also helped the 1,600 relay to a first place (3:23.78).
"I knew this would be close, but I thought I had as much a shot as anyone else," said Hill, who will attend Michigan next season. "I'm really happy to win this."
Other champs in the running events were senior Caleb Jarema of Pinckney, who won the 3,200 (9:17.36), and Stuart Gould of Howard City Tri County in the 400 (49.18). Aiden Sullivan of Forest Hills Eastern won the 800 (1:56.40). Whitehall won the 800 relay (1:29.73), while Holland Christian took first in the 3,200 (7:54.35)
Heading the field event winners was Alex Mansfield of Monroe Jefferson, who won the shot put (57-6). The Oakland University-bound Mansfield, who was also runner-up in the discus, said the title came despite some technique difficulties.
"I couldn't get the ball to throw; it kept slipping out of my fingers," he said. "But I got the job done; you still have to perform."
Edwardsburg senior Luke Stowasser successfully repeated in the high jump (6-8). He also won the long jump a year ago, but finished runner-up this time to Berrien Springs’ York.
"It was definitely a lot tougher, but I was more confident this year, which only pushed me to be better," Stowasser said.
Landon Cosby of Charlotte won the pole vault (15-9), while Dalton DeBeau of Frankenmuth took first in the discus (175-7).
Chelsea junior Jacob Nelson competed in one of the first-time adaptive events, in the 100 (33.19).
PHOTOS (Top) Berrien Springs’ Jamal Hailey (in green) crosses the finish first in the 400 relay Saturday, just ahead of Detroit Martin Luther King’s Terrence Brown to his right. (Middle) From left, Sparta’s Lance Riddle, Allendale’s Patrick Adams and King’s Teon Parks stride toward the finish of the 110 hurdles. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/Run Michigan.)
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.)