McNeill Regaining Finals Form, Aiming to Best Last Season's Close Seconds
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 21, 2026
The number 0.01 might be as miniscule as there is in sports, but it certainly was way more gigantic for Novi High School track sprinter Chance McNeill at last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.
First, McNeill nearly won the 100-meter dash but finished 0.01 -- one hundredth of a second -- back of Detroit Catholic Central’s Samson Gash (10.41).
As hard as it was to shake off, McNeill quickly did so and was right in the thick of the 200-meter dash. Ultimately, he finished second in that race as well to Jeremy Dixon of Kalamazoo Central (21.11), once again by 0.01.
Losing out on one Finals title by such a thin margin is tough enough. But falling short by that time twice in a matter of a couple hours? It probably felt like getting kicked in the gut by someone wearing track shoes with all the spikes on the bottom.
“Definitely the first few months after (the Finals), it was crazy,” McNeill said. “I’ve kind of gotten over it by now. But it’s been my motivation for sure.”
Indeed, McNeill is using that experience as fuel for the remaining days of his senior year and as he prepares to compete once again in those events at next week’s Division 1 Finals at Rockford.
Headed to run track next at Alabama, McNeill is actually just ramping back into peak form this spring.
He has been battling a lower leg injury suffered after running a 6.75 in the 60-meter dash during indoor season, saying he sprinted again about three weeks ago for the first time this outdoor season.
McNeill certainly looked to be getting back into form during a competitive Regional last week hosted by Novi.
He won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.73 and then claimed the 200 meters in a time 21.84. Yes, he and the Novi coaches know he’ll have to be faster to win at the Finals, but it was a great sign of progress given where he has come from – and there is definitely another gear in him.
“To say that he’s back to form probably wouldn’t be accurate,” Novi boys track & field head coach Danny Taylor said. “What I mean by that is given all the personal training that he’s done, given the way in which he’s worked back, I think he’s poised to do great things at the state meet.”
Taylor said that he didn’t know anything about McNeill and his track prowess until he arrived at the high school for his freshman year but discovered quickly that McNeill was more than just an athlete running track to get in better shape for another sport. McNeill legitimately prioritized track & field.
“It seemed that when Chance came to us, he already had that love and that passion,” Taylor said. “We just wanted to stoke it further.”
McNeill said he initially ran track “for fun” when he started high school but got more serious about it when he got more involved with a local club and started running more meets outside of high school season.
Going into this spring, he said he was actually more intent on running the 400-meter dash, but his injury changed those plans.
“I’ve always wanted to do the 400,” he said. “Now, I just have to forget about that, just try it in college.”
McNeill will head to Rockford next week a year older and stronger, but then again so are other competitors. In particular, Gash, a Michigan State football signee, is also back in both events as he hopes to repeat in the 100 meters and improve on a third-place finish in the 200 from last year.
McNeill and Gash are the only top-five finishers in those races from last year who didn’t graduate.
McNeill hopes that he can be at least 0.01 seconds faster this time and end his high school career on top of the podium.
“I think whatever it takes, I’ve got it in me already,” McNeill said.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Novi’s Chance McNeill crosses the finish line during last season’s 100-meter championship race at the LPD1 Finals. (Middle) McNeill, second from right, races eventual champion Jeremy Dixon from Kalamazoo Central in last year’s 200, with DCC’s Samson Gash, far left, also among those in the field. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com/Carter Sherline.)
Performance: Lee's Thomas Robinson
April 27, 2018
Thomas Robinson
Wyoming Lee senior – Track & Field
Robinson, a four-time MHSAA Finals sprints champion, is off to another fast start. He swept the 100 and 200 championships at Saturday’s Fred Solis Invitational with two of the fastest times statewide this season to earn the Michigan Army National Guard’s “Performance of the Week.”
The two-time reigning Lower Peninsula Division 3 champ in both races, Robinson ran an 11-second flat 100 and 22.14-second 200 on Saturday and also helped Lee’s 400 and 800 relays to runner-up finishes. The 200 time ranks as the state’s fastest across all divisions this spring, and his 100 time is tied for fourth; he then ran the 100 in a hand-timed 10.84 seconds Tuesday. Over his first two seasons and the first month of this one, Robinson has won all but four of his 100 and 200-meter races – and his only finish lower than second came in a preliminary where he came back to win an MHSAA championship.
Robinson set the LPD3 Finals record with a 21.76 in the 200 last season. His 21.74 in that race is a school record, and is his best of 10.74 in the 100 – both broke previous records set in 1976 – and he also set a school record of 43.97 with the 400 relay team including Tino Savala, Aridel Torres and Gio Santiago. Robinson’s first MHSAA title in 2016 was the program’s first in the sport since 2006, and he also was a receiver and defensive back on a football team that finished 3-6 in the fall – tying its best record since 2007 with more wins than the previous four seasons combined. Robinson carries a 3.38 grade-point average – he earned academic all-state in track last year – and has accepted a full scholarship to Michigan State University, where he’s interested in studying computer, mechanical or electrical engineering. It’s been quite a rise – he didn’t run track for the first time until his sophomore year.
Lee sprints and football coach Tom DeGennaro said: “(Thomas) was always a good student. He is naturally fast. When he was a sophomore, I was coaching at Kelloggsville High School and watched him run in our conference meets. His first race he did not even know how to use blocks and was very raw. I came here last year, and we worked on simple things like arm placement and running form – spent a ton of time on block work and attended track camps. He can go faster with some additional form clean up. … Thomas is a natural talent who works hard in the weight room in the offseason. He squats close to 500 pounds, which is a lot considering he only weighs 180 pounds.”
Performance Point: “Usually for me, I don't really run (early in the season) what I expect to run. I really expect to run 10s (10 seconds in the 100) but I haven't really been trying to hit a 10 this season yet. I expect to hit a 10 later on this season when the weather gets warmer. (I) just keep going to practice every day, just keep doing every drill 100 percent. … I just want to get faster and (personal record) in all my events. In the 100, I want to run at least a 10.4 and the 200 at least the low 21s.”
Putting Lee on the map: “People, when they look at Lee, they don't see (success) like that coming from here, so it means a lot that I can be that successful at Lee. People always say that everyone who goes there is bad at sports and stuff. I want to show them that's not true. … I always hear teachers and staff (saying) congrats on my races, and just a lot of support from everyone and my athletic director.”
Catching up: “I was just a stay-at-home kid playing video games. I kinda (knew I was fast), but I never really took it seriously. ... The way I started getting into sports is we got a new football coach (former coach Carlton Brewster). He's all like (talking about my) potential and challenging me. He just told me to do football. I was decent at it my freshman year. And then the second year I got a lot better, and after that season was over he was like, 'You should run track.' I didn't really want to at first – I was like, ‘Nah, I don't want to do it.’ I look at it now; I thank him for making me do it because I've had a lot of success in it.”
Setting an example: “Before, no one really cared about me. But now everyone's looking up to me, like little kids look up to me – 'Oh, you're that really fast kid. I want to be like you when I'm older' – stuff like that. It makes me feel good because I'm a role model for them. Little kids say they want to be like me, my little brother (in eighth grade) too because he just started track this season.”
Following another GR-area star: “Khance Meyers (four-time individual LPD1 champ for East Kentwood, now at Hinds Community College in Mississippi) – I want to follow his steps because he’s really successful in track right now in college. He won a national title for the 200 meters already his first year as a freshman. (He taught me) to just always work hard and stuff like that – set your mind to it, and it will happen.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
March 29: Carlos Johnson, Benton Harbor basketball - Read
March 22: Shine Strickland-Gills, Saginaw Heritage basketball - Read
March 15: Skyler Cook-Weeks, Holland Christian swimming - Read
March 8: Dakota Greer, Howard City Tri-County wrestling - Read
March 1: Camree' Clegg, Wayne Memorial basketball - Read
February 23: Aliah Robertson, Sault Ste. Marie swimming - Read
February 16: Austin O'Hearon, Eaton Rapids wrestling - Read
February 9: Sophia Wiard, Muskegon Oakridge basketball - Read
February 2: Brenden Tulpa, Hartland hockey - Read
January 25: Brandon Whitman, Dundee wrestling - Read
January 18: Derek Maas, Holland West Ottawa swimming - Read
January 11: Lexi Niepoth, Bellaire basketball - Read
November 30: La'Darius Jefferson, Muskegon football - Read
November 23: Ashley Turak, Farmington Hills Harrison swimming - Read
November 16: Bryce Veasley, West Bloomfield football - Read
November 9: Jose Penaloza, Holland soccer - Read
November 2: Karenna Duffey, Macomb L'Anse Creuse North cross country - Read
October 26: Anika Dy, Traverse City West golf - Read
October 19: Andrew Zhang, Bloomfield Hills tennis - Read
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Wyoming Lee’s Thomas Robinson (far left) leads on the way to winning the 100-meter championship in Lower Peninsula Division 3 last spring. (Middle) Robinson crosses the finish line in the 200 championship race last year well ahead of the pack. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)