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.)
Hamlin Breaks Escanaba's 48-Year-Old High Jump Record, Climbing List of State's Best
By
Adam Hinch
Special for MHSAA.com
May 7, 2026
ESCANABA — Over the last three seasons, Escanaba sophomore Andrew Hamlin has shown big gains annually in the high jump – and this year he has broken Escanaba High School’s record not once but twice, with plenty of opportunities remaining to better his best performance.
Hamlin took his first jumps in seventh grade but did not actively start competing until his eighth-grade year at Holy Name School in Escanaba.
“I remember the meet in Bark River,” Hamlin said. “I used to go off my right side with my left leg and then switched halfway through the season and ended up breaking the record.”
Hamlin broke Holy Name’s school record at the Escanaba Junior High Invitational with a jump of 5-foot-7 on May 14, 2024.
He also came in 11th at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals that spring with a jump of 5-4 as one of only two eighth graders to compete in the Division 3 boys high jump that day.
“I knew Andrew since he was in fourth grade,” Holy Name athletic director Tony Derkos said. “He is a great kid, and track really gives him a chance to be his own athlete.”
Hamlin switched to Escanaba High School as a freshman and had a jump of 6-foot at the Division 1 Regional in Escanaba last spring. He then came through with a jump of 6-2 at the UP Finals in Kingsford where he was finished second as one of only two freshmen to place among the top 10.
“I really enjoy the competitiveness of the sport,” Hamlin said. “It definitely helps to fuel you as an athlete to improve every time out.”
Hamlin also has a personal coach, Hugo Munoz, who was a member of the Peru national team and competed in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
Hamlin has competed in two high jump camps, one in Wisconsin and most recently one in New Prague, Minn.
Now a sophomore, he broke the high jump record for Escanaba High School with a jump of 6-6 on April 21at the Delta County Invite in Gladstone. The previous record was set in 1978 by Keenan Failing.
“It meant a lot to get the record,” Hamlin said. “It was one of the goals for the season coming in, and I was just kind of surprised that it happened this early in the season.”
That record lasted for 10 days until the Escanaba Invitational on May 1, when Hamlin completed a jump of 6-7. That height ranks eighth statewide this season and first among Upper Peninsula jumpers.
“I have to adjust my goals for the season,” Hamlin said. “I never thought I would hit this high of a height this early in the season, so now I’m just trying to stay consistent and improve my height when I can.”
Hamlin will be taking part in the Nike Nationals this summer as well as some other high jump events. He also competes for Escanaba in the long jump, 400 meters and 1,600 relay, and plays football and basketball for his school.
“He’s everything you want in an athlete,” Eskymos track coach Scott Dykema said. “He is a good competitor and is always working on his game and what he can do to improve every time he goes out.”
Hamlin has overcome various injuries but works to get back in action as soon as he can.
“He never lets injuries keep him down,” Derkos said. “He is a tough kid and battles through injuries, and that is the sign of a natural competitor – which is what he is.”
Hamlin has aspirations of taking the high jump to the collegiate level and said he also enjoys distance running. He competes in 5K races and said he would enjoy running a marathon at some point.
“I think it would be fun to run a marathon,” Hamlin said. “That would come after college as there is so much time and training that goes into preparing for a marathon, but definitely something I would have interest in down the road.”
Hamlin has at least four track meets left this season as Escanaba will compete in Negaunee on May 8, at the Division 1 Regional at Manistique on May 13, and at Gladstone and Gaylord as well before finishing at the UP Finals on May 30 in Kingsford.
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba’s Andrew Hamlin soars over the high jump bar during a meet. (Middle) Hamlin completes a turn in the long jump pit. (Photos by Adam Hinch.)