Performance: Waverly's Keshaun Harris
May 24, 2019
Keshaun Harris
Lansing Waverly senior – Track & Field
The reigning Lower Peninsula Division 1 champion in the 300-meter hurdles, Harris put himself in position to challenge for multiple titles at next weekend’s MHSAA Finals with wins in both the 300 (38.71 seconds) and 110 (14.23) at last week’s Regional at East Lansing, earning him the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.”
Harris’ winning 300 time was his season best, as was his 14.14 prelim time in the 110. Also an all-league football player during the fall and starting guard in basketball, Harris is among the state’s elite on the track and undefeated in both hurdles races this spring despite getting a slow start after hurting his right ankle in his final basketball game this winter. As noted, he won the LPD1 title in the 300 last season in a personal-record 37.81 seconds and just missed the double finishing seventh hundredths of a second behind East Kentwood’s Job Mayhue in the 110. Harris also finished second in the 110 and third in the 300 at the LPD2 Finals as a sophomore, and qualified for the LPD2 Finals in both races as a freshman, earning seventh place in the 110.
The 37.81 at last year’s Finals and the 14 flat he ran in the 110 at the 2018 Regional are Waverly school records – which says a lot as the Warriors have produced a number of state contenders over coach David Pike’s 29 seasons leading one of mid-Michigan’s strongest programs. Harris will announce next week where he’ll continue his academic and athletic careers at the collegiate level – he has Division I and II opportunities – and will bring both first-class hurdling skills and a 3.6 GPA with aspirations of studying kinesiology and becoming an athletic trainer.
Coach David Pike said: “Keshaun’s success in the hurdles is due to his focus on getting better every day. He’s always the last one off the track, taking time each day to get the repetitions he needs to become fluent with each motion. The quickness and fluidity of his hurdling action come from years of focused practice. That’s not to say he’s hurdling 365 days a year. In fact, much of his success in track and field comes from his involvement in other sports. Football has helped him develop the strength and toughness needed to run through hurdle contact. Basketball with all of its jumping and rapid changes of direction has helped him become a more explosive and kinesthetically aware athlete. In the end, the bottom line is that Keshaun’s dedication to daily incremental improvement as an athlete has put him in position to compete for the state title in both the high and 300 hurdles.”
Performance Point: “Nobody really knew this but my coach, but I was sick,” Harris said in recalling the Regional. “I was pushing through it, so I just went out there and ran my best races of the season. I was dealing with the flu. .... Before the race I had to hydrate a lot. My body was a little weak. I had to make sure I got my body moving, got in a good warm-up, stayed loose and warm. I just went out there and gave it everything I’ve got and ran my best.”
Remembering runner-up: “(Last year’s 110 Final) has been in the back of my mind since it happened last year. My goal is still to be the state champion in both the 110 and 300. That’s been the goal since I came to Waverly, since I’ve been a freshman. That’s always been the goal, and always been a motivation too. … Last year I wasn’t as good with my form as I am this year. So this year as I go into this last week, I’m just working on form, getting over hurdles and getting back down quick and keeping everything tight.”
Multi-sport mechanics: “I think (all my sports) work together, because I’m always active doing something. Even in the winter or the summer, I’m always doing something. When track season comes around, I’m already in shape, and I’m already feeling good and strong. (Track has) made me even faster on the court or the field. I’m very elusive. I’m very flexible. So it’s helped me in a lot of areas.”
Looking up, looking ahead: “Aries Merritt, he’s an Olympic champion, and Grant Holloway goes to Florida and he’s another guy I look up to. I also look up to guys I ran against – Kentre Patterson (East Lansing), Noah Caudy (Lake Odessa Lakewood), even Job Mayhue who beat me last year. I still look up to all those guys, figure out what they’re doing and how I can input it into my hurdling. In track, you run against these guys so much. Once they’re gone, you’ve built a relationship with them, so it’s cool.”
Staying in sports: “I just like working with athletes and just being around sports, so I think (trainer) would be the perfect job to do. Actually, at the start of this season I had an ankle injury, I sprained it during my last basketball game, and that had me out for a month. As I worked with the athletic trainer at my school, I developed a love for wanting to become an athletic trainer and wanting to study kinesiology.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2018-19 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard recognizes 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.
Past 2018-19 honorees
May 16: Gabbie Sherman, Millington softball - Read
May 9: Nathan Taylor, Muskegon Mona Shores golf - Read
May 2: Ally Gaunt, New Baltimore Anchor Bay soccer - Read
April 25: Kali Heivilin, Three Rivers softball - Read
March 28: Rickea Jackson, Detroit Edison basketball - Read
March 21: Noah Wiswary, Hudsonville Unity Christian basketball - Read
March 14: Cam Peel, Spring Lake swimming - Read
March 7: Jordan Hamdan, Hudson wrestling - Read
February 28: Kevon Davenport, Detroit Catholic Central wrestling - Read
February 21: Reagan Olli, Gaylord skiing - Read
February 14: Jake Stevenson, Traverse City Bay Reps hockey - Read
February 7: Molly Davis, Midland Dow basketball - Read
January 31: Chris DeRocher, Alpena basketball - Read
January 24: Imari Blond, Flint Kearsley bowling - Read
January 17: William Dunn, Quincy basketball - Read
November 29: Dequan Finn, Detroit Martin Luther King football - Read
November 22: Paige Briggs, Lake Orion volleyball - Read
November 15: Hunter Nowak, Morrice football - Read
November 8: Jon Dougherty, Detroit Country Day soccer - Read
November 1: Jordan Stump, Camden-Frontier volleyball - Read
October 25: Danielle Staskowski, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep golf - Read
October 18: Adam Bruce, Gladstone cross country - Read
October 11: Ericka VanderLende, Rockford cross country - Read
October 4: Kobe Clark, Schoolcraft football - Read
September 27: Jonathan Kliewer, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern soccer - Read
September 20: Kiera Lasky, Bronson volleyball - Read
September 13: Judy Rector, Hanover-Horton cross country - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Waverly's Keshaun Harris charges toward the finish during last season's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final in the 300 hurdles. (Middle) Harris clears a hurdle during the 110 championship race in 2018. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Southfield Christian Boys Win Final Event to Clinch Program's 1st Finals Title
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
HUDSONVILLE – Win and make school history.
That’s what it came down to for Southfield Christian in the pressure-packed final event of Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals at Baldwin Middle School.
The final heat of the 1,600 relay proved to be the deciding factor as the Eagles earned the dramatic victory and their program’s first Finals team title.
“We were down by three points, and we knew that we had to get first and they (Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep) had to get third,” Southfield Christian senior Brock Morris said. “I talked to my team and told them that this is going to be the last race that we will ever have, so go out and get a win.
“Crossing that line first was exhilarating, and I’m just excited to win, and make history and build a path for others to follow.”
Four points separated the top three teams entering the final race with Hackett owning a slim lead over Southfield Christian and Hillsdale Academy.
Morris joined fellow seniors Dylan Taylor-Wilkerson, Robert Brown and Jadon Staten in the clinching relay as they combined to clock a winning and personal-record time of 3 minutes, 24.36 seconds.
“We knew going into it that it was going to come down to us having to win, and I just told our guys, who are all seniors, this is the last race of your career so you have to put it all out there,” Eagles coach Andrew McFerrin said. “If you want to be state champs, you have to win this race. And that's what they went out and did, and I’m proud of them.”
The Eagles’ previous best finish was runner-up in 2019.
“We just had the pieces this year, and we were able to put it together,” McFerrin said. “I knew coming in we had fast guys, and they had to want it. They made it happen.
“It was nerve-racking throughout the day watching us go up and then down, and the 200 really helped us when we got first, third and seventh. That put us up and then we were just hoping and praying that we were going to pull it out, and that's what we did.”
Morris also anchored the winning 800 relay team and won titles in the 200 (22.31) and 400 (49.30).
“Brock is an outstanding athlete,” McFerrin said. “And just seeing how he has developed from his freshman year to now has been an absolute pleasure.”
The Eagles finished with 60 points, edging Hackett by one. Hillsdale Academy took third with 50 points, and 2024 champion Fowler (44.5) was fourth.
“To be honest, I didn't think it was going to come down to the final event and I thought Southfield Christian was going to have it from the get-go,” Kalamazoo Hackett coach Charissa Dean said. “But these boys battled their little hearts out, and I couldn't really ask them to do any more. They had a phenomenal day with PRs all over the place.”
Junior distance runner Marek Butkiewicz led Hackett with a pair of wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 and was part of the winning 3,200 relay.
“The mindset was if I just do what I've been doing the whole season, then I'm coming away with what I came away with,” Butkiewicz said. “I knew I was going to end up with leads in both of them.”
Two other athletes also repeated as Finals champions, with Fowler’s Brady Feldpausch winning the 110 hurdles and Morrice’s Oliver Long securing top honors in the shot put.
Fruitport Calvary Christian senior Bradley Richards, competing as part of a cooperative with Muskegon Catholic Central, won his second high jump title after previously finishing first in the event in 2023. The Cornerstone University basketball and track commit cleared a personal-best 6-10¼.
PHOTOS (Top) Southfield Christian's Brock Morris, middle, crosses the finish line first in the 200 on Saturday, just ahead of Riverview Gabriel Richard's Derek Lesko to his left and teammate Jadon Staten to his right. (Middle) Hackett's Sean Siems and Royal Oak Shrine's Abenezer Cerone lead the 800 championship race; Cerone would go on to finish first. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)