Renaissance Follows Record-Setting Jackson to 1st Division 1 Finals Win
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
ROCKFORD – Before she even ran a race Saturday, Kaila Jackson had already established herself as one of the best sprinters in MHSAA history.
But in her final meet, she gave everyone at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals one final show.
The Detroit Renaissance senior won four Finals titles Saturday, repeating the feat she had accomplished in 2021, and led the Phoenix to their first Division 1 team title.
“The question was asked early in the season if I thought Kaila was one of the all-time great sprinters,” Renaissance co-coach Calvin Johnson said. “She solidified her legacy today. She solidified her legacy. With her going down to Georgia now to be a Bulldog, there’s nothing I can say but they’re getting a great athlete – a great student-athlete. It’s unfortunate they don’t have an MVP trophy, because she should get it, hands down.”
Jackson was responsible for 40 of Renaissance’s 80 points on the day. Three-time reigning champion Oak Park was second with 60. Ann Arbor Huron (55), Holland West Ottawa (47) and Ann Arbor Pioneer (38) rounded out the top five.
It was the first Finals title for Renaissance since 2007, when it finished a run of 10 Division 2/Class B titles over 11 seasons. The Phoenix were runners-up to Oak Park both of the past two seasons.
“It’s well overdue,” Renaissance co-coach Darnell Hall said. “It’s a good honor to finally get that monkey off our back. Especially with a good group of girls, the elite kids we have, this was the last thing they needed to solidify their legacy in the state of Michigan, was that Michigan state title.”
Jackson won the 100 meters and 200 meters and was part of the winning 400 and 800 relay teams. Olivia Jenkins, Madison Sheard and Jayla Graham joined Jackson on the 400 relay, while Jenkins, Chloe Vines and Jayla Dace joined her on the 800 relay.
Jackson’s winning 200-meter time of 23.51 seconds broke the all-Finals record of 23.74 run by Shayla Mahan of Detroit Mumford in 2006.
“It feels amazing to break a state record,” Jackson said. “I knew it was going to come, but I’m happy it came now. I worked very hard for this. I just feel so accomplished.”
She won the 100 in 11.64, and the relays came in at 47.01 and 1:38.09, respectively.
“I really work hard for this,” Jackson said. “Everything paid off, all the hard practices, the crying, smiling, it’s paid off. I’ve worked very hard.”
The Phoenix also got a Finals title from Leeah Burr, who won the 400 in 55.05.
Oak Park had three champions on the day, led by Morgan Roundtree’s record-breaking performance in the 300 hurdles. Roundtree’s time of 42.38 broke the LP Division 1 Finals record of 42.64 set by Wyandotte Roosevelt’s Kyana Evans in 2017. Ann Arbor Huron’s Mya Georgiadis was second in the race at 42.52, also breaking the record.
Nonah Waldron won the 100 hurdles for Oak Park in 13.9 seconds, while Drelin Mapp won the long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 2.25 inches.
Two others joined Jackson in winning multiple individual titles on the day.
Allen Park’s Abigail Russell won the discus and the shot put. Her throw of 144-4 in the discus won by nearly seven feet, while her throw of 41-8.25 in the shot put won by eight inches.
Traverse City Central’s Julia Flynn pulled off the 1,600/800 double, and even came back and placed fifth in the 3,200.
She won the 1,600 in 4:39.75, and the 800 in 2:08. In the 800, she took control of the race about 250 meters in, and never relinquished her lead.
“I wanted to go out in my first lap, not crazy, crazy, crazy fast,” Flynn said. “I let myself ease into the competition a little bit, had girls in front of me. Then, I had the fear of getting boxed in, so then I just peaced out. I was trying to use my competition, I wanted to stay with them a little longer than I did, but I started to get in that inner lane, and I was like, ‘I don’t want to misstep and get DQ’d.”
Dexter’s Sophia Mettes repeated as champion in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet to hold off a tough field.
“Coming into this I was a little nervous, because I knew I had really good competition,” Mettes said. “Natalie Blake (Holland West Ottawa), I’m competing with her next year (at Michigan State), so I’m super excited. She’s been looking so strong. Brooke Bowers (Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central), she’s been looking great, too. I knew I had a lot to look up to, and I was feeling a little tired coming in, but it was a great competition. I just got nervous throughout the whole thing, but my adrenaline kept me going.”
Holland West Ottawa’s Arianne Olson, who was runner-up to Flynn in the 1,600, won the 3,200 by more than 10 seconds, finishing in 10:23.43.
Ann Arbor Pioneer won the 3,200 relay in 8:55.58 with the team of Sylvia Sanok Dufallo, Emily Cooper, Cookie Baugh and Sarah Forsyth.
Ann Arbor Huron won the 1,600 relay in 3:52.81 with the team of Mackenzie Robinson, Jada Wilson, Christabelle Obi and Georgiadis.
Pioneer’s Gabriella Newman won the high jump with a jump of 5-8.
PHOTOS (Top) Detroit Renaissance's Kaila Jackson, front, powers to a win during Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Traverse City Central's Julia Flynn turns into the straightaway during one of her races. (Click for more from John Brabbs/Run Michigan.)
Frankfort Relay Recipe Proven Winner as Panthers Seek to Extend Title Streaks
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 7, 2026
FRANKFORT – Frankfort may not have written the recipe for winning MHSAA Finals relay championships.
But they follow one that’s shown growing dominance in Division 4 over the last half-decade.
It starts with four student-athletes able to make strong friendship bonds. Then, lots of practice is added to develop muscle memory and mix in ways to maximize speed potential in the designated 30-meter exchange zone. And, perhaps finally, it is highly recommended to blend in near-perfect handoffs.
Frankfort has been crowned the LPD4 400-meter relay champion the last five years. The Panthers also have run the LPD4 Finals record time in the event, in 2024. And to top it off, the Panthers broke the 800 relay meet record in winning that race last spring.
The championships have come with different tight-knit combinations of runners over the years. Current junior Alice Luther, current seniors Addison Jarosz and Sofia Alaimo Schindler and 2025 graduate Gwyneth Dunaway won both championships together last season and the 400 title in 2024 as well, and first-place combinations also have included Addison Chownyk, Reagan Thor, Tara Townsend, Keyan Clapp, Grace Wolfe and Eliza Frary.
To finalize the recipe, the Panthers add optional ingredients – a golden baton and pineapple socks
Be sure though, it is the golden baton but not the same pineapple socks.
“I get different pairs, because I wear them for all my sports,” said Jarosz, now a senior, who’s been on the last three 400 relay champions along with fellow senior Alaimo Schindler. “They get worn down, but I've worn them since like seventh grade.”
Jarosz is not sure how her special socks-wearing got started. She only knows the first time produced satisfying results. She also runs middle distances with her socks on display for multiple laps.
“I think I might have gotten them as a gift because I was in middle school and going through a phase of crazy socks and stuff,” Jarosz recalls. “I had good luck so now I always wear them.”
As for the golden baton, it’s currently stored in the home of Alaimo Schindler. It got there after last year’s team competed at the Nike Outdoor National Championships in Eugene, Ore. It’s there for safe keeping and only used for relays Jarosz and Alaimo Schindler race.
“We don't let anyone else use it but us – Addie and I have been running together since middle school, and that's the baton we use,” Alaimo Schindler said. “It's just special to us, and it has one tiny dent.”
The bonds – and skills – formed over the last three years by those two and Luther are expected to bode well for the Panthers again this year.
“I think that there's always kind of pressure going into state finals, but I think that we have great coaching and we all work really hard,” admitted Luther, who also runs hurdles. “Gwen's shoe is a hard one to fill, but I think that we have good candidates who are willing to work hard to do it.”
Sophomore Riley LeVack is expected to join Luther, Jarosz and Alaimo Schindler on the shorter relays at the Regional, which the Panthers will host in late May. LeVack filled in a handful of times last spring, helping the Panthers pick up key competition points as they collected team trophies as well.
“Getting on the relay team is a big deal for the girls because this won't go on forever, and it's going to be something they'll look back on and really appreciate how good they were in high school,” said sixth-year Frankfort head track & field coach Ed Schindler. “Sophia, Alice and Addie all had it where they joined a team that had already won the state, so now it's Riley’s turn to see if she can win the state championship with them.”
The composition of the 400 and 800 teams this year will be finalized in time for the Regional. Frankfort has won every relay over the last two Regionals on the way to claiming the team titles at those meets as well. The Panthers also won the Northwest Conference last season. Those team championships in both the league and Regional were the first won by the program over more than 50 years of competition.
“All of our girls are really fast in relays because once we get to max speed, we're pretty good and manage 30 meters of exchange well,” Schindler pointed out. “We have a person on our 4x4 team that pole vaults and another one on our 4x8 that does too. They're all great athletes. When you have a good core group of maybe eight of your total 13 athletes that really score in big meets, that's gives you a shot at the state championship.”
Frankfort placed second to Fowler at last year’s LPD4 Final, its highest MHSAA Finals team finish. In addition to repeating as Regional champion, and keeping the Finals relay title strings alive, Frankfort has its eyes on a Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association team championship.
The Panthers will start the season with lots of confidence they’ll repeat their relay dominance – even if new fourth runners don’t lead to faster times than last year.
“Last year when we were competing against other teams, we were winning by a few seconds, so we have that room and space for another runner who is just a few seconds behind Gwyn,” Alaimo Schindler said. “We're really close to each other, and we hand it down each year. So I'm still I'm very confident, and I think with a lot of practice, we will get to where we were last year.”
“Our handoffs are so good it gives us just that little bit of advantage and helps us get a little bit ahead,” added Jarosz. “It just amazes me sometimes that just that little bit can do a lot.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Frankfort's Sofia Alaimo Schindler crosses the finish line first in anchoring her 800 relay to last season's Division 4 championship. (Middle) Alice Luther rounds a curve during a winning relay. (Below) From left: now-graduated Gwyneth Dunaway, Luther, Alaimo Schindler and Addison Jarosz take a photo at last year's Finals holding their golden baton. (Photos by Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)