Irish Celebrate Homecoming Sky High

KALAMAZOO — After losing their longtime mentor and coach, the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix track & field teams are dedicating their seasons to Ted Duckett, who died unexpectedly Jan. 8.

“We’re still feeling it now,” said head coach Bradley Schmidt, who leads both the boys and girls programs. “When you lose that wealth of knowledge, parts of seven decades of coaching.

“He knew so much. Not just the knowledge of how track works, the Xs and Os, but how to get the most out of kids. There are a lot of kids who ran just because he was the coach. To lose him was tough.”

Senior high jumper Jaylind Motton is one of those drawn to the sport by the legendary coach.

“When I was a sophomore, I was in basketball and I’ve been able to dunk since eighth grade year, so I’ve just had the ability to jump high,” Motton said.

“Coach Duckett convinced me to join track because of it and do high jump.”

Senior Jackson Lam, who owns two school records, also credits Duckett with his success.

“Coach Duckett gave me such good advice,” Lam said. “Compliments didn’t come often from him, but when he did, I knew I was doing something right.

“It’s definitely hard with him gone. It took me a while to get over it. I think I will be able to turn it around and use it as motivation to run the season in honor of him.”

Part of that motivation came during Friday’s Don Lukens Invitational hosted by Norrix.

Lam was named the Coach Duckett Male VIP Award recipient.

The award isn’t new, but the name of the award has been changed to honor the former coach.

A year ago, Lam set the 1,600 school record at the Invitational when his time of 4:13.32 bested the 4:19 mark set by Gary Harris in 1968.

"It was an incredible day for me,” Lam said. “I felt like everything I worked for paid off. 

Earlier this season he broke that record again, turning in a personal-best 4:12.07. 

Although the Knights boys team finished second to Portage Central on Friday, Lam bested that mark once more at 4:10.6, which is also a meet record.

Using that second-place finish as motivation, Schmidt hopes the team improves on its 33^rd-place finish at last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.

“It helps that kids are getting more mature, getting more training,” said Schmidt, who finished his fifth Boston Marathon a week ago. “It’s nice to see improvement in kids who did some offseason work. If you just rely on the work in-season, it’ll never happen.”

Lam is one who works on his running all year and already has qualified for the Finals in the 1,600 meters.

“It’s almost like having an unpaid coach,” Schmidt said of Lam. “He talks to the kids at their level, makes sure they’re warming up, they’re stretching, they’re warming down, they’re getting ready at the right times for their events, they’re eating right and sleeping right.

“It’s one thing to come from a coach, it’s another thing to come from a peer, a teammate. It’s nice to have that experience on the team for sure.”

Adapting to change

Going from middle school to high school was a big adjustment for Lam.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “I learned that middle school is nothing like high school running. I came out of middle school feeling good. Like, man, I’m good, I can beat people.

“Then I get to high school and I’m racing guys who are half a foot taller than me, and they’ve been running double the amount of time I’ve been running. They taught me a lot of good things.”

Lam first tasted success in high school in 2023 on the 3,200 relay team as the only freshman running with three seniors – Samuel Allen, Oskar Wiedenhoeft and Gryffin Hurley.

Lam said he looks up to Allen as a mentor. Allen currently holds Norrix’s 800 record of 1:51.1, a mark Lam is chasing.

“He taught me a lot about the 800 – how you pace it, how you prepare yourself for it,” Lam said. “The best way to learn is by watching, so I was able to watch him.”

Another runner who pushes Lam to improve is Hackett Catholic Prep standout Marek Butkiewicz. The two train together often, including on the Kal Haven Trail.

Since Norrix is in Division 1 and Hackett is Division 4, the two don’t compete head-to-head.

“We both like to push each other in runs and workouts,” Butkiewicz said. “We’re close in fitness and that also helps.

“He’s a great kid, super smart, super nice, very down to earth, intelligent, mature. A super hard worker.”

One thing they don’t agree on is colleges. Lam is headed to University of Michigan, while Butkiewicz is going to Michigan State on a track scholarship.

“We both have similar goals,” Butkiewicz said. “He’s going to Michigan academically so there’s a little rivalry there, but it’s healthy.”

Although Lam does not have a spot waiting on the U-M track team, he plans to continue running. “My goal since I was a kid is to break 4 minutes in the mile,” he said.

Soaring to new heights

While dunking a basketball is a lot different than soaring over a horizontal bar in track, Motton uses the spring in his step to reach new heights.

As a sophomore, his personal best was 6-foot-4, “but I was inconsistent with it, going from 6-2 to 5-10 to 5-8,” he said. “My junior year I had a growing (spurt) and was stuck between 5-10 to 6-2.”

Motton, who is 6 feet tall, is having a breakout senior season, and no one is more surprised than he is at his performance: “I came out at the indoor meet and jumped 6-9, then currently PR-ed at 6-10.”

That personal record set a school record as well and was special in many ways.

“Since last year, I didn’t really take track that serious,” Motton said. “I was doing it just for fun. Coach Duckett’s passing sparked something inside of me, made me more determined to do better for him. I went out and jumped for him, PR-ed, broke the school record and I feel good for it.”

Schmidt said going from 6-4 last season to 6-9 during the indoor season and 6-10 at the Eastern Michigan University Relays on March 21 was impressive.

“To see that type of improvement is inspiring to all the kids,” he said. “They can see he put in the time, he put in the effort, he put in the work, watching videos, trying different drills to work on his craft. 

“To make that much gain in such a short time is unheard of. It shows the kids that wherever you’re at, you can still improve.”

Motton said the key to being a good high jumper is not the spring in your step, but technique.

“If you have a good form, you can be a good jumper,” he said. “It’s not really about jumping high; it’s how you approach it.”

Motton is not satisfied with the school record.

“My current goal is to clear 7-foot,” he explained, “but once I clear 7-foot, my actual goal is to go 7-3.”

Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Jaylind Motton, left, and Jackson Lam are among those competing this year inspired by past coach Ted Duckett’s memory. (2) Knights track coach Bradley Schmidt. (3) Lam shows off his Coach Duckett Male VIP Award won this season. (4) Motton. (Action and meet photos courtesy of the Loy Norrix athletic department. Headshots by Pam Shebest.)