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Boys track: East Kentwood edges Detroit Catholic Central for D1 crown

East Kentwood eked out a team title at the MHSAA Division 1 state championship track meet on Saturday at Rockford High School, sneaking past Detroit Catholic Central, 63-62.

It’s East Kentwood’s first state title since a three-peat run from 2017-19.

East Kentwood won behind a wealth of points across a number of events and just two outright wins, in the 800 meter relay and pole vault, where Reece Emeott prevailed. But East Kentwood runners took points in the 100, 200, 400, 3200, 110 and 300 meter hurdles, and the short relays — just enough to win.

In Division 2, Harper Woods won handily behind wins in the 400 and 800 meter relays and strong sprint and hurdle efforts, including from football stars DeAndre Bidden and Dakota Guerrant.

The Division 3 title will head back to Monroe, as St. Mary Catholic Central won the 400 meter relay and finished in the points in a spate of races to beat out Otsego for the title.

Hillsdale Academy won the team title in Division 4, winning over Eau Claire by two points for the crown.

Individually in Division 1, Detroit Catholic Central did well.

Hurdler Zacchaeus Brocks capped a dominant year with titles in the 110 and 300 meter hurdles. Catholic Central also won the 400 meter relay, plus senior Paxton Heitsch won the title in shot put while junior Malachi Clayton won the long jump title.

Walled Lake Western’s Rodney Endsley personally took home a pair of state titles, winning both the 200 and 400 meter sprint races.

Clarkston junior Wendell Childs Jr. repeated as the champion in the 800 meters, setting up a shot at a three-peat in 2027.

And in the shortest of the sprint races, Detroit Martin Luther King sophomore Vernall Lee snuck out a win in the 100 meter dash, beating Belleville’s Peyton Trammer by .01 — 10.76 to 10.77. Grand Haven’s Keiavion Korenstra wasn’t far off, running a 10.79 for third place.

Detroit Renaissance added a relay title in the 1600 meter relay, as Marcel Lake, Keion Boone, De’Sean Wright and Joel Hill beat out the field to win.

Ann Arbor Pioneer took home the 3200 meter relay title as the quartet of Beckett Crooks, Theo Sacks Thomas, Quinn Davis and Kamari Ronfeldt won in a tight battle against Ann Arbor Skyline.

Northville junior Brandon Cloud won in the 3200, marking the fifth-straight year Northville’s won a title in at least one event at the Division 1 finals. He had to kick hard to beat out Howell junior Jack McGregor, who finished just .28 behind Cloud for second place.

In Division 2, Harper Woods made good in the short relay races, winning in both the 400 and 800 meter races. Jayden Crump, Bidden, Guerrant and Shawn Mosley ran in the 400 and swapped out Guerrant for Dewayne Johnson in the 800.

Monroe St. Mary’s managed to get the Division 3 title with an outright win in just one event, the 400 meter relay run by Cole Reinhardt, Gavin Swartout, Vince Harris and Brady Reinhardt.

Clinton’s Wyatt Dehring, a freshman, won the 100 meter title and Detroit Edison senior Dennis Jackson won in the 200 and 400.

Warren Michigan collegiate’s Tayeden Redding won in the high jump, leaping 6 feet, 6 inches for the title.

And in Division 4, as part of a strong finish for Royal Oak Shrine — third overall as a team — Abenezer Cerone won in the 800 and 1600 meters.

In the 1600 meter relay, Detroit Frederick Douglass won behind the group of Terron Dace-Turner, Lloyd Hatcher, Kamari Howard and Joel Johnson.

Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Boys track: East Kentwood edges Detroit Catholic Central for D1 crown

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