Harrison Girls, Farmington Boys Take Top Honors in Regional Track Meet

For Farmington Hills Harrison junior Laticia Sims, this rang out as the winning formula at the Division 1 regional track meet Saturday, where the school took home first place at . The boys team won with a score of 91.5 points.

Harrison coach Mark Babcock said he was more than a little surprised at his team’s performance: The girls team squeaked Farmington,  scoring 82 points to Farmington's 79. “I thought maybe we’d be in the top four to five teams, but we just did a great job," Babcock said. "All the kudos go to kids like Laticia (Sims) and (Tiera) Parker – on the biggest stages, they did it.”

Sims placed first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14:33 and first in the 300-meter low hurdles with a time of 43.51. Parker finished second in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, while Harrison's Molly Miller won pole vault with a 7-foot-8 vault.

“I got prepared pretty good and I wanted to race good. I just didn’t want to clip any hurdles,” said Sims.

Farmington routed their competition, beating Brother Rice, who came in at 78 points Saturday. The Falcons placed two top finisher, including senior James Vincent-Taylor, who beat West Bloomfield High’s C.J. Brathwaite to win the long jump by a quarter-inch margin at 22-foot-5 1/2-inches. D'Marco Mills finished first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 39.84.

“Before that, he was third. He was dead tired, his body language was awful, and we just pulled him over and said, ‘Nothing technical, you just have to wrap your mind around making this jump,” said Farmington head coach Charles Bridges II, who helped the team win its first regional title since 1971. “He did and I’m glad for him. He’s a good kid.”

Other highlights included:

• West Bloomfield High senior and University of Michigan-bound Phil Washington failed in a well-publicized effort to break a 27-year-old state record in the 400-meter dash, set by Omar Davidson in 1984. Washington ran a time of 47.8, 0.2 seconds shy of his personal best and 1.2 seconds shy of the record.
• West Bloomfield High senior and University of Texas El-Paso-bound Taylor Gunn won both the shot put event, with a score of 40-1, and the discus event, with a score of  143.1 feet.
• senior and Michigan-bound Brook Handler won both the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:54.80 and the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.86.
• had a strong showing as well, placing third in the 3200-meter relay as well as first and second in the 1600-meter run. made a statement as well, taking home second in the 110-meter hurdles, second in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and first in the 1600-meter relay.

For complete results, visit mhsaa.com.

Boys regional results

Event
1st 2nd 3rd Overall meet results – boys Farmington HS Brother Rice West Bloomfield 3200m relay Brother Rice Farmington HS Birmingham Seaholm 110m hurdles Shammah Carter, N.Farmington Ross Williams, Birmingham Groves D'Marco Mills, Farmington 100m dash Malcolm Morris, Detroit Henry Ford Cedric Hill, Southfield Devin Church, Brother Rice 800m relay West Bloomfield Southfield Farmington 1600m run Jack Howard, Birmingham Seaholm Max Gomez, Birmingham Seaholm David Hong, Farmington 400m relay Southfield North Farmington Farmington HS 400m dash Phil Washington, West Bloomfield Tre Walton, Southfield Eric Perez, Rochester 300m intermediate hurdles D'Marco Mills, Farmington Ross Williams, Birmingham Groves Shammah Carter, N. Farmington 800m run Brian Beecher, Rochester Kyle Braun, Berkley Joseph Kraus, Brother Rice 200m dash Phil Washington, West Bloomfield Malcolm Morris, Detroit Henry Ford Jeff Aririguzo, West Bloomfield 3200m run Blake Pozolo, Rochester Thomas Girardot, Brother Rice Jackson Gilbert, Rochester 1600m relay Birmingham Groves Southfield Rochester Long jump James Vincent-Taylor, Farmington C.J. Brathwaite, West Bloomfield Kyle Carter, Farmington Hills Harrison Shot put Louis Daranda, West Bloomfield Marcel Johnson, Rochester Austin Echols, Brother Rice Pole vault Kevin Lapinski, Farmington Harrison Brandon Palmer, Farmington Harrison Austin Tucker, N. Farmington Discus Levi Richards, Brother Rice Tom Norris, Farmington HS Connor Ferguson, Farmington HS High jump Justin Peguese, Berkley Brandon Jarmon, Southfield (tie) Daniel Nguyen, Rochester; Rashad Irvin, Southfield Lathrup; Quinn Culbertson, Farmington Harrison

 

Girls Regional Results

Event 1st 2nd 3rd Overall meet results – girls
Farmington Hills Harrison Farmington HS Rochester 3200m relay Farmington HS Birmingham Seaholm Birmingham Marian 100m hurdles Laticia Sims, Farmington Harrison Morgan Pullins, Birmingham Groves Dane Carey, Birmingham Marian 100m dash Jewel Thomas, Southfield Lathrup Tiera Parker, Farmington Harrison Lauren Roberts, Mercy 800m relay Southfield Farmington Hills Harrison Rochester 1600m run Brook Handler, Rochester Erin Finn, West Bloomfield Gabby DeFlorio, Farmington HS 400m relay Rochester Farmington Hills Harrison Southfield Lathrup 400m dash Latipha Cross, Southfield Cherie' Gaines, N. Farmington Jasmine Berger, Birmingham Groves 300m low hurdles Laticia Sims, Farmington Harrison Dana Carey, Birmingham Marian Aaron Howell, Farmington HS 800m run Brook Handler, Rochester Gabby DeFlorio, Farmington HS Ashley Wile, Birmingham Marian 200m dash Latipha Cross, Southfield Tiera Parker, Farmington Harrison Sydney Sterling, Farmington HS 3200m run Erin Finn, West Bloofmield Tess Wilberding, Birmingham Seaholm Jessica Goethals, Rochester 1600m relay Southfield Rochester Birmingham Seaholm Long junp Emily Leppek, Rochester Shelby Allen, Berkley Asha Freeman, N. Farmington Shot put Taylor Gunn, West Bloomfield Ashley, Winbush, Royal Oak Abbey Lovat, Mercy Pole vault Molly Miller, Farmington Harrison Discus Taylor Gunn, West Bloomfield Ashley Winbush, Royal Oak Abbey Lovat, Mercy High jump Keianna Ingram Southfield Lathrup Aaron Howell, Farmington (tie) Abbey Lovat, Mercy; Lauren Roberts, Mercy; Elizabeth Vermoesen, Birmingham Seaholm