Finn, Washington Grab First-Place Finishes to Pace Lakers at Regionals

has waited a long time to get back on the track, and it paid off at spring regionals. Last spring, Finn and tibia while running track, missing most of the spring season. At the Division 1 Regionals on Saturday at , the sophomore said that she felt “pleased” with her performance, which helped lead the Lakers girls team to a fifth-place finish with 55 points.

Finn dominated the pack in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10 minutes, 33.72 seconds, ahead of second-place finisher Tess Wilberding of Birmingham Seaholm, who finished at 11:38.69. “It’s not easy running alone (in the 3,200), but I will see competition at the state meet,” Finn said.

In the 1,600-meter run, Finn finished second with a time of 5:02.33. Senior Taylor Gunn, who will be starring for the University of Texas El Paso track team next fall, won the shot put and the discus events with scores of 40 feet, 1 inch and 143-1, respectively.

West Bloomfield cross country and track head coach Lee Averill has been coaching for 50 years, but he has never quite seen a talent like Finn from a physical standpoint. 

“I don’t think I have ever seen her get tired after a race,”  “She has this unique ability to (process) oxygen at an incredible rate. It just seems like she could run forever.”

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 seconds to win the event, 0.2 seconds shy of his personal best and 1.2 seconds shy of the record.

Louis Daranda also won for the Lakers, scoring 54.5-5 on the shot put to beat Rochester High’s Marcel Johnson, who placed second with a score of 49-10 1/2. The Lakers’ 800-meter relay team won with a time of 1:29.12, led by Jeff Aririguzo, C.J. Brathwaite, Jalen Campbell, and Washington.

Brathwaite placed second in the long jump with a score of 22-5 1/4, just 1/4-inch behind winner James Vincent-Taylor of Farmington High.

Mike Scott contributed to this report.

For complete results, visit mhsaa.com.