Sun, sand and big air: Area pole vaulters hit the beach to fly skyward in growing Beach Vault - Kalamazoo, Michigan Sports News – MLive.com

Williamston’s Nilsson coach of the year | lansingstatejournal.com | Lansing State Journal
Williamston’s Nilsson coach of the year

By DICK HOEKSTRA • For the Lansing State Journal • July 12, 2009 • From Williamston Enterprise

When I first got to know Paul Nilsson a dozen years ago, he picked up a lot of awards as a really fast grandmasters (over age 50) runner.

Most of this decade, his awards have come almost exclusively as a Williamston High School boys cross- country and track and field coach.

Recently, Nilsson picked up perhaps the most impressive one when he was selected the National High School Athletic Coaches Association boys cross-country national coach of the year.

As usual, his first thoughts were of others.

“I was honored to represent Michigan, my community and my athletes in accepting the award,” he said. “Without the help of my community, it would not have been possible.”

I remember when the renovated track at Williamston was named for him 14 months ago, and he could have highlighted any accomplishment, his thoughts were of an unnamed girl who helped at a water stop in cold weather during the old Williamston Half-Marathon. That 13.1-mile event was a major fundraiser for previous work on the Williamston High track.

And he talked about the girl he didn’t even know with a tear in his eye.

Obituary: Straight-talking Shaw irreplacable Western Michigan Broncos - MLive.com
Obituary: Straight-talking Shaw irreplacable
by Graham Couch | Kalamazoo Gazette
Saturday January 10, 2009, 12:28 AM

Former WMU track coach’s ‘big, bad bulldog’s bark’ came out of love

KALAMAZOO — Jack Shaw used to tell his athletes, “If you aren’t running fast enough, then just turn right, turn right and get off the track.”

Friday morning, succumbing to complications from multiple myeloma, Western Michigan University’s longtime men’s track and field and cross country coach took a metaphorical right turn. He was 70.

Known for his tell-it-like-it-is rough exterior, Shaw coached at WMU from 1970 until 2002, producing a bevy of Mid-American Conference titles in both track and field and cross country, while coaching 56 All-Americans.

MonroeNews.com - The Monroe Evening News, Monroe, MI
Williams, Flanary claim titles at USA Youth Track and Field meet
, last modified July 06. 2009 12:05PM
YPSILANTI — Airport students Derrek Williams and Shana Flanary claimed titles Sunday in the USA Youth Track and Field National Championships at Eastern Michigan University.
Williams was seeded third but won the 400 intermediate hurdles in 55.35. Flanary took the hammer throw at 126-0.
Both will be juniors in the fall.

MonroeNews.com - The Monroe Evening News, Monroe, MI
Katie Bollin of Bedford has accepted a track and field scholarship from the University of Toledo.
Bollin broke a 30-year-old school record in the long jump this season with an 18-2 effort and also lettered in basketball.
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The Monroe County Region’s three state track and field champions will be among the runners shown this month when the Michigan High School Athletic Association carries taped shows of the state finals.
Nick Kaiser of Bedford won the Division 1 title in the 800 meters. The race will be shown at 10 a.m. Sunday on the MHSAA.TV Web site.
The Division 2 boys races will be shown at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, including the 3,200 meters won by Kyle Anderson of Milan.
The Division 2 girls events will be carried at 9:30 p.m. July 13. Jordan Tomecek of Milan won the 3,200 meters.

Grand Blanc’s Geena Gall heading to Europe to prepare for track and field World Championships - Flint, Michigan Sports News - The Flint Journal – MLive.com
Grand Blanc’s Geena Gall heading to Europe to prepare for track and field World Championships
by Bill Khan | The Flint Journal
Sunday July 05, 2009, 3:48 PM

Geena Gall has already proven herself against the best college and professional runners in the United States.

Now comes the next step in the Grand Blanc High graduate’s quest to ultimately make an Olympic team.

Gall will spend most of her first post-collegiate summer competing in Europe after placing second in the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships last Sunday in Eugene, Ore.

Terek fifth in decathlon nationals | hometownlife.com | the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies
Terek fifth in decathlon nationals

By BRAD EMONS • OBSERVER Staff Writer • July 5, 2009

Olympic decathlete Paul Terek’s bid to earn his third trip to the IAAF World Track and Field Championships next month in Berlin fell short.

The former Livonia Franklin High and Michigan State University standout, who qualified for the 2004 Athens Summer Games, wound up fifth overall at the 2009 USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships held at historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Earning automatic spots to represent the U.S. in Germany were Trey Hardee (Nike) and Ashton Eaton (University of Oregon), who finished one-two with 8,261 and 8,075 points, respectively.

Five GVSU track athletes compete at national meet - Holland, MI - The Holland Sentinel
Allendale, MI —

Karie McDonald led five Grand Valley State University student-athletes at the U.S. Track & Field Championships last weekend.

McDonald earned a third-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes, 12.77 seconds.

Monica Kinney was the only other runner on the women’s side, and she took a sixth-place finish in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:34.26.

Nicole Bush recovering from fracture at USA meet - Grand Rapids, Michigan Sports News – MLive.com
Nicole Bush recovering from fracture at USA meet
by Steve Ungrey | The Grand Rapids Press
Friday July 03, 2009, 9:00 AM

Nicole Bush raced stride-for-stride with the leaders during last week’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, a race she had run dozens of times before.

She was competing in the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Bush kept a fast pace in her lane and made the leaps over the regular barriers with no problems.

Then came the water barrier, which the former standout at Kelloggsville and Michigan State had jumped over so many times she had it memorized.

There was one problem. Someone hadn’t properly set the height.

After a few days to gather her thoughts and face a recovery period, Bush reflected on the fateful race and what it would mean to her future on a national and world level.

Bush said she thought something felt odd when she leaped over the water barrier, one of five barriers (one water and four regular) placed on the steeplechase course.

“I just knew something was wrong,” Bush said. “Something seemed odd but I just didn’t put my finger on it. My right ankle gave out and it caused me to fall.”

She’s a real class act - Daily Tribune: Breaking news coverage for southeastern Oakland County, Michigan
HUNTINGTON WOODS - How’s this for a winning equation: Outstanding student plus accomplished athlete equals success.

“I’ve always loved math,” said Michelle Lapin, a recent Berkley High School grad. “It has always clicked with me.”

She is intent on building on her love of mathematics. She will attend the University of Michigan and is interested in becoming an architect.

She hammered together an impressive high school career as a student-athlete.

She was one of 13 Class A scholarship recipients of the 2008-09 Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Scholar Athlete-Award. Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 20th year of sponsoring the MHSAA award, gave a $1,000 college scholarship to 32 individuals who represented their member school in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament.

Also earning scholarships in Class A were De La Salle’s Kieran Scott and Patrick Vaughn.

New Haven’s Christopher Hessell was a Class C scholarship recipient.

Lapin earned four letters in cross country and track and field, and two in figure skating. She captained both the cross country and figure skating teams her senior year. She was all-league in cross country and track and field for three years. She qualified for the state meet in track in three of her four seasons. Lapin also co-founded the school’s figure skating team, and made the state finals in that sport as a junior.