Preps!
Johnson rocks Portage
Rockford junior Cole Johnson notched a couple of victories last week.
Not only did he win the Division I race in the prestigious Portage Invitational, he also won the homecoming dance as well.
“I accomplished my goal and had a great day,” Johnson said. “I went to homecoming after the race. It was quite the day.”
Johnson ran a personal-record 15:12 in capturing Portage, three seconds ahead of Vince Zona from Lyons, Ohio.
“Time-wise, I didn’t have any specific goals,” Johnson said. “I know that Isaac (Harding) last year, my teammate, was right around 15-flat, so I knew there was potential for fast times, but I didn’t have exactly anything in mind.”
Johnson and two runners from Lyons broke away early, and stayed together until there were 600 meters left and Johnson made his move.
This was the last big race for a lot of runners until the state regionals, and his performance should help Johnson prepare for the state meet.
“It’s a big confidence booster,” he said. “I’m more confident in myself to run a full race start to finish. The whole race went as planned and I was able to pull through at the end and find that part of energy left.”
This helped make up for Johnson’s third-place finish of 15:33 at the Spartan Invitational, where he finished third behind Corunna’s Noah Jacobs, a Division 2 runner, and Alpena’s Mitchell Day, who competes against Johnson in Division 1.
It ruined Johnson’s ultimate goal to win every race in Michigan this fall.
“It wasn’t what I hoped for time or place,” Johnson said. “It was kind of a rough day, but I didn’t let it get me too down. I’m not satisfied to lose, but I definitely respect the two runners — Mitchell Day and Noah Jacobs — who beat me there. They’re awesome guys.”
The biggest shocker of the day wasn’t Johnson’s victory at Portage, it was his performance at the homecoming dance.
“Surprisingly my legs weren’t too tired,” he said. “I was able to dance pretty well for over two hours. I just needed some nice resting time on Sunday.”
Week 8 high school football schedule
Marshall still there for Clare
Marty Marshall’s game jersey will be carried to midfield for the coin toss tonight prior to Clare’s home game against Beaverton.
Marshall, a junior backup offensive and defensive lineman at Clare, remains in fair condition at Mott’s Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor after having suffered cardiac arrest in a gym class last week.
“We didn’t think it was that at first, because something similar happened about a year-and-half ago in my gym class,” said Clare football coach Kelly Luplow, who was not the class instructor last week. “Everybody thought it was a seizure.”
An ambulance was called when Marshall collapsed. He had a pulse, but school officials and the police chief soon realized it was no seizure.
“His breaths were different so they went and got the AED and put it on him,” said Luplow. “It called for a shock and it called for CPR so they worked on him and got him back and got him to the hospital.”
Luplow said his players wanted to honor their teammate by taking his jersey out for the coin flip, which they also did last week.
“He’s such an instrumental, upbeat-type kid to our team and that’s what the kids miss most about him,” Luplow said. “He is one of those guys that every team needs. He keeps them up; he’s a jokester-type guy. He’s well-liked by everybody. He doesn’t have a mean bone is his body and there’s not a person that doesn’t like him.”
Coach of the Week
Midland Dow’s Jason Watkins is this week’s Detroit Lions/Farm Bureau Insurance Michigan High School Coach of the Week. Last week Dow defeated Saginaw Arthur Hill, 44-6, to improve to 7-0 and No. 4 in Division 2.
This is Watkins’ 23rd season at Dow and eighth as head coach. His teams have gone 57-22 and this will be the Chargers’ fifth state playoff appearance under Watkins.
— Mick McCabe
Donovan Peoples-Jones, state’s top football recruit, set to visit MSU