No Records Fell at YMCA Track Meet

Armstrong's Hudson Lightfoot, University Park's Cullen Ciolfi, and Hyer's Phillip Lindstrom compete in the fourth-grade 50-meter dash. (Staff photo: Chris McGathey)

It is so cool that the results of last Saturday’s Park Cities YMCA Track and Field Meet include the record holders for each grade. Peruse them for a minute, and you’ll see the name of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. For 15 years, he’s held the record in third-grade softball throw at 149 feet, 6 inches. That’s 21 feet and 1 inch farther than this year’s winning throw. (That’s also not something you’re going to read in Stafford’s NFL.com bio.)

But what might be even more impressive is that Preston Miller, who will graduate from Highland Park High School tonight, holds five meet records: third-grade long jump (13 feet, 5 inches), third-grade 100 meters (14.31 seconds), fourth-grade long jump (14 feet, 11 inches), fifth-grade long jump (16 feet, 2 inches), and sixth-grade 50 meters (6.47 seconds).

Another record holder in the Class of 2012 is Megan Gittens, who hurled a softball 95 feet, 1 inch as a third-grader in 2003.

The longest-standing records are both in the fifth-grade high jump. In 1980, Armstrong’s John Hopkins cleared 5 feet, 2 inches. That same year, Bradfield’s Kendall Jordan leapt 4 feet, 9 inches.

Read more about this year’s meet, and see plenty of pictures, in the June 1 edition of Park Cities People.

12 thoughts on “No Records Fell at YMCA Track Meet

  • May 25, 2012 at 11:44 am
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    Another 2012 graduate, Tanner Harris, set the 6th grade girls’ high jump record at 4’10” in 2006. She was later the backstroker on Highland Park’s 2009 200 Medley Relay that set a state record.

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  • May 25, 2012 at 11:49 am
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    I like this stat the best…the 5th grade 100M record for the girls is held by Tracy Donoho (in 1984)…the 5th grader who came in 1st place this year in the 100 is her daughter – Claire Kozmetsky!!!

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  • May 25, 2012 at 11:51 am
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    Oops. I overlooked Tanner because the notation of her record didn’t include the year it was set. But you’re right. And her 4-10 jump was a good 2 inches higher than this year’s sixth-grade champion.

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  • May 25, 2012 at 12:29 pm
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    @HP fan: That is an awesome stat. I see that Tracey also holds the fourth-grade records for the 100 meters and 200 meters. Tracey, if you’re reading this, call me: 214-523-5272.

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  • May 25, 2012 at 12:30 pm
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    Hey Dan…. Who won the Blanket Award yesterday for the Class of 2012?

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  • May 25, 2012 at 12:41 pm
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    @HPHS Parent: It was Andrew Barnes and Katie Thompson. The valedictorian is Alex Levine, and the salutatorian is Jessica Yeh.

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  • May 25, 2012 at 2:01 pm
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    Amazing photo! (And pretty sure that kid’s got bigger guns than my boyfriend.)

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  • May 26, 2012 at 3:36 pm
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    it is no surprise that no records fell this year – the sprints and softball throw were into a strong headwind.

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  • May 26, 2012 at 5:52 pm
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    Actually, it looks like both the winner AND runner-up in the 5th grade girls’ 400m broke the old record.
    Just sayin’

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  • May 26, 2012 at 7:09 pm
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    for pete’s sake,
    i competed in this event
    in the middle of the 20th century.
    they keep records?
    who knew?
    gotta love those competitive
    park citizens!

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  • May 27, 2012 at 4:14 pm
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    @MIS dad: You’re right. I wrongly assumed that any new records would be listed as such, so I didn’t bother to compare the established record to the top 2012 result in each event. But I have since, and it appears ESD’s Megan Olomu (1:06.0) and Madelien (Madeline?) Stephens (1:08.0) both broke the 1:08.7 set by University Park’s Jordan McDode (McDade?) in 1997.

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  • May 28, 2012 at 7:01 pm
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    Is the track meet over yet? It seemed to be never-ending…

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