Livonia – Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard threw its weight around Tuesday afternoon to romp to its third consecutive CHSL C-D Boys track championship on a sweltering and muggy afternoon at Livonia Ladywood.

The Irish went 1-2-3-4-5 for 30 points in the discus and 1-2-4-5 for 24 points in the shot put to account for more than a third of their 144 total points to easily out distance runner-up Detroit Loyola (78 points) and the rest of the nine-team field.

“We have the best weight people,” said Coach Don Canham Jr., deferring any and all credit to assistant coach Dave Lawrence. “He’s a great coach.”

Canham – who guessed he’s been coaching at Richard for 40-some years, “but put down 39, it sounds better” – said the formula for victory was “to score in every event. In a meet like this, you have to keep scoring.”

The Irish won only three events (the 300 meter hurdles was the other first place), but racked up 113 points in second-thru-sixth place finishes in the other 11 events.

Seniors Nate Donnellon and Dominic Leoni led the Irish domination of the discus and shot put. Donnellon won the discus with a heave of 153' 4" and Leoni was right behind him at 150' 1", while Leoni took the shot put at 48' 6" and Donnellon finished second at 47' 7 ½”.

Loyola was all about speed, winning the 100 and 400 meter dashes and the 800 and 1600 meter relays. Travis Steinbeck and Tyrone Jarrett were 1-2 in the 100 meter dash, while Najee A’ve and Jason Marzette were 1-2 in the 400 meter. A’ve also ran a leg in both relays.

Senior Jake Corey was a double winner for Madison Heights Bishop Foley. He won the high jump at 5' 8" and the 200 meter dash in :23.40.

Royal Oak Shrine won three distance races. Sophomore Connor Lockman won the 800 meter in 2:12 and ran the anchor on the 4x800 meter relay with Ben Kendall, Matt Arce and Matt Sutton. Sutton and Kendall were 1-2 in the 3200 meter run.

Officials held up the completion of the long jump for nearly three hours until Detroit Cristo Rey’s Adam Abbott could finish his job at a local bank. Coach Gary Radomski explained the school’s unique study and work program. “Employers might be willing to give the kids a day off to run, but the school discourages that idea.” Radomski said half his team was absent because of work responsibilities.

The delay didn’t prevent Abbott from leaping 20' 5" for a first place medal.

By the way, Radomski revealed he will be Cristo Rey’s new athletic director in the fall succeeding the retiring Mary Jo Evans.

“It’s time to do it,” said Evans after 37 years as counselor and teacher at Holy Redeemer school and the last three years as AD at Cristo Rey.

“I want to do something different, but what the difference will be, I don’t know now,’ Evans said.

Radomski brings 40 years of coaching on high school and grade school levels, including head coaching stints at Detroit St. Hedwig, Allen Park Cabrini, Dearborn Heights Riverside and Redford Union.

TEAM SCORES: Ann Arbor Fr. Gabriel Richard 144, Detroit Loyola 78, Royal Oak Shrine 65, Allen Park Cabrini 53, Riverview Gabriel Richard 49, Madison Heights Bishop Foley 33, Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes 32, Detroit Cristo Rey 23, Marine City Cardinal Mooney 19.



FIRST PLACE WINNERS:

High Jump – Jake Corey (Bishop Foley) 5' 8"

Long Jump – Adam Abbott (Cristo Rey) 20' 5"

Discus Throw – Nate Donnellon (Ann Arbor GR) 153' 4"

Shot Put – Dominic Leoni (Ann Arbor GR) 48' 6"

100 Meter Dash – Travis Steinbeck (Loyola) :11.66

100 Meter Hurdles – Chase Wickett (Cabrini) :18.16

200 Meter Dash – Jake Corey (Bishop Foley) :23.40

300 Meter Hurdles – Paul Shelcusky (Ann Arbor GR) :45.32

400 Meter Dash – Najee A’ve (Loyola) :50.41

800 Meter Run – Connor Lockman (Shrine) 2:12

1600 Meter Run – Sam Parks (Riverview GR) 4:54

3200 Meter Run – Matt Sutton (Shrine) 11:13.50

4x100 Meter Relay – Riverview GR :47.06 (Steve Kudla-Nathan Mohr-Josh Malenfant-Mitchel Kuschel)

4x200 Meter Relay – Loyola 1:34.29 (Tyrone Jarrett-Deion Hinton-Najee A’ve-Travis Steinbeck)

4x400 Meter Relay – Loyola 3:40.47 (Marcus Miller-Jahaziel Gorden-Jason Marzette-Najee A’ve)

4x800 Meter Relay – Shrine 9:01.60 (Ben Kendell-Matt Arce-Matt Sutton-Connor Lockman)