New Balance/Nike Nationals Story

 Harper Creek’s boys’ track program has experienced considerable success in recent years, winning state championships the past two seasons. Several of their team members are set to participate nationally, with the 4 by 800-meter relay team competing in the Nike Outdoor National track meet, June 21, in Eugene, Oregon, and a group of team members representing the Beavers while competing in the shuttle hurdle relay at the New Balance National track meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 22. Two Beaver runners will participate in individual events. Dominic Lowrie will run in the  5000-meter and 3000-meter races June 19 and 20 in Eugene. DJ Wood is running the 110-meter hurdle prelims in Philadelphia, June 20, attempting to earn a spot in the finals. The 4 by 800 team consists of junior Brock Hibbs, sophomore Christian Ayers, junior Cooper Gardner, and senior Dominic Lowrie. Lowrie leads this group with a vast amount of experience, as his decorated high school career as a runner comes to an end. He holds school records on the track in the 1600-meter open and 3200-meter open, as well as the 5K distance for cross-country. He plans to attend Michigan Tech University this coming fall as a student and athlete. Dominic’s teammate, Cooper Gardner, shared his excitement for the opportunity to compete on a national scale. “We felt that qualifying for this meet was a possibility at the beginning of the season, and we were able to punch our ticket at the all-city meet with a time of 8 minutes, 13 seconds.” Gardner and his teammates were able to better their time for this event and claim the top spot on the all-time school leaderboard for the 4 by 800 meter event with a time of 8 minutes, 7 seconds, with their race at the D2 state meet a few weeks later. The shuttle hurdle relay team consists of junior DJ Wood, freshman Cash Simpson, junior Antoine Westry, and senior Ethan Harding. DJ Wood leads this team with the success he has experienced this season, including a first-place finish in both the 110-meter hurdle and 300-meter hurdle at the state meet. Wood also sits at the top of the school all-time leader board in these two events, as well as the 4 by 400 relay team, which he has been a part of all season. Wood explained specifics of the shuttle hurdle relay and his thoughts about competing in this prestigious meet. “This shuttle hurdle relay consists of each team member running 110 meters. We qualified based on each of our individual PRs for the 110-meter this season. The New Balance Nationals had been on my radar for the shuttle relay and the 110-meter hurdle open race from the beginning of the season. I also ran in the shuttle hurdle relay race last year at Nationals.” Harper Creek has developed a history of successful runners through the years, with Larry Quick being a part of this success as one of those runners in the early 1980s, and also for the last 30 years as the track team’s head coach. He shared his thoughts about this year's team.  “These guys are hard-working dudes and never back down from a challenge. I am honored to have coached these guys.”