Fowlerville's Jack Shrader follows state-qualifying effort with CAAC Red long jump title

LANSING — Maybe Jack Shrader of Fowlerville would have been a state qualifier and conference champion in the long jump before his senior season, but he’s kind of busy the rest of the year.

Shrader doesn’t begin training for track and field until the first day of practice in mid-March because he plays football in the fall and basketball in the winter. His first two years of high school, he ran cross country before switching to football.

“Last year, I did one indoor meet, but it was kind of hard with basketball to get to those because you’re so exhausted,” Shrader said. “When track comes, then I start focusing on it.”

Shrader is a talented enough natural athlete that it doesn’t take him long to get up to speed in his spring sport.

He placed in the top six in the regional and CAAC Red meets his freshman and junior years, with his sophomore year being a casualty to the COVID shutdown of 2020.

Shrader has taken the next step this season, qualifying for the state meet as an individual for the first time and tying for first place in the long jump at the CAAC Red meet Wednesday at Lansing Eastern.

Shrader and Williamston senior Austin Davis each jumped 20 feet, 1.75 inches.

“In prelims, I jumped pretty good,” said Shrader, who was second in the league meet as a freshman and junior. “In finals, the wind kind of changed and it got a little colder and I wasn’t popping up as high. I’m not too mad about the jump I had today with the rain. I did all right.”

Shrader had a personal-best jump when it mattered the most, going 20-8 in the regional meet last Friday in Williamston. That jump hit the additional qualifying standard for the state Division 2 meet exactly, though his second-place finish was enough to punch his ticket to Forest Hills Eastern on June 4.

“I’m just so excited, because freshman year I missed out on states by three-and-a-quarter inches, last year an inch-and-a-quarter,” he said. “This year, I finally hit the A.Q. and got second. It was a long grind, but I finally got there for long jump.”

Shrader’s regional jump ranks 13th among long jump qualifiers in Division 2. His goal is to reach at least 21 feet in the state meet.

“He’s a special kid,” Fowlerville coach Aaron Rickens said. “I coached him in cross for a couple years. You just knew he was a talent. I helped him with his transition to football with coach (Jon) Fletcher. You just knew he was a special talent there. He had some tough breaks in track for two years. His sophomore year was canceled, which sucked. Last year, he was so close and didn’t get in. This year, finally getting in was a huge monkey off his back. We’re gonna get a chance to watch him next week live out a dream, and that’s an individual qualification.”

Shrader will also run in the state meet on the 400-meter relay team with junior Evan Atkinson, sophomore Owen Presley and junior Lorenzo Wojcik.

Those four combined to win two relays in the conference meet, taking the 400 in 45.20 seconds and the 800 in 1:33.70.

“We all just love to goof around,” Shrader said. “When it’s race time, we turn it on and we’ve been doing really well. We made it for the 4x1 for states, and the 4x2 we just missed it by half a second. But it’s all right, because they’re young and they’ll be able to get back at it and I think they’ll get it next year, for sure.”

Fowlerville’s only other individual winner was senior Gabby Damerow, who won the pole vault by clearing 9-6.

Placing second in the boys meet for the Gladiators was Wojcik in the 200 (23.61), junior Carl Neuman in the 300 hurdles (44.02) and sophomore Adam Aeschliman in the pole vault (11-0). Senior Trevor Maybee was third in discus (127-10) and fourth in the shot put (43-10.5), while junior Blake Nogafsky was third in the 110 hurdles (18.29) and second in the 300 hurdles (44.02).

In the girls meet, senior Sarah Litz took second in both hurdles with times of 16.74 in the 100 and 48.56 in the 300. Freshman Fiona Gitulli was second in the 200 (28.29), second in the long jump (15-5.25), third in the 100 (13.96) and second in the 800 relay with Litz, Alana Chappell and Princess Nzaou-Pambou.

Fowlerville’s boys placed third with 104.5 points, trailing Mason (160.5) and St. Johns (108). The Gladiators were second in the girls meet with 95.33 points. Mason won with 154.17.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com.  Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Fowlerville senior follows state-qualifying effort with CAAC Red title