When it comes to the 3,200-meter relay, few in Michigan high school track and field can hold a candle to the Northville boys.
Although the composition of the four runners in the race has changed year by year, Northville and head coach Tim Dalton have seen the 3,200-meter relay team win each of the last four Division 1 championships in that event. The 2026 edition of the 3,200 relay team — also known as the 4×800 — for Northville is similarly strong, returning two of the runners who were part of the championship quartet last season.
This year, it’s juniors Brandon Cloud and Jack Lewis joining Ben Hartigan and Ryan Stojov, both seniors who ran the 3,200 relay for Northville last year. They currently hold the top time in the state of 7:48.60.
“Brought a crew back there,” Dalton said with Hartigan and Stojov, who led Northville to a cross country title in the fall, back in the lineup.
Hartigan also ran in the 3,200 relay team that won the title in 2024, and is gunning for a third title in that event with this latest iteration of the relay team.
Northville also has a strong 1,600-meter (4×400) relay team, with Stojov and Hartigan running with senior Reece Mooradian and sophomore Jackson DeFore.
Individually, Cloud and Stojov are strong in respective distance runs. Cloud is a top contender statewide in both the 3,200- and 1,600-meter races. Stojov is right there in the 1,600 meter and is a top runner for the 800 meter. Dalton also praised Hartigan for taking on running the 400-meter race this season, something he hadn’t been well-versed at prior.
Dalton noted that Ryan Schuckel is among the best shot putters in the state and recently broke a school record, and Justin Minard is a top jumper for Northville.
“Part of the key of track and field is to make sure year-over-year you have kids coming up through the program, especially on the boys side,” Dalton said. “There’s such a physical difference between a 14-year-old freshman and an 18-year-old senior.”
And while the boys might be on a heater of state titles, Dalton pointed out the girls team for Northville is producing some top times in similar events.
The Northville girls 1,600 relay team of juniors Colette Lozo and Lauren Watters with freshman Isabella DeFore and sophomore Alexandra Mooradian has posted one of the top-five times in the state. So has the 3,200 girls relay team with Lozo, senior Annabelle Beloiu and freshmen Alexandra Scappaticci and Ella Corby.
Scappaticci is one of the top 3,200 runners individually as a freshman along with junior teammate Lucia Lachapelle.
“Overall, very excited about this group, both our boys and girls.” Dalton said.
Renaissance’s collective buy-in fuels success
A lot has changed around LaCema Womack as a coach for the Detroit Renaissance track and field program.
Womack is the “last one standing” from a prior coaching regime that helped pilot Renaissance, particularly the girls team, to countless city titles and strong finishes at the state finals, including the team title in 2022.
Womack is joined as a co-head coach this year by James Hall, who arrives from Westland John Glenn, and she praised the way her athletes have rallied around each other through the early part of this season.
“Right now I think we have a great cohesive unit working together, both the girls and the boys,” Womack said.
Renaissance has aspirations to get to the state finals and make some noise, a consistent goal for the program, and the boys team is leading the charge early on.
Senior Joel Hill is a top runner in the state in the 400 meter, posting a top-10 time recently. Renaissance, in particular, excels at the middle-distance sprints, Womack said, in races like the 200, 400 and 800 meter.
In the 1,600-meter relay, Hill is joined by a pair of seniors, Marcel Lake and Keion Boone, plus sophomore De’Sean Wright. Those four hold a top-10 time in that race.
The girls side is coming along in terms of posting top times. Womack is high on the likes of sprinters Blaise Copeland, a senior, and her “partner in crime” Demi Jones, a freshman. Kacey Daniels is making strides as a jumper and Womack said the girls hurdlers have been boosted by the coaching staff.
And Womack is pleased with the crop of underclassmen that Renaissance has, setting up the foundation for future success.
“We have at least 12 seniors collectively on the boys and girls and everyone else are underclassmen,” she said. “So the cohesiveness of the experienced athletes and the up-and-coming (ones) is a strong, strong, strong unit.”
Womack also praised the way her coaching staff has gone to work this season and produced results.
“Definitely have to give credit there,” Womack said.
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Metro Detroit track and field: Northville aims to dominate in distance again
Reporting by Andrew Graham, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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