Muex clocks 46.13 in 400 meters to join girls all-time mark in 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay, as Michigan athletes secure five championships at Hayward Field, including double by Waldron; Miami Northwestern’s Butler captures third title with 400 win, Montgomery and Anthony prevail in 100 finals

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor/Photos by Becky Holbrook

EUGENE, Ore. – State records in the boys 400 meters and girls 4x100-meter shuttle hurdle relay, an indoor and outdoor sweep in the boys 200 meters, along with a memorable double in the girls 100-meter hurdles and shuttle hurdle relay highlighted one of the strongest days for Michigan high school track and field at the national level Friday.

Terrence Muex of Carmen High provided one of the biggest highlights at The Outdoor Nationals, Presented by Nike, by clocking the fastest 400 in state history to win the championship in 46.13 seconds at Hayward Field.

Muex, who took down the 2016 mark of 46.29 held by Montel Hood of Wayne Memorial, became the first Michigan male athlete to win the national outdoor title.

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Brandon Miller of Fenton High and Prime Time Performance, who won the 200 crown at the adidas indoor nationals with his 21.18 effort in February in Virginia, added an outdoor title with a wind-aided 20.49 to prevail against 100-meter champion Jordan Anthony of Tylertown High in Mississippi (20.57).

Miller achieved the third-fastest performance under all conditions in Michigan prep history to hold off Anthony, who earlier won the 100 championship in a wind-legal 10.21.

Nyckoles Harbor of Archbishop Carroll in Washington D.C. was runner-up in 10.31 and Miller placed fourth in 10.41.

Nonah Waldron of Oak Park High, competing for Motor City Track Club, became the first female competitor in meet history to win the 100 hurdles title and contribute to the victorious 4x100 shuttle hurdle relay.

Waldron clocked a wind-legal 13.58 to elevate to the No. 4 all-time competitor in Michigan, then led off a state-record 57.17 in the shuttle hurdle relay to help Motor City capture its first national championship in the event.

Morgan Roundtree, Emon Miles and Drelin Mapp ran the final three legs of the triumphant relay for Motor City.

It wasn’t the only relay title secured by Michigan female athletes Friday, with Track Life University Track Club – featuring competitors from Detroit Renaissance – adding another top-three performance to secure the 4x100 title in 46.08. The quartet had already run 45.92 in the prelims, following a state-record 45.56 performance June 5 at the Michigan Division 1 state final.

It marked the first time a Michigan girls quartet captured the 4x100 national championship, with Olivia Jenkins, Kaila Jackson, Madison Sheard and Leeah Burr winning by more than a full second.

Jasmine Montgomery of San Antonio Reagan High in Texas gave Oregon fans reason for excitement in upcoming seasons, as she made her Hayward Field debut to win the girls 100 championship in a wind-legal 11.44.

Montgomery, a Ducks signee, became the fourth female athlete from Texas to win the national title in the 100, including the first since Kaylor Harris of Mesquite Horn in 2016.

Samirah Moody of Buckingham Brown Nichols in Massachusetts, who was runner-up in the 100 in 11.51, emerged victorious in the 200 final in a wind-legal 23.32 and Taejha Badal of Concordia Lutheran High in Texas, representing Track Houston, placed second in 23.46.

Freshman Mia Brahe-Pedersen of Lake Oswego High and Inner Circle Track Club ran a wind-legal 11.57 in the 100 final to place fourth and took eighth in the 200 championship in 23.78. Brahe-Pedersen, the fastest prep sprinter in Oregon since Margaret Johnson Bailes in 1968, ran a wind-aided 23.48 in the 200 prelims.

Aaliyah Butler of Miami Northwestern High in Florida, already a winner in the 1,000-meter Swedish relay and the 800-meter sprint medley relay, added the individual 400 championship in 53.48.

Sydney Harris of Buford High in Georgia, representing Jackrabbit Track, clocked 53.89 and Sophia Gorriaran of Moses Brown School in Rhode Island returned to Hayward Field after competing in the 800 at the U.S. Olympic Trials and finished third in 54.10.

Akala Garrett of Harding University in North Carolina, representing Purpose Driven Elite United Athletics, became the first sophomore since 2015 to win the 400 hurdles title in 58.99.

Garrett, the first North Carolina female athlete to capture the championship since 2013, also placed second to Waldron in the 100 hurdles in 13.66.

In one of the most exciting finishes of the meet, Dillon Leacock of Millbrook High in North Carolina, a Houston signee, edged Tamaal Myers of Cass Tech in Michigan in the boys 400 hurdles final by a 52.284 to 52.290 margin.

The boys 110 hurdles final was a clash of Florida standouts, with Ethan Exilhomme of Timber Creek running a lifetime-best 13.51 to prevail against Cyrus Ways of Nease (13.73). Exilhomme became the third Florida male athlete to win the 110 hurdles title, including the first since 2010.

Cedar Hill, which captured the UIL 6A state title in Texas over Katy Tompkins by a narrow margin with a 40.49 performance, added the national title in the boys 4x100 in 41.31.

Kaleb Green, Diallo Good, Brian Rainey and DaCorey Ware helped Cedar Hill become the eighth program from Texas to win the 4x100 championship, following Fort Bend Marshall in 2019.