Hartland's Cameron Cheetam sweeps 3 sprint races in Brighton Bulldog Invitational
BRIGHTON — Cameron Cheetam isn’t going to limit himself when the track and field postseason arrives.
The Hartland senior is competing at a high enough level in all three of his open events to be a threat at the state level in any of them.
Cheetam now owns school records in the 100-meter dash, 200 and 400 after sweeping those events Saturday in the Brighton Bulldog Invitational.
He held the 100 record of 10.71 seconds and the 200 mark of 21.95. His latest record performance was a 48.74 in the 400, eclipsing the mark of 48.91 set two years ago by Alexander Yon.
“It felt great,” Cheetam said. “Super tiring.”
Cheetam responded, “Oh, yeah, for sure” when asked if he would try to triple those races in regionals and at the state meet. He said the 400 is probably is strongest event right now, followed by the 200.
He was entered in three events Saturday, but had to run five races because of prelims in the 100 and 200.
Cheetam ran 10.97 in prelims of the 100 and 10.98 in the finals. His 200 times were 22.21 in prelims and 22.10 in the finals. In between the 100 and 200 finals, he won a 400 race in which the top three runners broke 50 seconds.
For a sprinter, conditions were much more favorable than they were one week earlier when he won the 100 and 200 and took second in the 400 in a Highland Games meet that took place with a snowy backdrop. Not that the weather matters much to Cheetam, who somehow ran faster in the shorter events that day.
“It was so much better today,” Cheetam said. “It was perfect weather for the first half of the meet, then toward the end it got a lot windier. I didn’t really care; that didn’t stop me.”
Fast solo run
Pinckney senior Paul Moore has reached the level where he has to push himself without the external motivation of other runners nipping at his heels.
He pulled off his best solo performance of the season by repeating as champion in the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 17.79 seconds. Moore won by 10.21 seconds over teammate Evan Loughridge, who is coming back from an injury.
“I’m really happy about that, because although it’s not my (personal record) — I missed it by a second — I’ve never run that fast alone and never been able to run that fast alone,” Moore said. “It’s honestly a big confidence booster that I’m in that amount of shape, because I have not been running very well this season.
“I haven’t really been running with a lot of competition lately. Having someone who runs faster than me really helps me push my limits. Being able to run that alone is huge for me, because if I had run with other people I probably would have run faster.”
Moore’s fastest 1,600 time was 4:16.71 when he finished fifth in the MITCA Michigan Champions of Champions meet one week after last year’s state meet. There was plenty of company on the track that day, with seven runners breaking 4:20.
Busy jumper
Hartland senior Evan Bryan won the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, 11 inches, but he was kept busy on the track as well.
He ran four races, placing third in the prelims and finals of the 100 and fifth in prelims and the finals of the 200. His best times were 11.33 in the 100 and 23.01 in the 200. In some meets, he’ll run the 200 and 400 and a relay.
“It’s fun to race,” Bryan said. “I love the 100 and 200. The 400’s tough, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I’m trying to get my times down. Some days it’s tough, because I’ll go straight from a race to the long jump. Usually in an invitational, I’ll get prelims done, then go to long jump, then come back for the finals if I make it.”
Hurdler hitting stride
Hartland senior Christian Fedewa won the 110 high hurdles in 15.87 seconds, edging Pinckney sophomore Sam Burtts by 0.04 seconds.
It was the first invitational victory for Fedewa if you don’t count his hurdles sweep at the Linden Eagles Post a PR Open last season. That meet primarily included athletes who didn’t qualify for the state meet.
Fedewa missed the state meet by two places last season, finishing fourth at regionals.
He’s been a key member of Hartland’s squad despite training only within the parameters of the high school season.
What does he do the rest of the year?
“I sit,” he said. “I just sit. I bide my time. Sometimes work.”
Fedewa said he begins to feel like he’s in hurdling mode “right about now. I’m feeling good now.”
Other winners
Aubree Meyer of Hartland extended her school shot put record to 41-10.75 to take first place.
Carrigan Eberly of Brighton won the 3,200 in 11:28.62.
In the freshman-sophomore 1,600 races, Howell’s Jack MacGregor (4:35.24) and Brighton’s Maizie Cavanaugh (5:31.77) took first.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland's Cameron Cheetam sweeps 3 sprints in Brighton Invitational
