Prep roundup: Pinckney's Paul Moore third Livingston County runner to break 9:00 in 3,200

Through decades of Livingston County track and field, no runner had broken the nine-minute mark in the 3,200-meter run.

Until three years ago, that barrier still seemed a long way off. The county record was 9:09.52, set by Hartland’s Ian McGinn in 2012.

Then came a historic night May 8, 2021 in Farmington when Hartland’s Riley Hough and Pinckney’s Caleb Jarema created the sub-9:00 club at the New Balance Invitational Twilight 3,200. They came back the next year and lowered their times.

Now, that club includes three runners after Pinckney senior Paul Moore broke nine minutes Friday in the Shepherd Bluejay Invitational.

Moore finished third in a stacked field with a time of 8 minutes, 59.63 seconds to become the third-fastest 3,200 runner in county history. Hough ran 8:46.90 and Jarema 8:54.53 in the 2022 New Balance Twilight 3,200 meet.

Ben Crane of New Trier in Winnetka, Ill. won the race in 8:57.34, followed by Solomon Kwartowitz of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood in 8:59.62. The top 10 runners out of 123 broke 9:10. Moore went up to Shepherd to race alone in an attempt to break nine minutes while the rest of Pinckney’s team raced in the Saline Golden Triangle meet.

It was a good weekend for Pinckney distance runners, as two had first-place finishes in Saline. Zach Newman won the regular 1,600 in 4:32.76 and Parker Hays won the regular 3,200 in 9:57.43.

The Golden Triangle meet had elite races in the 1,600 and 3,200, with several county athletes posting fast times against some of the best runners in the state.

Brighton’s Luke Campbell was fourth in the Mike Smith Elite 1,600 in 4:23.49 and teammate Tyler Langley was sixth in 4:23.70. In the Mike Smith Elite 3,200, Pinckney’s Evan Loughridge was fifth in 9:27.44 and Langley was seventh in 9:31.47.

Brighton’s Sam Meriweather was fourth in long jump at 21 feet, 5 inches and fifth in the 200 in 23.13 seconds. Tyler Outlaw was second in the 1,600 (4:36.48) and Owen Buckley fourth in the 400 (51.29) for the Bulldogs. Fowlerville’s Jacob Esch was fifth in discus at 140-1. Brighton’s 3,200 relay team of Marek Alent, Bode Cooper, Campbell and Ian Cox took second in 8:02.59.

History was made in the girls Mike Smith Elite 3,200 when Brighton became the first county team to have two girls break 11 minutes in the same race. Nikki Carothers was fourth in 10:57.98 and Elle Bissett was sixth in 10:59.64. The Bulldogs were also the first county team with four runners under 11:10, with Carrigan Eberly taking eighth in 11:06.04 and Lydia LaMarra ninth in 11:06.86.

Carothers and Eberly were on the winning 3,200 relay team with Gabrielle Bolitho and Juliet Lewis. The Bulldogs ran 9:23.03.

Addison Payne was second in the 400 in 59.16 and Bolitho was second in the 800 in 2:20.77 for Brighton’s top individual finishes.

Brielle Reason was third in long jump at 16-5, Maddie Karsies was third in the 3,200 in 11:56.89 and Nadia Jacobs tied for fourth in pole vault at 9-6 for Pinckney.

Fowlerville’s Delaney Richardson was fourth in the 1,600 in 5:43.90.

Farmington Invitational

Hartland senior Aubree Meyer extended her school shot put record with a first-place performance of 42-3.75.

Hartland’s Cameron Cheetam was second in the 100 (10.97), third in the 200 (21.85) and fourth in the 400 (48.93). Evan Bryan of Hartland was third in long jump at 21-2.25, while Bobby Kanka of Howell was fourth in discus at 156 feet.

Mitch Lutzke Williamston Invitational

Charyl Stockwell’s Nathan Vaske finished second in pole vault with a leap of 12 feet.

RELATED: Top Livingston County track and field performances through April

Softball

Portland Spring Sports Carnival

Meadow Browne and Tori Briggs combined for a no-hitter in Fowlerville’s 4-0 victory over Saranac. Browne allowed two walks and struck out 11 in five innings, while Briggs had no walks and two strikeouts in two innings. Briggs was also 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the game.

In the first of Fowlerville’s two games, the Gladiators (12-5-1) beat Portland 4-3 when Ella Olrich scored from second on an infield error off the bat of Browne in the top of the eighth inning. Tommi Kleinschmidt was 3-for-4.

Brighton 4, Dexter 3

Brighton freshman Anna Minnick doubled home Maggie McKaig with the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. McKaig led off the inning with a single.

Baseball

Pinckney 13, Hillsdale 1

Pinckney 10, Hillsdale 2

Pinckney junior Nolan Carruthers went 4-for-5 and was 6-for-6 on stolen bases in the doubleheader, boosting his season batting average to .520. He is 27-for-28 on stolen base attempts this season.

Jax Raymond and Carson Emery had two hits and two RBIs in the first game. Jonny Hoffmann drove in two runs in the nightcap.

Pinckney has a five-game winning streak, outscoring its opponents 80-3.

Soccer

Brighton 1, Farmington Hills Mercy 0

Ella Vandemergel scored the game’s only goal and Anna Brown-Nall earned the shutout for Brighton (8-4-2), which will host Hartland at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Girls lacrosse

East Grand Rapids 10, Brighton 9

Ella Toth scored four goals, while Georgia Gill and Cece Mainhardt each had two for Brighton.

Howell 17, Wixom St. Catherine 7

Ava Deyo scored five goals, Janie Mitter four and Lucy Snow three for Howell.

Boys lacrosse

Pinckney 8, Tecumseh 7

Pinckney rallied from a 6-4 deficit entering the fourth quarter, getting the tying goal from Alex Rau and the game-winner from freshman Grady Rae.

Tennis

Salem 6, Howell 3

Singles: Estie Sura (H) d. Chloe Beaverson 8-0; Kelly Melby (H) d. Anwita Poluru 8-1; Natalie Artley (S) d. Gabby Lovich 8-0; Krista Lennon (H) default.

Doubles: Abigail Kirkpatrick-Charmi Patel (S) d. Karenna Shinn-Stella Shinn 8-7 (5); Elizabeth L'Heureux-Aditi Iyer (S) d. Sienna Mccurdy-Reese Marschall 8-3; Saanvi Jingilipalem-Brianna Hodge (S) d. Scarlett Purcell-Madison King 8-3; Ava Boccarossa-Apurvasai Lakshmanan (S) d. Emma Schue-Lilliana Waker 8-0; Angie Crosby-Serena Mahmoud (S) d. Caitlin Bedford-Kaylyn Clemens 8-3.

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

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Pinckney's Paul Moore joins exclusive sub-9:00 club in 3,200-meter run