Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
KENT CITY — When he was growing up, Calvin Ackley idolized Hart High School runners such as Gary Brimmer and Dave DuMonte.
Ackley could never quite reach the lofty standard established by Brimmer in the mile run. On Friday, he did the next best thing: He sent his son to accomplish the feat.
“I told Dave, ‘I couldn’t do it, so I had to send my son in and do it,'” Calvin Ackley quipped.
In Friday’s 8th annual Kent City Elite Invitational, Hart senior Clayton Ackley broke Brimmer’s record in the 1600-meter run and claimed the meet record in the process by turning in a time of 4 minutes, 24.24 seconds. Brimmer had held Hart’s record in the mile since the 1980s with his time of 4:26.9.
Clayton Ackley’s performances were among those that highlighted the Hart boys squad’s first-place team finish at the highly competitive meet.
“It’s pretty neat because Gary Brimmer was a runner for Hart. In 1983, he graduated and as a kid I watched him and Dave DuMonte — who had the two-mile record up until Clayton got it last year — so it was fun to watch Clayton get a couple of (the records) of role models when I was a kid watching them,” Calvin Ackley said.
“Gary Brimmer’s still a coach down in Texas and phenomenal coach, so I still keep in contact with him. Next week we’ll have him a (video call) and we always have the old record-holders come in. Pretty neat.”
Clayton Ackley, who owns Hart’s 3200 record with the 9:33.50 he ran in last year’s MHSAA Division 3 state finals, established a Kent City Elite Invite record Friday in a time of 9:47.01.
Clayton Ackley was not the only record-setter for Hart Friday. Senior Kellen Kimes set meet and school records in discus with a toss of 175 feet, 3 inches. He had set the school record in the event in last year’s MHSAA Division 3 state finals with an effort of 165-10.
Kimes also won shot put Friday at Kent City with a heave of 56-5.75.
In overall team scores, Hart’s boys squad finished with 176 points. Berrien Springs was second (168), follow by White Cloud (149), Pewamo-Westphalia (149) and Fremont (136) in the top five. A shorthanded Whitehall team was eighth (97 points), while Montague was 13th (70), Ravenna 16th (48.5), Oakridge 19th (39) and Holton 21st (6).
On the girls side, Pewamo-Westphalia took first place overall with 204.5 points. Berrien Springs was runner-up (183.5), followed by Lawton (158.5), Hart (148) and Plainwell (143) in the top five. Whitehall was eighth (107), Oakridge ninth (69), Montague and Ravenna tied at 12th (56.5), Fremont 17th (37.5) and Holton 21st (22.5).
CLICK HERE for complete team and individual results from the 8th annual Kent City Elite Invitational.
