On Saturday, Lyric Spears was the lone representative for the Lady Jags at the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals held at East Kentwood High School. The day started well for Lyric in the 100m High Hurdle prelims, where she challenged the reigning event champion to finish 2nd and advance to Finals. Unfortunately, mother nature did not make the day easy. After a lengthy inclement weather delay, the finals commenced, with Lyric getting edged in the final hurdle to place just off the podium in 9th.

With about only 3 minutes to re-group, Lyric headed over to long jump, where she hastily got 1 warmup run-through. The disappointment from the hurdles did not linger long, as she posted field-leading jumps with each of her first 2 attempts. Her mark of 18’4 ½” stood up until the final moments of the preliminary round, when the competitor from South Lyon East took the lead. Heading into the final round, Lyric stood in 2^nd place.

In the final round, she was unable to better her mark within the first 2 jumps and the other 8 competitors bided their time. Holding on to her last attempt for about 20 minutes, the rest of the field used their attempts. The competitor from Walled Lake Western posted 3 identical jumps of 18’ 10 ½” to take the lead, pushing Lyric to 3^rd. With 1 attempt remaining on the season, she posted a safe jump off of the board and re-claimed her 2^nd place position, with a tremendous leap of 18’7 ½”. A final inclement weather delay postponed the final 2 jumpers in the field for 30 minutes. The weather prolonged the inevitable with no progress made to change the standings.

With her silver medal performance, Lyric becomes the highest placing female athlete for the Jags in a Division 1 State Finals contest.

“I am thoroughly impressed with her ability to perform under pressure. She was disappointed with her performance in the hurdles and to regroup in such a small window of time is a whole different level. Her mental resolve is absolutely incredible. Add in the weather delays and it creates a tremendously difficult competitive environment for any level of the sport.” Coach Paul Vockler

NOTES: Lyric Spears finishes her career with 6 school records (Long Jump, High Jump, 100m High Hurdles, 300m Low Hurdles, 4x100m Relay, & Shuttle Hurdle Relay)

Results