South Lake track and field’s cohesiveness sets expectations

ST. CLAIR SHORES — It’s more than just track and field for St. Clair Shores South Lake coach Joe Crachiola. It’s a livelihood and a program he’s come to know since his graduation from South Lake in 2011 to coaching the South Lake track and field team in 2012.

A member of the last South Lake team to qualify for states in 2011, who won their regional meet as well that season, Crachiola is not only a legacy member of South Lake but is also, with the help of a strong team and coaching staff, leading South Lake back to where it once was over a decade ago.

“I think partially, COVID kind of did like a restart to at least track,” Crachiola said. “It seemed like the kids came into the sport now with more of a focus and a want to be great at track. In the past, I think the culture was that track was a secondary sport, and now my athletes look at it as a primary sport they want to take to the college level.”

Crachiola stepped away from the track program in 2018 but returned in 2021 to a team with only 13 athletes across the board.

It was a far cry from the 45 athletes Crachiola had during his peak season from his 2012-2018 tenure, but it didn’t take long for numbers to increase drastically.

Within a two-year span, South Lake’s numbers have increased to 75 athletes, and more impressively, the coaching staff has tripled from two to six coaches since 2021.

Alongside Crachiola are Lillian Crachiola (head coach), who is Crachiola’s sister and former South Lake all-state runner, throwing coach Nick Fisk, distance coach John Worthington, hurdles/specialty coach Nick McCampbell and assistant coach Kevin Green.

South Lake senior Trinity Sangster said the coaches have played an integral part in the increase of South Lake track and field’s popularity.

“The coaching staff has been a big factor because of the growth in staff, and everybody that was hired came with different perspectives of track and how to do it better each year,” Sangster said.

With all the new runners and coaches on both sides, there was a question of how quickly chemistry would develop, but Crachiola said that was put to rest during their first meet at the Macomb County indoor championships on March 28 at Macomb Community College.

“It’s outstanding on both sides with the boys and the girls,” Crachiola said. “This might be one of my favorite seasons I’ve coached because the positivity is so high. We went to a meet on Saturday, and it was stormy, it was cold and it was raining. All the kids were out there on the track cheering for each other. I told them to go inside and stay warm, but they want to see each other run and support each other.”

The bond the team has developed has been something to watch over the past two seasons, and it’s been in large part to their veteran leaders.

Only holding nine seniors across the program, the inexperienced runners have meshed with the veterans regardless of the numbers, and it’s paid off in the long run.

Junior Semaja Shivers said the team’s dynamic between inexperience and experience has played a pivotal role in the team’s confidence this season.

“The team has gotten bigger and our pool of talent has grown immensely,” Shivers said. “Since the newer people are around and the experienced runners are used to high intensity, they’re adapting quickly and putting in the work. Even now, our runners are looking like they know what they’re doing. There’s a real spark in the team and people willing to go the distance because of the people around them making the team more ambitious and ready to win more than ever.”

Alongside Shivers and Sangster, seniors Dezareya Tate and Nora Green provide leadership for the girls side, while senior Kyle Hughley and juniors Ta’shawn Jackson, Jamal Newton, Tre’von Austin and Marcell Mason headline the boys side.

Tate finished 12th in the 100-meter dash at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state finals meet on June 4 at Forest Hills Eastern, and she’s returned this season with already-impressive performances.

Tate earned ninth in the 60-meter dash and ninth in the 200-meter at the Macomb County indoor championships.

Langster finished seventh in the 200-meter while Sangster, Green, freshman Mariah Provost and freshman Daania Muhammad teamed up to earn fifth in the 4x400 relay at the Macomb County meet.

Shivers and Sangster finished first and second, respectively, in the 200-meter, while Provost and freshman Sonia Verge finished ninth and tenth, respectively, in the event at the all-comers meet at Dearborn Divine Child High School on April 1.

Sophomore Gracie George finished second in the 400-meter, while South Lake’s 4x100 and 4x200 relay earned second headlined by Shivers, Sangster, Muhammad, George and freshman Patience Dickerson to help lead South Lake to a third-place finish at the event.

Sangster said the team’s bond has been a key factor in its success so far this season.

“The team chemistry is what makes us a team,” Sangster said. “We are always there for each other even when it’s not related to track. We play, we have fun, but when it’s time to lock in, we know what to do.”

On the boys side, Hughley had a pair of ninth-place performances in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter, while Newton added a seventh-place finish in the 200-meter at the Macomb County meet. Hughley finished second in the 100-meter and third in the 200-meter, while Mason finished first in the 110-meter hurdles to propel South Lake to a fourth-place finish at the Divine Child meet.

Mason attributes the team’s early success to its mindset.

“I can say this year we’re taking things to a new level and taking track more seriously this year,” Mason said.

The seriousness mixed with the cohesiveness tells the tale of a potential strong season for South Lake in the Macomb Area Conference-Silver division; regardless, South Lake track and field is headed on the right path.

Crachiola said he expects his squad to be extremely competitive in the league. The team last won a league title outright in 2011.

“We’re going to try to make a run at the league championship here in the MAC-Silver,” Crachiola said. “We want to set ourselves up to get as many athletes to states as possible and just develop these athletes and get them ready for years to come.”