Armon Howard: Adams runner has record-setting day in the 300 hurdles at county meet

CLARKSTON » There’s hardly time for Armon Howard to think about much in the 20- or 40-odd seconds he’s blazing down the track and over the hurdles, so there’s not really much use in the Rochester Adams senior hurdler trying to dwell on whether a race is going well or not.

More or less, he blanks his mind out of any thoughts other than what his legs need to be doing, and waits for the announcement after he crosses the finish line, getting a pleasant surprise when the numbers are good.

But when Michigan track historian Jeff Hollobaugh — the announcer for Friday’s 63rd Oakland County High School Championships at Clarkston High School — kept updating information after Howard’s winning run in the 300 hurdles, the senior’s jaw kept dropping further and further.

“My excitement just kept going up and up and up with every announcement,” admitted Howard, who was hoping for a result in the 38s, as a good warm-up for the state meet.

It was like someone was reading off lottery numbers, and he had the winning ticket.

Howard had run the race in a blazing 37.30 seconds, finishing nearly a second-and-a-half ahead of second-place Jaylen Gilmore of Farmington, who posted a 38.73. Good start for the good news. Oh, and the 37.30 was a new school record.

Oh, and it also was a new Oakland County meet record, smashing the old mark by Birmingham Seaholm’s Ben Barton of 37.66, set in 2018.

By the way, it’s the fastest time so far this year by anyone in the state, 0.13 ahead of the mark Milford’s Brayden Kennedy posted at regionals.

While we’re at it, it was also the