KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan track and field and cross country team and head coach Makiba Batten have announced the signing of five student-athletes for the upcoming 2020-21 seasons.
Sarinity Bracey (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood HS), Trinity Bracey (Kentwood, Mich./East Kentwood HS), Grace Johnson (Troy, Mich./Troy HS), Jenna Kral (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS) and Brooke Soper (Okemos, Mich./Okemos HS) all pledged their futures to the Broncos.
Sarinity Bracey comes to WMU with personal-best times of 8.87 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and 14.64 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. She was a recent all-state selection during this past indoor season in the 60-meter hurdles and has helped her team to Division 1 State titles in the 4x100 and 4x200-meter relays.
"Sarinity brings power to our sprints/hurdles group with her talents in the short hurdle events," said Batten. "As a freshman she began breaking records in the 100-meter and 300-meter hurdles and currently holds her school record in the 100."
Trinity Bracey is a sprinter and has qualified for the Division 1 State championship every year she has competed. Bracey earned All-state honors as a junior in the 200-meter and brings a personal-best time of 25.02 seconds to WMU in the event after earning All-state honors again this past indoor season.
"Trinity is a well-rounded sprinter," said Batten. "Her ability to have range in her sprint events is necessary to round out our sprints group."
Johnson is a three-time Division I All-State selection in the 100-meter hurdles and a two-time selection in the 300-meter hurdles for Troy High School. She holds a personal-best time of 14.34 in the 100 hurdles and a time of 43.31 seconds in the 300 hurdles.
"Grace is a dual hurdler and her addition to the team brings more grit and certainly more talent to the sprints/hurdles group," said Batten.
Kral joins the program and will compete in cross country and as a distance runner for the Broncos. She comes to WMU with a 5k personal-best time of 19:47, a 1,600-meter run time of 5:27 and a 3,200-meter run time of 11:56. Kral cut her 1,600 time by over 30 seconds from er sophomore to junior seasons of track and field. She is also a one-time qualifier for the Division I State Championship in cross country.
"Jenna's trajectory of improvement was skyrocketing and likely to continue before the suspension of the 2020 outdoor season," said Batten. "She will provide depth to our distance team and has a very positive personality."
Soper also joins the program to compete in cross country and as a distance runner. She is a four-time qualifier for the Division I State Championships in cross country and finished 43rd during her senior season at the state meet. Soper won her conference meet during her junior season of track and field in the 3,200-meter run and at the Lansing Honor Roll Meet of Championships. She has a 5k personal-best time of 18:52, a 1,600-meter run time of 5:13 and a 3,200 time of 11:28.
"Brooke has a team-first mindset that will complement our squads strong connections with each other," Batten added. "She will make an impact on our cross country team immediately and for years to come as we work our way up the ranks."
