Kellen Reed sprints and jumps way to record-setting spring for Holt track
There have been plenty of times when Kellen Reed has met random people and heard about the athletic accomplishments of his father.
"I'm just always hearing about what he did,” Reed said of his father, Scott, who was a state long jump champion while at Everett and also won Big Ten titles in the event at Indiana.
Down the road, people will be talking about Kellen’s accomplishments as well.
There have been plenty of those this spring for Kellen, who has written a strong final chapter to his high school athletic career at Holt and been one of the state’s top track and field athletes.
Kellen has set four individual school records while creating his own track and field legacy. He has set records in the 100- (10.68 seconds), 200- (21.87) and 400-meter dashes (50.51) this seas and broke the long jump record with a jump of 23-feet, 4 3/4 inches on top of that.
"This season has actually been amazing," said Kellen, who also set Holt's record for single-season receiving yards and touchdowns in the fall and is signed to play football at Grand Valley.
"I couldn't have expected it at all. I was expecting to maybe break one record — that was the goal. I'm five records in and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's amazing and it's a great feeling."
More: Zane Forist keeps pushing the limits while finishing as double champion at Honor Roll meet
Kellen's record-setting spring has followed a strong fall where he set single-season records for receiving yards and touchdowns. He had his school-record long jump at the MITCA Division 1 state meet Saturday and owns the best jump in the state ahead of the MHSAA state meet. Kellen is also ranked 10th in the state in the 100 and 200.
"He certainly sets himself up for success," Holt coach Ross Malatinsky said. "He trains hard, he does all the right things. He does the little things well. He's always prepared.
"I knew he was going to have a great season. Did I think he was going to have a season where he's winning four events at the regional meet — (no). There's so many things that he's good at and he's such a good natural athlete that we didn't necessarily put him in every event that he's now going to do at the state meet because we were figuring out what his best events were."
Kellen is slated to compete in the 100, 200, long jump and the 400 relay at the state meet after capturing regional titles in all four events last month. He's bracing for a busy day and hopes to add state champion to his list of athletic accomplishments.
"My dad won state in the long jump so I would like to repeat and follow in his footsteps," Kellen said.
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Track and field: Holt's Kellen Reed rewriting school record books
