Elite sprinter, state distance champ share Livingston County boys track and field top honor

When selecting Livingston County’s top boys track and field athlete in 2024, how do you choose between one runner who set three county sprint records and another who won a state championship while establishing himself as an all-time great?

The answer: You don’t.

There are co-Athletes of the Year this year because Hartland senior Cameron Cheetam and Pinckney senior Paul Moore had credentials that would win the honor almost any other year.

Cheetam set electronically timed county records for the 100-meter dash (10.71 seconds), the 200 (21.66) and the 400 (47.67). The caveat for electronic timing exists because Fowlerville’s school record for the 100 of 10.54 is a converted hand time run by 2002 state Division 2 champion Tim Scott.

Moore not only won the state Division 2 championship in the 3,200, but he became only the third county runner to break nine minutes in that event and ran a 1,600 time that ranks him second all-time in the county behind Hartland’s Riley Hough.

So, yeah, it would be impossible to deny either of these guys the award.

Here’s a look at two of the best track athletes ever in Livingston County:

Cameron Cheetam, Hartland

If Cheetam has a migraine after running the 400, even without seeing his time, he knows he’s had a good race.

That’s why he uses the word “unfortunately” when he says the 400 is probably his strongest event.

“I get really bad headaches every time I (run a personal best),” Cheetam said. “That’s when I know I did good; I’ll have a really bad headache. I’m barely out of breath for my other races.”

Oddly, he felt fine after lowering his county 400 record to 47.67 while finishing third in the state Division 1 meet.

“Honestly, I wasn’t that tired after I finished,” he said. “I felt I could have done better. I was barely out of breath.”

Cheetam, who began playing soccer when he was little, ran in a couple track meets when he was 10 years old living in Grand Ledge but didn’t begin competing regularly until seventh grade.

“I dabbled in everything,” he said. “I wasn’t really that good. I did like hurdles, long jump, the 100. I didn’t really want to run, but my mom made me, so I had to.

“I’d been playing soccer since I was 5. I always loved soccer; I still do. Obviously, that got me nowhere.”

Although he begrudgingly became involved in track and field, it’s the sport in which Cheetam has soared to heights he couldn’t have imagined. He not only owns three county records, but helped Hartland set three relay records this spring. He will continue his career at Michigan State University.

“My freshman year, I looked at the record board inside our gym,” Cheetam said. “I said, ‘I want to get one of these,’ but you don’t know what the chances are of getting one of them. Sophomore year, toward the end of the season, I was like, ‘You know what, junior year and senior year I’m going to focus on track a little bit more.’ Obviously, from there good things happened.”

Paul Moore, Pinckney

Nobody had to coax Moore into becoming a runner.

He became interested in the sport in fourth grade to follow in the footsteps of his sister, Emma.

“My sister did Girls on the Run,” Moore said. “That kind of inspired me that maybe I should start running. I started doing cross country. I did it for fun. Her and all my friends did it. It was a fun little hobby to do on the side along with wrestling, which I used to do.”

Moore became serious about running in high school when he joined a team led by senior Gavin White and junior Caleb Jarema.

The problem was, Moore’s body didn’t always cooperate with the demands of higher-level training.

While he managed to run nearly every cross country meet throughout his career, he was limited to only four races on the track his first two years in high school.

“It was just hard getting injured,” Moore said. “I knew I had the talent. I just thought maybe I’ll never get to show it in the times if I keep on getting injured. Luckily, I was able to get healthy.”

A breakthrough moment for Moore came in the Brighton Bulldog Invitational his junior year when he won the 1,600 in 4:19.66.

By his senior year, Moore developed into one of the best distance runners from a school that has cranked out some great ones over the years.

He became the third Livingston County runner to break nine minutes in the 3,200 when he ran 8:59.63 May 3 in Shepherd. He went on to win the state Division 2 championship in that event after taking second in the 1,600 in 4:12.76. Only Hough has raced a faster 1,600 among county runners.

“I’d say it’s all I could have asked for and more,” Moore said. “I didn’t have a lot of expectations going into the season. I know anything can happen with injuries playing into things. I was happy to stay healthy; that was one of my goals.”

Following his high school season, Moore went to Philadelphia to run the two mile in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor. He won his heat in 8:57.08, a time that held up for sixth place, the final spot for All-America status.

Moore has Division I college talent, but is following his own path. He will run for Savannah College of Art and Design, an NAIA school in Georgia.

“I’ve always wanted to go to SCAD,” he said. “I’m big into art. That’s always been on my mind, even from middle school. Once I realized I had the opportunity to run there, I was sold. Running aside, it’s such a great school and environment. It’ll be good to set me up for a job in the future and I’ll get to run, too.”

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Elite sprinter, state distance champ share Livingston County boys track and field top honor