Isaac leads Canton charge

It hasn’t always come this easy for Canton senior Quincy Isaac.

One of the top performers for Canton in 2025, Isaac has had a long road to becoming a presence as a jumper and relay runner. From building his confidence to rehabbing injury, Isaac has had no shortage of setbacks and shortfalls during his high school career. But after three years of training and learning under head coach Jonathan Mehl, Isaac has excelled and is cashing in on his abilities as a senior. And as a whole, Isaac is helping lead a charge for a senior-laden Canton team that’s pushing to make some noise in the postseason.

“We expected to be pretty darn strong,” Mehl said. “And I guess you could say we haven't been disappointed.”

Isaac is best in the long jump, where he’s currently the top jumper in the state by a hefty margin.

Isaac jumped 25 feet and 2.25 inches on April 12, more than two feet clear of the second-best long jump in the state this year.

And while Isaac has dominated this year, it hasn’t always been that way for him.

“He lacked confidence and as a sophomore we worked directly on his confidence,” Mehl said. “And a lot of it was giving him the fundamentals and giving him the technique to succeed and convincing him that he knew more or as much as anyone else out there. And that confidence went a long way. He kind of took a deep breath and said, ‘OK, I got this.’”

Working now with the confident version of Isaac, Mehl can push his buttons in a different way.

Mehl might go to Isaac and challenge him directly, along the lines of, ‘No way you can jump 25 feet today,’ to then watch Isaac go and try to prove that wrong.

And whatever the strategy, it’s working. And beyond Isaac, Canton has a handful of other contributors making big pushes for the team this year, such as Adam Dicken and Nathan Gilmour.

Dicken is a longer distance runner, competing in the 800 and 1,600 while also taking part in the 4x400 and 4x800. Gilmour is a sprinter, running the 100, 200 and 400 and the 4x400 relay.

“And that's a guy who, right now, if I were to name an MVP, it would be Adam Dicken because he's really done the job,” Mehl said. “Another guy is Nathan Gilmore. Nathan Gilmore won against Northville, the 100, 200 and 400, and he just broke 50 seconds, went 49.8 at Oak Park, and he's been stepping up big time this year.”

And behind Isaac, Dicken and Gilmour, Canton is hopeful that 2025 can end on a high note.

Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.