Meet East Middle School’s 15-Year-Old National Champion

Up until a few weeks ago, Elonica Tester had never raced the 100-meter hurdles. Now, she’s a national champion in that particular track and field event, with a second national title in the high jump to go with it.

Not a bad way to cap off eighth grade.

The 15-year-old Tester, who just finished her third and final year at Traverse City East Middle School, will go down one of the best athletes ever to walk East’s halls. By her count, she has 13 school records – five for sixth-grade track, three for seventh grade, and another five for eighth grade. She also led the Trojan girls to their first-ever team victory at the Mid-Michigan MegaStar meet, the middle school version of a track state championship.

But it’s Tester’s twin national titles that most clearly mark her as an athlete to watch as she enters high school.

Tester started scouting national championship meets at the beginning of this season. Despite her success in previous years, she’d never aimed for national-level competition before.

“Nike, Adidas, Under Armour: They all have high school outdoor national meets,” says Katie Tester, Elonica’s mom. “We looked into them all, and they all have some middle school events, but some just had the mile, or other stuff she doesn’t do. Under Armour had the most events Elonica was interested in, so we chose to target that one.”

Beyond the obvious challenge of hitting national qualifying standards, there were several hurdles (pun intended) to the Under Armour meet. For one thing, it takes place in Bradenton, Florida, which means hotter, more humid conditions than northern Michigan athletes are used to. For another, the meet was scheduled for the weekend of May 29-31, with Michigan’s MegaStar meet occurring just days later, on June 4.

Most notably, middle school hurdles races are not standardized nationwide, which meant a few out-of-comfort-zone races for Tester. In Michigan middle school track, there are two hurdles distances: 55 meters and 200 meters. Under Armour had the 200-meter hurdles, but offered a 100-meter hurdles race instead of the 55 meters.

For the 200-meter hurdles and the high jump, Tester narrowly hit Under Armour’s qualifying standards of 29.5 seconds and 5 feet, 1 inch, respectively “And then I actually didn’t have a 100-meter hurdles time, so we put my 55-meter time in, and they accepted me based off that,” she tells The Ticker.

On the first day of competition at Under Armour nations, Tester ended up fourth in the 200-meter hurdles, in what she calls “an ugly race.”

“We didn't know this until I was in the middle of the race, but the hurdles are set up differently in Florida than they are in Michigan,” she says. “So, my steps were really wonky and messed up, and then it was basically a 70-meter sprint at the end, when I’m used to a 10-meter sprint after all the hurdles.”

Tester rallied on Saturday, transcending her beginner status in the 100-meter hurdles to post a title-winning 14.92-second run. On Sunday, she added a second national title to her mantle, winning the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 5 inches.

Nick Trahair, head coach for East’s girls track team, proudly watched Tester’s title victories from back home in Michigan. Then, he immediately pivoted to thinking about whether his star athlete would be recovered in time for MegaStar.

“Elonica had qualified for five different events, but you’re only allowed to compete in three,” Trahair explains. “So, while she’s at nationals, I’m texting her and asking, ‘OK, which three do you want to do?’”

Figuring her daughter would be tired from national and the associated travel, Katie insisted Trahair only put her in the two hurdles events. Elonica’s dad, meanwhile, encouraged the coach to enter her in the 200-meter dash, as well.

“So, we put her in the 200 meters, with the assumption that she’s probably going to scratch,” Trahair says.

Tester didn’t scratch. Instead, after achieving wins – and meet records – in both hurdles races, she lined up for the 200 meters. East’s girls had stayed within a point or two of the lead all day, and here was a chance to put the Trojans over the top.

“She’s got a very competitive spirit, and here was that competitiveness coming through,” Trahair says. “She literally finished the 200 hurdles, walked around the track, and got in line for the 200 open. She had no time to rest.”

It didn’t matter. Tester crossed the finish line in 26.51 seconds, good for a personal best and another first-place finish. East went on to win the meet with a score of 70.33, compared to the second-place team’s 56 points. Tester scored 30 of those points by herself.

“There was a lot of celebrating on the field that day,” Trahair laughs, noting that East’s boys also won MegaStar.

Now, it’s off to Central High School for Tester. And while her national titles give her plenty of license to dream big, she’s staying modest with her goals for now.

“In high school, the hurdles are going to be one notch higher, so that’s going to be a big change. And then it’s 100 meters instead of 55, and 300 meters instead of 200,” she says. “Right now, I’m really just excited about adapting to all that.”