OCTOBER 31 • 2024 | 27
running,” she said.
Asked for an example of where
she fell short, she gave a quick
response.
“I never broke 12 seconds in
the 100,” she said. “My best was
12.07 in my junior year at U-D
Mercy.”
Meisner launched her track
career as a seventh-grader at
Norup International School in
Oak Park in 2004. In her first
race, the 70, she ran so fast and was so far ahead of
her competitors that she thought she ran too far.
Meisner ran for U-D Mercy from 2010-15.
She still holds U-D Mercy top-10 women’s track
and field times in the 60, 100, 200, 4x100 and 4x400.
She had the second-best time of 7.75 seconds in the
60 when she graduated.
She scored in the Horizon League Championships
in the 60, 100 and 200 and in the 4x100 and 4x400
relays.
Meisner’s competitive running career ended in
2015, but, at age 32, she’s filled that void and then
some.
She and her husband, Neil Brooks, live in Oak
Park and have three sons: Tony Meisner, 10, Bruce
Meisner-Brooks, 4, and Leon Meisner-Brooks, 2.
Sports are still a big part of her life.
She’s the coach of the sixth-grade and seventh- and
eighth-grade girls basketball teams and sixth-through
eighth-grade boys and girls track and field teams at
Norup. Her husband is the assistant coach for the
basketball teams.
In addition to her time at the track at U-D Mercy,
she earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and
psychology with a minor in leadership in 2014 and a
master’s degree in intelligence analysis in 2016.
For the last year and a half, she’s worked in the
Detroit Board of Police Commissioners’ Office of the
Chief Investigator. The office is staffed by civilians
who receive, investigate and resolve citizen complaints
about misconduct by Detroit Police Department
personnel.
“We check out non-criminal complaints about
things like demeanor, procedure
and handling of property,” she
said. “We’ve been busy. A record
1,600 complaints have been filed
this year.”
She previously worked as a
private investigator, child welfare
investigator, in a day care, and
helped adults who were in foster
care develop life skills.
She also was employed for a
short time as an officer in the
Ferndale Police Department
after graduating from the
Oakland Community College
Police Academy.
Also honored Oct. 29 at the
Hall of Fame induction banquet
were the Jewish News High
School Athletes of the Year,
Pillars of Excellence recipients,
Dr. Steve and Evelyn Rosen
Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship
recipients and ex-University of Michigan basketball
star Jalen Rose, who received the Alvin and Shirley
Foon Inspiration Award.
Aaron and Ryan Rose and Cami Katzen are the
Jewish News High School Athletes of the Year.
Jim Berk, Gary Gerson, Michael Fishman, Steve
Matz and Mort Plotnik make up the 2024 Pillars of
Excellence class.
Blaine Cohen and Adam Nothstine are the Stars of
Tomorrow scholarship recipients.
See future issues of the Jewish News for more on
the 2024 Hall of Fame inductees, Jewish News High
School Athletes of the Year and Pillars of Excellence
and Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship recipients.
Send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY
Nicole Meisner heads for the
finish line during a race when she
was a member of the University
of Detroit Mercy women’s track
and field team.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Former JCC Maccabi Games and Maccabiah
Games medal-winner Nicole Meisner is a
member of the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame Class of 2024.
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