By John Raffel
Correspondent
GOGLE —Andy Wood, Gobles High School, girls varsity track coach, has been skipper for five years and was varsity girls coach for five years.
The team had an undefeated dual meet season of 8-0 and was SAC Lakeshore Division Champions the second year in a row. Gobles was third place Paw Paw Lions Invitational, fourth place regional (behind the state champion team);
fourth Place MITCA Team State Meet, fifth place MHSAA State Finals.
“It was a very successful season, bringing home two state championships and several individual placers,” Wood said.
We achieved our goal of repeat conference champions, but missed out on being top 2 at the state meet against some tough competition. As a team we placed in the top five at the MITCA team state meet for the fourth year in a row. Another team highlight was winning the 4×800 meter relay with a team of girls that has been running together since middle school.”
A disappointing moment “was not placing in any of the sprint relays at the state meet for the first time in six years,” Wood said.
Here were some standouts:
Junior Libby Smith “has been a top athlete since she came in as a freshman. She has been the conference champion in BOTH the 1600 and 3200 all three years in high school,” Wood said. “That is saying a lot for a conference that had three girls on the podium at the state meet for both of those events. She puts in a ton of work on her own over the summer and throughout the school year. She ran a solid first leg on the 4×800 relay state championship team and then went out and took seventh in the 1,600 meter run.
“The highlight of her career so far is being state champion in the 3,200 meter run over the two-time defending champion. It was a hard fought race where she found herself falling farther and farther behind for the first four laps. She started reeling her in on lap 5, passing her on lap 6, then finally pulling away in lap 8 and sprinting down the homestretch to win by almost 10 seconds. Her ability to persevere through these challenges speaks volumes to her determination and grit.”
Senior Madison Cooley “has been a team leader of a very tight knit distance team since her sixth grade year in middle school. She puts in a lot of miles over the summer and during the year as well. She has been the anchor on both the 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams since her freshman year and has brought home a total of six all-state medals over her career,” Wood said. “The past two seasons she has also been a regular on the 4×200 relay team and occasionally the 4×100 relay. She will be missed as she leaves us to continue her running career at Trine University in the fall.”
Junior Lauren Shaffer has also been a top distance runner for the past 3 seasons. She has been on the 4×800 relay and a 3 time state placer in that event culminating with a State championship this season. She was the 8th place finisher in the 800 meter run at the state meet.
Junior Ava DeYoung “has been a very versatile runner and participated in all four relays this season at the state meet,” Wood said. “She has brought home state medals in both the 4×200 and 4×800 relays. She has had to overcome several stress fractures her freshman and sophomore seasons to get to the level she is at and she ran a sub 2:30 split on the Championship run of the 4×800 relay this year at the state meet. She was also a squad leader.”
Senior Ellie Wood “was a thrower and sprinter for us and helped score over a 100 team points this season,” Wood said. “She was a squad leader and helped keep us focused and on task during stretching and warmups. She was also a great encourager for the team and earned the teams Hype Crew season award.”
Freshman Taylor Cooley “has been a top placer in the high jump all season long and took second place at the state meet with a jump of 5-2/ She was also on both the 4×200 and 4×400 relays all season long,” Wood said.
Junior Olivia Platt “was a top sprinter and the leadoff leg on both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays. She was also a squad leader and helped score over 100 team points,” Wood said.
Gobles set a school record in the 4×800 relay with a time of 9:46.17 (state champions—
(Libby Smith, Lauren Shaffer, Ava DeYoung, Madison Cooley)
“One key graduate will be Madison Cooley in all running events from 100 to 800, although she was capable of running all the way to 3,200,” Wood said. “Another key graduate will be Ellie Wood who was one of our top sprinters and throwers. These two ladies will be greatly missed for their leadership and hard work. They will always have a special place in my heart as they were on my very first middle school cross country team and I had the joy of coaching them the past seven years.’
Key returners will be Libby Smith, Lauren Shaffer, Ava DeYoung, Addison Tomsic, Alyssa Sparks all in the distance events; Addy Pangle in the hurdles and pole vault; Olivia Platt, Ella Horn and Ayla Jackson in the sprints; Freedom Morris in the hurdles. Lillie Burke, Faith Byron and Sydney Raseman in the throws and Jasmine Gutierrez in the long jump, throws and hurdles.
“Next year looks very promising as we have a very talented group of returning athletes,” Wood said. “Next year’s incoming freshman class also has had some top performers at the middle school level this year where they helped break several school records. We will look to make a run at a third conference championship and possibly a regional and state championship.”
