By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
BERRIEN SPRINGS—Otsego’s Emma Hoffman entered the Division 2 regional meet at Berrien Springs undefeated in the 1,600-meter-run and the 3,200-meter run.
She left the meet with that unblemished record intact.
Posting a time of 4:45.72 in the 1,600 and 10:51.74 in the 3,200, Hoffman easily won both events and will head to the State Finals as the top seed in each of them.
Hoffman’s strong performance helped lift Otsego to a fifth-place showing in the team standings with 52 points. Plainwell was seventh with 36 points, while Allegan was 11th with 26 points.
As has been the case throughout the season, Hoffman didn’t just win. She dominated.
Her time in the 1,600 was nearly 18 seconds better than runner-up Kaylee Sprague of Stevensville-Lakeshore, while her time in the 3,200 was nearly a full minute—58.42 seconds, to be exact—better than Plainwell’s Mai Nguyen, who placed second.
“Emma has worked unbelievably hard to put herself in a position to win a pair of state titles and has met every challenge so far this season,” Otsego coach Justin Scott said. “I am excited for her to have an opportunity to push herself even farther than she has thus far and I think we may see some historic times in the next two weeks.”
Also dominant was Allegan hurdling specialist Jayden VandenAkker.
After winning the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.95, VandenAkker won the 300 hurdles at 45.81.
“Jayden dominated both her races and looked really strong,” Allegan coach Mike Chalupa said. “It was great to see her in the shape she is, as she worked through some mid-season injury issues. She seems to be right on track to run fast and be competitive (at the State Finals) in Hamilton on May 31.”
Plainwell’s Jadyn Erdody joined Hoffman and VandenAkker in qualifying for the State Finals in two events.
Erdody was third in the 300 hurdles at 48.11, while she was fourth in discus at 103-6.
Other state qualifiers for Otsego were Olivia Klimp in long jump (fifth at 16-9) along with Madden Fitzpatrick and Audrey Holmes in throws. Fitzpatrick was fifth at 35-4.5 and Holmes was sixth at 34-11.
“Olivia is an explosive athlete who loves to compete, and she seems to get better and better each time she steps on the runway,” Scott said.
“Madden and Audrey qualifying in the shot put as underclassmen is also a huge accomplishment. Neither one of them is incredibly tall or incredibly big. They have found success by being detail oriented technicians and attacking every single workout and practice with intensity and focus.”
For Allegan, Bailee Dilley will join VandenAkker at the Finals thanks to her fourth-place showing in pole vault of 9-6.
“We were excited to have Bailee hit the qualifying mark in the pole vault this year,” Chalupa said.
Plainwell’s 4×100 team of Hailey Newcomb, Delainey Poel, Nyra Cross and Alayna Ranney also hit the qualifying mark, as they had a time of 51.03 to place fifth.
The Division 2 State Finals are slated for Saturday, May 31, at Hamilton High School.
