By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
STURGIS—It would be an understatement to say the distance crew for the Plainwell boys track team came up clutch at the Wolverine Conference Meet on Friday, May 10.
The runners competing in the 800, the 1,600, the 3,200 and the 4×800 relay amassed a total of 54 points. That was more than half of Plainwell’s total point production of 103, which was good for second place.
Host Sturgis took top honors with 139.5 points. Otsego placed sixth with 62 points.
“The distance guys had a big day for us,” Plainwell coach Scott Evans said. “They’ve been really good for us all season, and that continued today.”
Henry Cox and Isaac Veen spearheaded the efforts of the distance runners.
Veen won the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:00.45, while Cox won the 3,200 at 9:39.23. Cox also placed second in the 1,600 to Otsego’s Caleb Wesseldyk by a 4:25.96-4:26.34 margin, while Veen was fourth in that event at 4:30.33.
Cox and Veen also teamed with Hiro Nguyen and Donovan Ryan to win the 4×800 relay at 8:16.81.
Aside from the distance crew, sprinter Ryan McDaniel was among the standout performers for Plainwell.
In addition to placing second in the 200 (23.37) and fourth in the 100 (11.56), McDaniel joined Trent Hanson, Ronaldo Nunez and Carter Monette to place second in the 4×200 relay (1:32.79).
Drew Nelson was third in the long jump at 20-1.
“I believe this was the best meet that we’ve had this season,” Evans said. “Everyone is running, jumping and throwing their best right now.
“We also had a lot of younger guys step up in their events, so the future looks bright. I just hope that we can have a repeat of this success and do well on Saturday at regionals and get as many guys to state as we can.”
Plainwell competes in the Division 2 regional at Gull Lake on Saturday, May 18. Otsego is also in that district, as is Allegan.
For Otsego, Wesseldyk provided the lone event win with his victory in the 1,600. He also placed second in the 3,200 at 9:45.93.
Additionally, Wesseldyk anchored the 4×800 relay team that placed third at 8:32.72 and also featured Holten Mulherin, Logan VanHouten and Matthew Schreiner.
Other top finishers for Otsego included Alex Robbins in shot put (second at 49-6), Dylan Towne in high jump (fourth at 5-9) and Carson Brooks in pole vault (fourth at 11-0).
