Saugatuck girls place second at Division 3 regional

By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
For the second year in a row, Saugatuck played host to a track & field regional.
The difference was that last year it was a Division 4 regional, while this year it was a Division 3 regional.
Despite that step up in the level of competition, the two Saugatuck teams still put together strong performances.
The Saugatuck girls finished runner-up with 85 points, while the Saugatuck boys tied for fifth place with 50 points.
Newaygo won the girls title with 93.6 points. Fennville was 13th with 16 points.
On the boys side, North Muskegon won with 134 points, followed by Wyoming Potter’s House (56) in second, Montague (54) in third, Ravenna (53) in fourth and Kent City (50) tied for fifth with Saugatuck. Fennville competed but failed to score.
Alina Martinson and Mazie Robison led the charge for the Saugatuck girls, with each winning at least one individual event and qualifying for the Division 3 State Finals four events apiece.
Robison’s day included a pair of victories, as she won the 100 dash (13.27) and the 100 hurdles (15.37). She also placed third in the 200 dash at 26.9 to qualify for the finals in that event as well.
Martinson took first in the 400 at 59.15 and was runner-up in the 800 at 2:28.57.
Robison and Martinson also teamed with Leora Buss and Mallory Hass to finish fourth in the 4×100 relay with a qualifying time of 52.56.
Martinson’s final qualifying time came in the 4×800 relay, where she joined Savannah VanDenBerg, Kamryn Sixberry and Lyvia Curtis to earn runner-up honors in the 4×800 relay at 10:10.28.
Niki McNeil accounted for Saugatuck’s other qualifying effort, as she won discus with a personal-best distance of 131-2.
The Fennville girls had a pair of qualifiers in Isabelle Sliter and Sara Skinner.
Sliter finished second in the 1,600 with a time of 5:25.31. Skinner was second in pole vault at 9-0.
On the boys side, seniors Carter Miller and Cass Stanberry advanced to the State Finals.
Miller won discus at 137-8, while Stanberry was second in long jump at 21-2.5.
Grant Rehkopf missed qualifying by one spot in the 3,200. He finished third at 10:22.77.
Hugo Sanchez had the best finish for Fennville, placing ninth in the 400 at 55.53.