By Steve Eldridge
HAMILTON — History was made Saturday at Hamilton High School, the site of the 2025 Division 2 State Track and Field Championships. Sturgis won its first-ever state championship, far exceeding the second-place Goodrich Martians total of 39.
The Lady Trojans literally ran away with the title, finishing with 54.2 points. Saginaw Swan Valley (38 points) landed in third, followed by Stevensville Lakeshore and Dearborn Divine Child, who both totalled 29 points.
The 400 and 800 sprint relay teams proved once again to be among the major strongpoints for Sturgis, as the 400 relay team of Keyanna O’Tey, Tenley Banaszak, Angela Cary and Hannah Garbine ran to a finish of 48.48 seconds, while the 800 relay foursome of O’Tey, Addison Eicher, Garbine and Sydney Bir notched a championship time of 1:42.80.
Vivian Massey grabbed her second straight state championship in the adaptive shot put with a distance of 13-feet, 3.75 inches. Winning another state championship for the Trojans, and breaking her own record in the process was Eleena Kelley, who heaved the discus 135’-9”. Additionally, the mile relay team of Kinder Smith, Berkley Holtz, Garbine and Bir placed fifth with a time of 4:06.91, while the two-mile relay team, consisting of Bir, Tessa Hatt, Smith and Holtz clocked in at a time of 9:30.57, good for third place.
In the high jump event, Cary placed eighth with a height of 5’ 1”. O’Tey notched a second place showing in the 100 (11.64), and she also ran a time of 24.26 in the 200, good for third place. Bir placed 12th in the 400 (59.35), while Garbine finished 26th in the 400, clocking in at 1:02.49. Hatt landed in 21st place in the 800, crossing the line in 2:28.95, and Kylie Brooks placed 19th in the 300 hurdles, recording a time of 48.70.
Upon their return to Sturgis, the newly-crowned state champions were escorted through town by the Sturgis Police and Fire departments, as friends and family looked on.
