BERRIEN SPRINGS — Three Rivers’ track and field team will be well-represented at the MHSAA Division 2 state finals meet in Hamilton on May 31.
The Wildcats sent 12 athletes to the finals following their performances at Friday, May 16’s MHSAA Division 2 regional competition held in Berrien Springs. As a team, Three Rivers’ boys’ team finished second out of 15 teams with a team score of 94, while the girls finished 13th out of 16 with 10 points.
Three Rivers’ boys’ team earned individual regional championships in five events. Lamonta Stone was regional champion in the 100 meters, crossing the line with a time of 11.14, Sullivan Zietlow was regional champion in the 800 meters with a season-best time of 1:57.93, Carter Rice earned two regional championships, winning both the 110-meter hurdles (15.32) and the 300-meter hurdles (40.60), and the 4×200 relay of Stone, Jeremiah Marzett, Elijah Craig and Blake Stewart won the regional championship with a time of 1:29.52.
Also qualifying for the state meet were the 4×100 relay of Stone, Stewart, Craig and Marzett, who finished second with a new school-record time of 42.70, the 4×400 relay of Zietlow, Brayden Carpenter, Rice, and Charlie Brauer with a third-place time of 3:29.33, the 4×800 relay of Zietlow, Reece Howes, Kyler Copenhaver, and Brauer with a second-place time of 8:11.54, Zander Barth (3rd, 51 feet, 10.5 inches) and Maxwell Burg (50 feet, 7.5 inches) in the shot put, David Wills in the high jump with a leap of 6 feet to finish second, and Stewart in the long jump with a jump of 19 feet.
The final member of the state qualifiers came from the girls’ meet, where freshman Olivia Wenzel finished fourth in the pole vault with a vault of 9 feet, 3 inches.
Several Wildcat athletes and teams, despite not qualifying for state, also earned medals for finishing in the top eight. These include Stewart in the boys’ 200 meters (4th, 23.32), Brynn Copenhaver in the girls’ 3,200 meters (7th, 13:22.82), the girls’ 4×800 relay of Savannah Headley, Rylea Summey, Gabby Kilbourn and Lillie Kerr (8th, 10:52.22), and Tre Rorher in the boys’ pole vault (8th, 12 feet, 2 inches).
Sturgis girls win regional title; 12 Trojans advance to state
BERRIEN SPRINGS — The Lady Trojans took top spot in the regional track championships held last Friday in Berrien Springs.
Sturgis totaled 110.5 points, and also had 12 team members qualify for the state finals, which will be held in Hastings.
The 400 relay team of Tenley Banaszak, Angela Cary, Hannah Garbine and Keyanna O’Tey qualified for state, blazing to a state-leading and new school record time of 48.35. The 800 relay foursome of Addison Eicher, Garbine, Sydney Bir and O’Tey also nabbed a regional title, setting a new school record in the process, finishing at 1:42.28. That time qualifies them for the state finals.
All of the following Lady Trojans also qualified for the state finals, winning regional championships, beginning with the two-mile relay team. Bir, Tessa Hatt, Kinder Smith and Berkley Holtz finished in 9:33.06, a new school record and second fastest time in the state. Eleena Kelley set a new school record in the discus with a distance of 133’ 3”, placing her in the state finals as well. The adaptive shot put portion saw Vivian Massey record a distance of 13-1, a lifetime best mark.
Defending D1 state champ O’Tey nabbed regional titles in both of her sprint events, Bir and Garbine qualified for the state finals in the 400 meters, while Hatt qualified for the 800 with a second-place finish. Kylie Brooks will compete in the state finals in the 300 hurdles, while the mile relay team of Smith, Holtz, Garbine and Bir, who finished second at regionals, also will compete at the state level. In addition, Cary will represent the Lady Trojans in the high jump.
The Sturgis boys will have two relay teams travel to state competition, as the 400 squad of Todd Guijosa, Lukis Bir, Jason Stutzman and Carson Eicher ran a qualifying time of 44.03. The 800 relay foursome of Guijosa, Stutzman, Eicher and Caleb Hohn finished with a time of 1:31.81, which also qualifies for a trip to the finals.
Constantine girls send 6 to state, boys send 5
EAST JACKSON — Constantine’s girls’ track and field team will be sending six athletes to the MHSAA Division 3 state meet on May 31, which will include two regional champions.
Kaitlyn Jones was crowned regional champ in the 400 meters with a time of 1:01.78, while the 4×400 relay of Jaedyn Herlein, Abigail Flores, Kailee Jones and Kaitlyn Jones won a regional title with a time of 4:11.05, breaking a 30-year-old school record in the process.
Other qualifiers on the girls’ side include Kailee Jones in the 800 meters, who finished second with a time of 2:23.30, Herlein in the 100-meter hurdles (2nd, 16.78) and 300-meter hurdles (2nd, 48.13), and the 4×200 relay of Flores, Kaitlyn Jones, Herlein, and Kailee Jones (2nd, 1:48.79).
Constantine’s boys’ team also qualified for state in five events, led by the regional champion 4×800 relay of Alessandro Avila, Aaron Hofmeister, Bear Geibe and Robbie King, who took home a time of 8:16.47 to win. Brandon Long finished second in the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, 2 inches, Geibe finished third in the 800 meters with a time of 2:02.91, Brody Jones finished third in the pole fault with a leap of 14 feet, and the 4×400 relay of Logan Patmalnieks, Geibe, Brody Jones, and King took home fourth with a time of 3:31.61.
The girls’ team finished sixth as a team with 54 points, while the boys’ team finished sixth with 58 points.
TR Middle School girls win regional title
VICKSBURG — Three Rivers’ middle school girls’ track and field team won an MHSAA middle school regional title Monday in Vicksburg to wrap up their season.
The Wildcats finished in first place with 66.5 team points, just 3.5 points ahead of second-place Portage West Middle School.
Leading the way for the Wildcats were several top finishers. Skyla Harris won the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:28.64, Kaniah Foster won the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.52 seconds, the 4×200 relay of Foster, Raegan Wenzel, Lily Kane and Bailea Krupinski took home a regional championship with a time of 1:52.63, Harris finished second in the 800 meters with a time of 2:34.14, and Foster finished second in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet, 4 inches.
UPDATE 12:16 p.m.: An original version of this article said the Division 2 state finals would be held in Hastings. It is actually being held in Hamilton. The Commercial-News apologizes for the error and for any confusion it may have caused.
