Charlevoix's Peterson sets school record at D3 track finals, Petoskey girls 12th in D2

KENT CITY — Heading into the Division 3 track and field state championships, Charlevoix senior Sam Peterson had already put in a season to remember.

After Saturday at Kent City High School, Peterson left no doubts that he’ll remember the conclusion to his standout 2022 campaign and career.

The Charlevoix distance runner earned a state runner-up finish in the 1600 meter run with one of the best times in the state, regardless of division, which also came as a new Charlevoix school record in the 1600 meter run.

Peterson finished in 4 minutes, 15.16 seconds, trailing only a new state record from Hunter Jones of Benzie Central (4:10.68).

It was also a new personal record for Peterson in the event and he came close to setting a new PR in the 800 meter run as well in fifth place (1:58.71).

East Jordan’s Preston Malpass placed fifth overall in the high jump (6-feet, 3-inches), earning him All-State honors.

The height for Malpass also set a new school record, breaking his previous school record mark of 6-feet, 2.5-inches, which he set during the East Jordan Invite earlier this season.

Also from the area for the boys: Charlevoix: Dominic Schwein, 3200, 12th 10:02.81; Richard Cunningham, shot put, 19th 42’5.75”. East Jordan: Logan Shooks, 300 hurdles, 15th 43.83; 400 meter relay (Caleb Ziebarth, Logan Shooks, Braylan Grybauskas, Carter Sherman), 16th 45.35; Lee Nemecek, discus, 18th 123’8”. Harbor Springs: 3200 meter relay (Cal Benjamin, Jacob Drayer, Luke Smar, Lance Smar), 9th 8:26.29; 1600 meter relay (Luke Smar, Jack Clancy, Benjamin, Lance Smar) 23rd 3:40.91. Boyne City: Phillip Banner, 200 meter dash, 12th 23.22.

Like Peterson on the boys side, Charlevoix’s Leah Rohrer finished as points-getter in the girls discus, as she placed seventh overall with a throw of 107-feet, 11-inches.

Also for area girls teams: Charlevoix: Katie Rohrer, 1600 meter, 21st 5:27.26; Laina Sladics, 3200 meter, 12th 11:40.68. Boyne City: Grace Dawson, high jump, 10th 4’11”; Ava Maginity, 400 meter, 17th 1:04.12; Ava Maginity, 1600 meter, 23rd 5:31.50. East Jordan: Taylor Sheridan, 300 hurdles, 14th 50.65; Grace Nemecek, shot put, 10th 33’9.5”. Harbor Springs: 3200 meter relay (Maye Burns, Claire Ranney, Claire Hayhurst, Grace Thorpe) 12th 10:17.56; 800 meter relay (Tara Shouldice, Ranney, Savanah Maki, Thorpe) 20th 1:54.86.

DIVISION 2

ADA — A lot has to go right for a team to capture a state championship in track and field.

The Petoskey girls’ track team found that out a year ago when they put together a perfect performance to win the program’s first-ever Division 2 state title.

On Saturday, Petoskey’s girls gave it another go at the D2 finals at Forest Hills Eastern High School, though came up short of a repeat with a 12th place finish.

Petoskey had some solid performances all around, while the boys team also had some standouts.

East Grand Rapids earned the state title behind 66 points, followed by Grand Rapids Christian with 37.66 and Zeeland East with 30. Petoskey carded 18 points, which tied with Parma Western.

One of the major point-getters for Petoskey on the day was of course senior distance runner Noel VanderWall, who closed out her career with a third place finish in the 1600 meter run in 4 minutes, 55.23 seconds.

VanderWall also placed third in the 3200 meter run (10:55.81) for six more points, while teammate Caroline Farley placed eighth (11:06.68) and CamBrie Corey took 11th (11:24.02).

Petoskey sent three relay teams to the final, with the highest placing group coming as the 3200 meter relay team of Farley, Corey, VanderWall and Madeline Loe, who took fourth overall (9:38.21).

Petoskey’s 1600 meter relay team of Faith Bailey, Alison Bailey, Gretchen Woodbury and Loe then placed 12th (4:11.04) and the 800 meter relay team of Woodbury, Alison Bailey, Claudia Whitmore and Isabel Habecker placed 13th (1:48.05).

On the boys side for Petoskey, all four points collected came from a fifth place performance from the 800 meter relay team of Cam Adams, Rippin Vining, Gavin Wargel and CJ Hibbler in a time of 1:30.93.

Petoskey also had the 1600 meter relay team of Hibbler, Shane Izzard, Brady Ewing and Sam Smith place ninth (3:30.05) and Izzard himself placed 10th overall in the 800 meter run (1:58.88).

Avery Timm didn’t make it through preliminaries in the 110 meter hurdles, placing 14th (16.26), the 400 meter relay team of Hibbler, Wargel, Vining and Kendall Pederson placed 18th (44.30) and the 3200 meter team of Izzard, Reese Marvin, Cooper Rokop and Smith placed 20th (8:33.68).

DIVISION 4

HUDSONVILLE — The Petoskey St. Michael Academy boys’ track and field team earned its best finish in program history at the Division 4 state finals over the weekend.

The Guardians’ top 10 finish came largely aided by senior distance runner, Sam Paga, as he collected 17 points at the finals alone.

“We couldn’t be prouder of Sam,” St. Michael coach Larry Rudnicki said.  “He put on quite a show to close out his high school career, ascending the podium four times, all with top five finishes.

“While his times were solid, if not spectacular, it’s hard to convey how difficult it is to compete effectively in four distance races in a single-day state meet format. The mental and physical toughness required for such a performance is testament to the relentless work ethic Sam has demonstrated for us the last four years at St. Michael.”

As a team, St. Michael earned 22 points, while Kalamazoo Hackett earned the state title with 64 points.

Paga eared a runner-up finish within the 800 meter run in a time of 2 minutes, 1.35 seconds, just 1.33 seconds off of a state title.

Paga also took fourth in the 1600 meter run (4:30.29) and fifth in the 3200 meter run (9:58.99).

Also for St. Michael, Zachary Meaendel was 15th in the 3200 (10:28.37) and the St. Michael 3200 meter relay team of Macartan Moore, Russell Vandermus, Maendel and Paga earned five points with a fourth place finish (8:29.16).

From around the area, Pellston’s Laith Griffith also placed 14th in the 400 (53.11).

On the girls side, Mackinaw City junior Larissa Huffman helped the Inland Lakes girls to a seventh place finish in the state with 24 points.

Huffman placed third in the 100 hurdles (16.37), then seventh in the 300 hurdles (49.09). She also helped the 1600 meter team place eighth (4:22.61) and took fourth in the high jump (5-feet, 1-inch).

The Petoskey St. Michael girls 3200 meter relay team of Jane Manthei, Anna Zielinski, Sydney Feagan and Emma O’Neil also placed 19th (11:05.17).

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Charlevoix's Peterson sets school record at D3 track finals, Petoskey girls 12th in D2