Distance crew carries Pinckney boys to regional track and field championship
It was a close track and field meet until Pinckney’s distance runners took over.
Pinckney scored 26 points in the 800-meter run and 13 in the 3,200 to pull away and win the Division 2 track and field regional Friday at Milan.
The Pirates, who won a Division 1 regional last year, scored 95 points. Chelsea was second with 73 points, as the second through seventh teams were separated by 15.5 points.
Pinckney had only one state qualifier who didn’t run at least 800 meters. Senior Lucas Pasternak took second in the 300 hurdles in 41.53 seconds.
Senior Caleb Jarema had a hand in 38 points, winning the 800 in 1:58.99 and the 1,600 in 4:25.01 while helping the 3,200 relay team win in 8:09.28. He was a close second in his final event, the 3,200, with a time of 9:46.67.
Colin Snyder, Zach Debeauclair and Ben Richards were also on the winning relay.
Snyder was an additional qualifier in the 1,600 with a time of 4:28.78.
“It was close until we hit the 800,” Pinckney coach Tammy Jarema said. “It was literally within eight points between three teams, and we were in third. In the 800 alone, we took five of the top eight spots. That was huge. We went up by 20 points or something. Then we followed that in the 3,200 and took three out of eight there. The distance crew obviously really did carry us.”
In the girls meet, Pinckney was fifth with 55.5 points. Tecumseh won with 117.
Pinckney sophomore Brielle Reason had a personal-best jump of 17 feet, 5.75 inches to win the long jump.
The Pirates’ other state qualifier was Emma Moore, who took second in the 3,200 in 12:12.85.
Division 2, Regional 19
Fowlerville’s boys finished third with 70 points at Williamston, qualifying four individuals and a relay team for the state meet.
Lorenzo Wojcik and Jack Shrader are going in an individual event and as members of a third-place 400 relay that qualified with a time of 44.24. Evan Atkinson and Owen Presley are also on that team.
Shrader was second in the long jump with a personal-best 20-8. Wojcik was fourth in the 200, meeting the state standard with a time of 23.10.
Trevor Maybee was second in the discus at 128 feet and Adam Aeschliman was second in the pole vault at 11-6.
In the girls meet, Fowlerville placed sixth with 56 points behind an outstanding performance from senior Sarah Litz.
Litz won the 100 hurdles in 16.66, the 300 hurdles in 48.61 and was on the winning 800 relay team with Alana Chappell, Princess Nzaou-Pambou and Fiona Gitulli.
Litz is the first Fowlerville girl to win multiple events at regionals since Ashley Henry won the high jump and long jump in 2003.
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Division 3, Regional 29
Charyl Stockwell’s boys qualified two individuals and a relay team while placing sixth in the regional at Bath.
Mitchell Vaske was second in the 110 hurdles in 16.60 and Andrej Spirko hit the qualifying standard in the high jump, placing fifth at 6 feet.
The 1,600 relay team of Hammond, Spirko, Joe Vance and EJ Worden took second in 3:34.95.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillKhan.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Distance crew carries Pinckney boys to regional track and field title
