Erie Mason, Summerfield boys bring home Regional track titles

Erie Mason and Summerfield both were crowned as Regional champions in boys track and field Saturday.

Mason dominated the Division 3 Regional at Whiteford and Summerfield captured the Division 4 title at Webberville.

PHOTO GALLERY: Division 3 Regional track and field at Whiteford

Division 3

OTTAWA LAKE – Erie Mason’s boys track and field team will be well represented at the Division 3 state final, qualifying in 10 of the 17 events.

“I couldn't be more proud of the effort they all put in today,” Mason coach Alex Russeau said. “Everyone was focused right from the start and their belief in themselves and their teammates never wavered. This was a team win in every aspect as we scored a point in all 17 events. It goes to show all the hard work that everyone has put in is paying off. Today, they were great.”

Mason ran away with the Regional title, piling up 156.5 points.

Whiteford was a distant second with 98.5. St. Mary Catholic Central was sixth with 40.5 and Ida placed seventh with 40.

Jackson Ansel had a big day for Mason. He won the 800 (2:07.76) and 1,600 (4:37.04) and ran with Gavin Larrow, Jacob Ansel, and Ryan Joyce on the winning 3,200-meter relay (8:25.7).

Other winners for the Eagles were Louden Murbach (high hurdles, personal-best :15.83), Jackson Iocoangeli (high jump 5-10), Alex Langenderfer (pole vault, personal-best 12-3) and Chris Worden (long jump, personal-best 20-1.5).

Bryce Gardiner (second discus), Mark Sweeney (second high jump), the 800 relay of Sweeney, Larrow, Shane Pauwles and Cooper Kinsey (second), and the 400 relay of Kinsey, Landen Nastale, Pauwles and Grant Shadler (third) also qualified for state.

Mason also got thirds from Sweeney (long jump), Murbach (low hurdles) and the 1,600 relay of Nastale, Anderson Kaufman, Iocoangeli and Ansel, and fourths from Aaron Kohen (shot-put), Jacob Ansel (800) and Larrow (400).

Other top 8 finishes came from Ethan Cuschieri, Parker Campbell, and Logan Goodin.

Whiteford’s Jacob Iott won the 400 in :52.98 and anchored the winning 1,600 relay with Dylan Anderson, Ty Ruddy and Ryan Oberle in 3:35.78.

Keegan Masters (second 1,600, second 3,200), Stepan Masserant (second pole vault), Ryan Oberle (third 800), Ethan Emch (third pole vault), Elliott Rodgers (third 3,200, fifth 1,600), Noah Bauman (third discus), Jackson Iott (fifth shot-put), Kyle Gray (fifth discus), Ty Ruddy (sixth 400), Jack Andrews (sixth high jump) and Seamus Waterford (fourth high jump, fifth low hurdles, sixth high hurdles) also had big days for the Bobcats.

SMCC’s Cole Jondro placed second in both the 100 and 200 dashes. He will be joined at the state finals by the 3,200-meter relay of Gabe Iott, Simon VanderVlucht, Henry Barron and Jack Palmer, which finished second.

The Falcons also got strong performances from Iott (fourth 1,600, fifth 800), Evan Marcon (sixth 100, seventh 200) and VanderVlucht (seventh 1,600).

Griffin Harmer (800) and Ty Hathaway (shot-put) of Ida earned trips to state with runner-up finishes. Other Blue Streaks in the top eight were Kirby Carsten (third 400, fourth 200), Cameron Cramer (sixth discus), Hathaway (seventh discus) and Wyatt Dirkmaat (eighth 400).

Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard won the girls championship with 104. SMCC took fourth with 71.5, Whiteford was sixth with 62.5, Ida eighth with 51.5 and Mason wound up ninth with 32.

MaryAlice Lynch of SMCC ran a personal-best :16.87 to win the high hurdles and ran a leg on the winning 400 relay with Madison Ruhlig, Amaya Leslie and Ashley Ruhlig (:52.58).

The 1,600 relay of Macy Carlton, Leslie, Ruhlig and Lauren Conant qualified for state by placing second.

Leslie was third in the 100 and fifth in the long jump, Ruhlig fourth in the long jump, Conant fourth in the high jump and Carlton fifth in the 800.

Annabelle Gapp of Whiteford took first in the low hurdles, running :52.13. Other top finishes for the Bobcats came from Alaina McClain (third 800), Kenzie Gray (third shot-put, third discus), Madelyn Thomas (fourth 400), Aubrie Simmons (fifth 400), Haley Luse (fifth shot-put), Ali Bauman (fifth pole vault), Alena Ellis (sixth high jump) and Rylie DeSilvis (seventh 100).

Ida’s Kaylee Stein took first 800 in 2:23.59 and anchored the second-place 3,200 relay with Tessa Rigel, Emma Mandelka and Katelyn Bydlowski.

Sophia Elmes (third high jump), Rigel (fourth 800), Bydlowski (fifth 3,200), Veronica Sorter (fifth low hurdles, sixth high hurdles), Madison Steinman (sixth shot-put), KacKenzie Laroy (seventh shot-put) and Mandelka (eighth 1,600) also stood out for the Blue Streaks.

Mason’s top finishes came from Beth Sweeney (third low hurdles), Bailey Meiring (third pole vault), Kaylie Bash (fifth 100), Jenna Wright (seventh 400) and Elizabeth Lambert (fifth 1,600, eighth 800).

Division 4

WEBBERVILLE – Summerfield won the third Regional title in school history by scoring 146.5 to slip past Concord with 138.

The meet came down to the discus as the day's final event because of a serious injury during the event earlier in the day with an athlete getting hit in the back of the head with a discus.

Dakota Kohn of Summerfield won the event with a season-best performance of 137-3 and Deshaun Martin took sixth. Both qualified for the state meet.

“We had a really exceptional day,” Summerfield coach Jamie LaRocca said. “They were really excited and it was really fun to watch the final event with the whole team behind my throwers. In 32 years, I've never had it come down to a throwing event for the win.”

Nathan Herrmann won both hurdle races. He was clocked in a personal-best :15.77 in the highs and set a school record by going :39.17 in the lows. Scott Bail set the school record of :40.0 in 1989.

Drew Dafoe (high jump 6-3), Brandon Thompson (400 :52.66), and Dakota Kohn (discus 137-3) won Regional titles for the Bulldogs.

Also qualifying for state were Dafoe (fourth long jump), Roman Iott (second high jump, second long jump), Thompson (second 800, fifth long jump), and Evan Suydam (second 3,200).

Keslyn Cay won the discus for Summerfield’s girls with a toss of 103-6. She also was fourth in the shot-put.

Other Summerfield highlights came from Cameron Taylor (third low hurdles, fifth 100, fifth 200, fifth long jump), Megan Pease (fourth high jump, fifth 400), Alyssa Conley (fourth pole vault), Gabrielle Stout (fifth high hurdles), and Faith Secor (sixth 1,600).

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Erie Mason, Summerfield boys bring home Regional track titles