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Quincy's Snellenberger and Horsfall earn All-State honors; 22 local athletes compete at MHSAA Track State Finals

troy tennyson, the daily reporter
·6 min read
Quincy's Raigen Horsfall (second from left) and Sophia Snellenberger (third from right) both earned a pair of All State honors. Here they pose on the podium for the shot put where Horsfall took 2nd and Snellenberger finished 3rd
Quincy's Raigen Horsfall (second from left) and Sophia Snellenberger (third from right) both earned a pair of All State honors. Here they pose on the podium for the shot put where Horsfall took 2nd and Snellenberger finished 3rd

A total of 22 athletes from the local area traveled to their respective MHSAA Track and Field state finals sites on Saturday, all looking for postseason glory. Of those 22 total athletes there were nine total All-State honors spread across five individual athletes and a relay team in two different divisions.

Here are the results from all 22 athletes who made the trip to the state finals in their respective divisions.

Division Three

In the Division Three State fInals held at Kent City High School the Quincy Lady Orioles finished in fifth place overall in the team standings with a score of 28 points. All 28 of those points came thanks to a pair of throwers as Sophia Snellenberger and Raigen Horsfall both earned a pair of all state honors.

In the discus it was junior Sophia Snellenberger finishing in second place overall, taking the silver medal with a throw of 140 feet, 4 inches. Her junior teammate Raigen Horsfall also earned all-state honors, finishing in third place overall with a throw of 116 feet, 5 inches to take the bronze. Rylan Finstrom of Grayling won the state championship in the discus with a throw of 145 feet, 2 inches.

In the shot put the duo switched places, with Horsfall taking runner-up honors in the event with a throw of 39 feet, 9 inches, a new personal record. Snellenberger also earned a spot on the podium, finishing in third place overall with at throw of 39 feet, 3 inches. Grace Elliott of Sand Creek took home the state championship in the shot put, winning with a throw of 40 feet, 4.25 inches.

Also competing for the Quincy Lady Orioles was senior Nikkia Cronk who finished in seventeenth place overall in the 100 meter dash in her final race as a Quincy Oriole. Cronk crossed the finish line in the 100 in a time of 13.30 seconds. Kylee Poulton of Holland Black River won the state championship in the 100 in a time of 12.28 seconds.

Also competing in the girls portion of the state championship were a pair of freshman hurdlers, with Union City’s Nevada Gillons (100 meter hurdles) and Bronson’s Jaiden Hayes (300 meter hurdles).

Hayes led the hurdler duo in terms of placement, finishing in fifteenth place overall in the 300 hurdles in a time of 51.50 seconds.

Gillons finished in seventeenth place overall in the 100 hurdles for Union City, doing so in a time of 18.05 seconds. Saige Martin of Pewamo-Westphalia won the state championship in both the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, winning the 100 hurdle state title in a time of 15.45 seconds and the 300 hurdle state championship in 46.24 seconds.

On the boys side of the competition two individual throwers and a relay team competed from right here in Branch County.

Quincy’s 400 meter relay team of Tae’Sean Bodley, Bryce Bellamy, Ethan Hollister and Ben Schreur turned in a season best effort in their thirteenth place finish, crossing the finish line in a time of 45.30 seconds. The 400 meter relay state championship was won by the team from Madison Heights Bishop Foley who won in a time of 44.38 seconds.

In the throwing events it was Union City sophomore Logan Cole finishing in eleventh place overall in the discus after tossing out a throw of 136 feet, 3 inches. Kellen Kimes of Hart won the state championship in the discus with a throw of 165 feet, 10 inches.

In the shot put it was Bronson senior Jordan Shadix finishing in seventeenth place overall after unleashing a throw of 44 feet, 3.50 inches. Andrew Quinn of Mason County Central won the state championship in the shot put with a throw of 61 feet, 1.50 inches.

Division One

Coldwater's Avery Boyce competed at the D1 State Finals in the pole vault on Saturday
Coldwater's Avery Boyce competed at the D1 State Finals in the pole vault on Saturday

The Coldwater Lady Cardinals had one athlete make the trip to Rockford High School to compete in the Division One State Finals as senior Avery Boyce made the trip to compete in the pole vault.

Boyce had a solid state finals meet, finishing in nineteenth place overall with a vault of 9 feet, 3 inches. Sophia Mettes of Dexter won the state championship in the pole vault, winning with a vault of 13 feet, 0 inches.

Division Four

In the Division Four state finals at Hudsonville the Athens Lady Indians finished in seventh place overall in the team standings with 24 points.

Athens had five all-state performances, led by senior middle distance ace Sara Nobach who claimed a pair of individual all state honors. Nobach finished in third place overall in the 400 meter dash in a time of 59.52 seconds, a season best time, while also finishing in fifth place in the 200 meter dash in a time of 27.35 seconds.

The defending Division Four 100 meter hurdle state champion, Jocelyn Hall, finished with second place honors this season, taking the runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles in a time of 15.96 seconds.

Also earning individual all state honors was senior Abby Youmans who finished in eighth place in the shot put with a personal best throw of 34 feet, 11 inches.

Athens also earned all-state honors in the 400 meter relay with a team of Kenneddi Cromwell, Jocelyn Hall, Sara Nobach and Kami Parlin who finished in fourth place in a time of 52.40 seconds.

Rounding out the Athens state championship effort was Kenneddi Cromwell, twenty-first place in the 100 in a time of 13.90 seconds, fifteenth place in the 200 in a time of 28.20 seconds, and fourteenth place in the 400 in a time of 1 minute, 4.21 seconds; Kylie Quist with an eleventh place finish in the 800 in a time of 2 minutes, 31.13 seconds and ninth place in the 1600 in a time of 5 minutes, 36.19 seconds; the 1600 relay team of Mckenzie Miller, Kylie Quist, Sara Nobach and Zoey Williams, twelfth place in a time of 4 minutes, 25.96 seconds; the 3200 relay team of Miller, Quist, Williams and Alina Sprung, ninth place in a time of 10 minutes, 32.10 seconds; and Emma Dexter, thirteenth place in the shot put with a throw of 32 feet, 2 inches.

Competing for the Tekonsha/Marshall Academy Indians in the girls portion of the state finals was Marshall Academy junior Dani VanLente who finished in twenty-first place in the 3200 meter run in at time of 13 minutes, 3.01 seconds.

in the boys portion of the Division Four state championship there were three local athletes competing in four different events.

Tekonsha’s Wyatt Blashfield finished in fifteenth place in the discus, doing so with a throw of 118 feet, 4 inches. In a truly spectacular effort at the state finals, Carson City Crystal’s Zane Forist took home the state championship in the discus with a personal best throw of 200 feet, 4 inches. Forist also won the shot put with a throw of 67 feet, 5 inches.

Athens saw sophomore Landon Bennett compete in two different events, taking twenty-fifth place in a time of 47.39 seconds and fifteenth place in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet, 8 inches.

Athens’ Brock Milam qualified for the state finals in the long jump but did not register a distance.

For full results for all four MHSAA State Championship meets please visit mhsaa.com or search up the individual schools on athletic.net.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Quincy's Snellenberger and Horsfall earn All-State; 22 local athletes compete at Track State Finals