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Regional roundup: Petoskey girls win Division 2 track and field regional

brendan quealy, the record-eagle, traverse city, mich.
·4 min read

May 22—CHARLEVOIX — The Division 2 track and field meet that was supposed to be held at Gaylord High School on Saturday was moved to Charlevoix after Friday's devastating storms ravaged parts of northern Michigan

The horrific tornado that ripped through Gaylord and claimed the lives of two people, injured dozens of others and disrupted the lives of thousands made it impossible for Gaylord to host the regional meet. Charlevoix and Gaylord school district officials worked together to move Saturday's event to the home of the Rayders.

The Petoskey varsity girls track and field team emerged victorious, claiming the team regional title as well as several individual championships as well. The Northmen tallied 123 points to runner-up Alma's 109.5. Other area teams competing on the girls side included Cadillac, which finished fourth with 89.5 points, Kingsley, which finished eighth with 48 points, and Gaylord, which took 13th with nine points.

Petoskey's Noel Vanderwall won multiple individual regional championships, taking the 1600-meter run in 5:08.26 and the 3200-meter run in 11:10.64. The Northmen took the top three spots in the 3200 as CamBrie Corey and Caroline Farley qualified for the state meet in second and third place, respectively.

The Petoskey 4x200 relay team also won a regional title. Gretchen Woodbury, Claudia Whitmore, Isabel Habecker and Alison Bailey combined to run a 1:49.78 to take first place. So did the Northmen's 4x800 relay team. Corey, Farley, Madeline Loe and Vanderwall ran a 9:48.65 to capture the regional championship by more than six seconds.

Kingsley runner Lauren Wooer took the 300-meter hurdle race by just two-hundredths of a second to capture a regional championship, running a 48.73 to Big Rapids' Makenna Rautio's 48.75.

Kingsley's Kelsey Saxton also took home regional gold. The sophomore cleared 9-9 in the pole vault to take first place and qualify for state. Teammate Kati Smith cleared 9-6 in the event to also make it to state.

Cadillac's Lindsey Tonello dominated in the long jump to claim regional championship glory, besting the runner-up by 11 inches with a jump of 16-10.25.

Other girls qualifiers included the Cadillac 4x100 relay team of Julia Jezak, Hanah Johnson, Madisyn Lundquist and Tonello; the Petoskey 4x400 relay team of Woodbury, Faith Bailey, Madison Loe and Alison Bailey; Cadillac's Makenzie Johns in the shot put; and Lundquist in the pole vault.

On the boys side, Freeland earned 124 points to win the regional championship as the Petoskey boys finished tied for second place with Gladwin at 98 points. Kingsley took fifth with 65 points, Gaylord was not far behind in sixth place with 60 points, and Cadillac earned a top-10 spot in ninth with 34 points.

Gaylord's Russell Hush overcame the trauma of seeing parts of his hometown destroyed to win a regional title in the 300-meter hurdle race and qualify for state. Hush finished just .04 seconds ahead of Ludington's Caleb Smith, running a 41.64 to Smith's 41.68.

The Northmen's 4x200 relay team of Cam Adams, Rippin Vining, Gavin Wargel and CJ Hibbler grabbed a regional crown, winning the race by more than a second and a half in 1:32.08. Hibbler, Shane Izzard, Brady Ewing and Samuel Smith pushed Petoskey to a regional title in the 4x400, running a 3:34.48.

Kingsley's Riley Brock bested his next closest competitor in the shot put by more than a foot and a half. Brock set a personal record with a throw of 49-5.5 to win a regional title and qualify for state. Brock also won the discus, and he did so in dominating fashion. The senior Stag set another PR with a launch of 152 feet, just shy of 21 feet better than second place.

Gage Hessem joined his fellow Stag in regional championship glory. The Kingsley senior won the high jump with a 6-4 leap and will head to state.

Other qualifiers on the boys side include Izzard in the 800-meter; Petoskey's Avery Timm in the 110-meter hurdles; the Petoskey 4x100 relay team of Hibbler, Wargel, Vining and Kendall Pederson; Cadillac's 4x400 relay team of Carter Harsh, Teegan Baker, Matteo Letizio and Caden Windover; and the Petoskey 4x800 relay team of Izzard, Reese Marvin, Cooper Rokop and Smith.

Team state finals take place this coming weekend, while the D2 individual state finals are set for June 4 at Forest Hills Eastern High School.