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Track & Field Roundup: Buckley's Aiden Harrand sets fastest 1600-meter time in Michigan for 2023 at TC Central's Ken Bell Invitational

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

May 6—TRAVERSE CITY — Aiden Harrand didn't just win the 1600-meter race at the Ken Bell Invitational on Friday. The Buckley junior didn't just set a personal record or just run a sub-five-minute time or just dust the competition by nearly 23 seconds.

Sure, Harrand did all of that as she took first place at the annual competition that brought 16 schools to Traverse City Central High School. But her time of 4:50.61 is now the fastest in the entire state of Michigan for the 2023 season. Her nearest competitor was Traverse City St. Francis' Sophia Rhein, who finished second with a time of 5:13.32.

Harrand also won the 800-meter run handily as she finished with a time of 2:12.91 to TC Central's Kathleen Venhuizen, who ran a season-best time of 2:22.56. Harrand also ran the anchor leg of the Bears' 4x400 relay team of Brooklyn Frazee, Kinsey Peer and sister Addisen Harrand that placed third with a 4:13.87. East Kentwood won that relay in 4:10.39 with Traverse City Central's team of Kylie Ball, Iali Rodenroth, Lola Reimers and Venhuizen taking second at 4:12.03.

East Kentwood has been a perennial winner at the Ken Bell, and Friday was no different as the Falcons won both the boys and girls team titles.

East Kentwood won the boys division with 188 points to Traverse City West's 107.33 and Traverse City Central's 72. Petoskey finished fifth with 50.5 points followed by Buckley in sixth, Manton in seven, St. Francis in eighth, Benzie Central in ninth and Kingsley to round out the top 10.

The Falcons won the girls division with 165 points, more than 100 better than runner-up Petoskey, which had 63.5 points. Manistee and Buckley tied for fourth with 56 followed by St. Francis in sixth with 53, TC Central in seven, Elk Rapids in eighth and Kingsley in ninth.

As far as individual winners go, Harrand wasn't the only Buckley Bear to secure a gold medal as Frazee, a freshman, won the 100-meter dash in 13.15 with Elk Rapids' Hunter Shellenbarger taking second in 13.3. Frazee was second in the 200m with a PR run of 26.69 and the 400m as Shellenbarger won the 400m with a time of 1:00.76.

Although Rhein finished second to Harrand in the 1600m, she won the 3200m in 11:20.52 as Petoskey's Nora O'Leary placed second with a PR run of 11:21.95.

Petoskey's Sarah Bailey won the 100m hurdles in 16.61 with Kingsley's Norah Galton taking third in 17.4. Ball took second in the 300m hurdles for TC Central as the area's top finisher.

East Kentwood took all four relay races with Petoskey second and St. Francis third in the 4x100, Petoskey taking second and Manistee third in the 4x200, and St. Francis taking second and Elk Rapids third in the 4x800.

In the field events, St. Francis' Maya Padisak won the long jump by a half foot, leaping 16-1. Benzie's Gloria Stepanovich finished third at 15-3. Manistee's Brooke Jankwietz was the area's top finisher in shot put with a throw of 32-10.5 and teammate Madalyn Wayward set a personal record with a throw of 104-10 to finish third in the discus. Manistee's Libby McCarthy was the top area finisher in the high jump, clearing 4-10 to take second. Kingsley's Kati Smith cleared 10 feet to claim second in the pole vault.

On the boys side, TC West's Ben Habers set a PR and won the 200m with a 22.72 followed by Buckley's Nick Simon in second with a 23.29. Habers also set a PR in the 400m with 51 seconds flat but finished second to East Kentwood's Malachi Mosley. TC Central's Asher Paul was third with a PR time of 52.05. Jonah Hochstetler and Wally Tupper joined Habers as Titan winners. Hochstetler took first in the 800m at 1:54.67 with Manton's Nolan Moffit in third with a PR time of 2:02.43. Tupper was first in the 300m hurdles with a PR times of 39.81.

The Titans won three of the four relays as the 4x100m team of Chase Weston, Drew Esper, Jacob Hagerman and Aiden Orth nabbed gold in 44.55 with Petoskey placing second. Habers, Hagerman, Weston and Orth ran a 1:31.41 to with the 4x200, and Habers, Hochstetler, Aaryn Stallworth and Tupper won the 4x400 in 3:29.84 with Buckley taking third. East Kentwood won the 4x800 with St. Francis taking second and TC Central third.

TC Central's Ryan Stawski took the title in the pole vault, clearing 12 feet. Benzie's Noah Murphy was third at 11 feet. Benzie did get a win in the long jump as Jacob Evans leaped 20-1.75 for first with Manton's Andrew Phillips in third at 19-4.

Top area boys finishers who didn't win included Petoskey's Sam Mitas (second) and Weston (third) in the 100m; TC Central's Jett Reimers (second) in the 1600m; TC West's Willem DeGood (second) and TC Central's Caleb Keller (third) in the 3200; Tupper (third) in the 110m hurdles; Manton's Carter Helsel (second) and Buckley's Tyler Apple (third) in the shot put; Kingsley's Chase Bott (second) and Elk Rapids' Ryan McGuire (third) in the discus; and Moffit (second) in the high jump.

TRACK & FIELD

Titan girls win Bay City Western Invite

BAY CITY — The Traverse City West varsity girls team took home the team championship at Friday's Bay City Western Invitational.

The Titans won eight events en route to the overall title.

Arianna Stallworth took first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.56 seconds. She grabbed the runner-up spot in the 200m. In the 400m, Reese Smith earned first place for the Titans as the freshman ran a personal-record time of 59.94.

Ava King won both the 800m and the 1600m races, running a PR time of 2:17.92 in the 800m and a PR times of 5:04.09 in the 1600m. Smith placed third in the 800m for West. In the 300m hurdles, Charlise Schulz took third.

The Titan relay squad of Stallworth, Emily Kelsey, Katie Rueckert and Kiera Murphy won the 4x100 in 51.88. The Titans also won 4x800 as Alyssa Fouchey, Smith, King and Abby Viet ran a 9:36.68.

In the field events, Avery Lahti won gold for West in the shot put with a hurl of 37-9. The junior also won the long jump with a leap of 15-9.5.

Frankfort girls, Glen Lake boys win Bobcat Invite

BRETHREN — The Frankfort girls varsity team and the Glen Lake boys varsity squad won the Bobcat Invitational at Brethren on Friday as Grand Traverse Academy finished second overall in both divisions.

The Panthers won the girls division with 165 points to GTA's 109 and Glen Lake's 82.5. The Lakers won the boys with 107 points to GTA's 91 and Mason County Eastern's 88.

Frankfort's Sofia Alaimo won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes with a 12.94 and 26.7, both personal records for the freshman. Forest Area's Meagan Lange won the 400m in 1:04.32, and Glen Lake's Ruby Hogan earned gold in the 800m in 2:29.64. Hogan also won the 1600m with a 5:35.64, and GTA's Petra Foote took first in the 3200 at 12:14.09. Frankfort's Grace Wolfe set a PR in the 300m hurdles to win with a 51.99. Frankfort won the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relay races as GTA won the 4x800.

Brethren's Maddy Biller took home gold in the shot put at 33-4.5, and Frankfort's Paige Willman won the discus with a throw of 101-1. GTA's Ava Wendel took first in the high jump, clearing 4-8, and fellow Mustang Jocelyn Stephen won the long jump at 15-2.

On the boys side, GTA's Levi Schultz won the 200m with a PR time of 24.18. Brethren's Lucas Stapley won the 110m hurdles with a PR run of 16.96, and Glen Lake's Tyler Bixby placed first in the 300m hurdles at 44.91. Frankfort won the 4x100 and 4x400 relays as Glen Lake took the 4x200 and 4x800.

Glen Lake's Warren Aylsworth III took gold on the shot put with a throw of 43-1.5, and Bellaire's Jayden Hanson was first in the discus with a PR throw of 127 feet.

GTA's Weston Kinney won the high jump at 6 feet, and Frankfort's Emmerson Farmer was tops in the long jump at 19-10.

Cadillac's Johns wins 2 golds at Shepherd BLUEJAY Invite

SHEPHERD — Makenzie Johns picked up wins 10 and 11 on the season as the Cadillac junior thrower won both the shot put and discus as the Shepherd BLUEJAY Invitational on Friday.

Johns threw a 36-9.5 to win the shot put and 116-10 to win the discus.

Fellow Vikings Madisyn Lundquist also picked up a gold, taking first in the pole vault after clearing 10 feet.

Gaylord hosts Blue Devil Classic at Gaylord

GAYLORD — The Gaylord Blue Devils had a successful day at their home classic as they won 10 events, nine of those in the girls division.

The Gaylord girls got wins for Ana Fortier in the 100- and 200-meter dashes with times of 13.35 and a personal-record 27.49 seconds, respectively. Katie Berkshire grabbed gold in the 1600m at 5:24.14 and the 3200m at 11:23.45. Lauren Rigney won the 300m hurdles in a PR time of 49.95. The Blue Devils also won the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Ella Moylan won the shot put at 32-10 and the discus with a PR throw of 93-7.

Gaylord St. Mary's Miriam Murrell won the 800m with a time of 2:33.04. Harbor Springs won the 4x800 relay with Gaylord taking second. East Jordan's Madelyn Hardy won the long jump at 14-7.

On the boys side, the lone Gaylord winner was Gage Looker, who threw a 48-4.5 in the shot put.

Grayling's Ethan Kucharek won the 800m in 2:05.57, and the Viking 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams also took first. Grayling's Kaleb Hall launched the discus 111-1 win the event.