Friday marked the 2022 track and field regional meets with St. Joseph County’s athletes split up between four sites. The top two finishers in an event and those others with a strong enough finish advance to the state meet in two weeks.
Sturgis competed at Regional #3 hosted by Portage Central, placing 13th as a boys team with 16 points and 11th as a girls team with 27. Three Trojans found their way to state with Keyanna O’Tey earning a regional title for the Sturgis girls with the fastest 100m time of 12.98.
Korin Whitcomb took the gold in the high jump with a personal record mark of 5’7”. Whitcomb nearly qualified in two events, placing third in the 100m hurdles at 16.82.
Rasean O’Tey was the lone boy qualifier for the Trojans, making it with a second place 22.85 time in the 200m meter run.
Full results from Regional #3 here.
Three Rivers competed at Regional 14 at Berrien Springs, finishing fourth as a girls team at 70 and 10th for boys at 24.5. Few individuals were as impressive Friday statewide as Kylin Griffin, earning three golds and a silver.
Griffin claimed the 100m with a 12.60 time, the 200m with a 26.10 mark, and the 400m with a Three Rivers school-record time of 59.06. Griffin joined Gisell Macedo, Paige McDonald, and Kennady Cottingham in qualifying for state in the 4×200 relay with a second place 1:47.24.
McDonald also was a regional champ individually, claiming the 300m hurdles with a PR of 48.48. Anezka Pradna punched a ticket to state with a second place 12:27.42 time in the 3200m.
The Wildcats qualified one boy to state in Noah Humbert, whose 13-06.00 PR was good for second in the pole vault.
Full results from Regional #14 here.
Centreville and Constantine took part in Regional #24 at Lawton. The Bulldogs were boys team champions with a score of 100 with the Falcons second at 95. Centreville took second for girls at 72 behind the host Lawton (132.5). Constantine’s girls placed fourth at 60.
Individually for the Bulldog boys, Joshua Falkenstein claimed gold in the 400m at 51.45 and Tyler Swanwick qualified for state with a 6’0” high jump, taking second place.
Centreville had three first place relay squads. The 4×200 of Swanwick, Falkenstein, Dylan Coney, and Jacob Falkenstein ran 1:32.69. The 4×400 with the Falkensteins, Swanwick, and Ethan Miller finished 3:28.25. The 4×400 relay of Miller, Swanwick, Logan Weis, and Chaseton Wyckoff ran 8:39.8.
The 4×100 of Coney, Gavin Bunning, Matt Truckenmiller, and Cody Marshall was third at 45.66, fast enough to hit the state qualifying mark of 45.80.
For the Bulldog girls, Gabrielle Bowen was regional champion in both hurdles events with a 17.15 time in the 100m and 49.72 in the 300m. Isabella Kangas picked up gold with a 5’4” high jump mark.
Bowen joined Izzabella Kessler, Zoe Miller, and Jade Kuhbander on the second place 4×200 relay at 1:51.69. Centreville also had third place 4×100 and 4×400 relay finishes but just missed out on the state mark for both.
For Constantine, Brayden Clark earned a state trip with a second place 11.97 mark in the boys 100m. Dean Topolski took second in the 400m at 52.41. Ethan Glick grabbed silver with a 10:50.00 in the 3200m. Bennett VandenBerg qualified in the discus with a second place 142’3”.
The Falcon boys also qualified the 4×400 relay of Topolski, Julian Hawthorne, Charles Morris, and Collin Featherstone with a second place 3:29.81.
Caterina Thelen made it to state in two events for the Constantine girls, placing second in pole vault at 8’0” and second in shot put at 34’5”.
Full results from Regional 24 here.
Lastly, Mendon, Colon, and White Pigeon made their way to Regional #35 at Hillsdale College. The Magi tied for the fourth best boys team score at 61 with WP seventh at 41 and the Hornets tied for eighth at 38. Mendon placed sixth for girls at 61, followed by Colon seventh at 48 and the Chiefs eighth at 31.
Colon’s Alexander Stoll won regional champ in the 110m hurdles with a 15:04 and grabbed state berths with second places in the 100m (11.54) and 200m (23.06). Stoll’s fourth place 42.35 run in the 300m also hit the state qualifying standard. Simon Vinson took gold with a 20-02.50 long jump mark. Kodey Dodey secured silver in the 800m at 2:04.73.
For the Magi girls, Sydney Taylor placed second in the 100m at 13.60 and Noemi Cester finished second in the 3200m with a 12:16.80 time.
Mendon’s Jack McCaw qualified for state in three events. McCaw was a boys regional champion in the 100m at 11.45 and earned a state spot in the 200m with his fourth-place 23.47 mark. In the long jump, he placed second at 19-09.00.
Presley Allen claimed two regional titles for the Hornet girls with a 5:17.72 personal record time in the 1600m and 11:34.39 mark in the 3200m. Keyara Szymanski took gold in the discus at 102-11. Szymanski also hit the shot put qualifying standard with a third-place mark of 32-01.50.
Individually for White Pigeon’s boys, Seth Miller took second in the shot put at 43-03.00. The Chiefs also picked up state spots with second place finishes in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays. The 4×100 was Braxton Neeley, Dylan Carper, Caleb Lane, and Mekhi Singleton at 46.50. The 4×200 at 1:38.15 was Neeley, Carper, Lane, and Todd Hollingsworth.
Full results from Regional #35 here.
The MHSAA state championship meets are scheduled for Saturday, June 4. Visit the MHSAA website for details on each division.