The 2024 MITS Indoor State Championships take place on Saturday, February 24 at the Lincoln Athletic Building (LAB) in Ypsilanti, and several athletes from the Blue Water Area have met the qualifying standards for competition: a few even top the performance lists in their respective events.
In boys’ field events, sophomore Matthew Bacholzky (Almont) ranks in the top seven for the triple jump with a leap of 38’-6.25”, well beyond the qualifying standard of 33 feet. His fellow Raider teammate Chase Battani, a junior, is ranked second in the pole vault at a season-best of 15 feet, close to a foot above most of the remaining competition and two feet above the qualifying standard of 13 feet. Last year’s Division 4 pole vault state runner-up, Logan Malloy (Marlette), also qualified in 13’-6”. Port Huron Northern’s Isaiah Lopez (junior) has qualified in the high jump with a best of 6’2”: he is one of only twenty boys to jump the six-foot standard.
On top of the girls’ field events performance list is senior Janae Hudson of Marysville, last year’s Division 2 state champ in the shot put. She is one of only four girls to have thrown beyond 40 feet this indoor season. Her record thus far is 42’-1.5", besting the necessary mark to qualify by over ten feet (32’). She also has qualified in the discus, throwing 122’-7”: she is currently seeded sixth. Lainee Wagner of Richmond has qualified in the shot put with a throw of 32'-11". Alysia Goudelock of Anchor Bay high-jumped 5'-1" to qualify in her event.
On the track, senior Ethan Dinanath of North Branch is qualified in the boys’ 60-meter dash (7.34; standard is 7.35), senior Aiden Champagne (Anchor Bay) punched his ticket in the 400-meter dash (52.42; qualifying is 53), and Marysville senior Trent Glass dipped below the two-minute mark in the 800, running a 1:59 (qualifying is 2:03). The lone girls’ qualifier for a track event (to our knowledge) is senior Casidhe Flesher of Marine City: she has run a 62.18 in the 400-meter dash, just meeting the mark of 62.5. She narrowly missed qualifying in the 200-meter dash as well, running a 27.57 to the required 27.50.
When it comes to distance events, Anchor Bay’s Thomas Westphal - a senior - is once again at the top of the rankings with a 1600-meter time of 4:17 and a 3200-meter time of 9:26. His teammate Zachary Rubicz also qualified in the 1600 (4:31). Macomb Lutheran North’s Brewer Snay (senior) also qualified in the 3200, running 9:43 to dip under the required qualifying time of 9:45. It is worth noting that Levi Fitchett, an eighth-grader from Dryden running for Team Tater Trots (which is perhaps the GREATEST indoor club name ever), met the necessary standard of 5:30 in the boys’ middle school 1600 with a time of 5:16. The same is true for eighth-grade girl Alannah Wessel (MACH), who ran a time of 5:33, well below the qualification mark of 6:15.
The 16 Ways Track Club out of Macomb has several relay teams qualified: their boys’ 4x200 (1:35) and 4x400 (3:22) and their A and B teams in the Sprint Medley Relay (3:41 and 3:51). Their girls’ 4x400 has also qualified (4:20). The BIM Runners out of St. Clair have a boys’ Distance Medley Relay qualified at 11:24, consisting of members Vinny Schweihofer, Jerry Westrick, Dylan Schumnann, and Dylan Distelrath.
Best wishes to all our Blue Water Area athletes competing this weekend!
For more MITS Indoor Championship information, including a schedule of events and ticket purchases, visit https://www.labtrackclub.com/event-details/2024-mits-indoor-state-championships
Click here to view a full list of the qualifying standards and all competing athletes:
For athlete registration, go to https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/522937/register