Bickel, Whitlam Earn EQs in Early Season Competitions
- Apr 13
- 5 min read
With the Early Qualifier standards set in place this year by the MHSAA for track and field, several local athletes have already punched a ticket to the state finals in their respective events. For reference, an athlete who meets the qualifying mark secures a spot in the state finals earlier in the season, rather than waiting to qualify solely at the regional competition; this is a new process implemented for the first time in 2025.
Eli Bickel of North Branch met the EQ standard in the discus at the Shake Off The Rust Invitational on Friday at Davison High School, throwing a personal best of 160’-4”: the EQ for D2 is 156’. Bickel’s previous PR was 149’, so watch for big things from the junior this season. Another EQ standard was earned in the pole vault by Kieran Whitlam of Macomb Lutheran North, who jumped 13’-7”, just over the 13’-6” needed, at the Hartland Invitational on Saturday. These gentlemen currently rank first in our area for their field event marks.
“It makes the rest of the season easier,” Whitlam said of achieving an EQ so early in the season. “I can start to come in (to jump) at higher bars with no worries.”
To earn an EQ, there are some stipulations: the meet must be MHSAA-approved, have six or more complete teams, and use FAT (full automated timing - no hand timing allowed). While Sadie Dykstra of Yale and Aubree Deshetsky of North Branch technically met their event standards, it was done at competitions that weren’t EQ-approved; therefore, they’ll have to repeat their performances at another meet. Dykstra high-jumped 5’-4” and long-jumped 18’-2” at the Lapeer Co-Ed Relays, well above the 5’-2” and 16’ needed. Deshetsky threw 38’-10” in the shot put indoors at SVSU in March (EQ 38’) and 131’-5” in the discus (EQ 120’) on April 9 at Flint Powers. Both ladies sit atop the Blue Water Area’s top-ten performance rankings in their respective events.
Vasili Kasparian of Port Huron Northern had a busy week, moving into the top area spot for the boys’ 100-meter dash at the April 9 MAC White duel against Utica Ford (11.43 PR) and the 200-meter dash at the Davison Shake Off The Rust Invitational (23.63). Brett Lestage of Imlay City is a close second on the list in 23.77. Jack May ran a 100-meter PR (11.52) for Macomb Lutheran North on April 12 at the Oak Park Spring Classic, while teammate Isaac Miller ran 23.78. Fellow Mustang Marino Martoni ran his 400 PR of 54.10 to move into the fourth-place ranking on our area list: the majority of current times in this event still stand from the SVSU indoor invitational in March.
Liana Martoni of MLN now tops the girls’ 100-meter dash after her performance of 13.33 (PR) at the Oak Park Spring Classic. Penelope McNutt of North Branch set a PR of 13.62 and joined Ella Swoish, Lily Hurd, and Rowan Conley to run the area’s current fastest 4x100 relay in 54.43 at Davison. Morgan Pillon of PHN ran a 2:35 800-meter run to jump to second in that event on the area performance list behind MLN’s Samantha Whitlam, who ran a 2:24 at the Oak Park Spring Classic.
In the boys’ distance events, more MLN names moved to the top of the list: Xavier Roman ran a 1600 PR on Saturday of 4:36, while Nino Biondo now sits in third with a PR of 4:56. In the 3200, Joshua Macri dipped under ten minutes for a 9:56 PR to top area performances in that event, while Samuel Kochensparger recorded a 10:37 for a PR, as well. Macri, Roman, Jack McMahon, and Vasilios Kirchhoff completed the area’s fastest 4x800 time this week by 43 seconds in 8:27.
The Shake Off The Rust Invitational 1600 produced a lot of personal bests: Port Huron Northern Huskies dropped three guys in the top-ten area list with Grant Davis (5:06 PR), Carson Prone (5:06), and Sawyer Kemp (5:08 PR). Liam Bhatti of Imlay City also ran a PR of 5:08 to make it into the area rankings.
Samantha Langolf had a great week in distance events for the PHN Huskies: she is number one in the area for the girls’ 1600 (5:48 PR) and 3200 (12:04) after this week’s meets. Her teammate Riley Owen is third in the 3200 at 13:05, also her best.
In the hurdling events, the majority of the lists have changed with new entries and times. Brody Corneau of Almont is number one at a boys’ 110-hurdle PR of 16.67, while Evan O'Brien (16.95) and Sam Silva (16.95) of Macomb Lutheran North also sit under 17 seconds. Port Huron Northern’s Cameron Cronce ran a 43.83 PR in the 300-meter hurdles to top that list by almost a second: he also has a 17.37 PR in the 110s.
Girls’ 100 hurdles have Autumn Pratt (17.95/Macomb Lutheran North) and Ella Swoish (18.8/North Branch) in the one-two spots, while Swoish (52.77PR) and Dryden’s Caila Fitchett (53) lead the 300-meter hurdles.
In the relays, Jack May, Clay Thompson, Charles Bates, and Isaac Miller still top the 4x100 list with a recently-lowered time of 44.76 at the Oak Park Spring Classic. Will Haskins subbed into the 4x200 with May, Thompson, and Miller to drop their time to 1:34.62. North Branch put their teams on the list with their 4x200 of Bryce Barkowska, Wyatt Muxlow, Thomas Kann, and Braydon Robinson (1:35.39), while the Broncos’ 4x400 currently tops the area by nine seconds (Barkowska, Valentino Castaneda, Kann, and Robinson) in 3:38.48.
Port Huron Northern’s Kayla Faust, Addison Cruciano, Isabella Nestle, and Sophie Harris recorded the area’s fastest girls’ 4x200 by close to three seconds at the Shake Off The Rust Invitational in 1:54.81. The Huskies also lead in the 4x400 currently, running a 4:28.89 with Olivia Hill, Haley Sharp, Nestle, and Pillon. For the 4x800, it’s MLN’s Avery Stallmann, Bella LaPerriere, Evelyn Buckley, and Chloe Boright in 11:05.
Lincoln Watkins (PHN), Eli Bickel (North Branch), Cameron Gramzow (Anchor Bay), and Noah Wiggin (PHN) top the throws list in both the shot put and the discus. Watkins threw 48’-4"/143'-0"PR, Bickel 47'-9"/160'-4"PR, Gramzow 46’-11.5"PR/150'-5"PR, and Wiggin 45'-9"PR/142'-6"PR. Blake Dudley of Yale jumped a high-jump personal best of 5’10” at Lapeer Friday night to lead all area jumpers this week.
As mentioned previously, Dykstra leads the girls’ jumpers, while Deshetsky tops all girls’ throwers, but there are some other notable performances from this week’s field events. Sophomore Riley Agee of Armada threw 31'-10" in the shot put at Lapeer to take second place (and is second on the area performance list). Katie Gill (North Branch) threw the discus 109'-5", and Ava Klink of Capac 100 feet for a PR at the Brown City Invitational. Armada’s Valeria Ricossa moved into the number two spot on the top-ten list with a high jump of five feet, while Sophie Harris sits at second in the long jump at 15'-10" - a PR - from Port Huron Northern’s MAC White duel meet. Ella Swoish jumped 15'-5" for North Branch at Davison and is currently ranked third in the Blue Water Area.
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