The first round of May invitationals kicked off this past weekend and it’s that time of year when athletes’ training and performances start to come together and personal bests are frequently achieved. Here are some highlights from Friday, May 3- Saturday, May 4, 2024, from track and field invitationals hosted or attended by Blue Water Area teams.
Anchor Bay Invitational
Thomas Westphal set the school record in the 800-meter run in 1:54.41; he currently sits at number three in Division 1 in this event. The leading time is a scorching 1:49, set by Brendan Herger of Northville Central, who (along with Grand Haven’s Seth Norder and Westphal) is also in the top three on the 1600 performance list. Luke VanderHeuvel (2:00.76) and Grant Gonser (2:01.66) of Port Huron Northern dropped PRs, as did Jack Howell of St. Clair (2:02.15) and Austin Trudeau of Port Huron (2:05.86). Miley Caughel (Port Huron Northern) was 9th in the ladies’ race in 2:39, a personal best.
The 1600 had Isaac Zammit of Marine City Cardinal Mooney taking second in his personal best of 4:26.97, which now ranks him fifth in the state for Division 4. There were quite a few local runners who did the same: Joshua Macri (8th; 4:44.15 PR) and Xavier Roman (10th; 4:46 PR) of Macomb Lutheran North, Gabe Rusch of Anchor Bay (11th; 4:47 SR), and Vinny Schweihofer (4:51.03 SR) and Ethan Kreger (4:53.90 PR) of St. Clair all dipped under five minutes. For the girls’ 1600, Lauren Thomas of Anchor Bay and Hailey Sharp of Port Huron Northern battled it out at the finish for fourth and fifth, respectively, with Thomas finishing in 5:47.59 and Sharp in 5:47.64. Evelyn Buckley of MLN was ninth in 5:53.9 (PR) and Molly McNabb of St. Clair was tenth in 5:54 (PR) to wrap up the local ladies under six minutes.
The 3200-meter run saw some newsworthy performances also. Dylan Distelrath had a massive 26-second time drop, running to the win in 9:44.25 and onto the top-ten list at St. Clair High School, which is a pretty impressive group of all-staters including a cross country state champ (Addis Habtewold). Distelrath just outkicked Anchor Bay’s Zachary Rubicz, who came in second in 9:44.54, also his personal best by over ten seconds. Zammit was third (9:47.4) and is ranked fifth in D4 in this event. The top three athletes ran their races in negative splits, completing the second mile faster than the first. Other PRs under 11 minutes included Anchor Bay’s Greg Vogt (4th; 9:57.57), Carson Prone of PHN (8th; 10:24.92), Jamison Snay of Macomb Lutheran North (13th; 10:39.43), Brayden Prieskorn of St. Clair (15th; 10:53.14), and Samuel Kochensparger of Macomb Lutheran North (18th; 10:57.8).
Samantha Langolf of Port Huron Northern led the local female two-milers with a third-place finish in 12:28 (PR). Kayla Lange of Anchor Bay was fourth (12:32 PR), Stella Behnan of Marine City Cardinal Mooney was fifth (12:36 PR), Avery Stallman of Macomb Lutheran North was seventh (12:45 PR), and Maddie Leslie almost squeezed under the 13-minute mark, finishing eighth in 13:00.82 for Anchor Bay. Maya Ferguson of MCCM was ninth in 13:04.
More personal bests were set by Aiden Champagne and Brandon Ziehmer, who were third and sixth in the 400-meter finals, with Champagne running 53.19 and Ziehmer 54.39. Freshman Iyanna Brown did the same thing for the Tars in the ladies’ race in 64.25, while St. Clair’s Aubrey Sargent had her season-best in second place (64.75). Port Huron Northern’s Isabella Nestle was fifth in 66.58, a season record for her. Gerry Hanson was fourth in the boys'100 finals (11.51) for Anchor Bay while Sophie Harris of Port Huron Northern snagged the last spot in the girls' finals to take seventh in 13.81. Brooklyn Shadley was third in the 200 in 27.77 for the Tars.
Jonah Konarz (Anchor Bay) once again won both hurdles events: the 110-meter hurdles in 15.75 and the 300-meter hurdles in 40.45. The 4x400 team from Anchor Bay of Champagne, Konarz, Westphal, and Ziehmer ran 3:31.21 to take third place but moved into the number-one spot on the Blue Water Area performance list. Port Huron Northern’s team of VanderHeuvel, Andrew Becker, Kenny Thomas, and Gonser were a split-second behind them in fourth (3:33.48) and moved up to the second-place spot for Blue Water Area teams. The Port Huron team of Owen Palmer, Jaedyn Carswell, Travon Thompson, and Austin Trudeau moved into the list with a time of 3:41.02. They were sixth at the Anchor Bay Invitational.
Shepherd Bluejay Invitational
Marine City Cardinal Mooney’s Tyler Lenn ran in a stacked 3200, with the top three boys running under 9 minutes. Lenn finished 24th in 9:23, which moved him to the number one spot in the Blue Water Area Top-10 performance list.
Goodrich Invitational
The Goodrich Invitational was scored by large and small school divisions, with North Branch and Yale falling into the large division. Ethan Dinanath of North Branch was second in the 100 (11.61), 200 (23.66), and 400-meter dash, breaking the 52-second barrier to run 51.81. He joined Bryce Barkowska, Valentino Castaneda, and Thomas Kann to win the 4x400-meter relay in 3:36. Kann was also third in the 800 (2:04.65). Micheal Gorman was fourth in the 100 (11.83) and helped the 4x100 relay take second. Levi Opperman continued his impressive freshman vaulting, clearing 9-06 to take third in the pole vault. Eli Bickel was the champ in the discus (128-07) and third in the shot put (42-01), besting Zack Haywood of Yale (3rd; 123-11/6th; 40-02).
Speaking of the Bulldogs, Yale’s Ty Laforest won the long jump in his personal best of 19-10. He was also fifth in the 200 (24.35). Giovanni Pardo-Keegan (2:02.24) and Acer Campbell (2:02.84 PR) were one-two in the 800, separated by fractions of a second. Pardo-Keegan was second in the 1600 in his PR (4:27.16) and Wyatt Murtos was third in 4:46. Teddy Rutkofske was fourth in the 3200 in his best of 10:48.55. Brett Bearss picked up a runner-up finish in the 300 hurdles (44.42) and Murtos, Pardo-Keegan, Bearss, and Mikey Cowhy were third in the 4x400. They ran 3:43.26. The Bulldogs easily claimed the 4x800 relay in 8:25l, running 24 seconds faster than the second-place team: Blake Ferguson, Pardo-Keegan, Campbell, and Murtos were on that relay team.
For the Lady Broncos, Grace Clemens won the 100, 200, and 4x100. She ran 12.59, 26.02, and 51.79 across the three events. Aubree Deshetsky was part of the winning sprint relay (along with Sarah Munro and Rowan Conley) and won the discus (100-00.5) and shot put (36-07). North Branch’s 4x100 sits atop the area leaderboard.
In the 100-meter hurdles, Sadie Dykstra of Yale paced the field with a 15.8, followed by her teammate Keirra Taube (16.79) and North Branch’s Clara Gyomory in a close chase for third (16.82 PR). The scene played out in the 300 hurdles as well: Dykstra ran her personal best of 46.85 (and currently leads the state in Division 2), while Taube was second in 49.3 and Gyomory fourth in 53.36. Dykstra, Taube, Julia Ferguson, and Madeline Sepsey teamed up to drop a blistering 4x400 relay time in 4:13, which leads the area by eight seconds and ranks them seventh in the state at the time of this article. Dykstra won the long jump in 17-03, with her teammate Elizabeth Ford taking second in her season-best jump of 14-10.75.
Reese Invite
Cros-Lex’s Eva Thompson completed the distance double at the Reese Invite in convincing fashion, winning the 1600 in 5:13 and the 3200 in 11:36, which put her at the top of the Blue Water Area Top-10 performance list in both events. She also contributed to the winning 4x800 meter relay with Morgan Newton, Brynn Hurley, and Abagayle Barkley in 10:14. The Pioneers lead area teams in this relay as well. Newton was on the winning 4x400 relay with Elizabeth Stanfield, Cora Katulski, and Ava Oleski in 4:24, along with running her season-best in the 800 meters to win in 2:24.83. Barkley and Hurley were two-three in the 3200 (12:12/12:57) and fifth/seventh in the 1600 (5:53/6:03): Barkley ran her PR in both.
In the sprints, Oleski took first in the 200 (27.7) and Stanfield was fourth in the 400 (64.92). Ashton Temple was fifth in the 100-meter dash (13.7 PR). Katelyn Welter and Jennifer Baldwin were fourth and fifth in the shot put, with Welter throwing 29-07 and Baldwin 29-06. Christina Seghi was runner-up in the pole vault for the Pioneers in 8’.
Ava Klink of Capac took fifth in the discus in 96-09, a personal best, while her teammate Keira Smith was third in the long jump at her freshman record of 14-09.5.
In the boys’ competition, Cros-Lex's Isaiah Solis had top finishes in the 100 (8th; 12.12) and 200 (5th; 25.05). Tye Kirschner was runner-up in the 110 hurdles with his PR of 15.69 and then turned around to win the 300-meter hurdles in 41.68. He also placed third in the 200 in 24.83. He joined Solis, Ethan Jackson, and Jon Hurlburt to take fourth in the 4x100 relay (49.12). Jackson, Noah Jackson, Dylan Bittner, and Gavin Durecka won the 4x400 relay in 3:51.51.
Logan Welter was runner-up in the discus in his best of 123-07 and Joey Ramsey took 6th in 110-09. Noah Jackson was sixth in the 400 in 55.89. Bittner was sixth in the 110-meter hurdles with a PR of 17.39.
Dryden Cardinal Classic
Familiar names graced the results at the Cardinal Classic from Almont, Dryden, and Imlay City. Dryden’s Olivia Reynolds was dominant yet again, winning the 200 (26.77), 400 (59.83), and 4x200 (1:52), and taking second in the 4x400. She is one of the highest-ranked runners in the state for Division 4. Lola Battaglia had a busy day for Almont, taking third in the 100 (13.54), fifth in the 200 (28.12 PR), and helping out in the winning 4x100 relay (54.83) and third-place 4x200. Ava DeVlaminck threw 29-01 (PR) in the shot put to take third for Dryden, and then also second in the discus in 92-7.75. Lauren Webster won the high jump (4-8) for Almont and her teammate Madison Niedermaier pole-vaulted her best ever to win in 8-09.
Chase Battani won the 100 in 11.63 and took third in the 110-meter hurdles for the Almont boys' team. Imlay City and Almont traded places in the sprint relays, with the Spartans taking the win in the 4x200 in 1:36.84 to Almont’s 1:37.5, but the Raiders came back to win the 4x400 in 3:43.52. Enrique Cardenas of IC was on both relays and also placed 4th in the 400 meters (53.85 PR) and the 100 (12.07). Matthew Bacholzky of Almont had the same sprint relay resume and also won the 400 (52.97) and took third in the long jump (18-4). Kade VanDerPloeg won the long jump for Imlay City in 18-10. Aiden Fitchett gave the Cardinals of Dryden a 1600-meter win in his personal best of 4:42. There were many great performances from area athletes, so check out the full results! Photos courtesy of Almont T & F Facebook.
Algonac Muskrat Classic
At the time of this article, results were still in progress and did not include several sprint or field events.
Casidhe Flesher of Marine City claimed the number two spot on the Blue Water Area Top-10 performance list at the Algonac Muskrat Classic 100-meter dash, running 12.41. Austin Brown of Marine City (1st; 10.84) and Kai Fisher of Memphis (2nd; 10.96) did the same thing in the boys’ race. Allie Markel won both hurdle events in personal bests, with a 17.93 in the 100-meter hurdles and a 51.46 in the 300.
Blake LaBuhn ran a 16.31 (PR) and Michael Blunden a 16.72 (PR) to place second and third for the Mariners in the boys’ 110-meter hurdles. Brennan Francek of Marysville won the 300 hurdles in 42.08. Grant Westrick, Austin Brown, Bodie Ramsey, and Parker Atkinson won the 4x100 for Marine City in 46.32. Julian Walker of Algonac won the official 1600 in 4:51, while Gunnar Wessel (MACH) was running unattached with the fastest time of 4:50. It is worth noting that several of the top times in our area have come from meets at Algonac that were hand-timed versus FAT-timed.
In a highly entertaining event, the school mascot's 70-meter dash meet record was broken by Memphis' Kendra Spoutz racing in a Yellowjacket costume.
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