The Thumb Meet of Champs on Tuesday wrapped up Blue Water Area track and field meets with some last-chance race tune-ups and the clock is now counting down to Saturday’s state finals for qualified athletes. Here’s a round-up of local performances from that meet and Top-Ten predictions going into state meet competition. The Blue Water Area Top-Ten performance times are updated on the home page of Blue Water Running to include the most recent meets as well.
Thumb Meet of Champs @ Caro High School
North Branch’s Grace Clemens was the 100-meter champion in 12.66 and second in the long jump (16-03.5). Clemens is ranked fifth in the 100 and eighth in the 200 in Division 2 for the state meet. Yale’s Sadie Dykstra was runner-up in the 200 in 27.07. The two stars finally met head-to-head for the first time this season in a running event, with Dykstra dropping her personal best to narrowly edge out Clemens in the open 400-meter dash, 59.88 to 60.42. Dykstra also claimed a title in the 100-meter hurdles (15.34), followed by her teammate Keirra Taube in second (16.15) and Clara Gyomory of North Branch in third (16.69). Dykstra is currently ranked first in the 300 hurdles (by almost a full second), fourth in the 100 hurdles, and second in the long jump heading into the state finals. Taube was second in the 300-meter hurdles (48.22) and high jump (5-4), runner-up only to last year’s D4 state champion, Olivia Findlay of Marlette (5-6). Taube is currently ranked second in the state for high jump at 5-6. Katie Gill of North Branch won the discus (110-1), a best for her, while Cros-Lex’s Jennifer Baldwin, a freshman, was third in the shot put (30-08).
Freshman Penelope McNutt of Imlay City had an impressive first year, running 13.51 in the 100 to take fifth, along with a fourth-place finish in the 200 (27.88). Ninth-grader Madeline Sepsey of Yale was fourth in the 400 with a time of 62.07. Sepsey, Dykstra, Taube, and Julia Ferguson are seeded sixth in the 4x400 relay for D2 states at 4:07.16, which along with their qualifiers in individual events, gives Yale a legitimate chance at a high team placing overall in state competition.
The Cros-Lex distance trio of Eva Thompson, Abagayle Barkley, and Brynn Hurley went 1-2-3 in the 3200-meter run, with a personal best for Thompson in 11:14 and Barley in 12:16. Those three ladies plus Morgan Newton have a ninth-place seed in the 4x800 going into Saturday’s state finals competition. While not officially ranked in the top-ten fastest times, Thompson’s 1600 best at 5:05 last year is exactly what the tenth-place seed is this year, so her chance for another all-state repeat looks promising.
On the boys’ side of the meet, North Branch’s Ethan Dinanath took fourth in the 100 (11.68) and third in the 200 (23.90). The Broncos’ 4x100 relay of Braydon Robinson, Wyatt Muxlow, Dalton Perkett, and Liam McIntyre was second in 45.77, then did the same in the 4x200 (1:35.90). Yale’s Chase Holly, Isaac Gardner, Riley Winters, and Ty LaForest were third in 46.39.
Gio Pardo-Keegan of Yale was second in the 1600 with a personal best of 4:25.97, which is a new school record. Cros-Lex’s Tye Kirschner was a double-hurdle champion, earning wins in both the 110 (15.32) and 300-meter (41.28 PR) hurdles. Imlay City's Elliot Whitney saw two new personal bests with a 4:38 in the 1600 and a third-place finish in the 3200 in 10:18. Bryce Barkowska, Valentino Castaneda, Thomas Kann, and Dinanath were second in the 4x400 (3:36.73) for North Branch, while Pardo-Keegan, Wyatt Murtos, Acer Campbell, and Blake Ferguson were third for Yale in 3:38.09. The aforementioned runners for Yale are currently ranked ninth in the state for the 4x800 relay and were all-state last year, taking seventh in 2023.
Zack Haywood took third for the Bulldogs in the discus, throwing 139-02, while Ty Laforest was second in the long jump (19-07.5). Freshman Liam McIntyre was fourth in the high jump in 5-10 for North Branch, while teammate Leyton Hutchins took third in the pole vault (11-0).
Blue Water Area athletes in the Top Ten Rankings for the State Finals:
Division 1 Girls
1600: #8 Jayden Harberts (Dakota). 4:55.91.
3200: #6 Jayden Harberts (Dakota; 10:38), #7 Natalie Guaresimo (Romeo; 10:45), #8 Annie Hrabovsky (Romeo; 10:45).
4x800: #10 Romeo; 9:28 (Clor, Deskins, Guaresimo, Hrabovsky).
Division 1 Boys
800: #2 Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay). 1:51.68.
1600: #4 Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay). 4:09.14.
3200: #1 Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay). 8:55.11.
Division 2 Girls
100: #5 Grace Clemens (North Branch; 12.31).
200: #8 Grace Clemens (North Branch; 25.54).
100 Hurdles: #4 Sadie Dykstra (Yale; 15.31).
300 Hurdles: #1 Sadie Dykstra (Yale; 45.34).
4x400: #6 Yale; 4:07.16 (Taube, Ferguson, Sepsey, Dykstra).
4x800: #9 Cros-Lex; 9:46 (Newton, Barkley, Hurley, Thompson).
Shot put: #1 Janae Hudson (Marysville; 45-2), # 5 Aubrey Deshetsky (North Branch; 40-8.5).
High Jump: #2 Keirra Taube (Yale; 5-6).
Long Jump: #2 Sadie Dykstra (Yale; 18-2.75).
Division 2 Boys
4x800: #9 Yale; 8:03.66 (Pardo-Keegan, Campbell, Murtos, Ferguson).
Division 3 Boys
100: #7 Kai Fisher (Memphis). 10.96 (did not qualify at regionals in this event).
Pole Vault: #2 Chase Battani (Almont). 14-6.
Division 4 Girls
400: #3 Olivia Reynolds (Dryden; 59.39).
300 Hurdles: #9 Sophia Peter (Dryden; 48.43).
4x100: #9 Dryden; 52.03 (Wolle, Peter, Fitchett, Stickler).
4x200: #8 Dryden; 1:49.68 (Wolle, Peter, Miller, Stickler).
4x400: #9 Dryden; 4:17.34 (Wolle, Peter, Fitchett, Stickler).
Division 4 Boys
400: #10 Tyler Lenn (Cardinal Mooney; 51.41). Lenn did not run this event at regionals to qualify.
1600: #3 Tyler Lenn (defending 2023 champ from Cardinal Mooney; 4:18.76), #6 Isaac Zammit (Cardinal Mooney; 4:26.97).
4x800: #7 Cardinal Mooney; 8:26 (Lenn, Zammit, Jacobs, Luzynski).
Best wishes to all our tremendous Blue Water Area athletes this weekend as they run, jump, hurdle, throw, and vault in the state finals!
Full state rankings: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/rankings/list/145243/f
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