Page 16 — Thursday, May 18, 2023 — The Hastings Banner
Beginning May 1, we are now
open 24/7!
Enjoying exercising before the sun comes up?
Work the 3-11 shift and want to lift weights before bed?
Our fitness center is now accessible 24/7.
Pennock Health & Wellness Center
915 West Green Street
Hastings, MI 49058Not a member? Call 269.948.3139.
24/7 new member enrollment fees waived in May.Viking two-milers clinch win for
team in 69-68 decision at Leslie
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Senior distance runner Ryan Alford hit the
finish line first in 10 minutes 53.34 seconds
and sophomore Hudson Goethals set his PR
at 12:37.98 to place third in the 3200-meter
run at Leslie High School Tuesday.
The six points from those two two-milers
clinched a fifth Greater Lansing Activities
Conference win for the Lakewood boys who
finish the conference duals at 5-1.
The Lakewood boys took a 69-68 win over
the Blackhawks. The Leslie girls did score a
69-52 win over the Lakewood ladies.
It was the fastest 110-meter high hurdle
race of the season for the Lakewood boys.
Junior Shane Raffler won that race in a per-
sonal record time of 17.01 seconds and soph-
omore Ryan Galgoci was the runner-up with
a PR of 18.03.Those two went 1-2 in the 300-meter inter-
mediate hurdles too, with Raffler winning in
46.69.
Viking senior Ethan Weller won the 200-
meter dash in 23.54 seconds and sophomore
teammate Donald Wells won the 400-meter
dash in 56.95.
Wells and Weller also teamed with Raffler
and junior Bryson Haight to win the
4x200-meter relay in 1:38.67.
Weller added a winning long jump of 18
feet 9.5 inches Tuesday. The Vikings won
three field events. Sophomore Kade Boucher
won the pole vault by clearing 9-6 and junior
Elijah Jablonski took the high jump by clear-
ing 5-8.
The Lakewood girls won the two sprints in
their dual with the Blackhawks. Sophomore
Hayley Merryfield improved her PR in the
100-meter dash to 14.56 and junior KylieWalkington won the 200-meter dash in 31.46.
Those two teamed with sophomore Jette
Juergensmeier and senior Madison Bierens to
win the 4x100-meter relay in 57.55.
Sophomore Mia Bouwens won the 300-
meter low hurdles for the Vikings in 1:06.87.
The Lakewood girls had three wins in field
events. Junior Annabelle Stank took the dis-
cus with a throw of 94-4.5. Freshman Taylor
Carpenter cleared 9-0 to win the pole vault.
Senior Reagan Lab had her best long jump
ever flying 12-1.5 to win that event.
The Lakewood girls close the GLAC duals
with a 3-3 record
The Vikings head to Mason for their
MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Region-
al Meet Friday and then will go to Perry
Wednesday, May 24, for the final Greater
Lansing Activities Conference Championship
meet.Olivet catches Lakewood boys in
GLAC with two meets left to go
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Sophomore Kenny Dutkiewicz beat out his
teammates by a stroke, but the Vikings
couldn’t quite beat out host Olivet at the
Medalist Thursday.
The Olivet varsity boys’ golf team won
their Greater Lansing Activities Conference
jamboree with a score of 177. The Viking
team fired a 179 to finish in second place, a
good enough finish to keep them at the top of
the conference’s overall standings for the
season.
Dutkiewicz led the Lakewood team with a
44 on the day. The other guys in the top four
for the Vikings, junior Chris Webb, freshman
Dane Webb and senior Drew Marquoit each
scored a 45. Senior teammate Owen Rich-
mond was right behind with a 46.
Dutkiewicz overcame some early adversi-
ty. He shot a par on number three, a par-3, to
open his round, but then ticked a ten on the
score card on the part-5, fourth hole. Hesteadied himself to par number four and then
birdied the 348-yard par-4 number six.
Olivet junior Levi Browning was the day’s
medalist with a 43. Dutkiewicz tied Perry
senior Keaton Antis and Olivet junior Tyler
Norton for second.
The Olivet team also got a 45 from junior
Dayton Ballard and a 45 from senior Dawson
Redfield.
Leslie was third in the day’s team stand-
ings with a 183 ahead of Perry 186, Stock-
bridge 199, Lansing Christian 225, Maple
Valley 257.
Maple Valley was led by a 55 from sopho-
more Evan Fisher. Junior Diesel Curtis shot a
60 for the Lions, sophomore Chris Mock a 68
and sophomore Dakota Martin scored a 74.
Olivet pulled even with the Lakewood
boys at the top of the GLAC standings by
finishing a spot ahead of the Vikings at the
jamboree hosted by Perry at Glenbrier Golf
Course Tuesday.
Leslie won at Perry with a score of 179ahead of Olivet 180, Lakewood 180, Perry
183, Stockbridge 199 and Lansing Christian- The Eagles won a fifth-score tiebreaker
to finish a spot ahead of Lakewood.
Marquoit led Lakewood with a 40. Dane
Webb shot a 43, Dutkiewicz a 48 and Rich-
mond a 49.
Marquoit and Webb finished 1-2 in the
day’s individual standings.
Perry senior Tyler Webb was tied with
Dane Webb with a 43. Olivet was led by a 43
from Browning. Leslie’s Allison Kobus and
Logan Dougals tied for fifth with 44’s.
Lakewood plays host to the final confer-
ence jamboree at Centennial Acres today,
May 18, and the league gets together for the
Conference Championship at Forest Akers
East Golf Course in East Lansing Wednesday,
May 24.
In between the two conference contests,
Lakewood was fourth out of ten teams at the
Pennfield Ryder Cup Tournament at River-
side Golf Course in Battle Creek Friday.
Saxons score first win for
interim coach Redman
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Dennis Redman knew he could help the
Saxons have some fun.
Redman, a former varsity softball coach
and wrestling coach at Hastings High School,
took over as interim head coach for the Hast-
ings varsity softball team late last month.
Hastings High School athletic director
Mike Goggins, after lining up the replace-
ment for Mike Davis who was relieved of his
duties April 25, told Redman he could have
his first practice April 26 on the bus to a dou-
bleheader at Jackson Lumen Christi.
“I had a doubleheader on Wednesday, a dou-
bleheader on Thursday, a doubleheader that got
canceled on Friday and a doubleheader on
Tuesday and Wednesday. I had one practice
and four doubleheaders,” Redman said.
He’s seen some improvements so far. The
Saxons were swept in a doubleheader at Cov-
enant Christian May 11, but were happy to
put up 11 runs in game number two and to
push the Chargers through the full seven
innings. Covenant Christian scored 12-2 and
20-11 wins on the afternoon.
“That was one stepping stone, then Friday
there was another stepping stone,” Redman
said. “We’re just going to keep going up and
up and up. Little steps, that is what I keep
telling them. Little steps.”
The best step so far was a 14-2 win over
Charlotte Friday in game one of a double-
header on the Orioles’ home field. The two
teams split their doubleheader with the Ori-
oles scoring a 16-5 win in game two.
“We got every break that we could have,”
Redman said. “We got some breaks. They
didn’t. In the second game, Charlotte got
breaks and we didn’t. The girls played well
on Friday, they really did, even the game they
lost they played well,” Redman said.
Hastings started right away scoring five
runs in the top of the first inning of game one,
then scored one in the second, two in the third,
three in the fourth and three more in the fifth.
The Saxons had eight girls hit the ball. The
only starter who didn’t get a hit was leadoff
hitter Zoey Bennett, but she walked once,
reached on an error and scored two runs.
Carly Frazer powered the attack going 3 for 3
with a walk and two runs scored.Jayden Karsen, Casidee Easey and Lucy
Barnard had two hits each. Sophia Sunior,
Liliana Fox, Claudia Palumbo and Peake had
one hit each.
Abby Peake, Karsen and Sunior had two
RBI’s each.
Frazer and Karsen had the two Saxon hits
in the game two loss to the Orioles.
The only real apprehension Redman had
taking over the program was that he was unfa-
miliar with all the girls, but a handful including
Easey, Sunior and Palumbo were all-state wres-
tlers he was around during the winter season.
Tuesday afternoon wasn’t quite as much
fun as last Friday for the Saxons. They were
bested 24-2 and 20-0 in a pair of Interstate-
Athletic Conference ballgames by visiting
Parma Western.
“They were just flat today, right from the
first pitch,” Redman said.
Hastings has an I-8 doubleheader at Mar-
shall Tuesday, May 23, and then closes the
conference season at home against Jackson
Northwest May 30. The Saxons are at Ottawa
Hills Saturday, May 20, for a non-conference
doubleheader with the Bengals.DK boys fifth at final
SAC jamboree
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Southwestern Athletic Conference
varsity boys’ golf teams will finish off the
SAC season at the conference championship
tournament Tuesday at the Beeches Golf
Club in South Haven.
The Delton Kellogg/Martin varsity boys’
golf team placed fifth at its final SAC Jambo-
ree Tuesday hosted by Lawton.
Kalamazoo Christian outscored Hackett
Catholic Prep on a tiebreaker to win after the
top four from each team put up a score of 158
Tuesday. Schoolcraft was third with a score
of 172 ahead of Lawton 177, Delton Kellogg
196, Parchment 199 and Constantine 219.
Junior Zachary Hale led the DK/Martin
team with a score of 47 and freshman Carter
Brickley was right behind with a 48. The
Panthers also got a 50 from junior Blake Lil-
libridge. The rest of the Panthers, Brett Har-
sevoort, Trenton Stoneburner and Tyler How-
land, all scored 51’s.
Hackett got a one-under 36 from senior
Niklas Johansson and an even-par 37 from
freshman Justin Tyler. Lawton senior Zachary
Lull also shot a 37.
Kalamazoo Christian was led by 38’s from
senior Ethan Verkaik and sophomore Isaac
Riggs and a 39 from junior Connor DeVries.The Saxons' Zoey Bennett lifts a double down the left field line during game two of her team's Interstate-8 Athletic Conference
doubleheader with Parma Western at Hastings High School Tuesday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)Hastings interim varsity softball coach Dennis Redman leaves a meeting in the cir-
cle during game two of his team's Interstate-8 Athletic Conference doubleheader with
visiting Parma Western Tuesday afternoon at Hastings High School. (Photo by Brett
Bremer)Hastings second baseman Sophia Sunior scoops up a ground ball during game two
of the Saxons' I-8 doubleheader with visiting Parma Western Tuesday afternoon.
(Photo by Brett Bremer)