The Hastings Banner — Thursday, May 6, 2021 — Page 1313
Lions finally get on track as
much of GLAC gathers at Olivet
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Maple Valley varsity track and field
teams got to challenge their first Greater
Lansing Activities Conference foes at Olivet
High School Wednesday (April 28).
Lion senior Ashlyn Wilkes managed the top
finish for the Lions, winning the high jump by
clearing the bar at 5 feet 1 inch. Her previous
best was clearing the bar at 5-0 while clinch-
ing the GLAC Championship in the event at
the 2019 conference meet as a sophomore.
Olivet, Leslie, Stockbridge and Lansing
Christian were all on hand competing
Wednesday as well, with the Lions competing
against Leslie and Stockbridge.
Wilkes also had the Lions’ top finish on the
track where she was third overall in the 200-
meter dash with a time of 29.39 seconds while
also placing fourth in the 400-meter dash in 1
minute 5.90 seconds.
Lion freshman Evan Brandenburg was
third in the boys’ 200-meter dash with a time
of 25.47.
Maple Valley freshman Lilly Faurot got off
to a good start on the track, placing fifth in the
800-meter run in 2:51.34 and eighth in the
1600-meter run in 6:39.29.The Maple Valley ladies were also led by
freshmen in the throws. Lyssa Smith was sev-
enth in the shot put with a mark of 13-5 and
Mackenzie Decker was fifth in the discus at
53-7. Decker also placed fourth in the high
jump by clearing the bar at 4-0. Faurot had a
sixth-place leap of 12-6 in the long jump, with
junior teammate Liz Christopher not too far
behind in eighth-place with a mark of 11-.75.
Brandenburg added a fifth-place leap of
17-5.25 in the long jump in the boys’ meet,
while also placing fourth in the 100-meter
dash in 12.45. The top field finish for the
Maple Valley boys came from Nic Martin, a
freshman, who was third in the pole vault at
9-6.
The Lions were back at it Saturday at the
Portland Invitational where the Lion boys
placed fifth and the girls seventh in a field of
eight schools.
West Michigan Aviation took champion-
ships, outscoring the Portland St. Patrick boys
125-113 at the top of the standings and the
Portland girls’ 153-149 in their competition.
Wilkes had the top finishes for the Lion
ladies, setting a new PR by clearing 5-2 in the
high jump and placing second in the 200-
meter dash in 29.17 and in the 400-meter runin 1:06.07.
Alexa Reitz was sixth in the 800-meter run
for the Lions with a time of 3:29.86.
The top relay finish for the Maple Valley
girls came in the 800-meter relay where the
team of Christopher, Greanlee DePyper,
Faurot and Wilkes was fourth in 2:07.73.
Lion junior Hannah Kinney was third in the
discus with a mark of 77-4.25 and sixth in the
shot put with a mark of 24-9.25. Faurot had
two top-ten finishes in the field, placing
fourth in the high jump by clearing 4-6 and
sixth in the long jump with a mark of 11-3.5.
Martin took the pole vault victory, clearing
the bar at 8-6 for the Maple Valley boys.
Brandenburg had the top finish on the track
for the Maple Valley boys, placing sixth in the
100-meter dash in a personal record time of
12.40 and he was also tenth in the long jump
at 16-6. Adam Blakely added a seventh-place
finish in the 3200-meter run for the Lions
with a time of 17:47.05.
In the shot put, the Lion team had freshman
James Penny eighth at 27-8, freshman Jericho
Payne ninth at 26-9.5 and Martin tenth at
26-9.Trojans sweep double duals
with Wildcats and Knights
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Thornapple Kellogg girls’ and boys’
track and field teams were both 2-0 in double
duals with Wayland and Kenowa Hills at
Wayland Union High School Tuesday.
The TK ladies scored a 91.5-44.5 win over
the host Wildcats and edged Kenowa Hills by
five points, 71-66. Wayland was bested 90-
by Kenowa Hills in their match-up. The TK
girls close the OK Gold Conference duals
with a 3-4 record.
The TK boys took a 73-64 win over
Wayland and defeated Kenowa Hills 83-54.
The Wayland boys won their dual with the
Knights 78-59. The TK boys finish the season
of conference duals with a 4-3 mark.
The OK Gold Conference Championship is
planned for May 14 at Houseman Field in
Grand Rapids.
Kenowa Hills girls won every individual
running event on the track and took three of
the four relay races, but the Trojans’ depth
prevailed Tuesday.
TK also got a strong showing from junior
Trysta Hilton who won the 100-meter hurdles
in 17.30 seconds and the 300-meter low hur-
dles in 50.70 seconds. Hilton also ran a per-
sonal record time of 28.99 to place second in
the 200-meter dash and was second in the
high jump at 4 feet 6 inches.
Wayland’s Breanna Hyde was the overall
runner-up in both hurdles races, but the TK
ladies got a sweep of the 300-meter hurdle
points in their dual with Kenowa Hills with
Addison Satterfield third overall and Kylie
Smith fourth.
The TK ladies were strong in the throws
too. Sophomore Preslee Hall won the shot put
with a mark of 86-7, leading a sweep of the
top three places in that event for TK. Cassidy
Dole took the shot put for the Trojans with a
mark of 29-10.5 and teammate Dalace Jousma
was second at 27-11. Jousma was second and
Dole third in the discus.
In the field, the TK ladies also had Paige
Zellmer in the pole vault at 7-6, and Smith
and Anna Benedict place second and third in
the long jump. Smith, Benedict and Zellmer
took the top three scoring places in the high
jump in the dual with the Knights, an event
Wayland’s Hyde won with a mark of 15-0.
Zellmer, Smith, Benedict and Lindsey
Velting took the 400-meter relay for TK in
55.24 seconds.
Kenowa Hills had freshman Lauren Rokos
win the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter
dash and junior Peyton Thayer win the 400-
meter run and the 800-meter run. Their fresh-
man teammate Jayden Turner won the 1600-
meter run and Knight sophomore Allison
Postema won the 3200.
TK junior Jessica Durkee was second in
both the 1600 and the 3200 with season best
times and also placed second in the 800.
Victories in three of the four relay races
helped power the TK boys to their two victo-
ries.
Senior Wyatt Helzer won the 200-meter
dash in 23.57 for the TK boys and the long
jump at 18-5, and also teamed with Austin
VanElst, Cameron Gavette and Jaxon Sias to
win the 800-meter relay in 1:36.60. Sias
Gavette, Gabe Lajoye and Brennan Lutz took
the 1600-meter relay in 3:45.89. The team of
Lutz, Howie Frizzell, Lajoye and Lucas
VanMeter won the 3200-meter relay in
9:05.12.
The high jump was a big event for the TK
boys, with Sias and VanElst tying for first by
both clearing 5-4.
Gavette was second to Wayland senior
Austin Reeder in both the hurdles races.
Reeder took the 110-meter high hurdles in a
personal record time of 16.25 and the 300-
meter intermediate hurdles in 43.12. Gavette
ran his fastest 300 hurdles ever, finishing in
43.28.
The TK boys got runner-up finishes from
Lajoye in the 400-meter dash and Lutz in the
800 as well as Dakota Haskin in the pole
vault.
Wayland freshman Issac Dyer won the
1600-meter run in 4:56.91 and the 3200 in
11:05.00. Kenowa Hills had a two-time indi-
vidual champ in senior Logan Cunningham
who won the shot put at 47-3 and the discus at
126-2.5. His senior teammate Branden Decker
was second in both of those throws with
marks of 43-10 in the shot put and 125-1 in
the discus.TK baseball
gets one win in
over Wayland
Wildcats
The Thornapple Kellogg varsity baseball
team took a 2-1 win over Wayland for its sec-
ond victory of the OK Gold Conference sea-
son.
Lead-off hitter Alex Bonnema scored the
winning run in the bottom of the seventh to
clinch game one of the conference double-
header between the Trojans and Wildcats in
Middleville Tuesday.
Game two was suspended with the Trojans
leading after four innings due to darkness.
The two teams are slated to finish off their
conference series in Wayland this afternoon
(May 6).
TK had five singles in the win, two each
from Nolan Dahley and Eric Dipert and one
from Bonnema who scored both TK runs.
Bonnema was on base three times, also
walking twice.
Levi VanderHeide got the win for TK,
throwing the full seven innings. He struck out
six and walked three while giving up five hits.
TK came into the day having split its two
ballgames at the Zeeland West Wooden Bat
Tournament Saturday. The host Dux topped
the Trojans 5-4 in the championship game
after TK took an 8-5 win over the Allegan
Tigers to open play.
TK tied the championship game at 4-4 with
four runs in the top of the sixth inning, but the
Dux got the walk-off win in the seventh
despite being outhit 7-3 in the ballgame.
Reese Garbrecht doubled twice and drove
in three runs for TK in the loss. Dipert and
Carter Stahl both had a double, and
VanderHeide, Dahley and Samuel McKeown
each singled for TK. VanderHeide scored a
run and had an RBI. Dahley, Stahl and
McKeown each scored a run too.
VanderHeide was charged with five
unearned runs in six innings. He struck out
two, walked two and allowed three hits.
Garbrecht had a double, a triple and four
RBI in the Trojans’ win over the Allegan
Tigers to start the day.
Carsen Burbridge and VanderHeide dou-
bled with their wooden bats as well. Jonah
Summerhays and Stahl had singles for TK.
VanderHeide, Stahl, Burbridge and
Summerhays had one RBI each.
Dipert went 6.2 on the mound, striking out
four and walking three. He gave up five runs,
four of which were earned, on four hits. Brett
Caswell came on to get the final out of the
ballgame. Caswell gave up two singles and a
walk, but managed to get the strike out he
needed to seal the TK win with the bases load-
ed.Delton Kellogg’s Kassie Wilson works her way through the midfield with the ball
during her team’s draw with visiting Parchment Monday evening. (Photo by Perry
Hardin)
Avery
scores
for DK,
but match
ends in
draw
The Delton Kellogg varsity girls’ soccer
team finally got to get back on the field
Monday after having a couple ballgames late
last week canceled or postponed.
The Panthers finished in a 1-1 tie with vis-
iting Parchment in Southwestern Athletic
Conference match at Delton Kellogg High
School.
Avery Barker scored the lone goal for the
Delton Kellogg girls, who are now 1-2-1 in
the conference this season.
The DK girls were scheduled to host
Lawton for another SAC ballgame Wednesday
and will be at Constantine for a league match
next Monday.
Delton Kellogg’s Alex Carter settles a
bouncing ball during her team’s 1-1 draw
with Parchment at Delton Kellogg High
School Monday. (Photo by Perry Hardin)South Christian sweeps doubles
on its way to win over Trojans
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The South Christian varsity girls’ tennis
team dropped the Trojans’ record to 3-2 in OK
Gold Conference duals with a 5-3 win over
the visiting Trojans Monday afternoon.
The Thornapple Kellogg girls won three of
the four single matches, but couldn’t quite
keep pace with the Sailors on the doubles
side.
Charlotte Nelson took a 7-5, 6-0 win for
TK over Isabelle Klaasen at second singles.
Sophia Beckering earned a 6-2, 6-2 win over
Sailor third singles player Natalie Northouse.
Christel Hoskins scored a 6-0, 6-0 win at
fourth singles for TK over Maya Wierenga.
The closest of the four doubles matches as
at number one where the Sailor team of Kayla
Pruim and Sophie VanWieren scored a 6-4,6-2 win over TK’s Courtney Haveman and
Katie Schorr.
South Christian first singles player Olivia
Koeman scored a 6-3, 6-4 win over TK’s
Nancy Hoogwerf in their match.
It has been a busy stretch for the Trojans.
They defeated Ottawa Hills 8-0 in an OK
Gold Conference dual in Grand Rapids last
Wednesday, beat Cadillac 5-3 Friday and then
went 1-1 at the Comstock Park Invitational
Saturday where they bested the host Panthers
8-0 and fell 7-1 to Lowell.
TK only dropped a handful of games all
afternoon at Ottawa Hills lsat Wednesday
while getting default wins at third and fourth
singles. Hoogwerf beat the Bengals’ top play-
er, Teresa Lin, 6-0, 6-1.
Hoogwerf won by default at first singles in
the dual with Cadillac Friday.Beckering and Hoskins won handily in
straight sets for the Trojans in the dual with
the Vikings at third and fourth singles.
TK got close doubles wins at number two
and number three. The TK duo of Tylor
Buxton and Jamie DeVries earned a 6-3, 7-
win over Cadillac’s Madalie Dickerson and
Adri Beydoun. Ellie Essenberg and Heidi
Church scored a 6-2, 7-6(2) win over Ellery
Schaefer and Haylle Groen at third doubles
for the Trojans.
All four doubles matches were close ones.
Cadillac’s Emily Sims and Ella Darrow nar-
rowly bested TK’s Haveman and Schorr at
number one 6-3, 6-4. The Cadillac fourth
doubles team of Frannie Kiomento and Haley
Butkovich eked out a 6-2, 6-4 win over TK’s
Madeline Coe and Trinity Simons.LHS track teams add wins
over Lions and Pilgrims
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Lakewood varsity boys’ track team
improved to 3-1 in the Greater Lansing
Activities Conference and the Lakewood
ladies got their first two conference wins as
the Vikings hosted Maple Valley and Lansing
Christian Tuesday at Unity Field.
The Lakewood boys scored a 118-12 win
over the Lions and a 124-3 win over the
Pilgrims.
Scores weren’t quite as lopsided on the
girls’ side, with the Vikings besting Maple
Valley 74-39 and Lansing Christian 89-19.
Senior Garrett Stank and junior Tyson
Raffler both had two individual wins on the
track for the Lakewood boys and senior
Nathan Alford had three. Stank took the 100-
meter dash in 12.04 seconds and the 200 in
24.88. Alford won the 800-meter run in 2
minutes 16.83 seconds, the 1600-meter run in
5:20.76 and the 3200-meter run in 11:32.78.
Raffler won the two hurdles races for the
Vikings, taking the 110-meter high hurdles in
17.48 and the 300-meter intermediate hurdles
in 45.42.
Lakewood swept the top three places in
both hurdles events, with Jacob Merryfield
second and Shane Raffler third in both, and
pulled off the feat in the 400-meter dash too.
Junior Connor Feighan won the 400 in 57.19,
with Alford second and Colt Endsley third.
Endsley was a part of two relay wins for the
Vikings. The team of Nick Helt, Endsley,
Justin Warner and Benjamin Scobey won the
400-meter relay in 57.52 and the team of
Elijah Jablonski, Endsley, Warner and Heath
Carter took the 800-meter relay in 1:47.00.
In the field, Feighan won both throws. He
took the shot put at 38 feet 4 inches and the
discus at 105-0. Scobey was second in the
shot put and third in the discus, part of a 1-2-
finish in the discus for the Vikings that also
had Hunter Shank in the runner-up spot.
A 1-2-3 finish in the high jump for the
Vikings was led by Merryfield clearing 5-8.
Jablonski was second and Helt third. Tyson
Raffler was one of two scorers in the pole
vault, clearing the bar at 10-6 to win the
event. Garrett Stank won the long jump for
the Lakewood boys with a mark of 19-4.25.
The top finishes for the Maple Valley boys
came in the field. Freshman Nic Martin was
second in the pole vault at 9-0 and freshman
Evan Brandenburg second in the long jump at
16-1.75. Brandenburg was also the runner-up
in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.
and third in the 100 in 12.61.
Lakewood girls won four of the five field
events. Freshman Annabelle Stank took the
throws, getting marks of 28-0 in the shot put
and 99-2 in the discus. The Viking team had
sophomore Madison Bierens win the polevault at 6-0 and junior Hokulani Ka’alakea
win the long jump at 12-10.5.
Ka’alakea won the 100-meter hurdles in
20.29 and the 100-meter dash in 14.01.
Annabelle Stank also teamed with Sophie
Duits, Lydia Markwart and Katie Acker to
win the 1600-meter relay for the Vikings in
7:26.00. Acker added a winning time of
13:03.3 in the 3200-meter run and was the
runner-up in the 1600 behind Lansing
Christian’s Madison Volz.
Volz won the 1600 for the Pilgrims in
5:31.37 and the 800-meter run in 2:26.60.
Lansing Christian also had sophomore
Corinne Ritter win the 400-meter dash in
1:08.21.
The Maple Valley girls won two relay
races. The team of Mackenzie Decker,
Greanlee DePyper, Alexa Reitz and Lyssa
Smith won the 400-meter relay in 1:03.44 and
the team of Hannah Kinney, DePyper, Lilly
Faurot and Ashlyn Wilkes won the 800-meter
relay in 2:08.00.
Wilkes took the Lions’ lone individual wins
by flying over the bar at 4-8 in the high jump
and taking the 200-meter dash in 29.29.
Wilkes was also the runner-up in the 100 with
a personal record time of 14.31. Kinney had
runner-up marks of 24-2.75 in the shot put
and 84-11.5 in the discus for the Lions. Faurot
added a runner-up time of 2:50.91 in the 800-
meter run.
The Lakewood teams were in action last
Friday at the Central Montcalm Invitational.
The lakewood boys were third and the girls
seventh in a field of 11 teams.
Sparta took the boys’ meet with 131.
points, ahead of Belding 113 and the
Lakewood boys 105.5. Big Rapids was a dis-
tant fourth with 66 points.
Garrett Stank won the 200-meter dash in
24.07 and the long jump at 19-9 and placed
second in the 100 with a time of 11.87.
Feighan was the runner-up in the 400 with a
personal record time of 54.88 seconds, also
placing third in the discus and fifth in the shot
put. Alford was third in the 1600 and the
3200, and Raffler placed third in both hurdles
races. The Vikings also got a third place finish
in the field from Merryfield in the high jump
and Tyson Raffler in the pole vault.
Belding won the girls’ championship with
120 points, besting Central Montcalm 102,
Sparta 98.5 and Ithaca 76 at the top of the
standings.
Ka’alakea had the top finishes for the
Lakewood ladies with a winning time of
17.13 in the 100-meter hurdles and a time of
13.89 in the 100-meter dash that put her in the
runner-up spot in that event. Acker was third
in the 3200-meter run with a personal record
time of 12:36.45 and also set a new PR in
finishing sixth in the 1600.