The Hastings Banner — Thursday, May 27, 2021 — Page 15Area gets 13 athletes on to D2 track and field finals
Valerie Slaughter
Contributing Writer
A group of 13 local athletes from Lakewood,
Hastings and Thornapple Kellogg qualified
for the June 5 Division 2 Lower Peninsula
State Track and Field Finals with their perfor-
mances at the Michigan High School Athletic
Association Regional at Mason High School
Friday.
Thornapple Kellogg had the most area ath-
letes qualify for the state finals with seven
qualifiers. Hastings had five athletes hit their
goals, and Lakewood had one athlete who will
advance in the meet.
Thornapple Kellogg’s boys’ team member,
Wyatt Helzer qualified in two events. He fin-
ished in second place in the 200-meter dash,
and he anchored the Trojans’ state qualifying
800-meter relay team which finished second,
and included teammates Jaxon Sias, Cameron
Gavette and Austin Van Elst.
On TK’s girls’ team, Paige Zellmer ended
the day as a regional champion in the pole
vault, placing first jump of 10 feet. She will bejoined by team members Trysta Hilton, who
finished second in the 300-meter hurdles, and
Alana Compton, who finished third with a
qualifying throw of 111 feet 7 inches in the
discus.
The Hastings girls’ track team had two
regional champions at the event. Allison Teed
placed first in the 100-meter hurdles and
Madison Nino placed first in the 400-meter
run. Teed and Nino are both on the Saxons
state qualifying 800-meter relay team, which
also includes freshman sprinters, Addey
Nickels and Isabelle Roosien.
The Hastings boys’ team had one state
qualifier, Robby Slaughter, who finished in
fourth place in the pole vault with a qualifying
jump of 12-10, a PR,.
For the Lakewood Viking boys’ team,
Garrett Stank was the sole state qualifier.
Stank ended the day in second place in the
long jump with a personal record jump of
20-5.05.
Overall, the area teams had multiple ath-letes that placed at the event, but only the top
two places or those that meet qualifying stan-
dards move on to the state finals.
Hastings’ head coach Brian Teed noted,
“We didn’t have as many PR’s as we normally
do at the regional meet, but after looking at
the overall results, I saw that was a common
theme for all the teams. The early heat after
being so cool this spring took a toll on our
athletes, but I was proud of the way they bat-
tled through.”
TK’s girls team had the most placers in the
top eight for the day. The 3200-meter relay
team of Jessica Durkee, Madison Nagel,
Addison Satterfield and Aubrey Martin fin-
ished 6th; the 4x400 relay of Lindsey Velting,
Kenady Smith, Satterfield, and Aundria
Robbe was eighth; the 800-meter relay of
Kylie Smith, Kristen Offringa, Velting and
Anna Benedict finished sixth, and the 400-
meter relay team of Offringa, Benedict,
Satterfield and Zellmer finished eighth.
Hilton also placed seventh in both the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles. Durkee
also finished seventh in the 3200-meter run
and eighth in the 800-meter run. Kylie Smith
finished with a fourth place in the 300-meter
hurdles, Velting had a fifth place finish in the
100-meter dash, Smith ended with a sixth
place in high jump, and Offringa finished
sixth in the 100-meter hurdles.
TK’s Helzer also placed fourth in the 100-
meter dash, Brennan Lutz finished eighth in
the 800-meter run, Gavette sixth in the 300-
meter hurdles, Blake Monroe eighth in the
shot put, and the 400-meter relay team of
Helzer, Logan Caruso, Jonah Schilthroat, and
Lutz finished in third place.
Hastings’ Allison Teed also placed fourth in
pole vault and sixth in the 300-meter hurdles,
Nino placed third in long jump, Natalee
Sanders was fourth in high jump, Carissa
Strouse was sixth in the 3200-meter run,
Nickels finished seventh in the 300-meter
hurdles, and Kali Grimes finished seventh in
pole vault.
For the Saxons boys’ team, Slaughter also
placed in two relays – placing fifth in the 400-meter relay team, that included Jason Haigt,
Dillon Neal and Bayne Signeski, and seventh
in the 800-meter relay team that included
Signeski, Layton Eastman and Kirby Beck.
Eastman also placed individually, seventh in
the 300-meter hurdles, and eighth in the 110-
meter hurdles. Xander Signeski finished with
a fourth place in the 400-meter run.
Lakewood’s Stank also placed third in the
200-meter dash and was joined in the placings
by teammates Nathan Alford who was fourth
in the 3200-meter run, Jacob Merryfield
fourth in the high jump, and Connor Feighan
who finished sixth in the 400-meter run.
For the Vikings girls’ team, placing in the
top eight for the day were Katie Acker who
placed fourth in the 3200-meter and sixth in
the 1600-meter runs, Hokulani Ka’alakea
third in the 100-meter hurdles, and Annabelle
Stank eighth in the discus.
These state qualifying athletes will com-
pete in the MHSAA State Finals on June 5 at
Zeeland East High School at the Zeeland
Stadium. All tickets must be purchased online
through the MHSAA website.Saxons’ Eastman, Slaughter and Teed win I-8 titles
Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The Hastings boys moved up to third and
the Hastings girls held onto third in the
Interstate-8 Athletic Conference varsity track
and field standings with third place finishes at
the conference meet hosted by Jackson
Northwest Tuesday.
The Saxons won a handful of individual
conference titles.
Saxon sophomore Layton Eastman was the
top point scorer in the hurdles in the confer-
ence, winning the 300-meter intermediate
hurdles in 42.47 seconds and finishing as the
runner-up in the 110-meter high hurdles with
a time of 17.00.
Another Saxon sophomore Robby Slaughter
had a couple big leaps for the Saxon boys. He
cleared the bar at 13 feet to win the pole vault
competition. Slaughter was also second in the
long jump with a mark of 19 feet .5 inches.
Coldwater senior Deandre Douglas was the
only other guy to fly as far as 19 feet, winning
the long jump at 19-6.5. Slaughter’s senior
teammate Kirby Beck was third in the pole
vault at 12-6, a spot behind Parma Western
senior Jacob Tidwell who was the runner-up,
also clearing 12-6.
Eastman was far from the only talented
Saxon hurdler on the track. He was one of
three Hastings boys in the finals of the high
hurdles. Sophomore Nate Kohmescher was
fifth and sophomore Caleb Waller sixth, and
those tow also scored in the 300 hurdles with
Waller fifth and Kohmescher eighth.Hastings junior Allison Teed was the only
girl to finish the 100-meter hurdles in less
than 17 seconds Tuesday, winning the confer-
ence championship in that race with a time of
16.88. She added a fourth-place time of 51.in the 300-meter low hurdles, finishing just
behind freshman teammate Addey Nickels
who was third in that race in 51.30.
Parma Western junior Anna Burk was the
runner-up to Teed in the 100 hurdles and fol-
lowed that up by winning the 300 hurdles in
48.60. Burk and Teed were a couple of the top
competitors in the field too. Burk won the
high jump by clearing the bar at 5-0 and Teed
was the runner-up in the pole vault with a
height of 8-9.
The Hastings girls were 5-2 in I-8 duals this
spring and went into the conference meet in
third place in the standings, behind Harper
Creek and Parma Western which share the
2021 conference title after Tuesdays results.
Freshman Addey Nickels was the fourth-
place finisher in the 100-meter dash for the
Saxons, hitting the line in 28.85. Lumen
Christi senior Renea Kutch won a couple
sprints, taking the 200 in 26.68 and the 400-
meter dash in 58.52. Saxon sophomore
Madison Nino placed fifth in that 400 compe-
tition with a time of 1:04.49.
Nino placed third in the long jump with a
mark of 15-2, just four and a half inches
behind the girls who went 1-2.
Nickels, Nino, Teed and Isabelle Roosien
ran to a runner-up finish for the Hastings girls
in the 800-meter relay, and the Saxons also
had the fourth-place team in the 400-meter
relay.
Hastings junior Carissa Strouse placed fifth
in the 1600-meter run in 6:06.92 and third in
the 3200-meter run in 13:02.76. Those dis-tance races were dominated by Lumen Christi
girls. Freshman Madison Osterberg won the
1600 in 5:21.98 and her junior teammate
Faith Smith won the 3200 in 11:30.28.
Saxon senior Josey Nickels and sophomore
Natalee Sanders had a solid day at the high
jump pit for Hastings. Nickels was third and
Sanders fourth as both cleared 4-6.
In the discus, the Saxons had senior Maddie
McMasters second at 92-5 and junior Maddie
Miller third at 86-1. In the shot put, Miller
placed seventh (28-7.5) and senior teammate
Daisy Kerby fifth (29-5).
Parma Western senior Lily Kucharek won
the two girls’ throws, but a wide margin. She
had a throw of 121-1 in the discus and took
the shot put with a mark of 38-1.5.
The Hastings boys were 4-3 in conference
duals, and the third-place finish Tuesday
moved them into third place in the confer-
ence’s final standings.
Saxon teams were third in the 400-meter
relay, second in the 800-meter relay, fourth in
the 1600-meter relay and third in the 3200-
meter relay. That runner-up relay team includ-
ed Bayne Signeski, Slaughter, Eastman and
Beck.
Saxon sophomore Bayne Signeski was
sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of
12.16 seconds and fourth in the 200-meter
dash in 24.51. Jason Haight was a second
scorer in the 200 for the Hastings boys, plac-
ing sixth in 24.97. Parma Western senior
Julius Adams won the 100 in 11.82 and
Harper Creek senior Micah Garcia the 200-meter dash in 23.64.
Garcia was the only guy in front of Bayne
at the end of the 110-meter high hurdles. He
won that race in 16.16.
Xander Signeski, a senior, was fourth in the
400-meter dash with a time of 54.29 for the
Saxons.
Hastings freshman Jonah Teed was seventh
in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.07.
The Saxons didn’t have a top eight finisher in
either of the longer races though they did have
a couple of the fastest freshmen in the dis-
tance events. Teed was tenth in the 1600 and
fellow ninth grader Riley Shults tenth in the
3200.
Sam Randall scored a spot in the discus
final for the Saxon boys and placed sixth with
a mark of 108-8 to close his senior year.
Randall and teammate Daniel Weatherly, a
sophomore, were among the shot put finalists.
Weatherly finished fourth with a mark of
41-5.5 and Randall seventh at 39-2.
Parma Western senior Michael Mcaninich
won the two throws, getting a mark of 137-
in the discus and 47-2 in the shot put.
Slaughter cleared the bar at 12-10 in the
pole vault at regionals last week to earn a spot
in the June 5 Division 2 Lower Peninsula
Track and Field Finals. Hastings had three
state qualifying performances from the girls
last week, by Nino in the 400-meter dash,
Teed in the 100 hurdles and the 800-meter
relay team of Nino, Nickels, Roosien and
Teed.Hastings’ Addey Nickels gets the baton to teammate Isabelle Roosien in the 800-
meter relay Tuesday during the Interstate-8 Athletic Conference Championship Meet
hosted by Jackson Northwest. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)The Saxons’ Bayne Signeski looks over as the anchors for Harper Creek and Parma Western finish just ahead of him at the end
of the 400-meter relay Tuesday at the I- Championship hosted by Jackson Northwest. The Saxon boys were third in the 400-meter
relay and second in the 800-meter relay Tuesday.The Saxons’ Daniel Weatherly spins in
the shot put circle, about to unleash a
throw, during the I-8 Championship
hosted by Jackson Northwest Tuesday.
(Photo by Valerie Slaughter)Hastings sophomore Robby Slaughter
gets vertical to get over the bar at 12 feet
10 inches in the pole vault at the Division
2 Regional hosted by Mason High School
Friday. The 12-10 vault earned him a spot
in the 2021 state finals. (Photo by Valerie
Slaughter)
Hastings’ Allison Teed races to a first place finish in the 100-meter hurdles as
Lakewood’s Hokulani Ka’alakea and TK’s Trysta Hilton close in from behind at the
Division 2 Regional hosted by Mason High School Friday. (Photo by Valerie Slaughter)The Saxons’ Madison Nino takes off to start the 800-meter relay for the Hastings
girls during the Division 2 Regional hosted by Mason Friday. (Photo by Valerie
Slaughter)