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The Hastings Banner — Thursday, November 4, 2021 — Page 15

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Aukerman saves fastest time for last regional race

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
Halena Phillips sprang to the front of the pack as a
freshman on a senior-filled roster in the fall of 2018.
Her classmate Aubrey Aukerman joined her for their
sophomore season on the Delton Kellogg varsity girls’
cross country team.
They’ve been the 1-2 for the Delton Kellogg team
throughout the past three fall campaigns and raced
their final regional meet Saturday in Allendale, com-
ing up shy of earning a first trip to the MHSAA
Division 3 Lower Peninsula Cross Country Finals.
Aukerman ran her fastest varsity race ever, placing
21st in 21 minutes 8.99 seconds. She was about 24
seconds faster than she was on the same regional
course as a junior.
Phillips placed 34th in 22:24.92.
The top three teams and the 15 regional medalists
earned spots in the state finals which will be held
Saturday, Nov. 6, at Michigan International Speedway
in Brooklyn.
Maple Valley sophomore Lilly Faurot had been
hoping for a return trip to MIS. She qualified in
Division 4 as a freshman, but with the Lions up in
Division 3 this fall it made it that much tougher.
Faurot placed 27th in 21:44.42.
“Lilly Faurot knew she was going to have to have
the race of her life if she wanted to qualify for the state
finals,” Maple Valley head coach Tiffany Blakely said.
“Moved to a tougher region, she went in ranked 25th
overall, and she ended up right around that spot. She
ran her second fastest time of the season and really
gave it her all. She ran with everything she had today,
and came up just a little short. The great thing is she is
already looking ahead to next year and working on
what she needs to do to be able to qualify.”
The Delton Kellogg girls were sixth as a team. Kent
City won the regional championship with 50 points,
ahead of Covenant Christian 63 and Calvin Christian
82 in the top three. Central Montcalm was a distant
fourth with 114 points, ahead of Saranac 148, Delton
Kellogg 164, Montague 186, Morley-Stanwood 216,
Ravenna 232 and NorthPointe Christian 249.
Behind those top two for the DK Panthers, fresh-
man Johannah Houtkooper placed 40th in 23:18.19,
freshman Lillie Steele 42nd in 23:31.16 and senior

Melanie Monroe 46th in 23:38.32.

DK also had junior Joelle White 47th in 23:40.

and sophomore Brea Chandler 58th in 24:30.41.

Maple Valley also had freshman Brianna Gurd

place 77th in 34:45.55.

Covenant Christian senior Meghan Beute was the

individual regional champion with a time of 18:38.64.

Kent City freshman Lila Volkers was the runner-up

with a personal record time of 18:47.71. Of the top ten

finishers, six improved their personal record times at

the regional. Kent City senior Alyeska Linsley ran her

fastest time of the season to place eighth in 19:59.

and her senior teammate Kierra Flegel set her PR at

20:05.97 with a ninth-place finish.

The top five for the regional champions from Kent

City also included a 17th-place finish from senior

Emily Lantzer and a 19th-place finish from sopho-

more Isabella Max.

Saranac freshman Alyssa Possehn was the last of

the regional medalists and individual state qualifiers,

placing 15th in a personal record time of 20:28.01.

The Delton Kellogg boys placed eighth on the day

with four guys running their fastest race yet including

freshman Ethan Rimmer who led his team with a

24th-place time of 18:06.23. DK junior Micah Martin

was 35th in 18:26.64, a new PR.

DK also got personal record runs from sophomore

Austin Bagley who was 45th in 19:11.39 and junior

Brett Harsevoort who was 61st in 20:11.08.

The top five for the Panthers also included a

44th-place time of 19:03.85 by junior Isaac Shepard.

DK sophomore Parker Bagley placed 63rd in 20:30.

and senior Eli Austin was 68th in 23:14.74.

Maple Valley had two guys competing. Junior

Adam Blakely placed 83rd in 23:14.74 and sopho-

more Brody Trowbridge was 87th in 33:41.97. Blakely

was just a second off a personal record and beat his

previous best time on the course in Allendale by 16

seconds.

Calvin Christian won the boys’ regional champion-

ship with 39 points. Covenant Christian was second

with 71 points, ahead of Saranac 98, Black River 105,

Kent City 106, North Muskegon 143, Montague 175,

Delton Kellogg 195, Morley-Stanwood 238, Ravenna

252 and NorthPointe Christian 268.

Calvin Christian had four of its Squires among the

top six finishers, led by senior Logan Manion who

was the runner-up individually in 16:39.97. Kent City

sophomore Samuel Martini won the race in 16:30.00.

Calvin Christian also had Dan Kehoe third, Ben

Wertz fifth and Nathan Jenkins sixth. Trevor Dornbos

was the team’s number five with a personal record

time of 18:13.04 that put him in 27th place.

Covenant Christian had a pack of guys finish

between 12th and 22nd to score the runner-up team

finish. Senior Nathan Bylsma led the Chargers with

his 12th-place time of 17:27.73. Saranac was led by

Nathan Day’s 15th-place time of 17:38.41.

Impressive run by DK ends in regional final

Brett Bremer
Sports Editor
The underdog Panthers finally found a foe
they couldn’t upend Saturday.
South Christian ended the longest postsea-
son run in the history of the Delton Kellogg
varsity boys’ soccer program as the fifth-
ranked Sailors scored an 8-0 win over the
Panthers in the MHSAA Division 3 Regional
Final at Holland Christian High School.
The Sailors kept their undefeated record
intact at 20-0-3 and earned a spot in the
Division 3 State Semifinal set to be played
last night, Nov. 3, against No. 4 Elk Rapids at
Cedar Springs High School.
Delton Kellogg goalkeeper Marcus
Momenee made 15 saves in the regional final
loss – more than he had in any of his team’s
five other state tournament contests. He’d
been a wall in front of his net as his team won
its first district championship with a string of
three straight shutouts in the tournament
which the Panthers hosted.
It was Watervliet that finally snuck one
shot past him in the regional semifinal at
Holland Christian High School Wednesday,
Oct. 27, in what was ultimately a 2-1 victory
for the Delton Kellogg team.
Momenee even made an outstanding play on
that goal, which tied the regional semifinal at
1-1 midway through the first half. A Delton
Kellogg turnover eventually led to a penalty
kick, which Watervliet’s Nathan Isbrecht fired
low and hard to his right. Momenee made a
diving save to his left to thwart the PK, but
Isbrecht beat the swarm from outside the box to
the rebound and put it past the fallen DK keeper.
“Team, victory, just wanted to win it for
the team,” Momenee said when describing
his thoughts as he stood on his line awaiting
the PK.
“There were a million things going through
my head. I got the first save and then couldn’t
get up for the second one, but you live and
you learn. Team, victory, just wanted to win it
for the team.”
Forward Marshall Warner had a goal and
assist to power the Delton Kellogg attack in
the regional semifinal. Warner, who plays
ODP (Olympic Development Program) soc-
cer and for the Michigan Fire based out of
Grand Rapids when not on the pitch for the
DK Panthers, put a corner kick from the right
side in a perfect spot for teammate Myles
Hatton to head into the net a minute and a
half into the regional semifinal.
The early goal gave the DK Panthers as bit
of a confidence boots in the match against the

Watervliet team that bested them 6-2 early in

the season.

Warner scored what proved to be the

game-winning goal seven minutes into the

second half, finding space in the middle after

cutting in from the right side.

“Most of the time I had been playing the

ball inside,” Warner said. “I decided, let’s

take it for a try. I beat the one [defender], saw

the bottom left and let it rip.”

The DK Panthers played a strong second

half to hold on for the one-goal win.

“Maybe,” was Delton Kellogg head coach

Alan Mabie’s first thought when he was

asked if the regional final performance was

his team’s best of the season.

“No,” he finally answered, although he did

like how his team carried its energy level

from its first ever district championship game

into the regional semifinal.

“This is the same kind of energy we had,”

Mabie said. “We came out and scored in the

first two minutes, which is something we don’t

normally do, so I knew it was too early to hope

we were going to stay 1-0. Then we kind of fell

back a little bit. The second half of the first half

they dominated us. We were just surviving. In

the second half, we seemed to control more

than them in the second half after they got the

goal especially. We got them tired too.”

Delton Kellogg played a little desperate

even with a one-goal lead as the first half

wore on. Defenders were more likely to just

try and clear the ball away rather try and con-

trol possession.

“There, in the second half, we were con-

necting and getting it to our midfielders who

were getting it to our forwards and putting

enough pressure on,” Mabie said. “We’ve just

got to get one, we said. Just got to get one.”

Delton Kellogg ends the season with a

record of 11-8-2. The win over Watervliet was

the end of five consecutive victories for DK.

“Who would have thought we would be in

the regional finals,” Mabie said after the

regional semifinal victory. “We started the

season slow, about midway through we start-

ed picking up and the last quarter, the last

couple game we really picked it up. We lost

one, but that was to Lakewood and they were

ranked 15th in the state and they only beat us

1-0. From then on, we started picking it up

more. Three district games, three shutouts.

Those were tough games. Three shutouts.

Our keeper did a great job tonight.”

“Talk about an underdog. It is amazing. I

don’t know what to say,” Warner said.

“We have been confident this whole year.

We were the underdogs, but we didn’t let it get

to us. We came in thinking we were the better

team and now we’re in the regional finals.”

It was another strong game on the attack

for DK forward Hector Jimenez, who was

actually down on the field injured when

Warner scored the go-ahead goal in the sec-

ond half. Jimenez stepped back to assist the

defense as the game wore on.

Warner, Mabie and Momenee all attributed

the teams’ growing success this fall in part to

a defensive formation change from a straight

four across in the back to a diamond shape.

“The defense has really stepped up lately,

especially having Gio [Stea] in the back. He’s

coming in and sweeping in and cleaning it

up,” Momenee said.

Momenee also got better as the year pro-

gressed. He was replacing a four-year keeper

on the DK varsity after having just spent

some time as a keeper during indoor season.

Watervliet ends the season with a record

of 19-3.

Area Locations to purchase the Hastings Banner!

Hastings:

One Stop Shop (Marathon)

(M-43 North)

Superette

Family Fare

Tom's Market

Hastings Johnny's

The General Store

Marathon

Mega Bev

Hastings Pharmacy

Marathon Gas Station

(M-37 West)

Marathon Gas Station

(M-37 South)

Family Fare Gas Station

Walgreens

Middleville:

Speedway

Harding's

Greg’s Get-It-N-Go

Middleville Johnny's

Gun Lake:

Sam’s Gourmet Foods

Orangeville:

Orangeville Fast Stop

Pine Lake:

Doster Country Store

Prairieville:

Prairieville Fast Stop

Cloverdale:

Cloverdale General

Brown’s Cedar Creek Grocery

Shelbyville:

Town & Country

Delton:

Family Fare

Delton Johnny's

Banfield:

Banfield General Store

Dowling:

Goldsworthys

Woodland:

Woodland Express

Nashville:

Trading Post

Little’s Country Store

Nashville Johnny's

MV Pharmacy

Nashville C Store

Carl’s

Lake Odessa:

Lake-O-Express

Lake-O-Mart

Lake Odessa Johnny's

Carl’s

Freeport:

L & J’s

Delton Kellogg's Myles Hatton (13) and Hector Jimenez look towards teammate Marshall Warner after Hatton finished off a

corner kick by Warner to put their team up 1-0 in the first half of their MHSAA Division 3 Regional Semifinal against Watervliet at

Holland Christian High School Oct. 27. The DK Panthers went on to a 2-1 win over Watervliet before being bested by South

Christian in the regional final Saturday. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Delton Kellogg goalkeeper Marcus Momenee slides out to secure a ball in front of
his net during his team's 2-1 win over Watervliet in the Division 3 Regional Semifinals
at Holland Christian High School Oct. 27. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Delton Kellogg midfielder James Blackburn shields Watervliet defenders as he

receives a throw-in during his team's win over Watervliet in the Division 3 Regional

Semifinals at Holland Christian High School Oct. 27. (Photo by Brett Bremer)

Delton Kellogg defender Martin

Wachowski clears the ball from trouble

during his team's 2-1 win over Watervliet in

the Division 3 Regional Semifinals at

Holland Christian High School Wednesday,

Oct. 27. (Photo by Brett Bremer)