ADRIAN – Julie Ravary knew it was going to be close.
The Erie Mason girls track and field coach calculated the results “probably 10 or 15” times in the days leading up to the Division 3 Regional at Adrian Madison on Saturday, May 17.
She had her team winning in about half of those tries.
The one that really mattered came out in favor of her Eagles.
Mason scored 99.5 points to narrowly edge Blissfield, which finished with 98.
“We knew it would come down to three or four points,” Ravary said. “It was even closer than that. … Our Regional was loaded. It really was. It was so close that it could go either way.”
It is the first time Mason has won a regional in Ravary’s 15 seasons as head coach at her alma mater.
“I am so excited for the kids,” Ravary said. “They worked their tails off. We were second to St. Mary (Catholic Central) last year. That made us think that we could do this.”
Giuliana Nastale and Beth Sweeney racked up a lot of points for Mason.
Nastale won the 100 (:12.42) and 200 (:25.26) and anchored the winning 400 and 800 relays.
Sweeney was the champion in the low hurdles (:15.75) and high jump (5-0), was part of the 400 relay and was second in the high hurdles.
Mason will be sending all four relays to the state finals on May 31 at Kent City.
“I think that’s the first time we’ve every don that,” Ravary said.
Taeviannah Couthen, Paige Konrad, Tanylei Neff, Elizabeth Lambert, Bailey Meiring and Kaylee Wright ran relay legs.
Ida’s Julia Hughes won the high hurdles in :15.31 and was second in the lows.
Madilynn Thorn of Whiteford ruled the long jump at 16-7.75.
SMCC was the winner in the 1,600 relay with Angie Illes, Ava Lucarelli, Adela Illes and Bella LaFountain.
Taking seconds were Adela Illes (100), LaFountain (800) and Olivia Beaudrie of SMCC, Nina Bauman of Whiteford (discus) and Whiteford’s 1,600 relay (Bauman, Briar Wing, Braelynn Chiotti, Alaina McClain).
Ida was third in the team standings with 82.5 points, SMCC fourth with 73, and Whiteford seventh with 43.
Mason’s boys were second, scoring 107 points in a meet that Onsted won with 128.5. SMCC and Whiteford tied for sixth with 48 and Ida was eighth with 39.
Landen Nastale won the 200 meters for Mason (:22.534) and was second in the 100. Teammate Lincoln Murbach was second in the low hurdles and third in the highs.
Whiteford’s Jess Saylor won the 400 in :51.2 and ran on the 800 and 1,600 relays that both finished second. Other relay members were Nate Andrews, Antonio Nachtrab, Drew Ruddy, Brody Hillard and Brek Ruddy.
Jaxon Bolster of Ida was the pole vault champ at 14-2.
Capturing seconds were Alexander Giarmo of Ida (discus) and the SMCC 400 relay (Ian Foster, Drew Harris, Vince Harris and Cole Reinhardt) and the 800 and 1,600 relays from Whiteford.
Alaina McClain set a school record of 2:22.89 to qualify for state in the 800.
Division 1 at Ypsilanti Lincoln
WILLIS – The 100 meters is one of the first events in a track and field meet.
Gibraltar Carlson’s Izaiah Wright got off to a fast start in that race and set up a big day for his team during the Division 1 Regional at Ypsilanti Lincoln on Friday, May 16.
Wright qualified fifth in the 100, but roared to a season-best time of 11.11 seconds in the finals to take second place. He was nipped at the finish by two-hundredth of a second by Peyton Trammer of Belleville.
“That really fired him up,” Carlson boys coach Drew Sweany said. “It set the tone for the rest of the day.”
Wright went on to help both the 400 and 800 relays earn trips to the state finals with third-place finishes.
“This is the biggest group we’ve ever taken to state,” Sweany said. “We usually have one of two kids. To have 10 this year is great for us.”
Joining Wright at the state finals at East Kentwood on May 31 will be relay teammates Avery Ortiz, Drake Jones, Brennan Hudson, Tristan Joaquin and Reece Wieckowski.
Carlson’s girls quartet of Riley Ivy, Maraya Finklea, Lunden Davis and Kemia Willians ran :49.8 to win the 400 relay.
Bedford also will have 10 representatives at state including champions Alex Beck (12-9 pole vault), Maddi Duke (1:56.27 800) and Ava Eby (33-9 shot-put).
“We had a great day,” Bedford Stefan Wilkinson said. “We qualified eight boys and two girls. A lot of kids stepped up with great performances.”
Bedford’s other qualifiers were Caleb Agius and Sawyer Ulery in the high hurdles, Joshua Makulinski in the shot-put, Mollie Plock in the pole vault and the boys 3,200 relay of Duke, Cameron Varner, Logan Thomas and Nick Balla.
Nolan Cacioppo of Monroe qualified with a second-place finish in the discus.
Division 2 at Chelsea
CHELSEA – New Boston Huron is making a lot of history this year.
The Chiefs brought home the first regional cross country championship in school history last fall.
They added a regional crown in track and field to the trophy case on Thursday, May 15.
Huron cruised to the title in the Division 2 regional at Chelsea in dominating fashion, scoring 108 points to soar past runner-up Riverview, which finished with 60.5.
“It was a good night,” Huron coach Cassy Roupe said. “The guys were super pumped. It’s incredible to go from winning in cross country to track.”
Much of the credit goes to Huron’s seniors.
“We have 18 seniors,” Roupe said. “That’s a very large senior class. This is a very special group. They have bonded very well.”
Senior Dylan Hudkins led the Chiefs, winning both hurdle races in school-record times. He broke his own mark by going :40.08 in the lows and was clocked at :14.8 in the highs to eclipse a standard set by Jason Trouten in 1992.
Huron’s Hunter Mihal won the the 400 meters (:49.61) and ran with Shaun Folkwein, Kyle Biller and Lucas Kuhn on the winning 1,600 relay (3:27.4).
All four Huron relays are headed to the state finals as the 400, 800 and 3,200 quartets all placed second. Hudkins, Folkwein, Biller, Mihal, Jamil Brown, Ryan Anderson, Jordan Stasak, Luke Dulecki, Lucas Worrell and Lucas Kuhn ran relay legs.
Huron also got seconds from Anderson (200) and Cayden Kilby (high jump).
Flat Rock’s Jacob Stanislawski won the 3,200 meters in 9:45.61 and ran with Adam Brodie, Lucas Taraszkiewicz and Nathan Vargo on the winning 3,200 relay (8:04.04).
Also winning regional titles were Callum Bell of Airport (1:55.84 800) and Caiden Lambers of Milan (6-2 in high jump).
Vargo was second in the 1,600 and Milan’s Adam Johnson was the runner-up in the 400.
Malea Wourman of Milan won the girls 400 (:59.3), teamed with Madison Lancaster, Angelina Wilson and Kaily McDaniel to take the 800 relay (1:46) and was second in the high jump.
Flat Rock’s Reagan Higdon was the girls champion in the 100 (:12.57) and 200 (:25.86).
Avery Turk of New Boston Huron captured the championship in the low hurdles (:47.5) and Jefferson’s Katie Powell ruled the long jump (16-0.75).
Marissa Beck of Milan was second in both the shot-put and discus.
Division 4 at Hillsdale Academy
HILLSDALE – Summerfield’s boys and girls both took second place behind host Hillsdale Academy.
The Bulldogs won the high jump for both the boys and girls meets with Teddy Gault clearing 6-1 to win for the boys and Abby Zilka setting the standard for the girls at 4-10.
Gault also claimed second in the long jump and Austin Taylor was the runner-up in both the 200 meters and pole vault.
Summerfield’s girls placed second in all four relays with Emma Jacob, Shylee Iott, Bethany Suydam, Abby Raymond, Grace Raymond, Mia Miller, Mackenzie Wolfe and Sophia Stanger running legs.
The 1,600 and 3,200 relays set school records. Wolfe also set a school standard in taking second in the 3,200 meters.
JT Lemert was the runner-up in the boys shot-put.
Gabi Myshock (discus), Shylee Iott (pole vault) and Aubrey Vanderhoof (high hurdles) qualified for state.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Top performances for Region track and field athletes in regionals
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
