HAMILTON — The Michigan High School track community knew this day was coming.
Sturgis had been a rising power in track and field. Now, the girls program finds itself at the peak of competition for Division 2 in the state, winning the team title on Saturday, May 31, at Hamilton High School.
Three state championships, plus one in the adaptive field, brought the Trojans home with the school’s first track and field championship. The adaptive title did not count toward the team total of 54.2 points, but certainly helped add to the prominent showcase put on by Sturgis.
Goodrich finished second overall as a team with 39 points, just ahead of Saginaw Swan Valley’s 38. Stevensville Lakeshore (29) and Dearborn Divine (29) both tied for fourth place overall.
“These are our daughters, we’ve spent so much time with them,” a happily teary-eyed Lesley Starkey said following Saturday’s finals. “To be able to do that and see them succeed at a high level like this is really special. To see all the sacrifices they put in as a group is phenomenal. We are really proud of the whole group.”
Saturday night also included a parade back into town with help from Sturgis Police & Fire as friends and family surrounded the streets to welcome the Trojans back.
Earlier in the day, the Trojans ran away from the field in both sprint relays, anchored by senior and future University of Michigan track athlete Keyanna O’Tey.
“Extremely happy with the outcome,” O’Tey said after it was all said and done. “I definitely think we deserve this. With all the practices and training and hard work we put in all year, I’m happy to be a part of this team.”
O’Tey finished her high school career with five state championships to her name, plus the team state title. At Saturday’s D2 finals, Sturgis flexed its sprinting prowess.
The 400 relay team of O’Tey, Tenley Banaszak, Angela Cary and Hannah Garbine posted a time of 48.48 seconds. The 800 relay team, which saw O’Tey team up with Addison Eicher, Garbine and Sydney Bir, posted 1:42.80.
Vivian Massey recorded her second consecutive state championship in the adaptive shot put event, tossing 13-feet, 3.75 inches.
Also winning, and breaking her own school record in the process, was Eleena Kelley in the discus. She finished with a distance of 135-9 on her final high school throw for Sturgis.
“I wanted to have fun and it really was a blast today,” Kelley said, “I wanted to focus on myself and do what I know I could do. I wasn’t really expecting to finish first, though. But it’s so cool to go from third to first.”
Sturgis also received points from the distance relays. The mile relay team of Kinder Smith, Berkley Holtz, Garbine and Bir finished fifth overall at 4:06.91. In the two-mile relay, the Sturgis team of Bir, Tessa Hatt, Smith and Holtz ran to third overall at 9:30.57.
Cary helped the Trojans on the point total by finishing eighth in the high jump event, she cleared 5-1.
O’Tey finished second overall in the 100 at 11.64 seconds and third in the 200 at 24.26 seconds.
Bir ran to 12th in the 400 (59.35) while Garbine was 26th at 1:02.49. Hatt finished 21st in the 800 at 2:28.95 while Kylie Brooks came in 19th in the 300 hurdles at 48.70.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: One for the ages: Sturgis girls claim school’s first state track and field state title
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
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