Sophia Nunnery has been a huge part of Hartland’s resurgence in distance running the past four years, but has been overshadowed at times by teammates Elliana Neuer and Ava Goodman.
Nunnery had the spotlight to herself during the Highland Games track and field meet on Saturday, April 18 at Howell High School.
Nunnery won the 1,600-meter run in an invitational for the first time, posting a personal-best time of 5 minutes, 17.78 seconds. She chopped nearly six seconds off her previous best of 5:23.62 from last season. Her time ranks third in Livingston County this season behind Pinckney’s Jaelyn Ray and Neuer, both of whom have broken five minutes.
Howell junior Jack MacGregor, who is more accustomed to winning invitationals, was the only other county athlete to post a first-place finish. MacGregor won the boys 1,600 in 4:31.99.
Howell’s Emma Kanka was second in both throws, going 115 feet, 2 inches in discus and 37-6.25 in shot put. Hartland’s 3,200 relay team of Hannah DePestel, Gabrielle Desgrange, Lila Miller and Layla Foguth took second in 10:05.18.
Goodman was third in the 1,600 in 5:35.32.
Placing fifth for Howell were Norah Hull in the 100 (13.21), Breslyn Buckley in the 100 hurdles (18.38), and Leah Moon and Lilly Williams in high jump (4-3). Hartland’s Reese Messenger was sixth in the 100 (13.39).
Taking fourth for Howell’s boys were Krystian Kubicz in the 110 hurdles (16.13) and Brady Walker in long jump (19-4.5).
Grand Ledge swept the team titles, with the boys scoring 113 points and the girls 86. Howell’s girls were fifth with 47.
Lansing Catholic Relays
Jaelyn Ray won the 3,200 in 10:48.39, Davea Crowe won the 300 hurdles in 49.54 and Emily Clark tied for first in pole vault at 8-9 to lead Pinckney’s girls to a second-place finish out of nine teams.
Crowe was also fourth in the 100 hurdles (17.27) and was on a second-place sprint medley relay team.
Julia Garcia, Kaylynne Baltzell, Brooklyn Reason and Ray won the 4,000-meter distance medley relay in 12:39.69.
Viola Sharp was third in shot put (28-11.5) and fourth in discus (75-11.5). Lexi Erickson was third in discus (83-0.5).
In the boys meet, Austin Ouillette won pole vault (11-3) and was third in the 300 hurdles (41.71) to lead Pinckney to a fifth-place finish.
Wyatt Urbanowicz was second in pole vault (9-6) and Cole McCraw was third in the 3,200 (9:45.86) for the Pirates.
April Showers Invitational
Three Charyl Stockwell school records were broken at Dexter.
Ella Heffner broke two of her own marks, taking sixth in the 1,600 in 5:28.40 and ninth in the 3,200 in 12:09.60 running against athletes from Division 1 powers Ann Arbor Pioneer and Romeo.
Senior Beckett Fitch, racing the open 400 for only the third time in his career, won with a time of 51.33. He broke the school mark of 51.63 set by Jackson Schmitz at the 2021 Division 3 state finals.
Stockwell’s 800 relay team of Lauren Hammond, Becka Lethorn, Jessica LeFeve and Chelsea Hollingsworth took second in 1:53.27. Hammond was sixth in the 100 in 13.06.
Baseball
Howell 16, Grand Blanc 13
Howell 9, Grand Blanc 6
Danny Hampton went 5-for-9 with a double, triple and home run in the doubleheader for Howell (10-3). Lead-off hitter Jacob Hernandez scored seven runs.
Brogan Forney had two doubles and a triple for the Highlanders. Dylan Closson-Torres closed out a high-scoring twin bill by allowing only one run in four innings of relief.
Plymouth 1, Brighton 0
Cooper Lehnis of Plymouth threw a no-hitter and drove in the game’s only run with a solo homer in the fourth inning. He struck out seven and walked one, facing one batter over the minimum.
Alex Larson struck out seven in five innings and Nate Houck fanned four in two no-hit innings for Brighton.
Fowlerville 11, Ionia 4
Ionia 6, Fowlerville 5
Dylan Soli, Travis Wroblewski and Luke Docusen each drove in two runs for Fowlerville in the opener.
Softball
Howell 14, Canton 1
Howell 13, Canton 12
Allison Ulanowski singled to left field to score Kennedy Stone with the winning run in the second game, capping a six-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Ulanowski allowed two hits in five innings in the first game and pitched three innings of scoreless relief in the nightcap.
Zoey Overton was 3-for-4 with a home run, double and four RBIs and Stone drove in three runs in the second game.
Fowlerville 7, Ionia 3
Fowlerville 11, Ionia 1
Ella Olrich was 5-for-7 with four runs, McKenna Maybee went 4-for-6 with four RBIs, and Avery Borg was 4-for-8 with three RBIs in the doubleheader for Fowlerville.
Plymouth 4, Brighton 3
Brighton 7, Plymouth 3
Libby Carah drove in four runs in the doubleheader for Brighton. Anna Minnick drove in three runs and scored twice in the second game.
Hartland 20, Novi 2
Novi 4, Hartland 3
Emme Kottong hit a home run and drove in three runs and Reese Dunny hit two triples for Hartland (1-8) in the first game.
Girls lacrosse
Brighton 10, Rockford 7
Sophie Dockham had three goals and Quinn Holdridge had two goals and two assists as Brighton won a matchup between perennial state Division 1 powers.
Brighton 7, Cleveland St. Ignatius 7
Kelly McKaig had two goals and two assists and Holdridge had two goals for Brighton.
Howell 13, Canton 3
Brooke Moon had four goals and one assist, while Lucy Snow and Kaiya Osborn had two goals each for Howell.
Novi 13, Howell 5
Evie Nicholas had three goals and Isabelle Berendt had 17 saves for Howell.
Boys lacrosse
Brighton 17, Canton 5
Maddox Marlatt had nine points for Brighton (6-0).
Hartland 12, Clarkston 5
Clayton Penzien had three goals and one assist, Drew Schaecher two goals and three assists, Connor Gilbert three goals, and Trevor Phillips two goals for Hartland.
Hartland 16, Plymouth 2
Coen Chwalek had four goals and one assist, Liam Quick four goals, Gilbert two goals and four assists, Penzien two goals and three assists, Schaecher two goals and two assists, and Phillips two goals and one assist.
Howell 5, Belleville 4
Tobias Milam and Ryan O’Dea each scored two goals and Miles Flood had 13 saves for Howell.
Soccer
Hartland 4, Canton 0
Senior Izzy Armstrong had two goals and one assist and freshman Mallory Frantti scored twice for Hartland (5-2-1).
Hartland will host Brighton at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 21.
Brighton 3, Novi 2
Maya Bjedov scored two goals and one assist and Kate Malachino had one goal and one assist for Brighton (2-3).
Pinckney 8, Ypsilanti Lincoln 0
Kinley Mays and Madelyn Curry each had hat tricks and Camille Kliczinski scored twice for Pinckney.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Hartland’s Sophia Nunnery emerges from shadows with track win
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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