CONSTANTINE — The Constantine track and field teams each collected first-place finishes on Friday, May 8 at home.
The invitational was an early qualifier event for the MHSAA state finals. Constantine scored 147 points for the boys and 183 for the girls to claim first place. Schoolcraft finished second in both.
The Bronson boys posted 86 points for fourth place, while White Pigeon was sixth with 38. The White Pigeon girls posted 52 points for third place, while Bronson tied for fourth with Hartford at 49 points for the girls.
Alessandro Avila ran to first place in a couple of races for the Falcons. He posted a time of 2:06.50 in the 800 and 4:44.07 in the mile run. He was also second in the two-mile run at 10:42.13.
Avila was part of the two-mile relay which won as well. He teamed up with Aaron Hofmeister, Luke Platz and Bear Geibe to post a time of 8:25.56.
Chase Manes won the shot put at 46-7 feet. He was second overall in the discus at 137-10 and ran to second place in the 400 run at 53.42 seconds.
Aaron Hochstetler won the pole vault, clearing a height of 13-9 feet.
Geibe posted 2:07.21 for second place in the 800.
In the mile relay, Constantine ran to second place. The team of Manes, Hofmeister, Hochstetler and Geibe posted a time of 3:36.26.
Noah Garcia-Beers was second overall in the pole vault, leaping 12-0 feet. In the long jump, Cooper McGee finished third at 18-6 feet.
For the girls, Jaedyn Herlein won the hurdle events. She posted a time of 16.58 seconds in the 100 and 49.04 seconds in the 300.
Constantine finished first in three relays. The 800 relay saw Kaitlyn Jones, Taylor Bolle, Kailee Jones and Herlein run a time of 1:52.59. The mile relay saw Herlein, Kaitlyn Jones, Kailee Jones and Raeann Michalek run a time of 4:24.39. In the two-mile relay, the foursome of Morgan Niblock, Allison Burns, Ashlynn Michalek and Kailee Jones ran to first place at 10:37.01.
Andrea Avila won the pole vault by clearing 7-6 feet. Niblock ran to first place in the 400 at 1:02.76.
Niblock’s time in the 200 was 28.26 seconds for second. Kaitlyn Jones finished third (28.48) and she was second overall in the 800 at 2:31.28.
Anna Davidhizar ran a time of 13:17.84 for second place in the two-mile run. She also posted 6:03.21 for third in the mile.
Eliza VandenBerg was second in the throwing events. She had a distant of 105-feet in the discus and 33-4 feet in the shot put.
Paytin Featherstone was second in the pole vault.
Bronson also had some strong finishes.
Brayden Fritz had an impressive showing in the discus. His distance was 174-9 feet, which won by quite a lot. Fritz was second in the shot put at 46-4.
Stevie Wilson was first in the long jump. He leaped 18-11.
Dalton Hoard was second in the 100 dash at 11.60 and came in third in the 200 at 23.98. Wilson was second in the 300 hurdles at 41.18 and took third in the 110 hurdles at 16.05.
For the Viking girls, Miriam Sanchez won a pair of events. She raced to first overall in the 800 at 2:31.20 and won the two-mile run at 13:02.61. Alonna Goodsell won the mile run, posting 5:54.65.
Bronson’s two-mile relay team was second. The team of Goodsell, Piper Grigsby, Abbi Ferry and Sanchez ran a time of 11:04.62.
For White Pigeon, Sadie McDaniel won the shot put for the girls at 36-8.5 feet.
Ava Sowards-Haack was third in the discus at 103-3.
White Pigeon was third in three relays. Addison Mercer, Jocelina Acevedo, Aubrey Miller and Kenlee Schrader ran a time of 56.64 seconds. Tori Shoup, Lilly Stemm, Miller and Schrader ran to a time of 2:03.51 in the 800 relay while the mile relay team of Miller, Mercer, Schrader and Shoup posted 4:37.74.
Jesse Fielis ran to third in the mile run for the boys at 4:49.51.
The 400 relay team of Mason Yoder, Maddix Jancasz, Hunter Pant and Jase Roach was third at 45.71 seconds. The 800 relay team of Pant, Roach, Jancasz and Yoder posted 1:36.97 for third.
On Tuesday, the Constantine teams finished with strong showings at the SAC league meet. The girls were second at 76 points, finishing behind Kalamazoo Hackett’s 102. The Falcon boys were third at 62.6 points, finishing behind Kalamazoo Hackett (117) and Saugatuck (72.6).
The girls mile relay team won a conference title. Herlein, Kaitlyn Jones, Kailee jones and Niblock posted a time of 4:15.20 for first.
VandenBerg won the shot put at 34-10 feet. She was second in the discus as well at 101-4.
The 800 relay team finished second. Kaitlyn Jones, Raeann Michalek, Kailee Jones and Herlein ran a time of 1:51.53.
Herlein ran to third in the 300 hurdles at 47.91, Kailee Jones finished second in the 800 at 2:30.17.
For the boys, Hochstetler was second in the pole vault by clearing 13-0. Manes was third in the shot put at 45-0.
A pair of Falcon relays were second. In the mile relay, the team of Manes, Hochstetler, Hofmeister and Geibe ran a time of 3:37.68. The two-mile relay team of Avila, Hofmeister, Platz and Geibe posted a time of 8:25.01.
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: Constantine track squads sweep Falcon Invitational first place finishes
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
