GRAND LEDGE — Howell senior Emma Kanka is looking to take down her coach’s record, and Lily Daugard doesn’t mind one bit.
Daugard holds the Livingston County shot put record with a throw of 43 feet, 5 inches in 2021 and is now one of Kanka’s biggest supporters as one of her coaches.
Daugard has been down this road before. Her own sister, Sophie, threatened her record three years ago before settling for second in the county record book at 42-10.
Kanka threw a personal-best 42-1 to win shot put and complete a sweep of the throws for the second straight year during the Division 1 track and field regional on Friday, May 15 at Grand Ledge High School.
Kanka won discus with a season-best throw of 126-3.
“She knows I’m coming for her,” Kanka said. “She’s rooting or me. I have only two weeks going into state. I’m going to put my head down and grind.”
RELATED: Pinckney girls track and field repeats as regional champion
At the rate Kanka has improved in recent weeks, breaking the shot put record is a strong possibility. She got off to a slow start this spring after missing most of basketball season with a knee injury. Kanka competed immediately when track and field began, but wasn’t throwing up to her standards.
“It was an adjustment, especially learning how to move and throw with the brace,” Kanka said. “It was a different kind of feeling. It was a big mental aspect learning to retrust my knee. I’m starting to get back to where I need to be.”
Four other Livingston County athletes won regional championships Friday. Here are their stories:
Pulling off distance triple
Howell junior Jack MacGregor took on a heavier workload at regionals this season. A year ago, he helped the 3,200-meter relay team qualify for the state meet and won the 3,200.
This year, he once again helped the relay advance to the state finals while also winning the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 20.56 seconds and the 3,200 in 9:18.97. In both races, he sat on the shoulder of another runner before beginning his breakaway with one lap remaining.
“I just wanted to step it up, push myself to see how many races I could run and still perform to the best of my ability,” MacGregor said. “It was good racing today, a lot of sitting and kicking. I don’t mind that. I’m happy for the team. We’ll see what I run at the state meet.”
Coming from behind … twice
Brighton senior Juliet Lewis has a mantra that she successfully resorted to twice for come-from-behind victories.
“I was literally repeating it to myself over and over,” Lewis said. “It’s not over ’til it’s over, it’s not over ’til it’s over.”
Brighton was in fourth place in the 3,200 relay when Lewis got the stick to run the final two laps. She turned it on to pass one final runner on the last curve, bringing home a county record for the Bulldogs.
Lydia LaMarra, Maizie Cavanaugh, Ella Lorenz and Lewis ran a time of 9:15.20, breaking the mark of 9:15.28 set by Pinckney’s Erika Rapp, Allie Harstang, Isabella Garcia and Mia Garcia at the 2017 state Division 1 meet. They also broke the school mark of 9:19.30 that Lewis was part of on the same track at regionals two years ago.
“My sophomore year, we got the school record with a whole different group of girls,” Lewis said. “It was really cool coming back and doing it again, kind of full circle to where I’ve come and how far our team has come.”
In the 800, Lewis was in third place on the final turn before she charged down the final stretch to overtake Hartland’s Elliana Neuer in a photo finish. Lewis ran 2:15.07 and Neuer 2:15.21.
“I love running with her,” Lewis said. “She’s so nice to be around and warm up. She’s obviously a great competitor. We went out to push each other, run hard and have fun.”
Making more history
Neuer has broken Hartland’s school records in the 800,1,600 and 3,200 in recent weeks. By winning the 1,600 Friday in 4:59.80, she became the first Hartland girl to win the event at regionals since Avery Evenson in 2010.
Neuer had already qualified early for the state meet in those three events, so she was more concerned with getting the 3,200 and 1,600 relay teams to the state finals. That mission was accomplished when the 3,200 team that also included Hannah DePestel, Sophia Nunnery and Layla Foguth ran a second-place time of 9:17.30 that ranks third in county history and the 1,600 team of Neuer, Foguth, DePestel and Reese Messenger ran 4:02.97.
“Since I already had the qualifying times, my plan for today was to focus on the relays,” Neuer said. “We had a really good 4×8 today, so that was really exciting.”
Finding his niche
Junior Blake Kulesza has proven himself on the cross country course for Brighton, running 15:41.7 and placing 48th at the state finals.
But he’s found a home running the 800 meters on the track, an event which allows him to showcase his leg speed. He won the event Friday in 1:56.13, winning a battle with teammate Zach Wyderko, who ran 1:57.31.
“The 800 is my main event,” Kulesza said. “That’s where I feel the strongest. It’s where I feel I can actually kick people. (Wyderko’s) better at some of the longer events like the mile. We have our back and forth. It’s really helpful, especially during training pushing ourselves to be the best we can be.”
She can run track, too
Brighton senior Lydia LaMarra is a two-time regional champion in cross country, which is her favorite form of running.
But she showed she can also excel on the track by winning the 3,200 in 11:08.10.
“It was really nice to do it in track, too,” LaMarra said. “I’m usually more cross country-focused. It’s cool to have my confidence up a little bit in track. Honestly, I love cross country and I like it more than track. This year, I’ve been working on getting my confidence up. I’m having a good season so far.”
Other state qualifiers
Boys
Mason Gay, Brighton, 400, second place, 49.72
Zach Wyderko, Brighton, 800, second place, 1:57.31
Sawyer Switalski, Brighton, 300 hurdles, third place, 40.20
Sterling Brooks, discus, fourth place, 150-3
Alessandro Smigliani, Brighton, pole vault, second place, 11-9
Brighton 3,200 relay (Owen Collins, Blake Kulesza, Evan Cummings, Zach Wyderko), second place, 7:58.72
Howell 3,200 relay (Jack MacGregor, Grayson Diadiun, Boston Conn, David DeLand), third place, 8:01.32
Girls
Hannah DePestel, Hartland, 400, second place, 57.82
Elliana Neuer, Hartland, 800, second place, 2:15.21
Sophia Nunnery, Hartland, 1,600, third place, 5:08.66
Kaydence Hoolsema, Brighton, high jump, second place, 5-2
Kendel Simmons, Hartland, pole vault, third place, 10-6
Brighton 1,600 relay (Faith Cullen, Callie Kyser, Ella Lorenz, Juliet Lewis) 4:02.05
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Howell’s Emma Kanka sweeps regional throws, aims for coach’s record
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
