BRIGHTON — One school record wasn’t enough for Hartland senior Elliana Neuer over the weekend.
Less than 24 hours after breaking the school mark in the 1,600-meter run at The Barnyard Invitational in Romeo, Neuer took down the Eagles’ 800 record during the Brighton Bulldog Invitational on Saturday, April 25.
Neuer placed second in the 800 with a time of 2 minutes, 14.99 seconds to eclipse the record of 2:15.6 set by Avery Evenson at the KLAA championships on May 22, 2012.
Both of Neuer’s performances replaced records set by Evenson, who went on to become an All-America cross country runner at Michigan. Neuer ran 4:50.27 in Romeo to break Evenson’s record of 4:54.6 from 2010.
Evenson’s time was also the Livingston County record. In the same race, Pinckney junior Jaelyn Ray ran 4:49.22 to set the new county mark.
“Honestly, it feels surreal,” Neuer said. “I still don’t know if it’s hit me yet. To know (Evenson) went on and did great things gives me confidence going into college next year.”
Neuer, who will run at Michigan State, almost didn’t get the opportunity to break the 800 record Saturday.
Her day was almost done after she helped Hartland win the 3,200 meter relay in 9:48.02, along with teammates Layla Foguth, Sophia Nunnery and Hannah DePestel.
“When it was cold and rainy in the morning, my coach told me, ‘I’ll let you know if you should come back for the 8,’” Neuer said. “It stopped raining, I came back and I’m happy I did. We were debating whether to do it or not.”
Neuer felt the effects of her hard 1,600 effort from the day before, but not once the race started.
“My legs felt pretty heavy when I was warming up,” she said. “Then when I started racing, I didn’t really notice.”
Having a fast runner to chase helped, as Ann Arbor Skyline’s Becca Van Lent won in 2:13.93.
Neuer’s time ranks her fifth on the county’s all-time list in the 800. Her 800 and 1,600 times met the early-qualifying standard for the Division 1 state finals.
Another Hartland girl who put her name in the record book was Reese Messenger, who set a county freshman record in the 100 with a second place time of 12.45 seconds. She broke the mark of 12.63 run by Fowlerville’s Emma Roedel on April 23, 2013. Messenger was also third in the 200 in 26.48.
DePestel won the 400 in 59.55 and took second in 26.35. Brighton’s Juliet Lewis, who set the county 800 record one day earlier, was second in the 400 in 1:00.30.
Howell’s Emma Kanka won shot put with a throw of 35 feet, one-half inch. Pinckney’s Julia Garcia was second in the 1,600 in 5:20.67 and Hartland’s Ava Goodman was second in the 3,200 in 11:38.53.
In the boys meet, Beckett Fitch scored a huge victory for Division 3 Charyl Stockwell in a meet featuring predominantly Division 1 schools. His winning time of 50.92 in the 400 lowered his own school record.
Austin Ouillette won the 300 hurdles in 41.32 and John Rochowiak won the freshman-sophomore 1,600 in 4:38.79 for Pinckney. Sam Burtts was second in the 110 hurdles in 14.78 and fifth in the 300 hurdles in 42.74 for the Pirates.
Brighton’s Mason Gay was second in the 200 in 22.80 and fifth in the 100 in 11.22. Evan Cummings was second in the 3,200 in 9:49.37 and Josh Keillor-Beale was second in the freshman-sophomore 1,600 in 4:39.62 for the Bulldogs.
Baseball
Brighton 4-11, Fenton 1-0
Josh Metz allowed four hits in seven innings in the first game and Shane Bittikofer gave up five hits and no runs in five innings in the nightcap for Brighton.
Alex Larson was 3-for-4 in the opener. Luke Ribble and Brayden Hine each drove in three runs, while Aden Bailey was 3-for-4 in the second game for the Bulldogs.
Howell 14, Berkley 2
Danny Hampton was 5-for-7 with four RBIs in the doubleheader for Howell. The second game was tied 5-5 after nine innings.
Jacob Hernandez had three steals and four runs in the first game for the Highlanders.
Softball
Howell/Fowlerville Invitational
Howell beat Fowlerville 5-1 in the championship game to finish 3-0 on the day.
The Highlander won 7-5 over Dexter and 8-2 over Holt in their first two games.
Zoey Overton was 6-for-11 with a home run and six RBIs for Howell. Leighton Scott had two homers and drove in five runs against Dexter. Allison Ulanowski pitched all seven innings in victories over Holt and Fowlerville, fanning 15.
Fowlerville beat South Lyon East 9-5 and Lansing Waverly 6-3 in its first two games.
Fowlerville’s Annabelle Szumlinski had two doubles and Rylee Gulledge drove in two runs against East. Kiely Davis was 3-for-3 and Gulledge struck out 10 batters against Waverly.
Boys golf
Corporal B Invitational
Hartland finished fourth while playing some of the top teams in Michigan, shooting 303 at American Dunes. Brighton tied for seventh with a 317.
Hartland’s Aidan Oake tied for seventh by shooting par 72. Liam Kastamo tied for 13th with a 75, Michael Maurin tied for 23rd with a 77 and Wyatt Johnson tied for 33rd with a 79 for the Eagles.
Adam Forcier tied for 23rd with a 77, Easton Short tied for 31st with a 78 and Grady Bissett tied for 40th with an 80 for Brighton.
Flag football
Brighton 38, Novi 0
Brighton quarterback Emma Adamczyk was 21-for-32 for 256 yards and four touchdowns. Kendall DeKeyser caught six passes for 63 yards and three touchdowns. Saycia Perkins returned an interception for a touchdown and caught a touchdown pass.
Girls lacrosse
Brighton B 17, Howell 6
Janie Mitter and Nora Rioux scored two goals each for Howell.
Girls tennis
Bulldog quad
Host Brighton scored 18 points to beat Hartland by three. North Farmington had 10 points and Livonia Stevenson was scoreless.
Winning their flights for Brighton were Ruby Pennala at No. 2 singles, Kadance Radwanski-Balogh and Claire Chandler at No. 1 doubles, Alexis Ainsworth and Deeyani Babaei at No. 2 doubles, Emma Wendrick and Lily Pennala at No. 4 doubles, Leah Sabol and Sophie Gomez at No. 5 doubles, and Aubey Hetherton and Reaghan Grisamer at No. 6 doubles.
Flight winners for Hartland were Leda Pantelas at No. 3 singles and Macy Lemmen at No. 4 singles.
Hartland 9, Howell 0
Singles: Arianna Kinney (Hartland) d. Presley Clow 6-1, 6-0; Baylee Kotrba (Hartland) d. Penny Mick 6-0, 6-0; Leda Pantelas (Hartland) d. Sophia Messner 6-1, 6-0; Macy Lemmen (Hartland) d. Caitlin Bedford 6-1, 6-0.
Doubles: Daphne Pargulski-Eliza Ernest (Hartland) d. Katie Johnston-Paige Owens 6-0, 6-2; Avery Shaw-Katlynn Leedle (Hartland) d. Berklee Wolfe-Kennedy Wolfe 6-0, 6-3; Stella Kelsey-Maria DiMatteo (Hartland) d. Addy Wasikowski-Brianna Hood 6-1, 6-0; Gabriella McClue-Isabella Gembel (Hartland) d. Khloe King-Charlotte Mullins 6-0, 6-0; Sara Nalepka-Marina Staron (Hartland) d. Chloe McCormick-Avery Breidinger 6-0, 6-1.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Elliana Neuer breaks 2 long-standing Hartland track records in 2 days
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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