STURGIS — The Sturgis track and field teams celebrated their final home matchups of the season this past Tuesday. Hard to believe, but with how quickly the spring sports season moves the Trojans were on the field of competition for the final dual matchup.
Sturgis will still host regionals and the St. Joseph County UAW Meet, both scheduled for later on in May.
On Tuesday, the girls team handled both Vicksburg (82 – 55) and Plainwell (92.5 – 44.5). The Trojans recorded first-place finishes in nine events and the depth of the team helped the orange and black pile up the points and run away with the victories.
Berkley Holtz had no issues in her two individual races, winning the 800 in 2:30.80 and pacing the field in the mile run at 5:27.88. Tessa Hatt posted 12:35.11 in the two-mile run, this was good to lead the field.
Juliet Mendoza won the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.72 seconds. Kenzie Eicher was right behind her in second place with a time of 18.69 seconds. Eicher also was second overall in the 300 hurdles at 51.95 while Mendoza finished third in that race in 53.12.
Sturgis, to no surprise, swept the four relay events. The 400 saw Addison Eicher, Kinder Smith, Madelyn Oswald and Angela Cary post a time of 51.40 seconds. The same group ran away to win the 800 matchup as well with the combination of Eicher, Cary, Oswald and Smith recording a race-winning time of 1:48.24.
The Trojans mile relay team was Smith, Kenzie Eicher, Olivia Green and Mendoza. They won with an overall time of 4:34.15. In the two-mile relay, Sturgis’ team of Hatt, Holtz, Lulu Park and Smith ran a time of 11:07.71 to finish first.
Hatt’s time in the mile run was 5:45.69, good for third. Park ran to third in the two-mile in 13:32.39.
Cary also won the high jump, clearing 5-1 feet. She was second overall in the long jump at 15-5.5 feet while Oswald recorded a 9-0 feet clearance in the pole vault for second place.
The boys team split a pair of matchups. The Trojans beat Plainwell in a close one at 71 – 66 but dropped one to Vicksburg at 86.5 – 50.5.
Sturgis recorded several first-place finishes. Caleb Hohn won both the 200 (22.46) and the 400 (51.20) runs for the Trojans.
Winning the 400 relay was the Sturgis team of Drake Fisher, Beckett Lamb, Jason Stutzman and Lukis Bir. They posted a time of 44.58 seconds. Winning the 800 relay for the Trojans was the team of Fisher, Lamb, Hohn and Stutzman with a time of 1:33.64.
Stutzman was also first overall in the high jump event. His clearance was 5-10 feet.
Wyatt Miller won the pole vault event, clearing 12-0 feet. Lamb leaped a distance of 20-4 feet to claim first place overall in the long jump for Sturgis.
The Trojans are back in action on Friday evening at an MHSAA early qualifying event held in Jackson. The squad will compete in the annual Charlie Janke Invitational. Then, next Tuesday, Sturgis will travel to take on Otsego.
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: Sturgis girls track wins pair of duals at final home conference meet
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
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