Nine area athletes headed to D2 state meet

By David Troppens

 The tri-county area will have great representation at the D2 state track meet being hosted at Forest Hills Eastern High School on June 3.

 That’s because seven athletes in Linden’s track program qualified seven different events and Lake Fenton qualified two athletes in three events at Friday’s Division 2 regional meet held at Frankenmuth High School.

 The Linden girls finished second with 105 points, 33 less than regional champions Frankenmuth, and had six qualifiers in four events. The sprint athletes had the most success. Two relays won regional championships. Lauren Goodman, Reygan Acox, Malyna Nulf and Hannah Wasilewski won the 400 relay (51.27) as Linden looks to defend its back-to-back state titles in that event. The 800 relay team of Wasilewski, Victoria Bransford, Isabella Sigsby and Goodman (1:49.29) also won a regional crown. The other individual qualifiers were Goodman, who took second in the 100 (12.4) and the 200 (26.73); Acox, second in the 100 hurdles (16.38); and Wasilewski, third in the 100 (12.6).

 No individual had more regional event championships than Kyle Eberhart, who won three for the Linden boys. He won the 800 (1:56.44), the 1,600 (4:22.41) and the 3,200 (9:32.04). Some of his biggest competition in two of those events was Lake Fenton competitor Nolan Pinion. Pinion qualified in the 1,600(third in 4:24.60) and in the 3,200 (third in 9:37.94). The final area qualifier was Lake Fenton’s Bella DeBoe who took second in the girls high jump (5-foot-2). The top two finishers in every event or any athlete making a state-qualifying time or distance qualified for the state meet.

 The Linden girls had 14 other individual event top-eight place finishes. Colleen Blackwood did so in four events. She took fifth in the 1,600 (5:39.55), sixth in the 3,200 (12:20.63), sixth in the shot put (30-6 1/2) and eighth in the discus (85-0).

 The others were Chloe Josephson, fourth in the 1,600 (5:36.13) and fifth in the 3,200 (12:17.18); Madelyn Strauss, sixth in the 800 (2:39.34) and seventh in the 400 (1:04.09); Nulf, fourth in the 100 (12.9); Reagan Brooks fourth in the 800 (2:37.48); Evelyn Taylor, fourth in the discus (92-5); Julia Wagner, fifth in the 100 hurdles (17.35); Bransford, sixth in the 200 (28.15); and Sophie Sakalauskas, eighth in the long jump (14-4 3/4).

 The Lake Fenton girls had four other individual top-eight finishers. Lucianna Kamischke was fifth in the 300 hurdles (51.86) and eighth in the 100 hurdles (18.50), while Grace Roy was seventh in the 800 (2:41.80). Bayley West took eighth in the shot put (29-5 1/4).

 Lake Fenton’s boys and Linden’s boys each had three other athletes finish in the top eight of individual events. For Lake Fenton, they were Nolan Schroeder, third in the 400 (51.58); Calvin Kamischke, sixth in the pole vault (10-9); and Daniel Mueller, eighth in the 800 (2:03.68).

 The others for Linden were Blaise Gooding, fourth in the high jump (5-7); Brenden Shingleton, sixth in the 100 (11.68); and Ryan Blackwood, seventh in the 1,600 (4:39.12).