Four local teams and dozens of local athletes brought home state championships over the weekend.
The Benzie Central and Pickford boys teams and Buckley and Hart girls teams all brought home state championships.
For Pickford, Buckley and Benzie Central, dominant individual performers led the way to championship glory.
Pickford’s Hayden Hagen, Benzie Central’s Hunter Jones and Buckley’s Aiden Harrand all earned clean sweeps of the long distance individual state titles in their respective classes. All three won state titles in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m runs.
“It’s something that I never really thought I would get to experience,” Benzie Central senior Dorian Olson said of winning a state title. “Beginning back in middle school, I was not nearly at the level that I am now. This is something that everybody has been working toward and trying to support for a long time and it was just a really big honor.”
“We did a police escort when we got home and a bunch of the kids came that weren’t able to go down there joined us on the bus,” added Benzie Central head coach Asa Kelly. “And just to see all the people on the streets and the sidewalks out cheering and yelling. These kinds of things bring the community together.”
Here’s a list of all the local state champions from this past weekend:
Lower Peninsula:
Division 1:
Boys:
No Local Champions
Girls:
No Local Champions
Division 2:
Boys:
No local champions
Girls:
4x200m Relay: Emily Anway, Avery Meyer, Madison Lundquist and Hanah Johnson - Cadillac
Division 3:
Boys:
800m Dash: Hunter Jones - Benzie Central
1600m Dash: Hunter Jones - Benzie Central
3200m Dash: Hunter Jones - Benzie Central
4x800m Dash: Clayton Ackley, Seth Ackley, Guillermo Ortega and Wyatt Dean - Hart
4x100m Relay: Kenneth Emerson, Madix Saunders, Nick Metzger, Brayden Riley - Sanford Meridian
Long Jump: Mitchel Harrington - Grayling
High Jump: Sawyer Moloy - Sanford Meridian
Discus: Kellen Kimes - Hart
Girls:
3200m Dash: Jessica Jazwinski - Hart
High Jump: Addison Hovey - Hart
Division 4:
Boys:
- 4x200m Relay: Jake Romzek, Jeremiah Pasbjerg, Jackson Kulawiak and Nick Simon - Buckley
- 4x400m Relay: Jake Romzek, Jeremiah Pasbjerg, Jackson Kulawiak and Nick Simon - Buckley
- 800m Dash: Owen Patton - Vestaburg
- Pole Vault: Isaac Bowden - McBain NMC
Girls:
100m Dash: Brooklynn Frazee - Buckley
800m Dash: Aidan Harrand - Buckley
1600m Dash: Aidan Harrand - Buckley
3200m Dash: Aidan Harrand - Buckley
4x100m Relay: Eliza Frary, Sofia Alaimo, Addison Chownyk and Gwyneth Dunaway - Frankfort
400m Dash: Kaylee Locke - Beal City
300m Hurdles: Anna Plum - Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart
Discus: Natlie Wandrie - Indian River Inland Lakes
Shot Put: Natalie Wandrie - Indian River Inland Lakes
Upper Peninsula:
Division 1:
Boys:
200m Dash: Carter Oshelski - Sault Ste. Marie
400m Dash: Carter Oshelski - Sault Ste. Marie
4x800m Relay: Caleb Klier, Logan Haskins, Cody Aldridge and Gabe Litzner - Sault Ste. Marie
Pole Vault: Rayce Rizzo - Sault Ste. Marie
Girls:
Shot Put: Hannah Maurer - Sault Ste. Marie
Division 2:
Boys:
800m Dash: Hayden Hagen - Pickford
1600m Dash: Hayden Hagen - Pickford
3200m Dash: Hayden Hagen - Pickford
110m Hurdles: David Kozisek - Pickford
4x100m Relay: Cole Warner, Kendrick Brace, Brayden Altoft and Owen McConkey - Pickford
High Jump: David Kozisek - Pickford
Long Jump: David Kozisek - Pickford
Pole Vault: Owen Lester - St. Ignace
Shot Put: Brayden Altoft - Pickford
Girls:
Pole Vault: Avery Visnaw - St. Ignace
Discus: Kadence Potoczak - Pickford
Division 3:
Boys:
300m Hurdles: Chris Hopson - Newberry
4x200m Relay: Marco Juarez, Aa’Keem Jackson, Kennedy Depew, Matthew Rahilly - Newberry
Long Jump: Matthew Rahilly - Newberry
Girls:
High Jump: Alicia Cheney - Rudyard
Shot Put: Grace Hill - Brimley
