June 4 - MHSAA D2 Track and Field State Finals - at Ada Forest Hills Eastern We had 5 athletes attend the meet. Kennedy Christoffersen (Sr) ran a solid race in the 100 hurdles despite missing the entire week due to illness. Gable Whittle (Sr) competed in the long jump. He had an ok performance jumping farther than his PR from last year, but couldn't quite find the board today, which kept him from getting to his PR of this year. Conor Somers (Sr) ran in the fast heat of the 800 with the race playing out just like he had planned it with the exception of his finish place. He sat in the pack for the first 400, moved to contact with the leaders with 300 to go and went for it with 200 to go. He ended up 2nd in a pretty crowded and tactical race. An athlete from Forest Hills Easter was just a little quicker over the last 200. The boys in the 4x400 turned in the best race of their season to be the first 4x4 team to break 3:30 since I have been coaching, except they didn't. We were DQ'd due to an accidental impediment in the exchange zone. They would have finished 9th. Daniel Romero (So) improved on his best split time by 2 seconds. I was proud of the class they showed in handling the DQ. Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/446340/results Coach

West Michigan Invitational 5-25-22   The weather cleared up for Finals.  The athletes who qualified for this meet had a good day with many setting a PR or getting close to it.  There are no team scores at this meet and the top 6 medal.  Athletes who medaled or PR’d Conner Roesler – 5th 200 Gabe Whittle – 4th 400 PR  – 5th  Long Jump Gary Springstead – 6th 400 Conor Somers – 4th 1600 – 1st 3200 Gavin Schuler – 6th 3200 Henrik Quist – PR 3200 4x400 Relay – 2nd, Gary Springstead, Daniel Romero, Gabe Whittle, Conor Somers 4x800 Relay – 2nd, Gavin Schuler, Sean Pettis, Johnny Christensen, Gary Springstead   Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/447094/results   Coach

Track and Field Regionals May 20 at Zeeland Crazy Weather   Despite steady winds in the teens and gusts in the 20s and temperature fluctuation from the high 60s to the mid 80s we had several athletes perform quite well.  Runners faced the wind in the home stretch.  The wind was the worst for the prelims and settled down into the teens later in the meet.  The team placed 7th out of 14 with 44 points.   Athletes who set PRs and or made the All-Region team (top 8). Gavin Schuler – 6th All-Region PR 3200 run Henrik Quist – PR 3200 run Michael Romero – PR 300 Hurdles   Athletes who were All-Region and qualified for the State Finals on June 4th.  To qualify athletes had to place top 2 or hit the state qualifying mark at this meet. 800 Meters – Conor Somers – Regional Champion 1600 Meters – Conor Somers – 3rd with qualifying mark Long Jump – Gabe Whittle 2nd PR 4x400 Relay – Gary Springstead, Daniel Romero, Gabe Whittle, Conor Somers – 5th with qualifying mark PR   This is the largest group of athletes the boys team will be taking to the State Finals for quite some time.   Our next meet is the West Michigan Invitational on Wednesday.   Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/446225/results   Coach  

Track and Field Regionals May 20 at Zeeland Crazy Weather   Despite steady winds in the teens and gusts in the 20s and temperature fluctuation from the high 60s to the mid 80s we had several athletes perform quite well.  Runners faced the wind in the home stretch.  The wind was the worst for the prelims and settled down into the teens later in the meet.  The team placed 7th out of 14 with 44 points.   Athletes who set PRs and or made the All-Region team (top 8). Gavin Schuler – 6th All-Region PR 3200 run Henrik Quist – PR 3200 run Michael Romero – PR 300 Hurdles   Athletes who were All-Region and qualified for the State Finals on June 4th.  To qualify athletes had to place top 2 or hit the state qualifying mark at this meet. 800 Meters – Conor Somers – Regional Champion 1600 Meters – Conor Somers – 3rd with qualifying mark Long Jump – Gabe Whittle 2nd PR 4x400 Relay – Gary Springstead, Daniel Romero, Gabe Whittle, Conor Somers – 5th with qualifying mark PR   This is the largest group of athletes the boys team will be taking to the State Finals for quite some time.   Our next meet is the West Michigan Invitational on Wednesday.   Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/446225/results   Coach  

CSAA Fremont, Tri-County, Newaygo, Reed City May 11 at Fremont   This was a meet that had to be rescheduled due to weather so we were not very happy when the storm rolled in at 2:30.  We waited it out and were rewarded with humid but decent conditions on a delayed start.  I was a little concerned about a letdown after competing so well at the championship meet but we had another great meet.  The boys won the meet to go undefeated in the conference and win the Conference Championship.  There were a lot of PRs but the highlight of the meet was probably the 800.  Conor Somers (Sr) targeted this meet to take a shot at Dan Radars 1:56.0 school record set in 1993.  Dan was a Freshman on the team when I was a senior.  Conor hit the 200 in about 28 flat and the 400 in 56.45.  He really stayed in his rhythm through the next 200.  With about 100 to go he was starting to try to force it and needed a reminder to stay smooth.  He relaxed and finished in a new school record of 1:54.81 which is also the fastest time in the  state currently.  It was really exciting for him to be able to perform like that in front of some of the old legends in attendance;  Don Klingel and Dan Price (both former school record holders at the 800), Jim and James Lanciaux, and others.  Not to be out done we had a slew of athletes turn in PRs. 100 Dash Conner Roesler – 1st Connor Pettis – PR Lorenzo Luizzi – PR Gavin Payne – PR Tavin Reichert Slater – PR Brandon Rasmussen – PR   200 Dash Conner Roesler – 1st/PR Bjorn Johnson – PR Lorenzo Liuzzi – PR Tavin Reichert-Slater – PR Gavin Payne – PR   400 Dash Gabe Whittle – 2nd Gary Springstead – 3rd/PR Lucas Bradly – PR   800 Run Conor Somers – 1st/PR Carter Sherman – PR   1600 Run Johnny Christensen – 1st Gavin Schuler – 2nd Conor Somers – 3rd Carter Sherman – PR   3200 Run Gavin Schuler – 1st Henrik Quist – PR Carter Sherman – PR   110 Hurdles Daniel Romero – 1st/PR Michael Romero – 2nd Carter Rottman – PR   300 Hurdles Daniel Romero – 1st/PR Michael Romero – 3rd/PR   Shot Put Andrew Steger – 3rd   Discus Michael Romero – 2nd Briar Hambrock – 3rd Singh Cheema – PR   Long Jump Gabe Whittle – 1st Wei Chen – 3rd/PR   4x100 – PR Conner Roesler Wei Chen Connor Pettis Garrett Hanshue   4x200 – 1st/PR Conner Roesler Khai Noordyk Connor Pettis Gabe Whittle   4x400 – 1st/PR Gary Springstead Daniel Romero Gabe Whittle Conor Somers   4x800 – PR Gavin Schuler Sean Pettis Johnny Christensen Gary Springstead   It was a great meet and the boys did a great job dealing with the weather delay and coming out to perform well in wet conditions. Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/447207/results/all   Coach

CSAA Gold Conference Championship Meet 5-9-22 at Big Rapids Strong headwind in the home stretch. I am super proud of the way the boys ran. Going into a championship meet there is always a little concern with how the team will respond. This morning I went through the heat sheets and project how the meet would go. I was a little conservative on a few events and had us winning the meet with 159 points. The boys showed up to compete and outperformed that scoring 178 points for a decisive win. They outscored my projections in the shot put, discus, long jump, 200 dash, and 4x800 relay, and despite the wind turned in several personal records. The boys stared out strong and finished strong winning both the first (4x800) and last (4x400) events. Here are our event winners and athletes who set PRs. I am really proud of the way the boys represented themselves at a championship meet. 100, 200 – Conner Roesler – 1st 800, 1600 – Conor Somers – 1st Henrik Quist PR 3200 run 300 Hurdles – Daniel Romero – 1st 4x200 Relay – Conner Roesler, Khai Noordyk, Connor Pettis, Gabe Whittle – 1st 4x400 Relay – Gary Springstead, Daniel Romero, Gabe Whittle, Conor Somers – 1st and PR 4x800 Relay – Gavin Schuler, Sean Pettis, Johnny Christensen, Gary Springstead – 1st and PR Andrew Steger PR Shot Put Briar Hambrock PR Discus Michael Romero PR Discus Long Jump – Gabe Whittle 1st and PR We still have a makeup meet and home to complete on Wednesday before the final conference champions can be crowned, but the boys are currently in the drivers seat right now. Full Results and be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/449044/results Coach

The track teams competed at Mason County Central in the Optimist Invite Friday against Ludington, Manistee, Lake City, Mason County Eastern, Mason County Central, Shelby and Fruitport. Both teams performed well with the boys finishing 2nd with 89 points, just behind Ludington with 102 points. The girls finished 5th with 74 points, 4 points behind the 4th place team from Lake City. Event winners were: 4x800 team of Gary Springstead (Jr), Sean Pettis (So), Gavin Schuler (Sr) and Carter Sherman (Fr) 4x400 team of Gary Springstead, Sean Pettis, Daniel Romero (So) and Gabe Whittle (Sr) 400 Meter Gary Springstead with a PR of 52.84 3200 Meter Gavin Schuler 100 Hurdles Kennedy Christoffersen (Sr) with a SR of 16.84 Long Jump Kennedy Christoffersen Silver Medal Winners included: 4x200 team of Conner Roesler (Sr), Khai Noordyk (Fr), Connor Pettis (So) and Gabe Whittle 400 Meter Gabe Whittle 200 Meter Conner Roesler with a PR of 23.32 100 Meter Victoria Ekkel (So) with a PR of 13.32 200 Meter Victoria Ekkel with a PR of 28.57 3rd Place Winners were: 300 Hurdles Daniel Romero with a PR of 44.30 300 Hurdles Lauren O’Malley (So) 4x400 team of Lauren O’Malley, Erica Maddox (Sr), Avery Christoffersen (So) and Kennedy Christoffersen    

CSAA 2 at Central Montcalm The team turned in another good meet beating Central Montcalm and Grant.  It was cold but calm and we had several PRs that you can see in the results showing another total team effort. Event winners  400 meters - Gary Springstead 800 meters - Johnny Christensen 1600 meters - Johnny Christensen 3200 meters - Gavin Schuler 300 hurdles - Daniel Romero 4x100 relay - Wei Chen, Connor Pettis, Khai Noordyk, Garrett Hanshue 4x200 relay - Wei Chen (fell down), Khai Noordyk, Connor Pettis, Gabe Whittle 4x400 relay - Sean Pettis, Johnny Christensen, Michael Romero, Gary Springstead 4x800 relay - Sean Pettis, Gary Springstead, Carter Sherman, Conor Somers Discus - Michael Romero Long Jump - Gabe Whittle Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/442353/results Coach  

4-23-22 Kathy Talus Invitational - Lowell Our first day of warm spring weather brought a lot of personal records (PRs).  This was a relay meet with a few open events.  Field events were scored by combining each teams top two marks.  The boys placed 4th of 11 teams with 50 points.  Caledonia won with 122 points. Event winners Conor Somers (Sr) 1600 run Medalist and PRs Conner Roesler (Sr) - 3rd 100 dash Daniel Romero (So) - Pr 110 hurdles, and 300 Hurdles Michael Romero (Jr) - Pr 110 hurdles, and 300 Hurdles Carter Rottman (Fr) - Pr 110 hurdles, and 300 Hurdles 4th place 4x100 relay team - Conner Roesler, Khai Noordyk (Fr), Conner Pettis (So), Garrett Hanshue 9Jr) 2nd place 4x200 relay team - Conner Roesler Khai Noordyk, Conner Pettis, Gabe Whittle (Sr) 2nd place 4x400 relay team - Gabe Whittle, Gary Springstead (Jr), Sean Pettis (So), Conor Somers 4th place Super DMR - Gavin Schuler (Sr), Gary Springstead, Johnny Christensen (So), Conor Somers Andrew Steger Pr - Shot put and Discus Singh Cheema Pr - Shot put Garrett Hanshue Pr - High Jump Coach

Rocket Invitational Reeths Puffer  The boys turned in a really solid meet in chilly conditions.  The Coaches were really happy with the way the boys competed.  There were 15 teams competing in the meet, 7 in the large school division (Green), and 8 in the small school division (White).  We were in the white division, placing 2nd with 95 points, to Saugatucks 100.5. The athletes competed in races based on their seed time, so they raced against both divisions, but were scored only against schools in their division. PRs 200 - Conner Roesler, Khai Noordyk 400 - Garrett Hanshue 800 - Conor Somers, Johnny Christensen, Carter Sherman 1600 - Gavin Schuler 110 Hurdles - Daniel Romero, Michael Romero, Carter Rottman 300 Hurdles - Carter Rottman 4x200 - Relay - Roesler, Noordyk, Springstead, Whittle 4x400 - Whittle, Romero, Somers, Christensen Shot Put - Singh Cheema Discus - Andrew Steger Long Jump - Luke Bradley Event winners and Medalists 200 - Conner Roesler won the White division and placed 2nd overall 400 - Gabe Whittle won the White division with Gary Springstead placing  3rd and Garrett Hanshue 5th. 800 - Conor Somers won the White division and the meet overall.  Johnny Christensen placed 3rd in the white division. 1600 - Conor S. 2nd, Johnny C, and Gavin Schuler placed 2nd, 4th, and 5th in the White division. 3200 - Gavin S. placed 3rd White. 110 Hurdles - Daniel Romero placed 6th in White. 300 Hurdles - Daniel Romero placed 4th in White. 4x200 Relay - Conner Roesler, Khai Noordyk, Gary Springstead, Gabe Whittle placed 2nd 4x400 Relay - Gabe W., Daniel R., Conor S., Johnny C. won the White. 4x800 Relay - Carter Sherman, Gabe Jones, Cole Lowery, Sean Pettis placed 3rd in White Discus - Andrew Steger placed 6th in the White. Full results can be found here - https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/447105/results Coach

Track and Field CSAA Jamboree 1 at Reed City   We had a great meet.  There were some computer glitches that have caused the results to be delayed.  I will not make a prediction on the scores but I will say that the boys ran well.  As our first conference meet of the season it was a good learning experience for all of us.  We found some strengths and some weakness that we need to work on.  Hoping to have results by sometime tomorrow.   Coach

GVSU Laker Challenge – Boys 3-23-22   Taking advantage of the ideal weather indoors the boys turned in some great performances at the Laker Challenge, running on Grand Valleys 300 meter indoor track.   We had a mix of some upperclassmen and many first timers, and they all competed well.  They had a great attitude of have fun while putting in a hard effort.  None of our first timers were intimidated, they just went out and competed. In a great showing we had several athletes post lifetime PRs in their first meet of the season. Two of our throwers, Andrew Steger (So) and Briar Hambrock (Jr) both Pr’d.  Seniors Conner Rosler and Gabe Whittle Pr’d in the 200, while Conor Somers Pr’d in the 1600 missing Nathan Walkers school record by less than a second.  Sophomore Connor Pettis had a Pr jump in the long jump.  Daniel Romero (So) looked good in the 60 hurdles, while first year track athlete Michael Romero (Jr) gained good experience in the 60 H and 60 dash.  Another first time athlete Garrett Hanshue (Jr) who only had one day of practice on the high jump was able to clear the first two heights today jumping 5’4” and turning in a solid leg on the 4x300.   Sorry I don’t have more details but results were not released at the meet and they have not been posted yet.   Coach