Adrian Madison Follows Rosales to Top
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2017
COMSTOCK PARK – Doing one better was the theme for Adrian Madison’s girls track & field team Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Comstock Park.
A year after finishing runner-up, the Trojans nabbed a team championship with 56½ points. Lansing Catholic was second with 41, and Shepherd took third with 33.
It was a prolific final performance by senior Megan Rosales that sparked the victory, as she played a role in four wins for the Trojans. Rosales, who won the 400 meters in 2015, was runner-up in the 300 hurdles and part of the winning 800 relay last season, made her last meet count with a season-best time of 57.02 seconds to win the 400, and a first-place run of 45.05 in the 300 hurdles. She joined teammates Delaney Stersic, Sierra Hernandez and Chelsea Short as the fastest 800 relay squad (1:44.11) and she anchored the 1,600 relay to a repeat title in 3:57.80. Short, Stersic and Hernandez ran the first three legs.
“Today was definitely one to remember,” Rosales said. “We took the saying ‘going out with a bang’ to a whole new level. None of this would be possible without all of (these girls). I'm so proud of you all and everything that you girls have accomplished. This is what we've all worked for. It all paid off in the end. No better way to end my high school running career.”
The Trojans enjoyed all-state efforts by Kiarah Horn, who was third in the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, and Anne Wong, who tied for eighth in the same event at 10 feet. Chelsea Short registered a sixth-place time of 26.24 in the 200.
Shepherd may have had to settle for third place overall, but the program delivered a third MHSAA title in four seasons in the 3,200 relay. This time, however, the team clocked a Division 3 meet record time of 9:18.06. It was the quartet of Rachel Mathers, Katelyn Hutchinson, Kylie Hutchinson and Amber Gall that now boasts the best of all time, dethroning Benzie Central’s 2011 performance of 9:22.71. Gall also won the 800 in 2:14.81.
Parchment junior Shiyon Taylor took home a pair of championships after running a personal-record in the 100 (12.41) and a top time of 25.96 in the 200.
Lansing Catholic junior Olivia Theis was the best of the bunch in the 3,200, which featured two sets of sisters among the all-state top-eight performers. Freshman Jaden Theis was third for Lansing Catholic in 10:34.73, while Hart sophomore Adelyn Ackley was runner-up (10:34.47) and junior Alayna Ackley placed eighth in 11:07.30.
Olivia Theis completed the distance double with a championship in the 1,600, winning by more than five seconds with a personal-record of 4:50.10. Adelyn Ackley recorded a second-place time of 4:55.53, while Jaden Theis was third in 4:55.81, setting the stage for some exciting races to come.
PHOTOS: (Top) Adrian Madison's Megan Rosales pulls away from the field during the 400 in helping her team to the overall championship. (Middle) Shepherd, right, and Lansing Catholic also put up strong performances at Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Standout Leads Corunna in Close Finish
June 1, 2019
By Matt Schoch
Special for Second Half
ZEELAND – It’s essentially an individual sport, but the importance of teamwork was on display Saturday at the MHSAA Division 2 Girls Track & Field Finals at Zeeland Stadium.
Teammates pushed each other to the end with one-two finishes in the 100- and 1,600-meter races, highlighting a day that had a three-and-a-half-hour delay and then another of 45 minutes – with one more delay of more than two hours for good measure.
In the 100, freshman Chaniya Madison of Bridgeport edged teammate Payten Williams, last year’s champion, at 12.41 seconds.
“I was trying to run against her, keep up to her, push her, go harder – and it made me go harder,” Madison said. “It’s exciting. I don’t really feel like it’s real. It feels fake, like a dream come true.”
Holland Christian kept the tradition alive in the 1,600 after Kayla Windemuller won the last three Finals titles.
This time, it was junior Gillian Fiene running a 4:57.05 to top second-place Michelle Kuipers, together keeping the Maroons on top of the podium, both noting their faith in a post-race interview.
“I knew I was running it with God and with Michelle, and to know that I have those two walking right alongside me is just such a great feeling and the most comforting thing in the world,” said Fiene, who moved to Holland Christian this year from a school in Illinois.
Added Kuipers: “I don’t feel the pressure as much (from the program’s past success), just more of excitement just to keep going to see what we can do as a team. Just to see how God has blessed us this year even more.”
The pair also helped Holland Christian to a title in the 1,600 relay at 3:58.40.
However, in the team competition, Corunna carried the day with 54 points, while Holland Christian was second with 49. Rounding out the top five were Zeeland East (37), East Grand Rapids (33), and Bridgeport (31).
Corunna was carried by a standout day from junior Hannah Hollister, who won individual titles in the 300-meter hurdles (44.12) and 200 meters (25.26). She also anchored a 400-meter relay winner in which Corunna (49.56) edged Frankenmuth by one hundredth of a second, coming from behind for the win.
Hollister also took third in the 110 hurdles, won by Marysville’s Kaia Scheffler (14.36).
Hollister said she ran the full slate of events last week at the Regional to prepare for what turned out to be a long day.
“It was kind of hard to bounce back from running the 200 prelims and then 15 minutes later in the 100 hurdles, so I’m happy with how that went,” Hollister said. "At the beginning, it was a little rough with all the nerves and not being able to run our first race, but then after that, it was almost nice and it gave us a longer break.”
Another multiple champ, Adrian sophomore Marr Day’Anna, won the high jump competition at 5 feet, 4 inches, and the long jump at 18-10.25, a Division 2 Finals record.
“I was going for 19 (feet),” Day’Anna said. “But I’m happy that I could jump this and beat the state record. My last couple jumps in my last couple meets were really good, so once I got to state meet, I was just working my way up to this.”
Day’Anna said her second-place finish in the long jump last season served as motivation throughout this spring.
Rounding out the field events, senior Mohogany Wells of Lansing Sexton won the shot put at 42 feet, 8 inches, Zeeland East senior Taylor Waterway won the discus at 135-2 and senior Tricia Pierce of Ortonville Brandon won the pole vault at 12-6.
On the track, senior Jakarri Alven of Grand Rapids Catholic Central won the 400 meters at 57.55 seconds, her third Finals title in four seasons and after missing last season’s championship meet with an injury.
St. Johns junior Taryn Chapko won the 800 at 2:15.14, and Plainwell junior Makenna Veen won the 3,200 at 10:38.35.
Eighth-seeded East Grand Rapids pulled an upset in the 3,200 relay, winning at 9:15.00 to edge top-seeded Holland Christian, which set the meet record last year. Holland Christian took second this year at 9:21.15 after its third runner was hobbled with an injury down the stretch.
Williamston won the 800 relay at 1:43.59.
PHOTOS: (Top) Corunna's Hannah Hollister clears a hurdle while leading her team to the LP Division 2 championship. (Middle) Holland Christian's Gillian Fiene paces the field on the way to a win. (Photos by Kevin Fowler. Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)