The Hopkins gi
rls’ track team finished seventh as a team in the Division 3 state tam track meet May 28, but could only score 11 points and finish 18th in the MHSAA state meet Saturday at Comstock Park.
Senior Julia Forbes scored six points in the long jump by taking third place with a leap of 17-02.25, just a quarter of an inch away from second place. Fellow senior Bailey Ballard scored the other five points by placing fourth in the discus with a throw of 121-06.
Though they didn’t figure in the scoring in the state meet, sophomore Megan Schulz and freshman Laura Velderman had outstanding individual performances. Schulz hurled the shot 34-03, her best-ever performance. Velderman was just once place shy of scoring, taking ninth in the open 400-meter run at 1:00.35, only three-hundredths slower than the eighth-place finisher.
None of the relay quartets were able to crack the top eight. The 3200-meter relay team included Emma Helder, Madison Snoeyink, Josie Freybler and Jasmine Fisher; The 800- relay team had Forbes, Freybler, Velderman and Brittney Houseman; the 400 relay was made up of Velderman, Savannah Emause, Ballard and Houseman, and the 1600-meter foursome of Madeline Krcatovich, Helder, Freybler and Velderman.
Also qualifying for the state meet, but not scoring, were Forbes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes; Ballard in the 
100-meter high and 300-meter low hurdles, and Emma Helder in the open 800.
Forbes was just twelve-hundreths of a second from taking eighth, and thereby scoring, in the 200.
For the Viking boys’ team, Jacob Sytsma tied for 12th place in the high jump by clearing 5-11.
PHOTOS: Julia Forbes Bailey Ballard
