It would be an understatement to say the Wayland boys’ and girls’ track teams had a pretty good day Thursday at the O-K Gold Conference meet at Houseman Field in Grands Rapids.
The boys came home with the first-place conference trophy, scoring 173.5 points, more than 40 over runner-up Grand Rapids Northview. The Lady Wildcats finished second to state powerhouse Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, which tallied 206 points. Wayland edged South Christian and West Catholic for that second slot with 104.
Wildcat sophomore sprinter Jake Reeder surprised Union sprinters who dominated the 100 by winning the 200-meter dash in 22.95 seconds. Teammate Landon Dunahoo was fourth in both sprint races.
Brock Wheeler was second in the 400 at 51.73 seconds. Dylan Pallet ran his best 1600 to place third in 4:34.56. He also turned in his best 3200-meter, finishing second in 9:56.33.
Sophomore Alex Hubbard raised more than a few eyebrows when he won the 110-meter high hurdles in just 16.24 seconds. He was sixth in the 300-meter hurdles.
The Wildcat relay squads won one and took second in three relay races. The 800-meter relay quartet of Reeder, Maurgan Howard, Wheeler and Dunahoo was first in 1:32.05. The 400-meter relay team of Chance Lenhart, Reeder, Henry Maass and Dunahoo was second to Union. The 1600 relay was second with Wheeler, Howard, Breslin Vandenbos and Lenhart in 3:35.08. Pallet, Xander Stepek, Zachary Keena and Vandenbos hooked for second in the 3200-meter relay in 8:18.68.
Wayland flexed a lot of muscle in field events.
Ashton Kuhlman won the shot put with a toss of 49-9 and teammate Ashton Kasprowicz was fifth.
Defending state champion Adam Huff surprised no one by winning the discus at 160-6 and Kasprowicz was third at 125-7.
Carter Marquard won the high jump at 6-2 and teammate Carter Williamson was fourth, clearing 5-10. Marquard was runner-up and Justin Springs third in the long jump, though they tied at 20-6.5.
Sophomore Megan Brogger led the Lady Wildcats in sprints, taking fifth in the 200 and third in the 400.
TK dominated the hurdles, but Wildcat Emily VanVolkinburg slipped into fifth.
Kaydence Coon, Kennedy Jasinski, Quinn Reeder and Ella Edwards hooked up to finish third in the 400 relay. Laney Wolf, Brogger, Quinn Reeder and Edwards were second in the 800 relay in 1:49.48. Brogger, Ryleigh Haveman, Wolf and Ayva Mulder came in second in the 1600 relay in 4:17.21.
Mackenzie Kositzky surprised some observers by taking second in the shot put with a toss of 31-5. She surpised even more by copping first in the discus at 118-8. Taylor Hoogewind took a third. Addyson Moyle was third in the high jump at 4-10 and Gwen Howard was fifth.
Junior pole vault sensation Evie Mathis, state runner-up a year ago, was just a little shy of her 12-6 personal best, but she handily won that event Thursday at 12-0. Hoogewind captured a tie for third place.
Mathis proved she’s not just a one-event track star by finishing third in the long jump at 15-4.5.
