HART – A highly successful day for Hart’s track and field team saw the Pirates dispatch Hesperia, MCC and Shelby in a conference meet Tuesday, April 29.
There weren’t many events that the Pirates didn’t dominate. Across 34 events for the girls and boys teams combined, Hart failed to place an athlete in the top spot just nine times, with one of those events not including a Hart competitor.
The girls were highlighted by stellar performances from junior Addison Hain and senior Lilly Hopkins.
Hain managed a first place finish in the 200-meter dash before joining forces with teammates for top finishes in the 400 and 1,600 relays. Hain also took third in the 100 dash.
Hopkins finished second in the 100, only to add a pair of first place finishes. Those first place finishes were in the 400 and 400 relay, where she raced alongside Hain, LexieBeth Nienhuis and Addi Hovey. Hopkins was also a member of the third place 1,600 relay team for Hart.
Also placing first in individual running events for Hart’s girls were Hovey (100), Natalie Rosema (800), Bryn Riley (1,600) and Alaina Schaner (3,200). Hart’s 3,200 relay team of Luisa Vander Zwaag, Rosemary Hernandez, Harriet Kidder and Kenai Kokx joined the 800 relay team of Hernandez, Hovey, Joselyn Flores and Ava Johnson as first place finishers in relay events.
Field events were highlighted by the usual suspects. Shelbie Choponis took first in discus with a throw of 109-0.5, before taking fourth with a shot put of 28-9. Flores claimed first in high jump with a leap of 5 feet, while Nienhuis vaulted 8-6 to take the top spot in pole vault.
For Hart’s boys, Chase Lorenz continued his phenomenal season. Lorenz placed first in the 100 and 200 individually before taking first as part of the 400 and 800 relay teams. Carter Ramseyer was also a member of the 400 and 800 relay teams, also taking first place in the 400 individually.
Other first place runners for the boys included Grant Ackley (800), Mason Opalewski (1,600) and Silas Ackley (3,200). Joining the first place 400 relay team alongside Lorenz and Ramseyer were Lyric Fielder and Tyler Larios-Mendez while Jack Slotman and Bryce VanderKodde joined Lorenz and Ramseyer in the 800 relay. Slotman, Trevor Vande Kodde, Aiden Schaner and Noah Wolff won the 1,600 relay and Martin Fetterhoff, Grant Ackley, Wolff and Trevor Vander Kodde won the 3,200 relay.
Hart’s boys didn’t have quite as much success in the field events, but they did snag a pair of top finishes. Caleb Ackley claimed first in shot put with a throw of 38-11 while Trevor Vander Kodde was a first place finisher in high jump at 5-6.
Hesperia had standout performances from Hunter Tinkham, Nate Ruhstorfer and Cam Cousineau on the boys team. Tinkham took third in the 800, Ruhstorfer was second in the 110 hurdles and Cousineau snagged fourth in shot put with a throw of 34-2.5.
The Panthers’ girls team was successful in a few of the field events. Emily McCallum continued her dominance in shot put, tossing a first place mark of 33 feet. Betty Jo Gerhardt came in second in the high jump, matching Flores’ 5 foot mark.
For Shelby, there was just one first place finish on the boys team. Venancio Cadena leaped 18-8 in the long jump to beat out Larios-Mendez (18-3.5) from Hart.
Several Tigers on the boys team finished near the top, however. Casey Lamblin took second in discus (111-2.5), Trey Gauthier claimed fourth in the 100, Isaac Garcia placed second in the 200 and Elijah Dashiell was a second place finisher in the 400.
Both of the relay teams for Shelby finished runner-up to Hart. Garcia, Gauthier, Cadena and Jaylin Henderson finished in second in the 400 relay while Garcia, Gauthier, Cadena and Dashiell finished second in the 800 relay.
Shelby’s girls team struggled to keep pace with the other teams in a number of events. The best placements of the day for the Tigers were from Kathryn Beyer (third) in the long jump, Annabelle Stark (third) in the 100 hurdles and Noel Parker (fifth) in the 1,600.
The 400 relay team for the Lady Tigers did see a successful second place finish with Nova Gottschalk, Jade Harris-Anderson, Ava Lamberg and Stark filling out the squad.
