KENT CITY – With all the focus at the MHSAA D3 state finals on a possible fourth consecutive state championship for Hart’s girls track and field team, it was the boys who impressed Saturday, May 31.
Hart’s boys team snagged fifth place as a team with 29 placement points, falling in line with a field of extremely close team finishes. In front of the Pirates was Lawton (32), Reed City (33), Pewamo-Westphalia (34) and Chesaning (57).
While a trophy was the ultimate goal, Hart’s boys accomplished plenty that they could be proud of, starting with an individual state title for the 800-meter relay team. Eman Hertzler, Carter Ramseyer, Lyric Fielder, Chase Lorenz finished with a 1:30.52 mark, landing them the top spot on the podium.
“We knew we could do that,” Hart Head Coach Ken Kimes said. “We’ve had trouble with handoffs all year, but we finally got that down and nailed it. It all worked out in the end.”
It was an impressive day for the boys relay teams, as they broke a school record in the 800 relay, as well as the 400 relay. That 400 relay team had the same quartet of athletes as the 800 relay, propelling the Pirates to a fourth place finish (43.84).
The 1,600 relay also reached the podium for Hart’s boys, with Ramseyer, Fielder, Lorenz and Jack Slotman (3:26.57). That was a third place finish for the Pirates.
Ramseyer was a staple in all the events that qualified Hart for the podium. Along with three relay podiums, Ramseyer also nailed a personal record time of 49.68 in the 400 dash, which put him in second place. Lorenz is typically Ramseyer’s running mate in that event, but illness kept the Hart junior from running that race.
“Chase is our big dog in the 400 all year,” Kimes said. “He’s been sick and he missed a day of school last week. It’s too bad that it has to happen at this time of the year, but he was sick two weeks ago before regionals and got through that with meds. If he would have felt good enough to run that 400 and even place fourth, we would’ve finished as runner-up today.”
Lorenz was not only a key piece of Hart’s success this year, but the main factor for getting Ramseyer on the team as well. Typically a key cog in the Hart baseball team, Ramseyer suffered a shoulder injury that – along with encouragement from Lorenz – led him to compete in track for the first time.
“Without an injury in baseball and Chase Lorenz, I never would’ve come out here,” Ramseyer said. “(Lorenz) told me I’d be on the 400 relay team because I could keep up with him and he thought I’d do well in several events. Then, I subluxed my shoulder in baseball and ended up choosing track.
“I don’t want to be overconfident, but I knew I had it in me (to succeed in track). It’s really cool to have this close out my high school career because now I’m cemented in the Hart High School record books.”
The girls team couldn’t recapture the success of previous years, taking eighth place as a team with 21.5 points. Still, the girls showed flashes of excellence, joining the boys as new school record holders.
“The girls did really well and broke a couple of school records,” Kimes said. “Unfortunately, Addi Hovey hasn’t been herself this year because of a back injury that she had. We were really thankful that she was able to high jump 5-3 and place fifth when she hadn’t even high jumped until three weeks ago. You take someone like that out of our lineup for the girls and it’s not the greatest thing that could happen.”
The 400 relay team for the girls are new school record holders as Lilly Hopkins, Lexie Nienhuis, Addison Hain and Addi Hovey sprinted to fifth place with a blazing 50.22 time.
Similar to the boys, Hart put two other relay teams on the podium with the 800 and 1,600 relay teams both placing in the top eight. The 800 relay was the same combination as the 400 and earned the Pirates a second place mark of 4:07.88 while the 1,600 replaced Hovey with Natalie Rosema for a fourth place finish (4:07.88).
Hovey was the only other Pirate on the girls side to earn placement points, pulling an eighth place finish of 12.98 in the 100 dash and tying for fifth in the high jump at 5-3.
The Pirates will lose a hefty chunk of seniors with notable names including Hovey, Nienhuis, Harriet Kidder, Hopkins, Ramseyer and Hertzler.
