Whitehall senior Bobby Jazwinski continued his banner season Friday at the Division 2 regional meet at Chippewa Hills, taking first place by nearly a minute and a half in a field of 98 runners to secure his spot in the state meet.
Jazwinski, who posted a time of 14:46.3 to earn the top spot by a margin of 1:23 over Oakridge's Bryce Falbe, will be favored to repeat as state champion and is on record as hoping to take aim at the all-division track record at Michigan International Speedway this Saturday, Nov. 7 at the state finals.
Viking senior Gabrielle Chevez also qualified for the state meet, placing 11th in the girls' race and setting a personal best time of 20:00.4.
The Whitehall boys were hoping to reach the state meet as a team, but were unable to achieve that goal, finishing fifth out of 14 schools. (The top three teams qualify to the state meet.) Scout Freiheit was the Vikings' second scorer and earned a personal best time of 17:31.9 to finish 34th overall. Teammate Rex Pumford was right behind him in 35th place, with a time of 17:36.6, and Ian Dennis finished 44th in a time of 17:58.8. Alex Winczewski was the Vikings' No. 5 scorer, placing 61st overall with a time of 18:52.0.
Madi Heuschele was the second Whitehall girls runner to finish, placing 36th in a time of 21:37.7 to end a solid freshman season. Reese Hesse placed 48th and had a time of 22:16.4, and Vivian Hesse was 68th in a time of 24:21.6. Ryanne Ellsworth closed out Whitehall scoring in a time of 24:54.8.
