John Raffel
Sports Scene
It was close, very close, but the Fowler girls track team prevailed for the Division 4 track & field state title in Jenison on June 2.
Fowler wound up with 54 points to edge Traverse City St. Francis, which notched 50 points. Beal City was third with 42.
Jill Feldpausch coached the state champs to their second straight title.
“I was hoping we’d be top two,” Feldpausch said. “We were state runners-up in 2009 and 2010.”
The state champs got a big boost in the 3,200-meter relay when Elizabeth Thelen, Rebecca Thelen, Brianna Feldpausch, and Kieren Becker were first in 9:50.86. Then the 800-meter relay team came through in 1:47.26 to take first with the foursome of Savanah Feldpausch, Britney Weber, Breann Klein, and Elizabeth Thelen. Savannah Feldpausch was second in the 300-meter hurdles in 48.42 seconds.
Fowler was also second in the 1,600-meter relay in 4:15.76.
“We performed very well,” Feldpausch said. “We had some great performances. We knew it was going to be close. We had a couple of individuals step up and get the points in areas we needed them. It all came together.”
Winning the 4 x 800 relay “right off the bat was a key,” Feldpausch said. “Winning the first two relays off the bat indicated we were off to a good start.”
Thelen took a fifth in the 400-meter dash, despite being seeded ninth, to give her team four points.
Next year, Fowler hopes to be top 2 in the state again.
“We have a big target on our backs,” Feldpausch said.
Beal City put in its “best performance ever,” at a state meet, said Aggie coach Dave King. “We knew that Fowler was strong. They had athletes that qualified in almost 14 events. We had eight athletes qualifying in nine events. We knew we were in a strong position to compete for the runner-up spot. We were right there at the end. We did not have people in the last four to five events. Our points came early.
“We’re happy with third place. We knew we had as good a chance as anybody for that runner-up position.”
Sophomore Addie Schumacher won the high jump at 5’5″ to pace the Beal City attack and tie her school record. “We’re looking for continued good improvement from her,” King said. “She had a great day and really competed well, mentally and physically. She ended up winning on misses. She has plenty more to come in her next two years.”
Senior Amber Arndt was second in the long jump in 17’6.5″ and second in the 100-meter dash in 12.86 seconds. The Aggies were second in the 400-meter relay in 51.69 seconds.
Arndt “was a [long jump] state champion as a freshman in 17’2″, had finished fourth the last two years, and this year finished second with a school-record jump,” King said. “In the 100-meter dash, she has also placed in all four years. She also anchored both of our sprint relay teams.”
Arndt “has been a mainstay of our team for four years,” King said.
The 800-meter relay team was fourth.
Two members of relay teams came over from the district softball tournament to compete.
Breckenridge’s Kirsten Olling was a state champ in the 3,200-meter run in 9:50.86. She also took second in the 1,600-meter run in 5:07.02.
BOYS
Albion did it again in Division 4.
Coach Mike Jurasek’s 2008 and 2009 teams won championships in Division 3. Albion tied with Crossroads Academy for the Division 4 title last year. This spring, Albion won it outright.
“We won all four relays this year,” Jurasek said. “You hope things go well. They went as well as we could have expected. We’ve been pretty fortunate for the last few years. We have had some leadership.”
Crossroads Academy wasn’t able to defend its state title in Division 4 track but still had a strong third-place performance with 35 points.
Michigan Lutheran Seminary was 11th with 17 points and Coleman 12th with 15.5 points.
David Dantuma of Crossroads won the 1,600-meter run in 4:25.92 and took the 800-meter run in 1:59.91. Crossroads was third in the 1,600-meter relay in 3:33.62.
Ben Talsma, Crossroads coach, commented, “We graduated everyone that competed at state last year except one guy,” Talsma said. “It was slated as a rebuilding year. We were happy to finish as high as we did. Coming in, we thought we had good shot at top 10. We were hoping to be top five. To be third was a good surprise. We were one point from third.
“The guys we took to state outperformed expectations.”
For Crossroads, Andy Duddles was fifth in the long jump at 21’7.5″.
Todd Brasslow of Michigan Lutheran Seminary was first in the high jump at 6’5″.
Fowler was second in the 3,200-meter relay in 8:15.88. In the 800-meter relay, Coleman was second in 1:32.71 and Michigan Lutheran Seminary third in 1:33.72.
Casey Voisin of Sacred Heart Academy was third in the 3,200-meter run in 9:57.03 .