By BUTCH HARMON
The Grand Ledge track teams enjoyed a big weekend at the Division 1 regional at Holt High School.
The Grand Ledge boys finished second to powerhouse East Kentwood in the boy’s regional while the Grand Ledge girls took fourth place.
East Kentwood won the boys meet with 123.5 points while Grand Ledge was second with 71 points, 10 points ahead of third-place East Lansing.
Grand Ledge was led by a solid all-around performance from a number of athletes who scored in almost every event.
The 800-meter run proved to be the best event for the Comets as Nathan Megge took second in a time of 1:54.40 and Ben Heriford placed sixth in 2:03.56.
Heriford also took fourth place in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:35.18.
In the 3200-meter run Michael Buffin placed third in a time of 9:46.22.
The Comets were also strong in the sprints. Marq Adams turned in a time of 51.23 to place fourth in the 400-meter dash. In the 100-meter dash Ba Blamo placed fifth in a time of 11.15 while Luke Vasilion finished sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.63.
The Comets also had a pair of hurdlers score in each of the hurdle races. In the 110 hurdles Jake Kingsley placed eighth with a time of 16.04 while Max Ralya was eighth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 43.00.
Grand Ledge also scored in three of the four relays. The 400-meter relay team of 43.23 Ba Blamo, Austin Edwards, Stefan Jones and Luke Vasilion) placed third in a time of 43.23 while the 1600-meter relay team of Marq Adams, Bryan Bell, Nathan Megge and Luke Vasilion took third in a time of 3:24.61. The 800-meter relay team of Stefan Jones, Austin Edwards, Marq Adams and Luke Vasilion placed fifth in a time of 1:30.69.
Grand Ledge also had athletes score in four of the field events. Travis Taylor took second in the discus with a toss of 138-11 and Ben Bedard placed fourth in the shot put with a put of 47-1. Austin Edwards placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 21-8 while Billy Reed finished seventh in the pole vault as he cleared 11-6.01.
In the girl’s meet East Kentwood took first place with 150.5 points. Grand Ledge placed fourth with 55 points behind East Lansing and Okemos.
Grand Ledge turned in some solid efforts in the distance events in the girl’s regional. In the 3200-meter run Allison Dible took second place with a time of 11:32.31 while Taryn Hubaker was fifth in 11:56.49 and Olivia Conway finished seventh in 12:11.86.
Hubaker also placed third in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:23.16.
The Grand Ledge 1600-meter relay team of Madison Arnouts, Kelsey Krupp, Lauren Clark and Krista Magness placed third in a time of 4:12.69 while the 3200-meter relay team of Annemarie Maher, Becky Golisch, Hannah Franco and Brittney Val finished in sixth place with a time of 10:36.45.
The Comets also scored in the 800-meter relay as the team of Madison Arnouts, Kelsey Krupp, Hailey French, Jemelah Travi placed fourth in a time of 1:50.31.
In the hurdles Madison Arnouts took third in the 300 low hurdles with a time of 47.18 while Kelsey Krupp finished sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.03.
Grand Ledge also had a pair of athletes score in the field events. Sarah Peltier tied for second in the pole vault as she cleared 9-10.06 while Hailey French finished fourth in the long jump with a leap of 16-11.