The Chippewa Hills girls track team could say it enjoyed the best of both worlds this season, winning two state titles on consecutive Saturdays.
First, there was the MITCA team state title on May 24. Then the Warriors sneaked through for the MHSAA Division 2 crown on May 31 at Houseman Field in Grand Rapids.
The MITCA meet focuses on the whole team, while the MHSAA event zeroes in on individual performances.
Chippewa Hills scored 1,347 points at the MITCA meet to finish well ahead of Harper Creek, which finished with 1,122.
Key performances for the Warriors at that meet included Megan O’Neil, first in the 1,600 meters in 5:10.94, first in the 3,200-meter run in 11:26.6, and third in the 800 meter-run in 2:22.74; Jennifer McNeal, first in the 400-meter dash in 59.6 seconds and second in high jump at 5’2″; Nicole Snyder, second in the 200-meter dash in 25.94 seconds; Arielle Esch, third in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.21 seconds; Erin Drouillard, third in pole vault at 11’0″; the 800-meter relay team, second in 1:46.38; and the 3,200-meter relay team, second in 9:42.97.
“The MITCA state meet, I was pretty confident we were going to pull that off unless things fell apart on us, which I didn’t foresee happening,” said coach Sally Schafer. “I felt we had the strongest team. I figured we could do it. So it happened. It was really cool.”
The Warriors needed only 34 points to win the MHSAA meet. Their 34 points compared to 29 for Waverly and 28 for both DeWitt and Spring Lake.
“It wasn’t that I wasn’t confident, and I knew it was possible,” Schafer said. “I just figured that one meet, we needed to be right on with everything and with all the seeds we had and where we were seeded. We needed to have a clean meet, then we’d have a shot at it. That was my attitude with that one.”
O’Neil was second in the 1,600-meter run in 4:53.92 and second in the 800-meter run in 2:17.09, Drouillard was third in pole vault at 10’11”, McNeal fourth in the 400-meter dash in 58.60 seconds, and the 3,200-meter relay team was fifth in 9:42.26.
But the championship would came down to the final event, the 1,600-meter relay. Waverly took first in the event, but by taking sixth in 4:03.87 for a school record, the team of Emonee Anderson, McNeal, O’Neil, and Snyder, gave Chippewa Hills the points it needed to win its second state title in as many weeks.
“It worked out where you never know how other teams are doing,” Schafer said. “But it all came out to the last race of the meet. When it came down to that race, we were nervous, but we were confident they could do it.”
When the Warriors took sixth, it was time to celebrate the title.
“We had to wait to see, because the times were so close between first place and eighth place in that relay,” Schafer said. “It was two seconds. I know Waverly had won it. We had to at least take eighth. It was so tight with all the different heats.
“It was exciting. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to the season.”
It was the first state title in both MITCA and MHSAA for the Warriors, who also earned academic all-state honors.
“The MITCA celebrates your team as a whole, how deep is your team, what qualities you have as a team across the board,” Schafer said. “We were three-deep in almost every event. The MHSAA, the only ones that can compete there are those that [qualified from] regionals. You’re not getting a complete team, you’re getting individuals.”
The Warriors had 10 athletes qualify for the MHSAA state meet.
“We took a big chunk of our team there,” Schafer said. “Some teams make it with fewer, and they score a lot of points. We took 10 and scored enough points to win. They preach the team concept, and I feel that helped us win both. It definitely helped us win MITCA.”
In terms of prestige, “I can say the MHSAA is what people recognize more outside of track and field,” Schafer said. “As a coaching association, that’s why we have the MITCA team state, because we recognize the quality team, kind of what wrestling does. The difference is that wrestling recognizes theirs [as MHSAA champs].
“If you’re a team that wins MITCA, you’re going to have strong numbers on that team that will probably make it to MHSAA.”
“They’re both so different,” O’Neil said. “MITCA is so rewarding as a team. There’s three people per event. You know everyone had a part in winning it. MHSAA is weighted more on individual success.”
A police escort awaited the team when it returned home after the MITCA meet.
“It was amazing,” O’Neil said. “We had always talked about MITCA. We never really got to talking about MHSAA. At the MHSAA meet, we knew we had a shot at winning it. I was focusing on running in my events. Coming into the 4×4, we know if we placed well, we’d win the meet. It was so exciting.”
The Warriors have had consistently strong teams in past seasons and might get the job done at both state meets again next season.
“Having a program do something this big makes the younger kids want to be a part of this,” Schafer said.