Bree Ovokaitys in the 3200 meter relay.
On Friday May 21, the girls track team traveled to Coopersville for the MHSAA Regional Track meet. The team scored 51 points and placed sixth out of sixteen teams on a rainy night. The rain did not stop the team from setting four school records and qualifying five team members, in five different events, for the Division 2 State Final track meet in Zeeland on June 5.
Junior Amber TerHaar was the only regional champion for the team and won the discus for the second year in a row and extended her school record by one inch, with a throw of 118 feet 4 inches. Amber will be making a return trip to the state finals where a year ago she placed ninth in the discus.
Senior Breeann Ovokaitys qualified for the state meet in two individual events, the 1600 meter run and the 800 meter run. She also lowered her own school records in the process in both events with a second place finish in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:11.5 and a third place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:23.4.
Amber TerHaar in the shot put.
Freshman Katie Weiler gave up a chance to qualify for the state meet in the 1600 meter run to focus on qualifying in the 3200 meter run and to attempt to set the school record in the event. Her efforts paid off as she placed second in the 3200 meter run and broke the school record by 8 seconds, with a time of 11:27.8.
Also qualifying for the state meet based on their time was the 3200 meter relay team. The team, which consists of two freshmen, Amanda Balczak and Katie Weiler, and 2 seniors, Breeann Ovokaitys and Amanda Zinn, placed fourth but ran under the additional qualifying time to advance to the state meet.
Also placing in the top 8 and scoring points for the team was:
Amber TerHaar 4th place in the shot put
Heather Holmes 5th place in the high jump
1600 meter relay team of Breeann Ovokaitys, Heather Holmes, Sommer VanDyke, and Rieley Hondalus
Abby VanDusen long jump 8th place
Rieley Hondalus 400 meter dash 8th place
Amanda Balczak 300 meter hurdles 8th place
400 meter relay team of Brittani Tozer, Abby VanDusen, Mercedes Oliver, and Heather Holmes 8th place.
