The Boys Track team hosted the 26^th annual Red Hawk Invite this past Saturday, May 7. The team turned in solid performances and finished in 4^th place. 

Senior Gabe White vaulted to a 2^nd place finish in the pole vault (12’6”) and also ran a leg on the 3^rd place 4 x 400 relay team with Elliot Moleski, Espen Wood and Ivan Winters (3:43.45). 

Mitch Metiva finished 3^rd in the long jump with a personal record (PR) jump of 20’10.5” and 3^rd in the 100 meter dash with another PR of 11.53. Metiva also was a member of the 3^rd place 4 x 100 meter relay team with Ryan West, Kevin VanderHaag and Dylan Lafontsee. Lafontsee scored points in the long jump with a 4^th place finish with a jump of 20’3”. 

Sophomore Elliot Moleski ran a PR in the 300 meter hurdles to finish 2^nd in 45.10; senior Ivan Winters finished 3^rd in the high jump with a new PR of 5’4”. 

Junior Josh Kriekaard secured valuable points in the shot put with a throw of 40’8” and senior Caleb Steinebach finished 5^th in the pole vault (11’0”). 

Junior Espen Wood ran a new PR in the 800 and finished 4^th in 2:04.56.  

Espen also competed in an Elite 3200 meter race the night before at Shepherd High School. Espen turned in a new outdoor PR of 9:51.17. 

The Red Hawks will now turn their attention to the OK Gold Conference Championships scheduled for Friday, May 13, at Houseman Field.  

The Cedar Springs Red Hawks traveled to Forest Hills Eastern on Friday, May 17, 2019, for their regional track meet, where they qualified six boys for the state meet with Cedar Springs finishing 7th overall of out 14 teams.  

The 4 x 800 meter team ran their fastest time of the year finishing 2nd and qualifying for the state meet in a time of 8:08.94.  This team consisted of Daniel Vermulm, Jaydon Moleski, Dilan Sargent, and Corey Bowers.

Individual qualifying team members include sophomore Corey Bowers, who finished 2nd in the 1600 meter run with season best for him in a time of 4:29.2; junior Dilan Sargent who ran his personal best 800 meter run finishing 2nd in a time of 2:00.10; sophomore Alex Nylaan finishing 2nd in the 300 meter hurdles with a personal best of 41.81, and junior Justus Larsen placing 2nd in high jump with a height of 6’.  

Also placing at the regional meet were Alex Nyaan 5th in the 110 meter hurdles in a time of 16.02; Anthony Brew placing 4th in pole vault at 12’4”; and Logan Douglas placing 5th in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 43.10.

“All of the state qualifiers will be returning next year so that is exciting. I am again very proud of the efforts put out by the whole team this year,” said coach Jeffrey Brazier.

The boys will compete in the MHSAA LP Division 2 state meet on Saturday, June 1, held at Zeeland Stadium. 

Also a congrats goes out to the JV team for finishing 2nd overall out of six on Tuesday, May 14, at the OK White JV Conference meet that took place at Lowell High School. 

First place finishers included Logan Douglas in the 400 meter run with a personal best of 54.40; Austin Mann in the 3200 meter run at 10:53; Carlos Ramos, Trevor Page, Josh Vitacco, and Tucker Cooke in the 4×100 relay in a time of 49.55; Bryant Maley, Logan Douglas, Alex Nylaan, and Dilan Sargent in the 4×200 meter relay at 1:39.13; and Carlos Ramos, Alex Nylaan, Bryant Maley, and Logan Douglas placing first in the 4×400 meter relay at 3:47.47.  Tucker Cooke also placed first in long jump at 16’10”.  Congratulations to all!

Girls Track to compete at Regionals

The Red Hawks traveled to Lowell last week for an OK White Tri Meet and to Houseman Field for the OK White Conference Meet . On Tuesday, May 7, the team lost to Lowell and defeated Northview 100-36. They ended the Dual meet season 2 and 4. In the Conference meet the team scored 41 points and finished 6th. They ended up tied for 5th in the league overall. Sophomore Ariana Meyers earned all conference honors while scoring 10 points for the team in the meet.

Medal Winners Friday at the Conference Meet:

Ariana Meyers 3rd Shot Put; Grace Sova 3rd Pole Vault; 400-meter relay team of Avery Rugg, Emily Neiderheide, Emma Waller, and Julia Danielson 3rd. Julia Danielson 4th Long Jump; Alyssa Detweiler 4th High Jump; Avery Rugg 4th 100 meter dash; Ariana Meyers 4th Discus; 3200 meter relay team of Izzy VanDusen, Lily Howland, Tomya Tepion, Carolanne Merlington 4th;  1600 Meter Relay team of Tonya Tepin, Paige Pierson, Carolanne Merlington, and Alyssa Washington 5th. Aubri French 6th High Jump; Izzy VanDusen 8th 3200-meter run.

This week the team travels to Forest Hills Eastern to compete in the MHSAA Regional meet. Field Events Start at 1:45 and Running Finals start at 5:00.

Boys Track finish third in OK White Conference meet

The Cedar Springs boys’ track team traveled to Houseman Field on the evening of Friday, May 10, 2019, to compete the in OK White Conference meet. The Red Hawks finished third out of seven schools in the conference missing out on second place by only half a point. 

 The Red Hawks were led by sophomore Corey Bowers who won the 1600 in 4:31 and the 3200-meter run in 9:56.  Bowers was also a member of the winning 4×800 relay team. That team consisted of Dan Vermulm, Jaydon Moleski, Dilan Sargent, and Corey Bowers.

Justus Larsen was second in the discus with a personal best of 123 feet. Larsen was also 2nd in the high jump with a jump of 5 feet 11 inches.

Bowers, Vermulm, Moleski, Sargent, and Larsen each made the OK White All-Conference team.

Some of the other team members that placed in the meet were Anthony Brew, who finished 2nd at pole vault; Alex Nylaan placing 3rd in the 110 high hurdles; and the 4×200 meter relay who placed 3rd comprised of Nate Perry, Derek Egan, Ben Shaw, and Ethan West.

“It was a hard fought meet and I am very happy with the team results,” said Coach Jeffrey Brazier.

The Red Hawks travel to Forest Hills Eastern Friday afternoon, May 17, 2019, for regional action.  Good luck Red Hawks!

Four athletes from the Cedar Springs High School Boy’s Track Team qualified to participate in the MHSAA Division 2 State Track Meet in Zeeland on June 2, 2018. From left to right: Junior Anthony Brew finished 10^th in pole Vault; Freshman Corey Bowers had an All-State finish with an 8^th place in the 1600; Senior John Todd finished 13^th in the 400 and 17^th in the Long Jump; and Senior Brandon Sawade had an All-State 7^th place finish in Pole Vault.  They are pictured with Head Coach Jeffrey Brazier. 

The 7th and 8th grade boys track team finished with an undefeated record for the third year in a row.

Sixteen 7th and 8th grade track athletes from Cedar Springs competed at the Mega Star meet and won the team championship.

The CSMS boys track team finished its dual meet season with a third consecutive undefeated record.  The team completed their season by splitting into separate 7^th and 8^th grade teams to compete in separate conference championship invitationals. The 8^th grade team placed first with 157 points, which was followed by Greenville, with 102 points. The 7^th graders finished in first place with a total of 134 points, outdistancing second place Lowell, with 108.

In addition to their outstanding performances at their conference championships, the 7^th and 8^th grade team combined to send 16 athletes to compete at the Mega Star meet in Shepherd, Mich. There were 80 teams around the state represented at this meet. In order for an athlete to compete, they must have one of the 16 best times in an individual event, or in the top 8 for a relay team. The team fought hard and won the team championship with 83 points, over second place Traverse City West, with 70 points. Individuals who earned first place medals include Alex Nylaan, Spencer Bray, Caleb Peacock, Corey Bowers, Nathan Elliston, Carter Bayink and Aiden Brunin.

Seven school records were broken this year, which is the most by one team in the history of the middle school program. Corey Bowers set three school records in the 3200m, 1600m and 800m runs. Jeremy Campione broke the school record in pole vault by going 11’0. The 1600 meter relay team of  Spencer Bray, Caleb Peacock, Aiden Brunin and Corey Bowers broke the record that was established just last year and set the Mega Star meet record by running a time of 3:48. Tucker Cooke, Daniel Vaughn, Christian Moleski and Jeremy Campione broke the 400m relay record by sprinting to a 49.16 time. Finally, the 800m relay team of Daniel Vaughn, Christian Moleski, Aiden Brunin and Landon Totten set the school record with a time of 1:41.56.

The track team enjoyed an unbelievable and historic season this year due to their hard work, dedication and commitment to individually do what was necessary to make the team a success.

Congratulations to all team members on a fantastic season. A special thank you to all parents, staff members, high school coaches and athletes who are always on hand to cheer our team on and for running great home meets.

The Cedar Springs boys track team finished second to Grand Rapids Christian at the Houseman Field regional meet last Friday, May 15. Qualifying for the MHSAA State Finals were: Remington Sawade in the pole vault, MavRick Cotten in the long jump and 110m hurdles, and Austin Sargent in the 1600m and 3200m runs. The state finals will be held on May 30, at Zeeland High School.

Other athletes earning valuable points in the meet were: Jaron Spencer in the discus; Caden Burrows in the shot put and discus; Mike VanAssen in the pole vault; Taylor VanDyke and Nikc Jackson in the high jump; Justin Jones in the 800m run; Alex Douglas in the 110m hurdles; the 400m relay team of Lane Gott, Austin Basso, John Todd and Cotten; and the 4x400m relay team of Sargent, Sawade, Todd and Jones.

The team will move on to the Pioneer and Daily News Invitationals before the individuals conclude their season at the state finals.

Cotten named MVP of Pioneer Classic

Three headed to state finals

Last Friday, the boys track and field team competed at the Pioneer Classic, a qualifying meet, that takes the northern areas top eight sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams, as well as the top 12 in field events and distance. Individuals from Cedar Springs, Evart, Reed City, Big Rapids, Manistee, Baldwin, Chippewa Hills, Tri-County, Morley Stanwood and Kent City made up the field.

Opening in field events, Jordan Johnson won the discus with a toss of 141’4”. MavRick Cotten jumped 20’5” to place second in the long jump. Brandon Sipka was third in the 100m dash and won the 400m dash with a time of 50.98 (fastest 400m time posted on the team since 2002). Caden Burrows was second in the shot put and third in the discus. State qualifier Cotten also won the 110m and 300m hurdles. Another state qualifier, Austin Sargent, won the 1600m relay with a time of 4:14. Cedar’s third state qualifier, Justin Jones won the 800m run.

MavRick was selected by the Pioneer Group as the male athlete of the meet by winning two events and placing second in the long jump.

“I am impressed that our performances continue to improve each week.  Our guys continue to set reachable goals and achieve them,” commented Coach Myers.

Sargent, Jones and Cotten will compete this weekend at the MHSAA state finals at GR Houseman Field.

The Cedar Springs Middle School boys track team continued their strong tradition with an eighth consecutive undefeated season at 5 wins and 0 losses. In the past 19 years, the boys have posted 16 undefeated seasons.

The team ended their season by splitting into separate grade level teams to compete in two conference championship invitationals. The 7^th grade team placed first at their conference meet, earning championship honors with 155 points. The teams’ nearest competitor was Belding, who finished second with 116 points. The 8^th grade team finished in second place, 21 points behind Sparta.

The following is a list of 1^st place Conference Champions and their events:

7^th GRADE

John Todd………………………55 Hurdles, 200 Hurdles, High Jump

George Gonzales……………800 Run, Shot Put

Alex Merlington………………70 Dash, Pole Vault

Dallas Mora…………………3200 Run

8^th GRADE

Jacob Hooker…………………200 Hurdles

Troy Patin, Christian Twitchell, Jameson Pavelka, Austin Basso……..3200 Relay

Dustin Shaw, Jake Mead, Austin Ellis, Collin Alvesteffer…………………400 Relay

The guys enjoyed a great season due to their hard work, dedication and commitment to individually do what was necessary to make the team a success. Coach Martens and Coach Banagis would like to congratulate all team members on a fantastic season. A special “thank you” to all parents, staff members, high school coaches and athletes for always cheering our team on and for running great home meets.

Connor Mora running with the pack during the 800m run”

Last Saturday, Red Hawk junior distance runner Connor Mora finished where no other Cedar Springs track and field athlete has before. Connor was state champion in two events at the MHSAA Division 2 State Finals at Houseman Field.

Going into the meet, he was seeded as the number one runner in the 1600m and 800m runs. Mora carried out his pre-race strategy exactly as planned in the 1600m run, beating his nearest competitor from Chelsea by 1.5 seconds. His official time of 4:13.97 was the fastest from all divisions in the state Saturday.

Connor Mora breaking from the competition in the 1600m run.

After recovering and refocusing for the 800m run, he once again carried out his plan and passed a small group of runners on the backstretch of the last lap, with 250m to go, and didn’t look back. His official time was 1:56.41. Although exhausted, Connor was able to gather his thoughts for some media interviews.

“Connor showed the entire state why he is considered to be the best distance runner in the state,” remarked Coach Jeff Myers. “His hard work began after last season’s disappointing finishes right here at the state finals. He did a lot of maturing over the course of the season, became focused on his race strategies and will out work anyone. We are very excited to find out what opportunities lie ahead for him at the next level.”

Connor with All-State distance sisters Kenzie (left) and Katie Weiler.

Also competing for the Hawks last Saturday was Derek Ash, 12th in the discus at 149’ 5”; the 3200m relay team placed 17th with a time of 8:16; and Aaron Brooks in the 3200m run with a time of 9:58.

Congratulations to all Red Hawks for their season’s accomplishments.

After being conference champions the past two years, the Hawks had to settle for runners-up this season. After a great start on day one (led by 10 points), Sparta out-performed Cedar for the conference title. Along the way, the boys posted personal bests in twelve of the seventeen events.

“All we wanted the boys to do was to be focused on setting personal bests. If they could do that, then we could walk away knowing we gave it our best shot,” said Coach Myers. “We knew coming into the season that we would have a difficult time defending the conference title. We performed better than expected at the conference meet. We have a tough group of athletes that expect to be better each time they compete.”

Earning all conference honors this season were Derek Ash, Connor Mora, Aaron Brooks, Alex Bray, Aaron Dault and Austin Sargent.

After suffering their first conference dual meet loss since 2008, the Red Hawk boys track team came to the Red Hawk Invite to defend last year’s title. Last Tuesday, May 1, the Hawks traveled to Comstock Park to compete one last time in the OK Blue. They defeated the Panthers 114-23, while suffering defeat to Sparta 92.5-44.5.

“Sometimes, our best effort isn’t quite good enough and that is what happened tonight,” said Coach Jeff Myers. “We didn’t match up well versus Sparta. They have the four fastest relay teams in the league and tonight; we gave them 20 points by losing those four events. We ended a great run in the league by going 17-1 in three seasons of dual meets,” he added. “One good point was that we recognized that nearly two-thirds of the boys set personal bests in one of their events. Improving at each competition and giving our best effort are the positives we took from this.”

On Saturday, May 5, the Hawks entertained seven other schools in their annual invitational. After an exciting day of races, jumps and throws, the Hawks defended their 2011 title and claimed victory again by 9.5 points over Kenowa Hills. “We had three new teams entered this year. Cadillac, Reed City and Greenville brought us new challenges. After ten events, we were down by two points to Jenison. After the 800m run, we not only passed them, but kept Kenowa Hills and Cadillac from sneaking past us. This was the closest finish that we have ever had,” noted Myers. “For the most part, we competed at a high level today, as has been happening each meet this year, as we have continuously lowered our times or improved our field events.”

Leading the way for the Hawks were two record breaking performances by junior Connor Mora. He set two new school records by running 4:13.55 in the 1600m run and 1:56.62 in the 800m run (also stadium and meet records). Junior Aaron Dault also achieved two wins in the 110m and 300m hurdles. Other medal winners for Cedar Springs included a third place by the 3200m relay team (Mora, Alex Bray, Austin Sargent, and Aaron Brooks); Derek Ash in the discus (4^th); Rylan Ash in the discus (6^th); Dault in the long jump (3^rd); Nate Jones in the high jump (3^rd); Dault in the high jump (4^th); Brandon Sipka in the 400m dash (5^th); and Brooks in the 3200m run (4^th).

The Junior Varsity traveled to Lakeview on Monday for the annual Wildcat Invitational. They will finish the week Thursday and Friday at Belding for their last OK Blue Conference Meet. The Hawks enter the meet seeded second and look to knock off their rivals from Sparta. Action begins at 3:45 on Thursday with field events and preliminary and semi-final races. Friday begins with boy’s pole-vaulting at 3:45, followed by the finals at 6:00.

Tyler Hindenach in the pole vault

The Hawks traveled to Forest Hills Northern last Tuesday to take on the Huskies in OK Blue conference action.

The meet began with the Hawks competing and getting results from their field event athletes. They finished with 26 out of 36 points, not including the pole vault, after four events. Things didn’t quite go as planned in the running events, as their four relays didn’t post one win during the evening.

MavRick Cotten handing off to Nate Jones in the 800m relay.

After allowing the Huskies to climb back into the contest with those 20 points, the Hawks had their backs to the wall. However, with surprising performances from Casey VanEss in the 100m dash (third), Brandon Sipka in the 400m dash (first), freshman MavRick Cotton in the 300m hurdles (second) and Ilan Cabarello and VanEss in the 200m dash (second and third), the Hawks were in a position to clinch the meet after the 3200m run. Once again, the Hawks were faced with adversity as they finished second and third in the event. That left them with 67 points and the conclusion of the pole vault to come out victorious. Sophomore vaulters Tyler Hindenach and Dalton VanEss pulled through for their team and gained the points needed to win their eighth consecutive meet this year 71-66.

Also recording important points for the Hawks were Derek Ash (first in the shot put and discus); Connor Ackerman (second in the discus), Rylan Ash (second in the shot put and third in discus); Andy DiPiazza (third in the shot put); Aaron Dault (second in the long jump, third in the high jump and two wins in the hurdle races); Kaden Myers (third in the long jump); Nate Jones (second in the high jump); MavRick Cotton (third in the high hurdles); Connor Mora (first in the 1600m and 800m runs and third in the 3200m run); and Aaron Brooks (second in the 3200m run).

“In my 13th year of coaching, I don’t remember ever winning a meet and not winning a relay,” said Coach Jeff Myers. “Losing four relay events usually means disaster for some teams—but not this meet. They didn’t lose their focus, drop their heads or complain about anything. They knew that they had to perform better and did so. The coaches continued to encourage and discuss how they had to compete to keep it rolling. They showed us a lot of guts today,” he remarked.

The track and field team competes on Tuesday when they travel to Comstock Park to take on the Panthers and Sparta in their last OK Blue league meet of the season then hosts the annual Red Hawk Invitational at Red Hawk Stadium on Saturday.