Three Red Hawk track and field athletes competed at the MHSAA Division 1 State Finals held at East Kentwood High School on Saturday, June 5, with the goal to secure All-State honors. Cedar Springs senior Corey Bowers brought home two All-State medals.  

“These three athletes worked incredibly hard to get to the state meet this year and we couldn’t be more proud of being represented by them on Saturday,” said Coach Justin Jones.  

Junior Gabe White competed in pole vault. He didn’t have his best day and unfortunately was not able to place.  “Gabe reached an elite level of vaulting this year, and still has so much potential to reach. He’ll be one of our more exciting returners next year. He obviously excels in pole vault but he’s also arguably our most versatile athlete on the team. He’s an absolute technician on the pole, we are proud of the work he puts into his craft. His goals are set high for next year,” said Jones.

Junior Alyssa Detweiler placed 15th overall with a jump of 5 feet 2 inches. “Alyssa proved very quickly to me to be one of the best jumping talents our school has ever seen. She was able to tie our longest-standing school record in the high jump thanks to some coaching help from our boys’ high jump record holder Tim Hullinger,” said Coach Jones. “She might be the most level-headed field event athlete I’ve ever seen. She caught the eyes of lots of college coaches this year as well. Looking forward to seeing how high she can fly next spring.”

Senior Corey Bowers earned All-State medals in two events.  He finished the 1600-meter race in a time of 4:17.51, placing 2nd behind a high school olympic qualifier from Ann Arbor Skyline. He was seeded 9th going into the race. Bowers also ran the 800-meter race and placed 8th with a time of 1:58.50.  This also earned him a spot on the podium.  

On May 26, Bowers broke the school record for the 800-meter race at the Michiana Timing Metro Health Scholarship Invite.  He finished the race in first place in a time of 1:54.25, which was a personal best for him.  

“Corey finished his career off runner-up to the best miler in U.S. history and followed up by sneaking in as All-State in the 800m as well. He was one of very few athletes to pull off all-state in multiple events. He’ll be missed beyond measure, but he is more than prepared to hit the ground running at a high level as a college athlete. He’ll also compete for Team Michigan in the Meet of Champions next weekend in the 3200m,” said Coach Jones.   

The Cedar Springs boys cross country team competed against seven other local teams in the MHSAA Pre-Regional Championships held at Cedar Springs on October 24. The team finished fourth and secured a spot to move onto regional action. 

“The boys knew that they had to be top four to move on to regionals as a team, and that on paper we were on the outside looking in by just a few points. They stepped up with fearless confidence and got the job done, moving up and finishing in the top 4 as a team,” said Coach Justin Jones. “Watching them learn to look adversity in the eye and say ‘nope, I have the power and ability to change that’ are the moments that I will always cherish the most as a coach. Proud would be an understatement.” 

Corey Bowers finished first overall running in at 15:52. Clayton Akerman (11^th) ran his lifetime best at 16:44 which moves him to the number eight spot on the all-time sophomore performance list for Cedar Springs. Making the difference for the team was Gabe White (31st) who got into a great position at the start of the race and held onto it. Austin Mann (33rd), Carter Moleski (34th) and Cayden Steinebach (35th) ended up in a position where they were packed together the second half of the race, knowing they would be the difference makers for the race and finished almost exactly where they needed to be in a projected winning scenario. Eli Malon (38th) followed close behind with a hard-fought race to cap off a successful day for the CS boys.  

“Regionals can’t come soon enough. I’m looking forward to going head to head against some of the state’s best teams and runners on one of our favorite courses,” said Coach Jones.  Regionals will be held at Benzie Central High School on October 31 with a start time of 4 p.m.

While the varsity ran at home, the JV took to the road and traveled to Benzie Central High School where they competed in the Benzie Go Out On Top Invite. The boys finished second out of three teams competing and it was a day full of lifetime bests.  Zach Reed broke into the 17s for the first time finishing 2^nd overall and first for the Red Hawks in a time of 17:56. Running their lifetime personal bests were Gabe Minnich (6^th) at 18:04 followed closely by Justin Voskuil (7^th) at 18:05. Eli Kleynenberg was not far behind finishing 8^th with his lifetime PR of 18:10. Alex Cole finished 14^th for the Red Hawks breaking into the 18s for the first time at 18:57. Luke Price also ran a huge PR of 21:29 finishing 27^th.