KENT CITY — The Elk Rapids boys track and field team finished in second place at the MHSAA Division 3 state finals hosted by Kent City Saturday.
The Elks amassed 32 points, while Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central took first with 39 points and Reed City rounded out the top three at 31.
Elk Rapids slid into second place late in the meet.
“We are a young group and worked hard to get here,” said Elk Rapids coach Cameron Ward. “This means everything. It is still a surprise. It was a great team effort and hopefully there is more to come.”
The Elks were led by freshman Garett Godden, who took second in both the 100 meters (10.79) and 200 meters (21.80). He ran a personal best in the 200-meter prelims (21.66). All told, he competed in four events.
“With all this running your legs get so tired,” Godden said. “(The meet) is definitely bigger and a lot more people. It gives me adrenaline.”
The Elks won the 4×400 relay (3:23.58). The team included Noah Liggett, Miles Prabhaker, Gavin Hamilton and Godden. The same team also took second in the 4×200 (1:30.07).
Charlevoix finished sixth with 23 points.
Rayders junior Hunter Eaton ran a personal best to win the 1,600 meters (4:16.08).
“At the 600-meter mark I was like let’s hammer down and see what happens,” Eaton said. “I was going into today fearing nobody. Try to win. That was the goal.”
Eaton was seeded second in 3,200-meter race. He finished fourth (9:34.53). Logan Youngman, of Hillsdale, won the long distance race with a personal best performance (9.26.08).
Olivet won the girls division with 82 points. Top teams from northern Michigan included Kingsley with 22 points for fifth place and Traverse City St. Francis took sixth with 21 points. Benzie Central was 18th with 9 points. Manton grabbed 3 points.
Kingsley and Benzie Central boys each scored eight points, while Traverse City St. Francis ended the meet with two points.
TCSF 4×100 team of Olivia Padisak, Helen Biggar, Cecie Donahue and Sophia Tucker finished third with a time of 49.51.
“Last year we took fourth,” said TCSF head coach Julie Duffing. “We thought we could come out and win it. It just didn’t happen to be our day, but we still ran a season’s best.”
After the award ceremony, Duffing was overcome with emotions after she realized it was the last time she would see Tucker run a high school meet.
“This our last race as a team,” said Tucker, a senior. “We have had this relay team since our freshman and sophomore year. So we were just trying to give it our all. One final hurrah.”
Biggar advanced to the 100-meter finals and finished fourth in 12.9 seconds.
TCSF finished third in the 4×200.
Kingsley’s team of Alivia Dear, Ariyah McKinley, Aizlyn McKinley and Emilee Robinson also ran a personal-best (49.53) to take second in the 4×100. The Stags’ relay team also took second in the 4×200 in 1:4512.
Emily Bott, of Kingsley, threw a personal-best 37 feet and 1.75 inches for fourth in the shot put.
Kalaska’s Aaliyah Hillier ran a personal best of 5:47.29 for 20th in the 1,600-meters.
Benzie Central’s 4×800 relay finished fifth in 9:57.72. The team included Avery Kelly, Maggie McClellan, Kaitlyn Kaple and Addison Hughes.