CHARLEVOIX — Rylan Finstrom picked a good day for a personal record. Not that the Grayling senior needed it to get the victory.
The hurler for the Vikings’ girls track and field team took gold in both the shot put and discus at the Division 3 regional meet at Charlevoix on Thursday.
Finstrom’s toss of 44 feet, 3.25 inches in the shot put was a new personal best as she won the event by more than 8 feet. Her previous best throw this season was 43-5.5, and Thursday marked her 10th shot put victory in 11 meets this season.
Finstrom is now 11 for 11 in the discus, winning Thursday’s regional with a launch of 130-5. She set her PR on Monday, throwing 145-6, but that distance wasn’t necessary Thursday as she won by nearly 10 feet.
Katie Rohrer enjoyed some home-track advantage as the Charlevoix senior won the 800- and 1600-meter runs. Rohrer set a PR in the 800m with a time of 2 minutes, 24.61 seconds. She ran a 5:19.18 to win the 1600m.
Hunter Shellenbarger helped the Elk Rapids girls to a second-place team finish as Clare won both the boys and girls titles.
Shellenbarger earned two regional titles for the Elks, winning the 400m with a season-best time of 1:01.87 and helping the Elks’ 4x400m relay squad to a win in 4:21.45.
Brynne Schulte also won a regional championship for Elk Rapids, taking gold in the 3200m at 12:01.13. She also qualified for states in the 1600m, finishing second at 5:23.13.
Max Ward was a dual regional champion in the boys division. The Elk Rapids junior has been spectacular in both the 110m and 300m hurdles, collecting a combined 12 wins throughout the season in both events.
Ward ran a PR in the 110m hurdles Thursday, nearly breaking 15 seconds at 15.07. He won the 300m hurdles in 39.37 seconds, just shy of his best time of 39.26.
The only other area boys athlete to earn a regional title was Grayling’s Drew Moore. The senior dusted the competition in the 3200m, finishing in 9:53.56 — more than 24 seconds ahead of second place.
In the boys division, Elk Rapids finished in third followed by Charlevoix in fourth, Kalkaska in sixth, Grayling in seventh, Boyne City in eighth and Mancelona in 11th.
Finishing behind the runner-up Elks in the girls division were Charlevoix in fifth, Grayling in eighth, Kalkaska in 10th, Mancelona in 12th and Boyne City in 15th.
Kalkaska’s Gavin Guggemos and Grayling’s Ethan Kucharek qualified for state in the 800m. Guggemos ran a PR time of 2:00.29 for second place, and Kucharek was in third with a 2:02.19. Guggemos also qualified in the 1600m, running a 4:31.56 for second place. Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton also made the cut for states in third place with a PR time of 4:32.93.
Charlevoix’s Peyton Scott and Kalkaska’s Gabe Buyze-Prieto will head to the state finals in the 110m hurdles, joining Ward. Scott ran a 15.52, and Buyze-Prieto clocked a 16.06.
Ward along with Zeke Keaton, Seth Brown and Briggs Leahy qualified for the state finals in the 4x400m relay, taking second place with a 3:33.6. Kalkaska’s team just missed out by .66 seconds.
Grayling’s relay team of Demlow, Kale Black, Moore and Kucharek as well as Kalkaska’s relay squad of Adam Williams, Coltrane Paryani, Camden Moore and Guggemos qualified for states in the 4x800m, taking second and third, respectively, with times of 8:20.02 and 8:22.2.
Grayling’s Kaleb Hall made the cut for the state finals in the discus, throwing a PR distance of 140-5.
Paige Fosdick set a PR in the 100m on Thursday, and she needed to. The senior sprinter qualified for the state finals by just three one-hundredths of a second with a 13.17. She just missed out on qualifying for the 200m, finishing second in 27.7. The state standard was 27.4.
Fellow Elk Anna Pray earned a trip to states in the 800m, running a PR time of 2:25.52 to finish in second place.
The Elks’ relay of Joelle Swanson, Leighton Smith, Fosdick and Shellenbarger also made the cut in the 4x100m in second at 52.51 and the 4x200m in second at 1:50.19.
Kalkaska’s Myah Little just made it to states in the 400m, taking second with a PR time of 1:02.55 — just five one-hundredths of a second faster than the qualifying standard.
Mancelona’s lone state qualifier was Emily Anger in the pole vault. The senior cleared 9-0 for second place. Charlevoix’s Tory Carroll made states in the long jump with a PR leap of 16-1.25.
The Division 3 state finals take place at Kent City High School on June 1.