Reeths-Puffer's Raquel Walker wins all 4 events, helps Rockets take 2nd at GMAA girls meet

MUSKEGON — Reeths-Puffer freshman Raquel Walker is so remarkably gifted that she's been the Rockets' top performer in track this year despite hardly ever being able to make it to practice.

Walker also plays for a travel basketball team - she posted on X this week that she's earned her first Division I scholarship offer, from Chicago State University - and is unable to practice with the track team much as a result. However, that didn't stop her from winning all four of her events at Friday's GMAA meet at Reeths-Puffer. That effort boosted the Rockets to a second-place finish behind champion Mona Shores.

"We've probably had her for less than five practices this whole season," Rockets' girls coach Parker Aerts said. "We haven't really gotten to get our hands on her a whole lot when it comes to the training and stuff like that...When you come in as a freshman and you have a lot of God-given talents, a lot of people look, and it raises the bar. It makes them want to work harder."

Walker set personal bests in winning both sprint events, with marks of 12.68 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 26.26 seconds in the 200. She also won the long jump with a leap of 16-10.5, and joined fellow freshman Addison Mitchelson, Amani Starr and Melana Johnson for the win in the 400 relay, posting a time of 50.78 seconds.

Aerts said Mitchelson, who's had a strong year in her own right, has had to take on some extra responsibilities when Walker is away, so she did not run the 200 at the GMAA, though her times would've given her a shot at a top-3 finish. She did finish third in the 100 and set a new personal best (13.03).

"We've asked a lot from her," Aerts said of Mitchelson. "We decided as a coaching staff that it was best for her to not run the 200 today and save a little bit for the next couple weeks. Going into the conference meet next week and then regionals the week after that, we need to be mindful of those things."

The Rockets also won the 3,200 relay with the team of Jersi Bilek, Sophia McCollum, Darcy Keefe and Adrienne Fluette, who ran a time of 10:38.8.

Bilek finished second in the 800 with a season-best time of 2:23.7. She was also part of two third-place relay teams. The 1,600 relay team - with Ivanna Kass, Keefe and Ma'Kaia Riley-McGuffey - had a time of 4:32.9, and her 800 relay team - with Kass, Mitchelson, and Johnson - was third as well (1:50.7).