MUSKEGON — Whitehall's reign in the GMAA continued Friday, as the Vikings rode a terrific performance in pole vault and a big day by senior sprinter Mason Mulnix to a fourth consecutive boys championship.
Whitehall racked up, by coach Kirk Mikkelson's count, 51 points between the field events and the 3,200-meter relay, including four of the top five finishers in pole vault. That put the Vikings in terrific position before the track event finals even began.
"It started with the pole vaulters," Mikkelson said. "They went 1-2-3-5 for 26 points. That
really got us rolling. The throwers did a great job. The jumpers did a
great job."
Graysen Olstrom led the pole vaulters with a mark of 12-0, good for first place. Keegan Frees and Isaiah Lewis each set personal bests of 11-6 and 11-0 to finish second and third respectively.
Also in the field events, Caden Bowyer set a personal best of 147-7 in discus to finish second, and Camden Thompson was third with a 141-1. Ayden Mendoza came out on the short end of a duel with Muskegon Catholic's Bradley Richards, finishing second in high jump with a mark of 6-5.
The 3,200-meter relay team of Andon Palmer, Jevon Hilliard, Tyler Van Antwerp and Stewart Waters also grabbed a first-place finish with a time of 8:27.1, adding more points to Whitehall's ledger before the evening event finals.
Whitehall's Mason Mulnix and Reeths-Puffer's Marvin Moore race to the finish of the 200-meter dash finals at Friday's GMAA meet at Reeths-Puffer. Muskegon's Ja'Mier Jefferson won the race.
Mulnix was one of the day's biggest highlights in the evening races. He set a personal best to win the 400-meter dash in a time of 50.07 seconds, securing early qualification to state in that event by doing so. He added third-place finishes in the 100 and 200, with times of 11.15 and 22.69 seconds, finishing behind only Muskegon stars Ja'Mier Jefferson and De'Ontae Chambers in those races.
The senior previously played golf, but the track team had long had its eye on Mulnix; assistant coach Tommy Lauterberg works the soccer games and noted his impressive sprint speed on the field.
"He told me, 'We've got to get this kid out,'" Mikklson said of Lauterberg. "He just flies up and down the field. All his buddies run track, and they talked to him about it. His quickness and acceleration is really
special."
Mulnix said he's been pleased all season with his decision to switch sports. He originally expected to only run the shorter sprints, but has also excelled in the 400 and has enjoyed branching out.
"I've definitely exceeded what I expected I was going to do, especially with the early
qualifications to state in the 200 and 400," Mulnix said; he achieved 200-meter qualification in April.
Mulnix wasn't the only big-time boys performer on the track Friday, though. Waters, already part of the distance relay win, earned the top spot in the 3,200-meter run in a time of 10:04.7 and finished second in the 1,600 (4:35.1). Thompson set personal bests in both hurdles events (15.38 in the 110 and 40.75 in the 300) to finish third in each.
Reeths-Puffer's Mason Darke holds a slight lead over Whitehall's Camden Thompson late in the 110-meter hurdles final at Friday's GMAA meet. Darke finished second with Thompson in third, and Darke earned an early qualification to state.
Reeths-Puffer finished fourth in the boys' meet, and Montague took eighth. Mason Darke starred for the Rockets, taking second in both hurdles events. He set a personal best of 14.52 seconds in the 110 - this earned him an early qualification to state - and finished the 300 in 39.25 seconds.
"We're waiting on him to
find a meet where he can put both hurdle races together, because it seems
to be one or the other right now," R-P girls coach Parker Aerts said of Darke. "He's still a junior, so we
have time, and we still have a few big meets left in the season, so
I think he's going to do it when it comes to the regional meet,
especially so...It's been really cool to see him
grow as an athlete over the last school year, so I'm super excited
for him."
Darke also contributed to the boys' win in the 800 relay; he, London Carpenter, Marvin Moore and Cole Piper finished in a time of 1:30.1. He also joined Moore, Piper and Callahan Millis to finish second in the 1,600 relay (3:32.8). The 400 relay team of Emcee McLaurin, Carpenter, Piper and Sage Secrest finished third (44.62).
Montague's best finishes were two third-places. Isaac French took third in shot put with a mark of 44-5, and the 3,200 relay team of Alix Draves, Gibson Sholes, Nolan Kessler and Noah Raeth was also third (8:38.5).
