MONTAGUE — Whitehall's dominance of the West Michigan Conference Lakes boys track scene continued Friday with an easy victory in the league finals in Montague. The Vikings scored 169 points to second-place Oakridge's 99.5. Montague finished third with 74 points.
Montague also finished third in the girls' meet with 91 points, just two behind runner-up Fremont. Ludington won the meet with 127 points. Whitehall was fifth, with 61 points.
"It's always great to win the conference," Whitehall boys coach Kirk Mikkelson said. "Our kids showed up big time and competed like champions. "Our field events were dominant, like they have been all year. We won three of the five field events and (scored) 68 points in those five events. On the track we won the 200, 400, 1600, both hurdle races and the 4x100 relay. The kids were amazing and so fun to coach."
As Mikkelson noted, the Viking boys were especially impressive in the field events, where they recorded at least one top-3 finisher in every event. In the high jump, the final three came down to three area jumpers - Ayden Mendoza and Elijah Smith of Whitehall and Dylan Bailey of Montague. As he has every time he's competed, though, Mendoza came out on top, recording a jump of 6-4 to edge out Smith for second (6-2). Bailey was third with a personal best leap of 6-0.
Graysen Olstrom won the pole vault for the Vikes with a mark of 13-0, part of a 1-2-3 finish. Isaiah Lewis cleared a personal best 12-6 to take second, and Keegan Frees was third (11-6). Caden Bowyer won the discus (145-2) and finished third in the shot put with a personal best 50-4. Smith took second in the long jump (19-9) behind Montague's Devlin Dean, who recorded the Wildcat boys' only win (20-1).
On the track. Judd Musk swept the two hurdles events, recording times of 15.97 seconds in the 110 meters and 43.94 in the 300 meters. Jevon Hilliard won the 400 and Tim Vieira won the 200, both with personal best times; Hilliard's was 51.94 seconds and Vieira's was 23.18. Bobby Jazwinski returned from injury and looked no worse for wear, winning the 1,600-meter run (4:26.4).
The Vikings also took first in the 400 relay with the team of Vieira, Cole Essebaggers, Brayen Sorensen and Smith (45.69). They were second in the 800 with the same group (1:34.2).
Montague enjoyed some other individual success beyond that of Dean and Bailey. Isaac French finished second in the shot put (52-1), and Wesley Mair was second in the 3,200-meter run, setting a personal best time (10:33.9). Hunter French was third in both hurdles events, with times of 18.16 seconds in the 110 and a personal best 45.77 in the 300.
Mikkelson said the boys' team is focused on qualifying as many athletes as possible to the state meet in this weekend's regionals.
"Several teams bring a lot of talent," Mikkelson said. "We plan to compete to the best of our ability and see how the points pan out."
In the girls' meet, the Wildcats' Addi Smith continued her impressive season with top-2 finishes in all four of her events. Smith won the pole vault, setting a personal best of 9-0, and also won the 200-meter dash (27.81). She took second in the 100 (13.38) and in the 400, setting another personal best (1:02.9).
Annelyse Schneider was second in the high jump (5-0) and third in the long jump (14-10). Erica Hansen placed third in the 3,200-meter run (17:30.5). Montague was second in the 800 relay with the team of Jenna Erickson, Gentry Knop, Gabby Dietz and Schneider (1:56.6) and third in the 1,600 relay with the team of Erickson, Neviah Davis, Novalea Canon and Celina Pruitt (4:43.7).
Aaliyah Jamison again starred for Whitehall in the throws. She won the shot put and set a personal best (35-10.5) and finished second in the discus (86-4). Jamison got some support from two third-place teammates in those events. Carrianna Gibbons set a personal best in the shot put (30-10) and Tiyahna Robinson was third in the discus (85-3).
The Vikings' other top-3 finish came from Gabrielle Chevez, who was third in the 1,600 (6:06.5).
