Whitehall junior Bobby Jazwinski continued his domination of the
distance races at Saturday's Division 2 state track finals in Hamilton,
claiming the 3,200-meter state championship.
The win gave Jazwinski his second state title of the academic year, after also winning the state cross-country title last fall.
Jazwinski
completely overwhelmed the competition in the race, setting a personal
best time of 9:07.1 to finish nearly 19 seconds ahead of every other
competitor. Coach Kirk Mikkelson said Jazwinski is closing in on the
Vikings' school record in the event and credited his parents, Robert and
Katie, who run the local Jazz Running Club, for helping Bobby along the
way.
"Bobby has trained hard his whole life and dominated
because of his incredible work ethic," Mikkelson said. "His parents both (have) extreme
knowledge and (have) been a huge help to me this spring."
Jazwinski
also helped the Vikings score an all-state medal in the 3,200-meter
relay, anchoring the team to an eighth-place finish. Jazwinski joined
Jevon Hilliard, Rex Pumford and Javi LeBlanc in the race; Whitehall's
time was 8:06.8, only five seconds behind fourth-place Holland
Christian.
Seniors Caden Bowyer and Ayden Mendoza capped their
record-breaking careers by each finishing 12th in their events. Bowyer
was 12th in discus - an event in which he now holds the school record -
with an attempt of 148-8, and Mendoza was 12th in high jump - in which
he already had the school record - with a mark of 6-1. He was only two
inches away from placing as high as fourth, and it was the first time
all season Mendoza competed in high jump without winning.
Also
for Whitehall, Graysen Olstrom finished 15th in pole vault with a mark
of 13-4, and Judd Musk was 27th in the 110-meter hurdles (15.99).
"It
was a great year for us," Mikkelson said, citing the school records set
in three events this season. "We qualified eight kids to state in seven
events, and five of
those guys are back next year."
