HILLSDALE COUNTY — Despite the early April rain and thunder, weather cleared up on Saturday, April 5 for the first official track event of the spring sports season in Hillsdale County. The Hillsdale-hosted Jack Beilfuss Early Season Invitational brought teams from across the state, including Grand Ledge and Tecumeh, to Baumgarten Stadium for athletes' first shot at breaking through to personal record times, jumps and throws.
In an impressive total, 13 events were won by Hillsdale County teams. Hillsdale Academy won seven events, and Hillsdale and Jonesville won three each.
Hillsdale Academy junior Grayson Rorick won the 1600-meter boys distance event, putting an impressive 4:25.57 time on the board, beating his personal career best before Saturday. Rorick anchored the 4x800-meter boys relay team of Zane Socha, Luke Molenkamp and Timothy Gaebler. They took first with a time of 8:43.91.
Also winning for the Colts boys team was Dawson Scharer. Who was the only County athlete to win twice as an individual. He won the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdle races with times of 15.85 seconds and 40.82 seconds, respectively.
Junior Georgia Whalen won the girls 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.11. The junior helped the 4x400 team of Mary Schlueter, Lucy Cote and Caroline Roberts take first with a time of 4:27.14. Junior Anne Gray took first in pole vault with a jump of 7-feet, 6 inches.
The Hillsdale varsity boys track team had a strong showing across the board, led by the 4x400 relay team of senior Miles Brown, sophomores Evan Towne and Cam Arnold, and senior Dominick Coke. The team won the event with a final time of 3:37.21.
Over in the girls sprint events, freshman Effie Heckel made an impressive debut for the Hornets, running a 28.01 in the 200-meter dash to earn first place. The freshman also helped the 4x200 relay team of Emily York, Kiely Kroa and senior Megan Kast (anchor, fourth in the 200-meter) take first place with a time of 1:53.64.
The Jonesville boys track team won two events. Junior Nicholas Fowler earned first in the 400-meter race with a time of 52.4. Sophomore Caleb Blonde took first place in the 800-meter dash, earning a new PR time of 2:01.38 for the event.
The Jonesville girls track team earned a win in the high jump competition, where junior Payton Nichelson took first. Nichelson had a 5-foot clearance height to win the event.
Hillsdale Top 5
The Hillsdale boys track team had ...
