Petoskey sets six school records, two dozen athletes qualify for D2 state finals

SHEPHERD — Whenever there’s been a big moment on the track this season, the Petoskey track and field teams have answered the call.

On Saturday in Shepherd, the moment was the biggest of the season yet with the Division 2 regional track competition on deck, and Petoskey rose to the occasion once again.

On both sides, school records were set, personal bests came in bunches and a bus load (literally) of athletes will be making their way to the Division 2 state championships.

Petoskey’s girls pulled in a regional title on the day, edging out Big North rival Cadillac to take the top honors in a 117.5 to 106 finish. Host Shepherd was then third on the girls side with 79.5 points.

On the boys side of things, Gladwin earned the victory over Petoskey in a 91-82 finish, followed by Freeland’s 80.

In total, the Petoskey girls came away with 12 girls that’ll make their way to the state finals across 11 different events – including relays – while the PHS boys will send 14 athletes across nine events.

The theme of the season continued for Petoskey in Shepherd, as speed stole the show, where five school records – many of which were set previously this year – were broken once again.

Both the girls and boys 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams set school records, as did junior Sam Mitas in the 100 meter dash, breaking his own school record set this year. Another individual school record came from Johnny Lipchik in the 300 meter hurdles.

After becoming the first Northmen athlete to run sub 11 seconds in the 100 earlier this season, Mitas ran a blistering 10.82 to set the mark again, which earned him a wide-margin first place finish.

Lipchik, a junior, claimed a third place finish in a field of strong runners in the 300 hurdles to set his record, running 41.24 seconds.

Looking to break the 43 second mark set earlier this season, the boys 4x100 relay team of CJ Hibbler, Mitch Eberhart, Seth Marek and Mitas did so with a first place and school record 42.76 seconds.

The group of Hibbler, Eberhart, Mitas and Logan Beer also set a new mark in the 4x200 in 1:29.89.

The 4x200 girls group of Lucy Tarachas, Alison Bailey, Madeline Loe and Nevaeh Leonard claimed a school record and first place finish in 1:44.18, then the group of Leonard, Loe, Emma Mitas and Alexandra Petok did the same in the 4x100 in 49.48, giving them a first place regional win.

Other impressive personal bests came from Emma Mitas in the 100 in a runner-up 12.74 seconds, while Leonard set a new PR in the 200 in a runner-up 26.38 seconds.

On the boys side, Jack Lindwall’s height of 12-feet, 8-inches came as a new PR to send him through to states, while Evan Massey turned in an impressive jump of 20-feet, 8.5 inches in the long jump, a new PR and state qualifying runner-up finish.

Though he won’t be heading to states, senior Luke Ingalls turned in an impressive personal best in the 110 hurdles to win the preliminaries in 15.73 seconds. He then fell back to fourth in the finals in 15.95 seconds, just missing the qualifying mark.

The Division 2 state championship competition will next take place at Hamilton High School on Saturday, June 1.

Petoskey – Division 2 state qualifiers:

Boys (place, time)

100 Meters: Sam Mitas (1, 10.82)

300 Hurdles: Johnny Lipchik (3, 41.24)

4x100 Relay: CJ Hibbler, Mitch Eberhart, Seth Marek, Sam Mitas (1, 42.76)

4x200 Relay: CJ Hibbler, Logan Beer, Mitch Eberhart, Sam Mitas (1, 1:29.89)

4x800 Relay: Reeve Oberman, Brady Odenbach, Dylan Odenbach, Zahar Rush (6, 8:17.81)

Shot Put: Brody Shaw (5, 48-7.25)

Discus: Korbin Sulitis (2, 157-5)

Pole Vault: Jack Lindwall (3, 12-8)

Long Jump: Evan Massey (2, 20-8.5)

Girls

100 Meters: Emma Mitas (2, 12.74)

100 Meters: Madeline Loe (4, 12.86)

200 Meters: Nevaeh Leonard (2, 26.38)

200 Meters: Alison Bailey (5, 26.65)

3,200 Meters: Nora O’Leary (3, 11:30.07)

300 Hurdles: Sarah Bailey (1, 47.92)

300 Hurdles: Alexandra Petok (2, 48.74)

4x100 Relay: Nevaeh Leonard, Emma Mitas, Alexandra Petok, Madeline Loe (1, 1, 49.48)

4x200 Relay: Lucy Tarachas, Alison Bailey, Madeline Loe, Nevaeh Leonard (1, 1:44.18)

4x400 Relay: Lucy Tarachas, Marley Spence, Sarah Bailey, Alison Bailey (3, 4:07.49)

High Jump: Braylin Adair (5, 5-1)

Pole Vault: Sarah Bailey (3, 9-9)

Pole Vault: Tara Brantly (5, 9-3)

Long Jump: Marlee Grieves (3, 16-10.5)

Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey girls track earns regional title, more than two dozen qualify