Owosso girls’ track and field traveled to Frankenmuth on Friday to compete in the regional finals. As Frankenmuth has a very talented team that we didn’t think we could beat, we decided to put athletes in events that they had the best chance to earn medals, PRs, and qualify for the state finals. We did not load up athletes to try to rack up as many points as we could. As a result, we finished in 4^th place out of 14 teams instead of potentially finishing 2^nd. However, our strategy got us many medals, PRs, and 5 athletes were able to qualify to compete in the state finals in two weeks.

Libby Summerland was the first athlete to punch her ticket to the state finals with her PR performance in pole vault. Despite the rain coming down that made vaulting way tougher, Libby was able to tie for the 2^nd highest vault of the day at 10’7” but lost based on misses at previous heights. The top two athletes per event automatically qualify for the state finals, but there is also an additional qualifying standard for each event. For pole vault it is 9’3”, so Libby easily made it through.

Claire was the next to advance just minutes later when she became regional champion of pole vault with another school record vault of 11’7”. It is setting up to be quite the showdown between vaulters at the state finals in two weeks.

It was Libby’s turn again when she hit the track later in a stacked 400m field. There were 4 girls that had already hit the additional qualifying standard in previous meets with a 5^th less than .2 seconds away. The race turned out to be a good one and saw Libby finishing 3^rd but running under the qualifying standard of 1:01.1 with a time of 1:00.69.

Next up was Peyton Spicer. After a pair of tough 3^rd place finishes in high jump (5’) and shot put (31’10”) where she narrowly missed out on qualifying, Peyton was able to overcome adversity and become regional champion in discus. She did give us all a scare though. After throwing 2 out of bounds (throwing disc in the rain is no easy feat), she landed her final throw about a foot from the out of bounds line, qualifying her for finals and eventually winning the whole competition with a throw of 99’0”.

Finally, our last chance to qualify came down to the 4x400m relay team of Gabi Hufnagel, Libby Summerland, Emma Johnson, and Claire Agnew. Under the lights, the last event of the night, this event is already a crowd favorite. However, when these girls stepped on the track as the 5^th seed, it became magical. Gabi led the Trojans off to a great start, passing Libby the baton in 2^nd place. Libby sprinted around the track, taking over 1^st place about halfway through her lap, and held on to the lead as she handed off to Emma Johnson. When Emma, a distance runner who has never been known for her all-out speed, got the baton, I hoped she would be able to hold on enough to give Claire a chance to finish 2^nd. After watching Emma run for the past 7 years, I thought I knew exactly what she was capable of. I couldn’t have been more wrong. She didn’t hold on at all, she dominated! Emma found a burst of speed that even she didn’t know she had, tearing around the track and putting distance between herself and 2^nd place. When she handed off to Claire, there was no doubt. Claire blazed around the track and the team was able to finish as regional champions. That race was the highlight of the year for me and really showcased the character of this team.

Even though those were the only state qualifying performances of the day, there were many more amazing performances. Kyle Bermudez put down a very fast personal best race in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.69, her best by .34 seconds. Unfortunately, the two girls ahead of her both had similar PR performances and Kyle finished 1 spot out of qualifying for state. However, as a sophomore, Kyle will be a force to be reckoned with in the next two years. She also finished 4^th in pole vault with a vault of 8’6”.

Gabi Hufnagel had a great leg in the 4x400m relay, but she also had two other amazing races on the day. Gabi took an entire second off her 100m hurdle time on her way to a 6^th place finish at 17.65. Her best race of the night though was in the 300m hurdles. Seeded in 4^th place, Gabi put together an incredible race, cutting 1.5 seconds off her time, but finished just .03 seconds out of 2^nd place. I can’t wait to see what this hard-working freshman is able to do in the years to come.

Other regional medal performances:

Emma Crandell finished with two regional medals on the day. She earned a 4^th place finish in the 3200m and was a part of the 6^th place 4x800m relay team along with teammates Emma Johnson, Julionna West, and Gracie Meyer, who agreed to run the relay at the last minute when her sick teammate was not able to compete. It was Gracie’s first 800m race as she is a sprinter and she held her own really well.

Desiree Mofield made the final 9 in discus, where she earned a PR, but just missed out on a top 8 medal. However, she finished with a 5^th place medal in shot put (30’9”).

Other PRs include:

Khloe Muzzy took a half of a second off her 100m with a time of 14.45. She has improved a ton this season and gets faster every time she steps on the track.

Julionna West ran 6:02.42 for her personal best 1600m.

Isabel Root had a 3” PR in high jump with a jump of 4’6”.

I couldn’t be prouder of this team and how they competed all season. I am so blessed to be able to coach such an amazing group of young ladies. I am very sad to be losing 3 seniors next season, but very excited to bring back so many girls. A special shout out to senior Courtney Lott who competed in her final track meet. Court, thank you for all of your hard work these past 4 years and everything you have brought to Owosso track and field. You will be missed!

I am excited to be able to coach the other two seniors for the next couple weeks still. State finals, here we come!

Full results can be found at: https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/481038/results/all