Track & field athletes shine brightly at Novi-hosted MHSAA regional
A Northville runner leads the field in the hotly-contested 1,600-meter run during Friday’s MHSAA D1 regional event at Novi High School.
Following months of training and competing in often windy, bone-chilling conditions, hundreds of southeast-Michigan high school track and field athletes converged on Novi High School Friday under skies dominated by sunshine, looking to punch their difficult-to-attain ticket to the MHSAA state finals.
And, wow, did they ever shine.
Perennial power Northville placed first in the boys and girls standings with 163 and 118.25 points, respectively. The host Wildcats’ boys and girls teams both placed second, while Livonia Churchill was strong, taking third in the boys meet and fourth in the girls standings.
The top two finishers in each event earned a spot in the May 31 state meet at East Kentwood High School. Athletes who placed outside the top two spots could also earn state meet status by posting a time lower than the state meet cut time (or for jumpers and pole vaulters, rising higher than a pre-determined height).
Salem’s Bohn was a points machine
Led by star Natalia Bohn, Salem’s girls squad was the top P-CEP finisher in the team standings, placing third with 78.5 points.
Bohn stood on the top tier of the awards podium more often than any other athlete after placing first in the 100-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the 200-yard dash. She also ran the first leg for the Rocks’ 1,600-meter relay team, which placed second.
The do-it-all senior did everything except drive the team bus to the meet.
In addition to Bohn, Redford Thurston’s Khloe Phillips (100 meters and long jump) and Novi’s Katelynn Egli (800 and 1,600) won multiple events on the girls side.
Izzy Krause was splendid in the throwing events, winning the shot put with a heave of 43 feet, 3 inches, before placing second in the discus (117-7).
Unprecedented occurrence?
In what many avid southeast-Michigan track & field enthusiasts believe is an unprecedented occurrence, Westland John Glenn’s Janell Flournoy and Churchill’s Anna Griese competed in a run-off to see who would be the final competitor in the 200 final. The pair tied in the preliminaries with a time of 27.57 seconds.
Griese won the run-off, pulling ahead of Flournoy by a few yards down the stretch.
The Mustangs’ boys team racked up a boat-load of points in the relays, winning the 4 x 200, 4 x 400 and 4 x 800.
Northville first-place finishers included Ryan Stojov (800) and Brandon Cloud (3,200).
Chance for greatness
Novi was paced by double-winners Chance McNeill (100 and 200) and Jordan Paige (high jump and long jump.
Among the boys P-CEP first-place finishers were Canton’s Nathan Gilmour (400), Plymouth’s Ben Mussan (1,600), Salem’s Liam Reynolds (high jump) and Plymouth’s Sean Cinzori (pole vault).
The race of the day was the boys 1,600, which featured three runners — Mussan, Stojov and Plymouth’s Jack Chadwick — finishing within fractions of a second from one another.
The “Most Inspiring Moments” of the day belonged to South Lyon adaptive 100-, 200- and 400-meter runner Owen Mourdyke, who uplifted the crowd and his fellow athletes by turning in excellent times while running with a prosthetic right leg.
Mourdyke lost his leg to bone cancer while in middle school, but continues to compete in track & field and soccer for the Lions.
GIRLS RESULTS
FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Northville, 118.25 points; 2. Novi, 90.25; 3. Salem, 78.5; 4. Livonia Churchill, 77.25; 5. Plymouth, 56.5; 6. Redford Thurston, 50; 7. Livonia Franklin, 45; 8. Wayne Memorial, 40; 9. Livonia Stevenson, 30.75; 10. South Lyon East, 15.5; 11. Westland John Glenn, 15; 12. Dearborn Edsel Ford, 14; 13. South Lyon and Canton, 12; 15. Dearborn, 6; 16. Dearborn Heights Crestwood 2.
100-meter dash: 1. Khloe Phillips (RT), 12.74; 2. Carla Cryer (WM), 12.76; 3. Fiona Kane (EF), 12.89.
200: 1. Natalia Bohn (S), 25.6; 2. Khloe Phillips (RT), 25.67; 3. Morgan Gauchey (NV), 25.75.
400: 1. Callie Seiler (N), 58.67; 2. Becca Jud (S), 58.89; 3. Alex Mooradian (N), 59.18.
800: 1. Katelynn Egli (N), 2:16.97; 2. Kaelin Hughes (LS), 2:20.24; 3. Bella Jud (S), 2:21.07.
1,600: 1. Katelynn Egli (N), 4:58.91; 2. Kaelin Hughes (LS), 5:00.63; 3. Ava Peters (LF), 5:00.69.
3,200: 1. Ava Peters (LF), 11:19.31; 2. Rianna Radulescu (LC), 11:46.93; 3. Cassie Garcia (NV), 11:57.56.
100 hurdles: 1. Natalia Bohn (S), 14.87; 2. Julia Montgomery (S), 15.34; 3. Kennedi Miner (C), 16.23.
300 hurdles: 1. Natalia Bohn (S), 44.95; 2. Autumn Lawson (WJG), 46.37; 3. Summer Angus (N), 48.29.
4 x 100 relay: 1. Novi, 49.23; 2. Wayne Memorial, 49.66.
4 x 200 relay: 1. Novi, 1:44.47; 2. Northville, 1:45.85
4 x 400 relay: Northville, 4:03.06; 2. Salem, 4:05.24.
4 x 800 relay: 1. Northville, 9:46.15; 2. Novi, 9:53.28.
Shot put: 1. Izzy Krause (P), 43 feet, 3 inches; 2. Milan Anderson (N), 35-8.5; 3. Charlotte Miner (LC), 35-1.
Discus: 1. Charlotte Miner (LC), 131-2; 2. Izzy Krause (P), 117-7; 3. Emma Young (LC), 115-4.
High jump: 1. Tessa White (LF), 5-2; 2. Elise Mavrinac (N), 5-0; 3. Evelyn Hesterman (SL), 4-10.
Pole vault: 1. Sadie Yessler, 10-0; 2. Juliet Link (SLE), 10-0; 3. Molly Schaad (N), 9-9.
Long jump: 1. Khloe Phillips (RT), 17-5; 2. Fiona Kane (EF), 17-4; 3. Alala Washington (WM), 17-1.5.
**BOYS RESULTS WILL BE ADDED MOMENTARILY**
