Branch County sends 11 individuals, four relay teams to Division 3 boys state track finals
HILLSDALE – While no team from Branch County will be making the trip to the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division 3 boys state track and field championship, the county will be well represented individually after Union City, Quincy and Bronson competed in the MHSAA LP Region 25-3 event.
Union City finished fifth to lead the local trio of teams with 58 points, followed by Quincy in ninth place with 35 points. Bronson finished in 12th place with 22.5 points. Hillsdale won with 111, followed by Jonesville at 79.
A total of 11 student-athletes and four relay teams from Branch County will travel to the state finals next week. The event is scheduled for June 1 at Kent City High School.
Union City: 4 individuals, 4 relay teams
Senior Logan Cole booked a return to the finals in both throwing events, taking second in the shot put at 49 feet, 3.5 inches, and second in the discus at 163-8.
Senior Hunter Sinke finished third in the 400-meter dash after a career-best time of 50.90 seconds.
Also qualifying is senior Nathaniel Maurer, in the 300 hurdles in 41.35 seconds.
More: Four individuals and one relay team to represent county at D3 girls state track finals
Union City also got all four relay teams to the state finals, led by the 3,200-relay team of Jason Shoop, Cohen Burdick, Malachi Payne, and Ben Gautsche, which was second in 8:22.32.
The 400-relay team – Caden Hughes, Sinke, Rick Austin, and Riley Laird – took fifth place in 44.88, while the 800-relay team of Maurer, Hughes, Laird, and Sinke took sixth place in a qualifying time of 1:33.17.
The 1,600-relay team of Maurer, Burdick, Gautsche, and Sinke took fourth place in 3:30.57.
Quincy: Turner's pole vault win leads 5 qualifiers
The Orioles saw one runner and four field event stars make the state finals.
In the pole vault, junior Corey Turner won the event at 13 feet, 6 inches. Teammate Kaleb Handy will join him after finishing fifth at 12-0.
Quincy also has two qualifiers in the high jump: Alex Dunn in fourth and Clayton Benson in fifth. Both cleared 6-0.
Benson also will run the 110 hurdles at states after finishing fourth in 15.78 seconds.
Bronson: 2 qualifiers
Kam Brackett led Bronson with a third-place finish in the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches.
Boston Bucklin finished seventh in the 800, but his time of 2:03:05 qualified him for the state finals.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Branch County has 11 qualifiers for Michigan Division 3 boys state track
