Advertisement

Coldwater track competes at I-8 championship; Foley brings home dual gold

troy tennyson, coldwater daily reporter
·4 min read
Coldwater's Lainey Yearling leads the pack during the 1600 meter run Tuesday. Yearling finished third in the event
Coldwater's Lainey Yearling leads the pack during the 1600 meter run Tuesday. Yearling finished third in the event

ALBION, MI. - The Coldwater Cardinal track and field team joined the whole of the Interstate 8 Tuesday on the campus of Albion College to compete in the 2023 Interstate 8 League Championship.

In the women’s portion of the day, it was Coldwater finishing in third place overall with a score of 78 points. Harper Creek wrapped up the conference title, winning the event with a score of 116.5 points while Hastings finished in second place with 93.5 points. Coldwater finished third, just two points ahead of the fourth place team from Parma Western who scored 76 points. Lumen Christi finished in fifth place, followed by Pennfield, Northwest and Marshall.

Coldwater had one Interstate 8 conference champion as sophomore Elli Foley continued her dominance of the throwing pits, sweeping both the shot put and the discus. Foley took home the title in the discus with a new personal best throw of 113 feet, 0 inches while also winning the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 5.5 inches.

Sophomore Lainey Yearling also had a solid day, taking second place in the 3200-meter run in a time of 12 minutes, 18.12 seconds while also finishing third in the 1600 in a time of 5 minutes, 38.39 seconds.

Grace Huff brought home a pair of medals, racing in two events she does not normally tackle. Huff finished in third place in the 400 in a time of 1 minute, 2.24 seconds while also taking fourth place in the 200 in a personal best time of 27.86 seconds.

Coldwater's Grace Huff powers around the curve of the 200 meter dash Tuesday at the I-8 championship. Huff finished in fourth place in the race
Coldwater's Grace Huff powers around the curve of the 200 meter dash Tuesday at the I-8 championship. Huff finished in fourth place in the race

Rounding out the Coldwater effort with a top six finish in their respective event was Jatziri Martinez, fourth place in the 100 and fifth place in the 200; Jaleah Sloan, third place in the 400, fifth place in the high jump and fourth place in the long jump; Madilynn Persails, third place in the 100 hurdles; Abigail Jones, fourth place in the shot put and fourth place in the discus; and Ilsa Katz, sixth place in the discus.

Earning points in the relay races was the 400 relay and 800 relay team of Riley Graham, Gracie Finn, Kendyll Szafranski and Jatziri Martinez, sixth place in both events; the 1600 relay team of Jaleah Sloan, Abigail Robison, Ta’Vaiyah Hughes, and Grace Huff, fifth place; and the 3200-relay team of Eysha Chavez, Aroa Ramos, Halie McFarland, and Olivia Golematis, fourth place.

Coldwater's Abby Jones spins her way to a medal at the I-8 conference meet as she finished in fourth place in the discus as well as the shot put.
Coldwater's Abby Jones spins her way to a medal at the I-8 conference meet as she finished in fourth place in the discus as well as the shot put.

In the men’s competition the Cardinals finished in sixth place overall with a score of 24 points. Parma Western secured the conference championship win with a score of 141 points, followed by Harper Creek in second place with 124 points. Hastings finished in third place with 106 points, followed by Marshall, Lumen Christi, Coldwater, Northwest and Pennfield.

While Coldwater did not boast any conference champions in the men’s competition, there were a number of athletes earning a top six finishes.

Coldwater’s highest finish came in the pole vault where senior Hunter Munson finished in third place after clearing a jump of 12 feet, 6 inches.

Also finishing in the top six were Phanom Dompierre, sixth place in the 100; Haroon Omar, sixth place in the 3200; Kendall Austin, fifth place in the 300 hurdles; Zach Coffing, fourth place in the shot put; and Jackson Reilly, fifth place in the shot put.

All four relay teams finished inside the top six to help the Cardinal effort. The 400-relay team of Kendall Austin, Kaden Lewis, Phanom Dompierre, and Naseem Taha, fifth place; the 800-relay team of Taha, Lewis, Reilly, and Dompierre, fifth place; the 1600 relay team of Gabe Wagoner, Claudel Wischmeyer, Sebastian Ocampo, and Laith Musa, sixth place; and the 3200-relay team of Sam Pernia, Sebastian Ocampo, Wischmeyer and Haroon Omar, fourth place.

For the bulk of the Coldwater track team the 2023 season now comes to a close, however three Lady Cardinals are still alive in the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) postseason as the trio of Grace Huff, Lainey Yearling and Elli Foley will look for postseason success when they head to the MHSAA State Finals to be held June 3 at Forest Hills Eastern High School.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater track competes at I-8 championship; Foley brings home dual gold