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Coldwater track sends three to MHSAA State Finals

troy tennyson, coldwater daily reporter
·4 min read
Coldwater's Elli Foley brought home a regional championship in Friday, punching her ticket to the MHSAA State Finals in the process
Coldwater's Elli Foley brought home a regional championship in Friday, punching her ticket to the MHSAA State Finals in the process

MASON, MI. - The Coldwater Cardinals took the long trip to Mason High School on Friday, braving the extreme elements looking for postseason glory as the Cardinals took part in the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) Division Two Regional 15 Track and Field Invitational.

Coldwater will be sending three individual athletes on to the MHSAA Division Two State Finals to be held at Forest Hills Eastern High School on June 3 based on their regional efforts.

The three athletes come from the women’s side of the competition as the Lady Cardinals boast a pair of regional champions and one additional qualifier.

In the running events the Cardinals had one regional champion as sophomore Grace Huff continued her mastery of the half mile run, winning the regional championship in the 800 meter run in a personal best time of 2 minutes, 25.47 seconds, punching her ticket to the MHSAA Individual State Finals in the process.

Also earning a trip to the state finals based on her performance on the track was sophomore Lainey Yearling who booked her ticket to the MHSAA Individual State Finals with a second place finish in the 3200 meter run in a personal best time of 12 minutes, 0.67 seconds.

Coldwater sophomore Grace Huff, shown here in early season action, earned a trip to the MHSAA state finals with her regional championship in the 800 meter run.
Coldwater sophomore Grace Huff, shown here in early season action, earned a trip to the MHSAA state finals with her regional championship in the 800 meter run.

In the field events it was record-breaking thrower Elli Foley who advanced on to the state finals for the first time after winning the regional crown in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 4 inches. Foley just missed qualifying in the discus as well, finishing in third place with a season best distance of 108 feet, 2 inches, just missing the additional qualifying distance of 109 feet, 0 inches.

Coldwater also saw a number of athletes earn a bit of hardware by finishing in the top eight of their respective events, with the Lady Cardinals bringing home a total of 10 medals.

Earning a spot on the podium at the regional invitational in the individual events was Jaelah Sloan with a seventh place finish in the 400 meter run in a season best time of 1 minute, 6.55 seconds to go along with a sixth place finish in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, 1. 5 inches; Shakura Muqit with an eighth place finish in the 400 in a personal best time of 1 minute, 8.24 seconds; Abigial Jones with a fifth place finish in the shot put with a personal best throw of 34 feet, 1 inch; and Heidi Katz with a sixth place finish in the discus with a personal best throw of 100 feet, 3 inches.

The Coldwater girls also brought home two relay medals as the 800 meter relay (4x200) team of Gracie Finn, Grace Huff, Kendyll Szafranski, and Jatziri Martinez took seventh place in a time of 1 minute, 54.14 seconds while the 1600 meter relay (4x400) team of Jaleah Sloan, Abigail Robison, Ta’Vaiyah Hughes, and Grace Huff finished in sixth place in a time of 4 minutes, 30.76 seconds.

Coldwater's sophomore Lainey Yearling qualified for the MHSAA State Finals with her second place finish in the 3200 meter run at regionals on Friday
Coldwater's sophomore Lainey Yearling qualified for the MHSAA State Finals with her second place finish in the 3200 meter run at regionals on Friday

While the Coldwater boys did not see any individuals move on to the state finals a duo of throwers finished inside the top eight to earn a spot on the podium.

Bringing home hardware for Coldwater was freshman Jackson Reilly who finished in fifth place in the shot put with a personal best throw of 46 feet, 10.5 inches while teammate Zach Coffing finished in sixth place with a throw of 46 feet, 8.5 inches.

In team standings the Coldwater Lady Cardinals finished in seventh place overall at the regional level with 52 points. The home team from Mason won the regional title with a score of 101.5 points, followed by Charlotte in second place with 81 points. Hastings finished in third place with 69 points, followed by Harper Creek, St. Johns, Haslett, and Coldwater.

In the men’s portion of the regional the Cardinals finished in fifteenth place overall with seven points. Parma Western won the regional title with 105 points, followed by Mason in second place with 102 points. Charlotte finished in third place with 88 points, followed by Hastings and Marshall in the top five.

Coldwater is not done just yet on the track as the Cardinals will make the trip to Albion College on Tuesday to compete in the Interstate 8 conference championship.

Meanwhile, the trio of individual Cardinals who qualified for the state finals will also look forward to the MHSAA state championship to be held Saturday, June 3 at Forest Hills Eastern High School.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater track sends three to MHSAA State Finals