Quincy girls, Union City boys take runner-up honors at UC Invite

UNION CITY, MI. - On a cold and windy Friday night 11 teams from across the state traveled to Union City’s Alumni Field for and evening of track and field action as they made the trip to battle in the Union City Invitational.

Two local teams finished with runner-up honors, as the Quincy girls and the Union City boys both took second place in their respective competitions.

In the girls side of the tournament it was Quincy taking runner-up honors with a score of 115 points, finishing behind the champions from Harper Creek who took first place with 153.5 points. The Union CIty Lady Chargers finished in third place overall with a score of 79 points. Rounding out the rest of the standings was Parchment in fourth place with 50 points, Reading in fifth with 49 points, Marshall in sixth with 42 points, Athens in seventh with 41.5 points, Concord in eighth with 18 points, and Climax Scotts and Jackson Prep tied for ninth with two points.

Quincy’s runner-up effort was led by four total first place finishes spread amongst three different athletes.

Freshman Brookelyn Parker continued her early season success in the hurdle events, taking first place in the 300 meter hurdles in a time of 54.09 seconds while also taking second place in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 17.85 seconds.

Junior Lita Fulton took home the gold medal in the pole vault, winning the event with a solid vault of 8 feet, 0 inches.

A big reason for the Orioles success on the day was their dominance in the throwing events as four Quincy throwers combined to sweep the top two spots and three of the top six in both disciplines.

Senior Sophia Snellenberger continued her throwing dominance, winning the shot put with a throw of 38 feet, 10 inches while also winning the discus with a throw of 136 feet, 4 inches. Senior Raigan Horsfall also had a big day, taking the silver medal in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 2 inches while also taking runner-up honors in the discus with a throw of 120 feet, 2 inches, a season best. Rounding out the Orioles throwing effort was Hallie Jones with a sixth place finish in the shot put with a throw of 30 feet, 9 inches while Emlyeigh Burlew finished in sixth place in the discus with a throw of 86 feet, 4 inches.

Rounding out the Quincy effort with a top six finish on the day was Anna Richer, fifth place in the 100 and fifth place in the 200; Elizabeth Craig, third place in the 400; Libby Butchart, fifth place in the 3200; the Freshman 800 relay team of Olivia Davenport, Piper Craig, Lillian Gould-Zimmer, and Elizabeth Craig, second place; the 800 relay team of Anna Richer, Lita Fulton, Cheyenne Marske, and Brooke McVicker, fourh place; the 1600 relay team of Raylee Fulon, Lita Fulton, Marske, and Craig, third place; the 3200 relay team of Kadence Luckadoo, Abby Leosh, Raylee Fulton, and Libby Butchart, sixth place; Coelie Smullen, third place in the high jump; Abigail Miller, fourth place in the high jump; Brooke McVicker, fourth place in the pole vault; Piper Craig, sixth place in the pole vault; and Abby Tinervia, fifth place in the long jump.

The Union City Lady Chargers put together a fantastic day in the tough weather, earning a third place finish in the very competitive invite behind a pair of gold medal winners and a handful of top six finishes.

Winning gold for Union City was junior Addy Rumsey who took first place in the long jump with personal best jump of 16 feet, 1 inch while also taking second place in the 200 meter dash in a time of 28.55 seconds.

Also bringing home a win for the Chargers was sophomore long distance ace Skyler Fraley who won the 3200 meter run in a season best time of 13 minutes, 4.0 seconds in addition to a fourth place finish in the 1600 in a time of 6 minutes, 5.31 seconds.

Rounding out the Union City effort with a top six finish was Abigail Goodrich, sixth place in the 100; Willow Austin, fourth place in the 400; Kyla Burdick, sixth place in the 800 and second place in the pole vault; the 400 relay team of Goodrich, Rumsey, Addison Meyer and Alaina Labar, third place; the Freshman 800 relay team of Elizabeth Arlt, Lilly Eyre, Felina Stevens, and Labar, third place; the 800 relay team of Goodrich, Rumsey, Austin and Meyer, third place; the 1600 relay team of Austin, Eyre, Lauren Cayo and Burdick, second place; the 3200 relay team of Fraley, Arlt, Eyre and Burdick, third place; and Addison Meyer, sixth place in the long jump.

The Athens Lady Indians seventh place finish was bolstered by one victory and a handful of top six finishes. Leading the way for Athens was senior hurdle specialist Jocelyn Hall who took home the gold medal in the 100 meter hurdles in a time of 17.54 seconds in addition to her sixth place finish in the 200 in a time of 31.75 seconds.

Rounding out the Athens effort was Zoey Williams, sixth place in the 400; Kylie Quist, third place in the 1600; Chloe Badger, fourth place in the 3200; Layla Williams, fifth place in the 300 hurdles; the 400 relay team of Charley Williams, Somyr Nye, Jocelyn Hall and Layla Williams, fourth place; the freshman 800 relay team of Alexis Slater, Mallory Kincaid, Katelynn Roe, and Somyr Nye, fourth place; the 800 relay team of Charley Williams, Kalecia Garza-McNutt, Hall and Nye, fifth place; the 1600 relay team of Mallory Kincaid, Kylie Quist, Zoey Williams, and Garza-McNutt, fourth place; the 3200 relay team of Chloe Badger, Whitney Hernandez, Julia Pames, and Zoey Williams, fifth place; and Kami Parlin, fifth place in the high jump.

Union City boys finish in second place, Quincy takes fourth, Athens eighth

On the boy's side of the competition, it was Union City taking runner-up honors, finishing in second place with 104 points. The team from Harper Creek brought home first place honors, making it a sweep for the visiting Beavers who won the boys side of the night with 133 points. Marshall finished in third place with 75 points, followed by Quincy in fourth place with 60 points. Reading took fifth place with 56 points, followed by Concord with 44 points, Climax Scotts with 32 points, Athens with 24 points, Three Oaks River Valley with 17 points, Jackson Prep with four points, and Parchment with two points.

Union City’s runner-up finish was paced by four gold medal finishes spread out between three athletes.

Junior Logan Cole continued his throwing dominance, sweeping down in the pits yet again. Cole finished in first place in the shot put with a throw of 43 feet, 3 inches while also bringing home a win in the discus with a throw of 149 feet, 1 inch.

Union City also had a pair of wins in the running events as senior Alex Hull won the 200 meter dash in a time of 24.02 seconds while junior teammate Hunter Sinke claimed gold in the 400 in a time of 54.38 seconds.

Rounding out the Union City effort with a top sixth finish in their respective event was Cohen Burdick, third place in the 800; Ben Gautsche, fourth place in the 800 and fifth place in the 1600 (personal best time of 4 minutes, 52.46 seconds); Jason Shoop, second place in the 3200 in a personal best time of 10 minutes, 32.75 seconds; Nathaniel Maurer, fourth place in the 110 hurdles and third place in the 300 hurdles; Dylon MacDonald, fifth place in the 110 hurdles; the 400 relay team of Maurer, Hull, Rick Austin and Caden Hughes, fourth place; the Freshman 800 relay team of Jacob Smith, Kent Robbins, Jordan Payne, and Finn Parnell, fifth place; the 800 relay team of Hull, Hughes, Hunter Sinke, and Austin, second place; the 1600 relay team of Maurer, Cohen Burdick, Hull and Sinke, second place; the 3200 relay team of Jason Shoop, Burdick, Malachi Payne and Ben Gautsche, fifth place; and Rick Austin, second place in the long jump.

The Quincy Orioles had two gold medal winners on the day, helping lead the fourth place team finish for the orange and block. Both victories for Quincy came in the field events, led by senior Ethan Hollister who continued his impressive work in the long jump pit, winning the gold with a jump of 19 feet, 9.25 inches. Hollister also brought home a fourth place finish in the 100 in a time of 12.08 seconds.

Sophomore Corey Turner also earned gold in the field events, winning the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet, 0 inches.

Rounding out the Quincy effort with a top six finish in their respective event was Clayton Benson, sixth place in the 300 hurdles; the freshman 800 relay team of Micah Groves, Benson, Wesley Wasikowski, and Ethan Pearson, second place; the 800 relay team of Michael Daniels, Cameron Barry, Wesley Wasikowski, and Ethan Hollister, sixth place; the 1600 relay team of Micah Groves, Cameron Barry, Bryton Beckwith and Rhett Reif, sixth place; Caleb Kelley, second place in the shot put and sixth place in the discus; Ashtyn Morris, third place in the shot put and second place in the discus; and Kaleb Handy, fourth place in the pole vault.

The Athens Indians finished in eighth place overall behind the efforts of one gold medal finish and four additional medal finishes. Leading the way for the Indians was junior Landon Bennett who took first place honors in the 300 hurdles in a time of 40.72 seconds.

Rounding out the Athens effort was Ethan O’Connor, fifth place in the 3200; the 1600 relay team of Bennett, Dru Slater, Landen Drake and Addison Stanton, fifth place; Nollan Fry, third place in the pole vault; and Keyon Mandoka, fourth place in the long jump.

Teams will be back in action this Wednesday as they compete in their respective conference dual meets. The Union City Chargers will play host to the Jonesville Comets for a key Big 8 meet on Wednesday, while Quincy will head to Reading for a very important Big 8 matchup. Athens meanwhile will join a good portion of the SCAA on Wednesday in traveling to Pittsford for an SCAA Jamboree.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Results for Union City Track Invitational