Quincy's Snellenberger wins D3 Discus state title, 6 earn All State honors
KENT CITY, MI. - Athletes from Division Three schools from around the state traveled to Kent City High School on Saturday to compete on the biggest stage in high school track in Michigan, the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) LP Division Three Track and Field State Finals.
Branch County was well represented at the D3 state finals with 13 competitors, seven of which came home with All State honors, including one state champion and six additional all-state honorees, in addition to many near misses and personal best efforts.
Below are the results from each Branch County team that competed at the D3 State Finals. (Results from the Division Two and Division Four State finals will be in a separate article)
Quincy Orioles
For Quincy senior throwing machine Sophia Snellenberger, it was not a matter of if, but when, she would bring home a state championship and the answer to that question was this past Saturday as Snellenberger ascended to the throne, winning the state title in the discus. Snellenberger has long been considered the best thrower in the state and she showed that once again on Saturday, winning the discus state title with a throw of 141 feet, 5 inches, a full eight feet further than the runner-up thrower, Rylan Finstrom of Grayling who took runner-up honors with a throw of 133 feet, 2 inches. Also earning All-State honors in the discus was Snellenberger’s teammate and classmate Raigen Horsfall who finished in eighth place in the discus with a throw of 116 feet, 0 inches.
Snellenberger and Horsfall also earned All State status in the shot put, further cementing their combined legacy as some of the absolute best throwers to ever come through Quincy High School. Snellenberger finished in third place overall in the state with a throw of 37 feet, 7.25 inches while Horsfall finished in fourth place with a throw of 37 feet, 2 inches. The state championship went to Payton Otto of Olivet with a throw of 39 feet, 4.5 inches while runner-up honors went to Abby Karst of Reese who finished with a throw of 37 feet, 11.25 inches.
Two other Quincy Orioles made the trip to the state finals to compete on the big stage, with both putting in big days.
Sophomore Corey Turner finished in eleventh place in the pole vault with a personal best vault of 12 feet, 9 inches while teammate Brooke McVicker finished in twenty-third place in the pole vault with a vault of 7 feet, 9 inches. The final All State honor for the boys pole vault went to Kevin Roberts of Niles Brandywine who finished in eighth place with a vault of 13 feet, 3 inches, while the state title went to Tryce Tokar of Ovid-Elsie who won with a personal best height of 15 feet, 0 inches while the women's state title went to Ally Olszewiski of Grand Rapids West Catholic with a vault of 11 feet, 3 inches.
Union City Chargers
The Union City Chargers sent five individuals in six events and one relay team to the state finals, coming away with two All-State honors and several near misses.
Junior throwing ace Logan Cole brought home All State honors in one of his two events, taking fifth place in the discus with a throw of 152 feet, 4 inches. Cole also competed in the shot put, taking eighteenth place with a throw of 45 feet, 9.5 inches. The shot put state championship went to Gavin Nurenberg of Pewamo-Westphalia with a throw of 57 feet, 9.5 inches while the discus state championship went to Kellen Kimes of Hart who won with a throw of 174 feet, 3 inches.
The 800-meter relay team (4x200) of Riley Laird, Caden Hughes, Hunter Sinke and Alex Hull also fought their way on to the podium, earning All-State honors with a fifth-place finish in a time of 1 minute, 32.37 seconds. The state championship in the 800-meter relay went to the team from Burton Atherton, who won in 1 minute 30.51 seconds.
Just missing All State honors was senior Alex Hull who finished one spot out of the medals, taking ninth place in the pole vault with a vault of 12 feet, 9 inches. The final All State honor was Kevin Roberts of Niles Brandywine who finished in eighth place with a vault of 13 feet, 3 inches, while the state title went to Tryce Tokar of Ovid-Elsie who won with a personal best height of 15 feet, 0 inches.
Also coming up just a little short of a podium spot was sophomore Nevada Gillons who finished in tenth place in the 100-meter hurdles in a blistering time of 16.73 seconds. Gillons just missed qualifying for the finals as the top nine runners moved on to the next round. The ninth place finisher in the prelims was Sadie Larson of Lake City who finished in a time of 16.61 seconds while the state championship went to Destiny McDaniels of Bath who won in a time of 15.28 seconds.
Also competing for Union City was sophomore Skyler Fraley who finished in nineteenth place in the 1600-meter run in a time of 5 minutes, 48.18 seconds while junior Addy Rumsey finished in fourteenth place in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, 5.5 inches. The state title in the 1600-meter run went to Madison Osterberg of Jackson Lumen Christi who won in a time of 4 minutes, 55.02 seconds while the long jump state title went to Alyssa Budd of Napoleon who won with a jump of 17 feet, 11.5 inches.
Bronson Vikings
The Bronson Vikings had one athlete make the trip to the D3 State Finals and he did not come away empty handed, as sophomore Boston Bucklin earned All-State honors in the 800-meter run. Bucklin finished in seventh place overall with a personal best time of 2 minutes, 0.39 seconds. The six runners ahead of Bucklin all broke the two minute mark, with the champion, Hunter Jones of Benzie Central, taking the gold medal with a time of 1 minute, 57.60 seconds.
For full results of the Division Three State Track and Field meet you can visit https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/481010/results/all.
Congratulations to all those who competed at the state finals and congratulations to those earning All-State honors this season.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Quincy's Snellenberger wins D3 Discus state title, 6 earn All State honors
