Onekama Track Team Regional Meet: May 2007

Bradford is Regional Champ; Portager Boys place fourth at Regionals

The Portager boys tallied 72 points behind Traverse City St. Francis (118.33), Hesperia (99.33), and North Muskegon (82) to finish fourth among a 14-team field at the regional track meet held Saturday, May 19^th in Frankfort.

Nick Bradford won the high jump at a height of 5’8”, earning the title of regional champion in that event and qualifying for the state meet. Other state qualifiers included Nick Swisher with his second place time of 10:19.81 in the 3200 meter run, and Parker Johnson, placing fourth in the pole vault with a qualifying height of 11’6”.

“It was a great day for the Onekama/Bear Lake track and field team,” said boys coach Mickey Story. “Nick Bradford and three other athletes had tied for first place in the high jump. The ensuing jump-off for first place took 30 minutes, but Nick persevered and now advances to state competition.” Another Nick, senior Nick Swisher, posted a season’s best time in the 3200 meter run to earn a berth at the state meet. “Nick’s effort is a real testament to his ability, since chronic breathing problems have prevented him from training to 100 percent of capacity recently,” Story said. Sophomore pole vaulter Parker Johnson completes the trio of state qualifiers. “Team-wise, the Portagers placed in 14 of the 17 events. Over half of our athletes scored points for the team”, Story noted.

Swisher also took third in the 1600 meter run in 4:42.45, while Bradford earned a fourth place medal in the discus with a toss of 118’05”. Senior Tayler Fraly put forth a strong performance at the meet, earning four regional medals. Fraly won fourth place in the 300m hurdles (43.40), seventh in the 110 high hurdles (16.87), and was a member of the Portager 400 meter relay team – including Eric Maddox, Jordan Maxey, and Parker Johnson – which placed third with a time of 47.48. He also ran a leg on the 1600meter relay team – including Swisher, Maddox and Maxey) which placed seventh in 3:47.47.

Chuck Schoedel earned three medals at the regional meet, placing seventh in the 3200 meter run in 10:38.56, and eighth in the 1600m run with 4:57.51. Schoedel was a member of the Portager’s 3200 meter relay team - including Chase Callaway, Jaron Llewellyn and Swisher – that took third with a time of 8:53.35.

Andy Allen had a strong showing in the long jump with a leap of 16’11.5” to earn fourth place. Maddox was fifth in the 200meter run in 25.15, while Llewellyn place sixth in the 800 meter run in 2:11.39. Maxey earned an eighth place medal with his time of 16.88 in the 110m high hurdles, and was also a member of the 800m relay team – including Patrick Spalding, Maddox and Johnson – which placed seventh in a time of 1:42.15.

“Placing fourth in regionals was a total team effort against a tough field, and I’m very proud of these kids,” Story said. State qualifiers will travel to Forest Hills East High School in Grand Rapids on Saturday, June 2 for the Division IV state meet. ...Coach Story

Girls Place Fifth

Saturday in girls track action your Onekama Portagers ran in the Regional Track meet held in Frankfort. Wet, cold and windy conditions were prevalent for the morning field events and sprint prelims and semi-finals but, by early afternoon it changed to warmer sunny running conditions. The girls placed 5th in the meet scoring 54.5 points behind powerhouse Regional champions Traverse City St. Francis (113 pts), followed by North Muskegon 108, Frankfort 68, Glen Lake 66.5.

Individual state qualifiers are…

Sophomore Stacey Keith who finished 2^nd the 100m dash with a time of 13.0
Stacey Keith, So. Alex Callaway, So. Anna Veverica and So. Shelby Sidor finished 3^rd in the 1600m Relay with a time of 4:20.2. Their best of the season, which met extra qualifying standards.
Senior Ronnie Maidens who finished 3rd in the 100m High Hurdles with a time of 16.7 and 4^th in the Pole Vault 8’3 her best performances of the season were both good enough to meet extra qualifying standards.
Sophomore Brenna Miller ran to a personal best of 12:29 in the 3200m run, which also met extra qualifying standards.

It’s a nice coincidence that our 2 Co-Athletes of the Year, Stacey Keith and Ronnie Maidens, both qualified for 2 events at the state finals.

The efforts of the 1600m relay girls’ is representative of the entire teams’ effort this season. It seems that everything they have put their minds to they have accomplished.

Brenna Miller seems to continue her consistent improvement throughout the season.

Other performances were turned in by… (*denotes personal records)