With one more official weekend of racing left in the indoor season before the MITS Championships and national qualifying standards on the clock for collegiate athletes, there are many results and personal bests to catch up on from February's track and field action.
LAB 9 - 2/8/2025
Quite a few local athletes hit personal bests across the board at the LAB meet on February 8. Cristina Semian and Allison Mansfield of Armada had PRs in both girls’ 200 and 400 events, and Samantha Whitlam of MLN in the 200/800 combo. Anchor Bay’s Greg Vogt ran his indoor best in the boys’ 1600 as well.
Girls’ 60-meter dash
16: Malencia Price (PHH) 8.17
Girls’ 200
17: Malencia Price (PHH) 27.04
24. Cristina Semian (Armada) 27.22 PR
41. Allison Mansfield (Armada) 27.78 PR
60. Samantha Whitlam (MLN) 28.17 PR
76. Caila Fitchett (Dryden) 28.66
Girls’ 400
18. Cristina Semian (Armada) 1:02.54 PR
19. Allison Mansfield (Armada)1:02.74 PR
Girls’ 800
24. Samantha Whitlam (MLN) 2:32.84 PR
Girls’ 1600
75. Cara Prusakiewicz (Dryden) 6:19
Jonah Konarz, AB
7: 60-meter hurdles (8.42)
102: 60-meter dash (7.70)
Boys’ 400-meter dash
39: Jonah Konarz (AB) 53.49
54: Brandon Ziehmer (AB) 54.77
Boys’ 800
19: Aaron Osterman (AB) 2:04
43: Vasilios Kirchhoff (MLN) 2:10
Boys’ 1600
21. Greg Vogt (AB) 4:37 PR
22. Joshua Macri (MLN) 4:37
26. Xavier Roman (MLN) 4:38
93: Brandon Ziehmer (AB) 5:10
Lab 10 - 2/15/2025
After a PR of 8.05 in the 60-meter dash on Feb. 15, Port Huron High’s Malencia Price (Motor City Track Club) crushed her 400-meter race, dropping from a 64-second PR to a new best of 61.20 to finish 11th. She also finished 17th in the 200-meter dash in 27.04. She long-jumped for the first time this indoor season in 16’-6”, which was a foot over state AQ and almost equaled her outdoor best. Price is now qualified in four events for the indoor state meet.
Kieran Whitlam of MLN (Inversion Vault Club) won his first major indoor meet, taking first in the boys’ pole vault with a season-best of 14-0 and equaling his outdoor PR, which currently ranks him third in the state.
Nathan Ring (AB/Kaizen Throws) was 33rd in the shotput with a best of 35'-8" and 23rd in the discus with another PR of 114', which is eight feet further than his previous discus record.
SVSU MITS Distance Fest - 2/15/25
At the Saginaw Valley MITS Distance Fest, Macomb Lutheran North’s Joshua Macri took the meet title seriously, running both the boys’ mile and the 5000 meters, an event not commonly seen in high school indoor track. Macri was runner-up in the 5K with a time of 15:44. Athletes also had the choice between the 1600-meter run and an official full mile, in which Macri was 82nd in 4:56. Other milers were Nino Biondo of MLN (116th; 5:11 PR), Brandon Ziehmer of AB (122nd; 5:17 PR), and Levi Fitchett of Dryden (123rd; 5:20 PR).
Aaron Osterman (AB) was 37th in the 800 (2:06.12) while MLN’s Vasilios Kirchhoff was 39th (2:06.28). Levi Fitchett (Dryden) was 82nd in 2:17. Anchor Bay’s Greg Vogt ran a 3200 PR in 10:04 to take 12th, while teammate Osterman was 28th in 10:29, also an indoor best. The 16 Ways Foundation distance medley relay (DMR -1200-400-800-1600) of Mario Carducci, Nino Biondo (MLN), Federico Moreno-Padilla, and Ziehmer finished 12th in 11:30.
On the girls’ side, New Haven’s Emma Reimer was 37th in the 800 in her PR of 2:29. Caila Fitchett of Dryden was 63rd in 2:47, also a PR. Reimer also chipped in a leg on the Breen Track Club DMR, which took 7th in 13:30. Port Huron Northern's Miley Caughel (49th; 2:40 PR) and Haley Sharp (54th; 2:44 PR) had bests in the 800-meter dash for the Blue Water Track Club.
COLLEGIATE UPDATE
Port Huron Northern’s Brandon Zielke and North Branch’s Ethan Dinanath were part of the Rochester Christian College’s DMR team that finished fifth at the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open in 11:01. SC4’s Vinny Schweihofer, Dylan Schumann, Trent Glass, and Acer Campbell were sixth in 11:04. Dinanath was 31st in the 200 (23.57) and 20th in the 400 (51.96). Glass was 39th in the 800 (2:03) and Zielke was 64th in the mile in 4:52. Acer Campbell took 9th in the 3000 in his PR of 8:50 and Schumann was 38th in 10:02. Dinanath and Zielke also competed recently in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference championships, as did Concordia University's Jayde Ullenbruch and Maya Freeman (PHN): full results are here.
At the GVSU Big Meet Friday on Feb. 14, SVSU’s Lukas Kriesch (Yale) finished ninth in the 5000, breaking the 15-minute barrier for the first time in 14:58. Kriesch's former Yale teammate Blake Ferguson (Ferris State) was eighth in 15:49, a PR. Running unattached, Thomas Westphal (Anchor Bay/MSU) was third in the 3000 in 8:10. Tye Kirschner (Cros-Lex) finished 12th in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.75 for the University of Olivet. In the Crossroads League Conference Meet, Spring Arbor’s Camden Khon (Armada) finished second in the 1000-meter run in 2:29 to earn all-conference honors.
You can find Indoor Track and Field State Finals athlete registration, spectator info, and more at https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/572659/info.
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