 Photo by Tara Hefferan Both Newaygo and Grant placed a pair of players on the All Conference First Team and each also added an Honorable Mention. Congrats to all the players and kudos to repeaters to the AC list, Richardson and Davis. First Team All Conference # Name School Grade 00 Brynn Courtright Big Rapids 10 2 Alaina Hanson Reed City 11 3 Molly Willison Lakeview 11 4 Nolana Davis Grant 11 4 Carly Carlson Reed City 11 10 Ava Clapp Big Rapids 11 11 Elise Devries Big Rapids 12 11 Megan McCauley Tri County 12 12 Ella Soules Newaygo 9 13 Kayleigh Knopf Big Rapids 9 13 Bella Welch Grant 12 13 Athena Herrington Tri-County 12 15 Ella Tucci Big Rapids 12 15 Holli Painter Lakeview 10 16 Tory Hiler Lakeview 12 17 Hadley Fox Big Rapids 12 21 Savanah Thompson Tri-County 10 22 Ella Palmer Chippewa Hills 22 Kendall Pearson Lakeview 11 23 Ava Westin Big Rapids 9 24 Natalie Richardson Newaygo 12 25 Lauren Campbell Tri-County 11 32 Ashley Campbell Tri-County 12 Honorable Mention All-Conference # Name School Grade 3 Lily Krepps Grant 11 3 Lydia Howard Kent City 10 4 Kailey Vandyke Tri-County 12 11 Kaylin Smoes Reed City 11 16 Rachel Larsen Newaygo 10 18 Nalaya Fricke Big Rapids 9 21 Maddie Davidson Lakeview 12 23 Kate Walcutt Chippewa Hills 11  The Lions placed 4 players on the first team adding an Honorable Mention selection.The Tigers had 3 on the first team and an HM and each was an underclassman making the softball future look bright for Grant. The Cloud placed one on the top team and added an HM of their own. We salute the players honored and give a N3 shout out to the three local repeaters as All Conference, Clark, Gragg, and Goodin. 1st Team All-Conference # Name School Grade 1 Lilly De Los Santos Grant 11 1 Amaya Lathrop Newaygo 10 3 Tanayah Klammer White Cloud 12 4 Laynee Hoffman Kent City 10 5 Brooke-Lynn Durga Big Rapids 11 5 Matty Kozuch At-Large (MS) 9 6 Emma Thompson Grant 11 7 Paityn Enos Reed City 11 8 Pharis Carroll Big Rapids 12 9 Isabell Guy Reed City 12 10 Ella Newman Chippewa Hills 12 10 Reese Gragg Grant 11 10 Lylah Larson Kent City 10 12 Sydnee Kirk Newaygo 12 13 Olivia DeJohn Newaygo 12 15 Zoe Taylor Big Rapids 12 21 Morgan Hammond Reed City 10 22 Cailin Knoop Big Rapids 12 23 Gabi Johnston Central Montcalm 12 23 Hayden Cutler Reed City 11 24 Marissa Warren Big Rapids 12 24 Cailynn Hartzell Kent City 11 25 Kate Hardy Central Montcalm 11 30 Addison Goodin Newaygo 12 34 Makenna Martin Morley Stanwood 12 42 Kaitlyn Minikey Central Montcalm 12 Honorable Mention All-Conference # Name School Grade 3 Hannah Stellini Kent City 12 3 Kenzie Shoemaker Reed City 12 4 Ava Childers Big Rapids 11 6 Kate Buchner Lakeview 10 11 Alexa Obenauf Grant 11 14 Chloe Clark Newaygo 10 17 Erin Riesenberg Chippewa Hills 10 19 Chloe Oldham Tri-County `12 20 Alyssa Johnson Central Montcalm 12 20 Saige Ososki Morley Stanwood 9 28 Kayla Burgess White Cloud 10  A dozen players from our coverage schools landed spots on the All Conference teams announced this week. Grant led the way with four players named to the first team and an honorable mention selection. Newaygo was next with 3 on the 1st team and an HM and White Cloud saw 2 players make the top squad and also had an HM.
Shout out to all the players and congrats to the repeaters from last year Toth, Obenauf, duChemin, Long, and McGowen. First Team All Conference # Name School Grade 1 Emmett Lingeman Central Montcalm 10 1 Devin Garbow Morley Stanwood 11 1 Russell Toth Newaygo 11 2 Cameron Bracey Central Montcalm 11 2 Oakley Obenauf Grant 12 2 Jaxon duChemin Newaygo 12 3 Mayson McNeilly Big Rapids 12 3 Kevin Strait White Cloud 12 5 Aiden Booth Grant 11 6 Josiah Long Newaygo 12 6 Spencer Hansen Reed City 12 7 Braden Salladay Lakeview 11 9 Tyler Geer Chippewa Hills 12 9 Rory Fish Grant 10 10 Austin Tyers Grant 10 12 Philip Wilber Big Rapids 12 12 Hayden Train Central Montcalm 12 15 Hunter Sellers Chippewa Hills 12 17 Nick Teceno Big Rapids 12 20 Austin Humphrey Chippewa Hills 11 22 Maxwell Hammond Reed City 12 23 Gage Saatoff Chippewa Hills 12 29 Ty Gielczyk Big Rapids 11 33 Isaac Zocco Big Rapids 11 44 Landyn McGowen White Cloud 12 Aaron Amachor Tri County 11 Honorable Mention All-Conference # Name School Grade 2 Jayson Ruether White Cloud 12 3 Kevin Groendyke Morley Stanwood 12 5 Ryan Darling Kent City 12 7 Gage Perkins Chippewa Hills 11 8 Blake Rider Grant 10 9 Reese Dew Reed City 10 14 Caiden Schuberg Big Rapids 11 18 Ayden Bunker Lakeview 11 20 Asher Johnson Central Montcalm 11 22 Hunter Yearsovich Newaygo 11 Cole Plotts Tri-County 11  Middle: front: Ruby Hughes, middle left: Grace Hughes, middle right: Hope Pietrzak, top: Maria Riddering A season of success for a quartet of Lions By Ryan Brummel “Coach needs runners for the 4x400...quick everybody hide!” is a narrative all track athletes can relate to. The 4x400 relay is the best race in all of track and field to watch, yet the race that is despised by a majority of the track athletes. Can Newaygo’s cultural shift in the track world be centered around such a dreaded event? That’s a tough sell as a rookie varsity track coach. Coming into the season I knew that we had some girls on our mid distance squad that could potentially put together a very competitive relay team in both the 4x400 and 4x800. To have a relay that can compete at the conference and state level, you have to have four good runners. This sounds dumb, but one weak leg makes it nearly impossible to compete at a high level. There were two returning runners from last year's track team I knew would fit the bill. Those being Grace Hughes and Maria Riddering. Grace I knew was a sophomore 800m runner that surprised me with how quick she ran last year having not seen her run before. I knew Grace could run a fast 800, moving down in distance for the 4x400 was something I knew she probably wasn’t expecting. Maria was no stranger. I had taught her in the classroom a little bit, and I’ve known her since she was in middle school. I knew her when she would run with us high schoolers back when she was only in sixth grade. Maria is an ultimate competitor and with her natural ability and drive to win for her team, I knew had the experience and leadership a championship relay team needed. The two newcomers to high school track were Ruby Hughes, and Hope Pietrzak. Both of these girls were a part of the 4x400 team that broke the middle school record last year. I knew they were a lock for the 4x400, but I didn’t think they would be too excited to have to run two full laps in the 4x800. These are the four girls who would be the cornerstones of our 4x400 and 4x800 relay this season. Newaygo hasn’t had much large-scale relay success ever since I have been a part of the program as a runner which started in 2015. In addition, Newaygo somehow is a division two school, which makes qualifying for state much harder. With not much in our favor the question remained: Where was the ceiling for these girls? Only time would tell. Our first meet was scheduled indoors at Grand Valley but got canceled due to our glorious Michigan weather. That meant our first meet was a quad in Big Rapids. Not knowing what to expect from the girls going into the meet, I knew right from the get-go that they meant business. Taking first by 46 seconds in the 4x800 and 33 seconds in the 4x400 I can confidently say took me by surprise. Perhaps winning the conference and/or going to state was a little more possible than I thought. The girls kept up their winning ways the following couple meets, lowering their season best time, with seemingly no competition. That brought us to the Rathburn Invite in Cadillac. Dealing with some injuries, combined with ultra cold running conditions, led the girls to take second in both relays and their first loss of the season. However, they bounced back with a couple easy wins at a conference meet, followed by two close wins at an invite in Mason County Central. One of those wins being by 8 seconds in the 4x800 over Grand Traverse Academy, a state qualifying team in division 3. The second being by less than a tenth of a second in the 4x400 over Manistee, a top 10 relay team in division 3. This impressive performance showed the early loss in Cadillac did not shake them a bit. What the girls would soon find out is that the more races you win, and the faster the times you hang, the bigger the target on your back. One more Conference meet next up in rotation. It was the last regular season meet before the conference championships. This was the meet I was the most worried about as Hope was our only runner who wasn’t coughing and hacking up a storm. Whatever sickness bug went around Newaygo, decided it couldn't leave without infecting our relay team. The girls being sicker than dogs, wasn’t our only obstacle. The teams we were running against were Tri County and Central Montcalm. The 4x800 race against Central Montcalm scared the crap out of me. I follow cross country and happen to know that Central Montcalm had 3 all state cross runners this year, including one who placed third in the state. I thought if anyone in the conference could beat us, it would be those girls. Despite being sick, our girls battled, and bested Central Montcalm by three seconds in the 4x800, dropping their season best time to 10:25. Later in the evening they ran away with the 4x400, beating Tri County by a massive gap of seven seconds bringing their season best time down to 4:23. Having faced every team in the conference now, their conference record remained unscathed. Now to bring on the conference championships!  Grace Hughes, Maria Riddering, Ruby Hughes, Hope Pietrzak Through his point in the season the girls had been racing with house money. There were no real lofty expectations and Newaygo hasn’t necessarily been an intimidating name in the track world in the most recent years. Of course the end goal for the girls was to qualify for state, but to them it still was a figment of their imagination considering they were 20 seconds off the 4x800 qualifying time, and 8 seconds off in the 4x400. Going into conference championships, the stakes were higher and the pressure started to mount. When you’ve beat every relay team in the conference already, they’re all gunning for you. The target on the girls’ back stuck out like a sore thumb. Teams from other schools were doing everything they could to take them down. They switched the order of runners, they substituted different girls in, all in hopes of beating Newaygo. A task that in previous years would seem laughable. The gun for the 4x800 went off and so did the runners. Grace ran a brilliant first lap, giving Hope about a five meter lead over Kent City. Hope took the baton and immediately got to work. Attacking the first 200 meters of the race, she created a gap of 30 meters on the second place team. Maria grabbed for the baton and didn’t let up. Taking off at a blistering pace, she grew the gap to nearly 50 meters heading into the anchor leg. Ruby was up next to get the baton, having to fend off two top ten cross runners in the state for her anchor leg. Both of her adversaries tried, but neither of them gained an inch. All efforts by the rest of the CSAA were valiant, but not enough to take these four girls down. Not only conference champs, but a twenty second PR and a season best time of 10:05 to show for it. They had entered into elite territory winning the conference by an astonishing 11 seconds. The 4x400 was to follow later in the evening. Hope got out quickly the first leg and never looked back. Grace and Maria worked to extend the lead Hope gave them by about ten meters a piece. Ruby got the baton in the anchor spot and held off Lakeview by a half a second, whose anchor closed in a sub sixty second lap. They had swept the conference in both relays! The first time Newaygo has been conference champs in one relay in ten years let alone two. The girls, ecstatic about their achievement, still knew the job was not finished. Going into regionals, the girls knew they would have to qualify on time. Division two is fast and competitive. Based on season best times, the girls were a second off qualifying in the 4x800, and five seconds off the 4x400. The girls had run fast all season, yet with little serious competition. They had some close races, don't get me wrong, but hadn’t raced against the high end talent they would see at regionals. This lack of experience in races like that was mainly the fault of me, the coach, which of course decided to rear its ugly head during the 4x800. The girls ran fast, just not quite fast enough to qualify for the state meet. A fast time, but definitely not their best showing. Not qualifying was definitely a punch in the gut as this race seemed like a gimme to qualify. For those that don’t know the time between races, the 4x800 and 4x400 are the first and last events. This gave the girls about three hours for the sting of their 4x800 loss to sink in. They had gotten knocked down but, in Buster Douglas fashion, their story wasn’t over.  Hope passing the baton to Grace in the 4x400 The 4x400 gun shot off. And with it, Hope shoots out of the blocks like a cannon, running the first leg attached at the hip with the lead pack. She hands the baton to Grace, who knows she needs to fight with everything she's got to stay with the front group of runners. Those teams will qualify, so she knows she has to stay with them. Grace blazes around the track, handing off to Maria on pace for the time we are shooting for. Maria seized the baton and you could see in her eyes, she was back with a vengeance. Flying down the track she ran the fastest 400 split of her life clocking in at 1:04. Maria exchanged to Ruby to bring the ship home. Running strong, she made the last turn into the homestretch. Ruby watches the clock slowly tick up as she sprints down the straightaway with everything she has, and leans across the finish line. I look at my stopwatch and it shows the girls were just under the qualifying time of 4:16, but we anxiously await the official result. After the longest 5 minutes of the entire season the official time came back as 4:15.76! Their five second PR had qualified them for state! The girls were ecstatic, as they got to reap the reward of all of their hard work and dedication throughout the season. As the girls jumped up and down in celebration, their coach proudly looked on and may or may not have shed a tear.  Maria off the races in the 4x400 As an athlete, coach, and sports fan I have memories and moments that will last a lifetime. For heaven’s sake I watched my sister sink a three pointer to beat West Catholic in the regional finals. However, I can confidently say that the ride these girls have let me tag along for this year deserves a spot on the list right next to that one. I cannot imagine that there is any coach on the planet luckier than me. To be able to coach this awesome group of girls during my very first year of varsity track is more than any coach could ask for. As fast and talented as these girls are on the track, they are just as great of people off the track and in the classroom. I have had an absolute blast this season coaching these girls this year. To see them qualify for state, be as dominant as they were, and watch them have fun along the way was worth more than any amount of money I got paid for coaching. We will have three girls returning next year to run it back. The lone senior that we lose is Maria Riddering. Spring sports are always tough for seniors, as lots of seniors already have one foot out of the high school door. Maria, however, has been the senior leader that every coach could ask for. A great leader who constantly put the team first, combined with being probably the nicest person you’ll ever meet in your life. The tone she set for this program as an upperclassman is something I will never be able to repay her for. And with that, my first full season as a varsity coach has come to a close. I could have chosen a much more lucrative career, but my heart still lies in high school sports. I wouldn’t trade my job for the world. With some young talent in the incoming freshman class, I can’t wait to see what these girls will continue to accomplish. Knowing that next year we bump down into division three, the sky's the limit for this group, and I can’t wait to tag along for the ride.  The girls posing with their champions captains hats at the Carferry Invite   Lions Softball Bows Out in Regional Action Photos and story by Alexis Mercer After a long drought of District titles at Newaygo for the softball program, the Lions defeated Tri-County and Sparta last weekend to earn the trophy this season. Led by coach Daniella duChemin, a Newaygo alum, the Lions headed out on the field at Fremont with plenty of fire. Starting pitcher for Newaygo was senior Sydnee Kirk and behind the plate catching for her was Olivia DeJohn, both of whom will be heading to the collegiate level to play softball next year. In the first innings Allendale was finding its way. Kirk's pitching forced the hitters to pop flies with the infielders quickly taking care of business. On the offensive side, it was Newaygo who found home plate first. After a series of hits, the Lions were up 1-0. The score stayed that way for just a short time, however. The rain moved in and Newaygo's lead moved out. Allendale figured out the pitches, and quickly. One after another, they found a way across home plate with deep hits in the outfield and speedy runners. Heading into the bottom of the 7th inning, Newaygo was down 10-1. The girls made a last inning push to bring the score to 10-4, but that was where it would end for the Lions. Allendale headed to the Regional final to face Muskegon Oakridge, but the rain forced a postponement, and they will play Monday at 4:00 pm in Fremont.  
   Freeland 2 Fremont 0 A strong season that began with the Packers rolling to an 8 game win streak, going on to tally 16 wins then collecting a little hardware for the trophy case with a District title came to an end in the Regional final. The Falcons of Freeland possess a stifling defense and tossed their 11th shutout of the season at the Pack for the win. The first half was back and forth with very few scoring opportunities for either team. The score at half was 0-0. Freeland's Reese Conlee scored 14 minutes into the second half giving Freeland a 1-0 lead. Just 1 minute later Mia Nietzke from Freeland added their second goal. That score stood as the Packers fell 0-2. Freeland outshot Fremont 12-2 in the match. Fremont's Hallie Snyder made 10 saves for the Packers. Freeland's keeper Adelyn Senkowski ended with two saves. Fremont's season comes to an end with a 16-5-1 overall record. Freeland improves to 15-4-5 overall and will take on Hudsonville Unity Christian in the semifinals on 6/12. Clemence collects another hat trick in win 0ver Vikes
The Packers punched their ticket to Thursday’s Regional finals with a win over a tough Viking squad. Fremont got out to a quick start when Maddie Mater found Mia Clemence who finished a shot 4 minutes into the match. Clemence found the back of the net again when she received a ball from Ella Shriver with 20 minutes remaining in the first half. Clemence made it a hat trick just 7 minutes later on a through ball from Grace Evans. The score stood at 3-0 at the half. Tri-County wasn't finished however. Rebecca Duvall got the Vikings on the board on a pass from Savannah Thompson with 25 minutes to play. Ashley Campbell made it a one goal match with 11 minutes left but Tri-County was unable to find the equalizer from that point on. Fremont dominated in shots on frame 20-3. Tri-County's keeper Athena Herrington made 17 saves while Fremont's Hallie Snyder made one save for the Packers. Fremont improves to 16-4-1 overall while Tri-County finished the season 17-8. The Packers will play Freeland Thursday at 5:00pm in Clare with the winner advancing to the state semifinal at Cedar Springs. The Falcons reached the final by blanking state ranked TC St Francis. The Tri Valley Conference co champs are 14-4-5n on the season.  The 4X100 team of Justice Dixon, Haillee Brown, Mariah Edwards and Gabriella Dakin improved their time by a full second at the MHSAA Division 4 Finals finishing a respectable 11th place in the state with a time of 52.7. Congratulations on a great finish to your season. |
Archives
October 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed