LocalSportsJournal.com

There’s nothing quite like waiting until the last race to pull out a team state championship.

lsj-fb-logoBut that’s exactly what the boys track team from Western Michigan Christian High School did on Saturday in winning the MITCA state title, which was held at Saugatuck High School.

The Warriors captured the 1600-meter relay to overcome  Whittemore-Prescott and finish the day with 1,010 points. Whittemore-Prescott finished with 1,007. Sand Creek finished third with 891.5. The scoring system rewards teams with depth and that’s how the Warriors were able to win the title.

Western Michigan Christian boys track team.

Western Michigan Christian boys track team.

In the final race, Braxton Snuffer, Jacob Ray, Demonta Bartee and Eli VanderVelde completed the race in 3:29.91 to pull out the title. Whittemore-Prescott finished second in that race.

It was one of six events the Warriors pulled out in the meet.

WMC was particularly strong in the 400-meter dash with a 1-2-4 finish. VanderVelde won the event in 50.45, followed by David Gilson in second at 51.47 and Tully Groenendyk in fourth at 53.44.

Ray captured the 800-meter run in 2:03.10 while teammate Braxton Snuffer was third in 2:04.85.

Snuffer came back with a title of his own in the 1600-meter run with a first-place performance of 4:36.77. Freshman Seth VanderKooi was third in 4:44.34 and James Sytsema was seventh in a time of 4:54.92.

The Warriors also won the 800-meter relay in a time of 1:33.58. Groenendyk, Max Purvis, Ray and VanderVelde made up that winning team.

In the 3200-meter relay, WMC came out on top with Gilson, Sytsema, VanderKooi and Snuffer in a time of 8:20.19.

VanderVelde led the Warriors in the 200-meter with a second –place finish in 23.20. Groenendyk and Purvis also picked up valuable points in that event with an eighth and ninth place finish, respectively.

Gilson finished fifth in the 100-meter dash in 11.93.

In the field events, Ray finished third in the high jump (5-10), Nick Wolffis was fifth in the discus (125-4) and Devin Eekhoff was third in the shot put (43.3½).