Reeths-Puffer girls, Fruitport boys, maintain their mastery of GMAA city track meet

By Mitchell Boatman
LocalSportsJournal.com

MONTAGUE – Consistency can be one of the hardest things to achieve in high school sports.

The Fruitport boys and Reeths-Puffer girls track teams seem to have it figured out, though.

The R-P girls dominated the competition to win their ninth straight Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Track Meet title at Montague High School on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Fruitport boys edged out Reeths-Puffer by 16 points to claim their fifth consecutive championship.

Fruitport finished with 109 points and Reeths-Puffer had 93 in the boys’ competition.

“It was in doubt all day,” said Fruitport Coach Chad Brandow about the boys’ title. “It was an up-and-down track meet. I’m so proud of my kids because they stepped it up.

“This is what we set our goals for. When the year started I didn’t think we had a prayer. But these kids got better and better every day.”

The Fruitport boys claimed six first-place finishes, including four races won by Cameron Oleen. The senior defended his titles in the 400- and 800-meter runs and anchored the 4×200- and 4×400-meter relay teams.

“He had some issues earlier in the year and this is really his first big meet back,” Brandow said. “It shows the class of kid he is. The sky’s the limit for him. I’m proud of him.”

Dakota Mitchell took the high jump for the Trojans with a leap of 6-00.25. Fruitport also won the 4×800-meter relay.

On the girls’ side, Reeths-Puffer nearly doubled its closest competitor in total points. The Rockets finished with 126 while Mona Shores took second with 74.

After dominating in distance events in years past, balance was the key for the Rockets this year.

“I’d say more so this year than others, we didn’t dominate in one area,” R-P coach Gary Niklasch said. “We preach effort and energy every day in practice.”

The Rockets claimed six wins on the day. Iyanni Shyne took first place in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Jayme Brantsen took home the top spot in both the 800- and 1600-meter runs. Grace Sweet won the 400-meter dash and the Rockets 4×800-meter relay team also finished on top.

Several other area athletes won multiple events on the day.

The lone record-breaking performance came from Whitehall’s Brianna Coplay. She threw a 42-00.00 in the shot put to set a new GMAA track meet record. Coplay also won the discus with a toss of 125-09.

Evan Hodson of Reeths-Puffer claimed first in the 1600-meter (4:34.35) and 3200-meter (9:56.2) runs.

Parker Aerts won the 110-meter hurdles (14.71) and 200-meter dash (23.57) for Reeths-Puffer.

Anthony Bradford swept the throwing events for Muskegon with a 52-02.5 in the shot put and a 134-02 in discus.

GREATER MUSKEGON ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
CITY TRACK MEET

BOYS

TEAM SCORES

1, FRUITPORT, 109; 2, REETHS-PUFFER 93; 3, MUSKEGON 64; 4, WHITEHALL 62; 5, MONA SHORES 51; 6, MONTAGUE 42; 7, ORCHARD VIEW 33; 7, WESTERN MICHIGAN CHRISTIAN 33; 9, HOLTON 12; 10, RAVENNA 11; 10, OAKRIDGE 11; 12 NORTH MUSKEGON 6

EVENT CHAMPIONS

100-Meter Dash – Davion Mccall, Muskegon (11.39)

200-Meter Dash – Parker Aerts, Reeths-Puffer (23.57)

400-Meter Dash – Cameron Oleen, Fruitport (50.80)

800-Meter Run – Cameron Oleen, Fruitport (2:02.4)

1600-Meter Run – Evan Hodson, Reeths-Puffer (4:34.35)

3200-Meter Run – Evan Hodson, Reeths-Puffer (9:56.2)

110-Meter Hurdles – Parker Aerts, Reeths-Puffer (14.71)

300-Meter Hurdles – Tyler Somers, Western Michigan Christian (41.75)

4×100 Relay- Muskegon (Marvin Harwell, Lonnie Clark Jr., Demario Robinson Jr., Davion Mccall) (44.05)

4×200 Relay – Fruitport (Logan Fielding, Ethan Flores, Dakota Mitchell, Cameron Oleen) (1:33.06)

4×400 Relay – Fruitport (Dakota Mitchell, Brandon Deneen Cameron Weaver, Cameron Oleen) (3:33.35)

4×800 Relay – Fruitport (Brandon Deneen, Jon Wildey, Dakota Mitchell, Cameron Weaver) (8:33.78)

Shot Put – Anthony Bradford, Muskegon (52-02.5)

Pole Vault – Mitchell White, Whitehall (12-03.00)

Long Jump – Ahmad Wright, Mona Shores (20-00.75)

High Jump – Dakota Mitchell, Fruitport (6-00.25)

Discus – Anthony Bradford, Muskegon (134-02)

GIRLS

TEAM SCORES

1, REETHS-PUFFER 126; 2, MONA SHORES 74; 3, WHITEHALL 66; 3, FRUITPORT 66; 5, MONTAGUE 50; 6, RAVENNA 46; 7, WESTERN MICHIGAN CHRISTIAN 35; 8, MUSKEGON 22; 9, NORTH MUSKEGON 19; 10, HOLTON 17; 11, OAKRIDGE 10

EVENT CHAMPIONS

100-Meter Dash – Iyanni Shyne, Reeths-Puffer (13.24)

200-Meter Dash – Iyanni Shyne Reeths-Puffer (28.07)

400-Meter Dash – Grace Sweet, Reeths-Puffer (1:03.49)

800-Meter Run – Jayme Brantsen, Reeths-Puffer (2:30.25)

1600-Meter Run – Jayme Brantsen, Reeths-Puffer (5:35.10)

3200-Meter Run – Bella Lindsay, North Muskegon (12:19.49)

100-Meter Hurdles – Sky Pastoor, Montague (16.69)

300-Meter Hurdles – Kallie Fehler, Fruitport (49.07)

4×100 Relay – Montague (Sky Pastoor, Morgan Osborne, Grace Meacham, Kennedy Mills) (52.17)

4×200 Relay – Montague (Sky Pastoor, Grace Meacham, Maddie Smith, Morgan Osborne) (1:51.00)

4×400 Relay – Whitehall (Bailey Pierson, Sierra Reed, Solana Witham, Olivia Tjapkes) (4:32.63)

4×800 Relay – Reeths-Puffer (Allie Moore, Jayme Brantsen, Grace Sweet, Raegan Lockhart) (10:22.73)

Shot Put – Brianna Copley, Whitehall (42-00.00)

Pole Vault – Megan Olthof, Ravenna (8-03-00)

Long Jump – Madison Wackernagel, Holton (15-08.25)

High Jump – Elizabeth Knoll, Mona Shores (5-02.00)

Discuss – Brianna Copley, Whitehall (125-09)