Relays steal the show
By Lenny Sementi
Tuscola’s girls’ track team knocked on the door of a championship but full just eight points shy of Arthur to take second place with 90 points in the highly touted 33rd Annual Tuscola Open Monday, April 22. Relays took home the top billing for coach Lacey Diaz to secure 32 points in the team race.
Skyler Wilkins, Carli Seip, McKinlee Miller and Sophie James turned in a season best time of 1 minute 55 seconds in the 4×200-meter relay capturing the top spot on the awards stand delivering 10 points. James and Seip connected with Brynn Tabeling and Laney Cummings in the 4×400 relay to tallying eight point with a silver medal performance. Tabeling and Cummings then joined with Katie Wells and Maddie Stahler to take first place hardware and 10 more team points in the 4×800 relay. Tabeling and James who both took part in three of the four relays handed off to Wilkins and Ava Cothron in the 4×100 relay donating four points to the team totals with a fourth place finish overall.
Tabeling and senior Ashton Smith were the top two point scorers for coach Diaz in the open running events, both setting personal records while collecting second place points in their respective events. Smith turned the track four times in the 1600 meter in 6 minutes and 22 seconds, while Tabeling flew around it once in 1:02 in the 400. Wells added two points in the 1600 also taking fifth overall.
Miller was next up with a third place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 17.26. Kyla Gough PR’d with a 3:01 in the 800 tallying fifth place points. Maddie Stahler secured 800 meter points as well ending up one spot back in sixth. Emma Zimmer and Ashlyn Donnals swept the fourth and fifth spots in the open 1600 piling six points to the team tally for the Lady Warriors.
Junior hurler Karli Dean made throws coach Stan Weinke proud taking home second place honors in the discus with a toss of 118 feet flat and fifth place honors in the shot denting the sand at 30 feet 3.5 inches. Senior Gabi Ainsworth was a few spots back in sixth place in the discus also lending a hand to the team’s second place effort.
Miller led the way in the jumps. The fourth year varsity performer took home third place accolades in the triple jump leaping 33 feet 7 inches and a fifth place ribbon in the long jump touching the pit at 15 feet 8 inches. Seip found her way to points in the triple as well ending her night in fourth place and also scored in the high jump taking fifth overall clearing 4 feet 10 inches.
The full story can be found in the Wednesday, May 1 edition of The Tuscola Journal.