Ram Scram Sweep

The Sault High girls and boys varsity track and field athletes were the Ram Scram champions in Harbor Springs this Saturday. Rescheduled due to forecasted unpleasant weather, both squads made their mark at Reynolds Field, outscoring their hosts to bring home some hardware. The Invitational offered mixed relays, comprised of two runners from each team, and the distance runners ran the 800m, 1600m and 3200m races in the opposite direction on the track. Girls head coach Scott Menard was pleased with the team’s effort. “Girls win was unexpected. We had less than half of our team there. We had excellent efforts with a lot of PR’s.”

In the mixed 4×100 relay, Abrianna Spencer, Landon Ryckeghem, Alex Balyeat and Max VanDoren finished third, with a time of 53:37. The mixed 4×200 was an exciting race with Bella Smith, Caleb Klier, Grace Mayer and Dean Roe finishing second, with a time of 1:46.56, a mere 0.20 seconds behind the champions. Mayer, Eli Hills, Ava Mayer and Klier took second in the 4×400 relay with a time of 4:06.88. In the 4×800 relay, distance runners Stephanie Jones, Shea Armstrong, Regan Sporte and Evan Huyck finished fourth, with a time of 9:47.51.

In the individual events, there were a number of Blue Devils that earned either season records (SRs) or personal records (PRs) on the day. In the girls 100m dash, Smith (13.68-SR) placed third, Spencer (14.27-SR) came in sixth, and Isabeau Woodard (14.75-PR) finished eighth. For the boys, Javonte Bellamy (11.4-PR) won the event. Smith (28.38-SR) won the girls 200m dash, with Spencer (29.99-PR) coming in fifth. Klier (25.01) was the runner up in the boys 200m sprint race. G. Mayer (1:05.35) was runner up in the girls 400m dash and Klier (54.97-PR) finished second, Ian Southwell (55.97-PR) finished fourth and VanDoren (56.62) finished eighth for the boys.

S. Jones (2:40.75-PR) placed third in the girls 800m run and Asia Jones (2:52-PR) placed sixth. For the boys, Adam Brandt (2:08.88-PR), Hills (2:09.19-PR), and Huyck (2:15.58-SR) placed third, fourth and sixth respectively. Sporte (6:15.14) was fifth and Elise Proulx (6:31.95-SR) finished seventh in the girls 1600m run, while Hills (4:58.09-PR) placed fourth and Armstrong (5:00.45) placed fifth for the boys. Sporte (13:18-PR), won the girls 3200m run and teammate Leighton Nyboer (15:38.55-SR) finished fifth, while Hayden Preston (13:01.84) finished fifth for the boys.

The Sault High hurdlers placed in each event as well. A. Mayer (18.52-PR) won the girls 100m high hurdles and Isaac Niebuhr (17.89) and Wyatt Peabody (18.38-PR) placed second and fourth in the boys 110m high hurdles. A. Mayer (54.39-PR) was runner up in the 300m low hurdles for the girls, as was Niebuhr (43.97-PR) for the boys.

The Blue Devils had some top finishers in each of the field events as well. In the girls shot put, Thelma Osumili (30’5”-PR) placed third, Abby Kachur (26’4.5”-SR) placed sixth, Alena Alcorn (25’5.5”) placed seventh and Madison Lee (25’4”-PR) placed eighth. Brady Ditmyer (41’2.25”) won the boys shot put and Mason Berry (34’0.75”-PR) placed eighth. Kachur (69’5”) threw for a fourth place finish in the girls discus, while Ditmyer (111’8”) and Berry (102’9.5”-PR) had a third and sixth place finish respectively. Jordyn Giffen (4’4”) placed third in the girls high jump. Niebuhr (5’4”) placed fourth, Deacon Clement (5’4”) placed fifth and Ben James (5’0”-PR) placed seventh. Ayla Menard (7’0”-PR) was runner up on the girls pole vault and Peabody (9’6”) also vaulted to a second place finish with Josh Duchin (7’6”) placing seventh. Giffen (12’8”) and Woodard (12’7”) placed third and fourth in the girls long jump. Tristan Walcher (17’12.5”) won the boys event, and Peabody (16’0”) and Niebuhr (15’6”) jumped to earn fifth and seventh places.

Jim Martin, head coach of the boys team was thrilled with his athletes. “It was a great team effort. For the first time that I can recall we scored in all 17 events. In fact we scored 2 or more athletes in 15 of the 17 events. The ceiling on this team is still greatly unknown as, because of injuries we still have not come close to fielding a full team. The underclassmen really lifted the team scores with some eye popping results. We are still quite a young team, but we’re “good young”. We kind of knew going in that some people would really have to step up for us to have a good showing. That being said, just about every senior scored in the meet. Not to be overshadowed though,our juniors scored more points than any other group. Which brings us full circle to a total team effort. All you have to do is look at all the PR’s our team scored Saturday to say WOW, What a performance. And we can get better if we can get and stay healthy.”

Both squads will compete in Boyne City on Tuesday for another invitational meet.