Whitehall’s pursuit of a boys track and field state championship began in impressive fashion Thursday.
The Vikings racked up 168.5 points to easily capture an MHSAA Division 2 regional title at Allendale High School.
Whitehall took first place in six of 17 events and had a number of top-eight finishes. Runner-up Hamilton was 65 points behind Whitehall, followed by Spring Lake (88), Allendale (57.5) and Fremont (45) in the top five. Orchard View finished seventh (33) and Oakridge 12th (8).
On the girls side, Hudsonville Unity Christian edged Spring Lake for the team title. Unity Christian totaled 105.75 points compared to 99 for Spring Lake. Allendale (80), Hamilton (75.75) and Whitehall (72) rounded out the top five. Fremont tied for 10th (14), while Oakridge tied for 12th (11) and Orchard View was 15th (5).
The MHSAA Division 2 state finals are set for Saturday, June 3, at Forest Hills Eastern. The MITCA team state finals for Whitehall will be next Friday (May 26) at Berrien Springs.
Leading the way for Whitehall’s boys team was the 4×200-meter relay, which again broke its school record with a winning time of 1:29.24. That foursome of Trannon Aylor, Lukas Palmer, Nate Bolley and Malcolm Earvin captured the MHSAA Division 2 state title in the event last season.
Other first-place finishers for Whitehall’s boys team Thursday included Earvin in the 200-meter dash (personal-record 22.30), Aylor in the 400 (48.97 PR), Andre Richmond in the 3200 (9:45.19 PR), Camden Thompson in high jump (6 feet, 4 inches) and David Conrad in pole vault (13-2).
Fremont’s Sean Pettis captured a regional title in the 1600 (4:23.84 PR).
Whitehall’s girls team fared very well in the field events. Maelie Hope took first place in shot put (38-2) and discus (136-4), while Arianna Black claimed top honors in high jump (5-0) in a tight battle with Hopkins’ Jaeden Harshberger.
