Girls track & field: Marysville captures regional title to highlight area qualifiers

A year after finishing as runner-up, the Marysville girls track & field team would not be denied a second time.

The Vikings won a Division 2 regional title in thrilling fashion on Friday. Seven of them also punched their tickets to the state meet.

But they weren't the only ones. Here are the individuals from the Blue Water Area also qualified.

DIVISION 1 AT MACOMB DAKOTA

Four athletes from Port Huron Northern qualified.

Lilly Knowlton comfortably took the pole vault at 11 feet. She also finished second in the high jump with a leap of 5.2 feet. It's the second year in a row she's qualified for both events.

"It feels amazing," Knowlton said. "(The state meet) is a whole experience. It's exciting. You're getting the best competition around. Hopefully I'll come out with a win."

Two Huskies qualified in the long jump. Maggie Monaghan won the event with a distance of 17.3 feet. Jayde Ullenbruch finished with 16.9.

"This is my first time qualifying for states," Monaghan said. "There are some really good girls going. So I'm excited to see just what I can do."

"It feels great, I'm so excited," Ullenbruch said. "It's my first year doing long jump ... "I'm just happy I get to go with Maggie."

Maya Freeman placed second in the shot put with a distance of 33.9 feet.

"I'm really looking forward to the experience (at the state meet)," Freeman said. "I was happy and very pleased with my results."

DIVISION 2 AT FRANKENMUTH

For the first time since 1996, Marysville came home with a regional championship. The Vikings totaled 100 points — 11 more than runner-up North Branch.

"It came down to the last race of the night," Marysville coach Todd Powers said. "The women's 4x400-meter relay. We had a fair start but were down to third place at the final lap."

The Vikings' relay team featured Alanna Dedenbach, Hannah Fisher, Lauren Wilson and Reese Powers.

"Reese was our anchor leg," said Todd Powers, who is also Reese's dad. "She just absolutely had the race of her life and ended up chasing this girl down. And we needed to win that to win the overall regional title. So the suspense and excitement just really came down to that last moment."

Reese Powers pulled ahead of the pack and helped the Vikings take the event with a time of 4:10.16. She also won the 400 meters and 800 meters with times of 58.77 and 2:19.58, respectively.

Fisher set a school record and finished second in the 1,600 meters with a time of 5:03.08. She also qualified in the 800 meters at 2:20.91.

Marysville's Janae Hudson won the discus and set a school record in the process with a distance of 135.7 feet. She also took first in the shot put with a personal record of 38.11 feet.

"That was huge for us," Todd Powers said. "(Those wins) are a lot of points."

Two more Vikings qualified and set personal records. Ashley Utter placed second in the long jump with a distance of 16.2 feet. Kaylee Smith finished second in the pole vault at 9.3 feet.

Armada also had several athletes qualify. The Tigers' 4x400 relay team of Claire Sniesak, Brooklyn Khon, Alayna Nowki and Mikayla Nowik grabbed second place at 4:11.29

Alayna Nowik also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal record of 16.35.

Croswell-Lexington took home the 4x800 relay with a time of 10:03.11. That team consisted of Eva Thompson, Abagayle Barkley, Elizabeth Baldwin and Morgan Newton.

Thompson also placed second in the 3,200 meters with her own record of 11:35.24. Newton set a personal record and qualified in the 800 meters with a time of 2:22.18.

Marine City's Carly Frank set a personal record and won the high jump on her leap of 5.2 feet. Teammate Lindsay Girard took the long jump with her own record of 16.9 feet.

DIVISION 3 AT BAD AXE

Almont's Devin Johnston won the 100 meters and 200 meters with times of 12.66 and 25.49, respectively. The latter was a personal record.

Johnson was also part of the winning 4x100 relay team that included Paige Feldman, Montserrat Coronel and Christy Trisler. That group finished with a time of 53.45.

Feldman also placed second in the high jump at 4.8 feet. Teammate Molleigh Rinke won the discus with a throw of 105.3 feet.

DIVISION 4 AT FLINT BEECHER

Cardinal Mooney's Gabby Gashaj took first place in the long jump with a distance of 15.4 feet.

DIVISION 4 AT MARLETTE

Marlette's Olivia Findlay won the high jump and long jump with distances of 5.2 feet and 15.6 feet, respectively. Teammate Lily Parker placed second in the shot put (31.10 feet) and discus (92.9 feet)

The Red Raiders won the 4x100 relay with a time of 56.39. That group included Emma Woods, Adilyn Ruggles, Lily Lemanski and Patricia McIntee.

Capac's Abigail Aldrich took first in the shot put with a throw of 33.6 feet.

The Chiefs' 4x100 relay team of Julia Closurdo, Aria Nearly, Bella Wetter and Gracie Klink finished second at 56.48.

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Girls track: Marysville grabs regional title; Other area qualifiers