Six Hurons to compete in track state finals

by Angie Asam– Staff Writer

The Rogers City track teams traveled to Bellaire Saturday for the regional meet and qualified six athletes for a trip to the state finals on May 31. Five boys and one girl will make the trip. The two-mile relay team of Jerome Gapczynski, Zak McLennan, Andy Grambau and T.J. Sobeck took second place with a time of 8:35.25 behind Ellsworth to qualify for that event. Sobeck then went on to place first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.99. David Lewandowski took second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.72, first place was 23.50, a very close race, but qualified for the state finals in that event.

Leilani Kortman finished tied for second in the long jump at 14?5? and with no tie-breaker set for the event will make the trip to the state finals and try to leap her way to the medal stand.

Many of the races were very close and one second could make a difference between an eighth place finish and a first place finish. Heather Luetzow narrowly missed making an appearance at state in the 400 and 200-meter runs as she was third in the 400-meter with a time of 1:04.11, the winning time was 1:02.9. In the 200-meter she placed fourth with a time of 28.45, first place was 27.96, less than one second separated her from a trip to the finals. Many other runners saw their hopes at a state finals appearance trip come to an end by narrow margins. The boys? team took eighth while the girls took seventh at the meet.

ALTHOUGH regionals have come and gone the season was not over for the Hurons as they traveled to St. Ignace for the Straits Area Conference meet yesterday. In order to medal at the meet you must place in the top three and several Hurons were able to do that. Sobeck became a conference champion by winning the 800-meter run. Kortman also took first place in the long jump to become a conference champion in just her freshman year. The boys? two-mile relay team finished second, Gapczynski was third in the mile, while Grambau was second in the two-mile. The mile relay team of David Lewandowski, Gapczynski, Justin LaLonde and Sobeck finished third to earn medals. Kortman also placed third in the 300-meter hurdles to earn a medal. Rachel Lewandowski was third in the 100-meter dash and Luetzow was third in the 400-meter run. (Official times and results were not available for press time)

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