On Friday, the track and field team faced off against 18 other schools at the MHSAA LP Regionals hosted by Portage Central. The boys got 12th place, and the girls secured sixth place. Finishing ahead of FHC, East Kentwood dominated the competition by notching 128 points in the boys division and chalking up 113.5 points in the girls division. To put those lofty scores into perspective, the Ranger boys finished with 28 points. For the girls, FHC recorded 52.5 points.

The boys knew they would be running next to athletes destined for higher levels of competition, so they expected a ton of depth in each event. Their expectations came to life, and they struggled to get on the podium for certain events. However, junior Sam Yeager got second place in the 400-meter finals with a time of 51.99 and a new personal record. Sam has clocked in a ton of training hours, so he is prepared for the upcoming states meet to push him both mentally and physically.

“Every race, you learn new things about yourself and your running,” Sam said. “With this time between now and states, I will be pushing not just my physical strength but also my mental strength, so I can mentally and physically beat the people around me during the race. With my coaches’ and teammates’ support, I hope to PR and represent FHC the best I can.”

Senior Dallas Hopson also had a noteworthy performance in the 300-meter hurdles. Although he didn’t get a new personal record like Sam, he still managed to finish sixth with a time of 43.65. Lastly, the 4-by-800 relay team of Sam, sophomore Ethan Krampe, and seniors Jonah Cumings and Kyle James-Heer crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 8:22.16. Thus, although the boys struggled to find success, there were still outstanding performances. 

All year, the girls team has prepared its freshman runners to carry the torch into next year. At regionals, the freshmen class proved the program would be in good hands for years to come. The first underclassmen to receive a first-place medal in an event was freshman pole vaulter Brooke Bowers who scored an 11-07.00. The second underclassmen to clinch first place was freshman Clara James-Heer, with a time of 10:59.61 in the 3200-meter run. Lastly, freshman Peyton Ludwig recorded a new personal record of 2:24.36 in the 800-meter run to push her a spot past fifth-place contestant Eliza Phares from Portage Central. The girls team boasted one of the better underclassmen cores in the 18-team meet with those exceptional performances. Head coach Todd Steverson was pleased by his team’s overall great performance.

“I thought the performances were outstanding; we had seasonal and personal bests on a day when we needed them the most,” coach Steverson said. “In my twenty years of coaching, we have never qualified more kids for the state meet than we did this year; it’s all due to the hard work the kids and coaching staff have put in this year. Let’s not also forget the support of the parents and the FHC Athletic Department.”

FHC’s next and final meet of the season is the highly-acclaimed MHSAA Division 1 Finals at East Kentwood on Saturday, June 5, where both teams will look to end this season off on a positive note.