Clare girls go fourth at state meet
Scott Salowich
Sports Scene
After winning every dual meet, a regional title, the Jack Pine Conference meet and even the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association meet, the Clare girls track team headed into the Division 3 state meet with big ideas.
The Pioneers couldn’t finish off an epic season with a state title, but they still put on quite a show, placing fourth with 45 points, behind only Ithaca with 57.5, Adrian Madison with 54 and Traverse City St. Francis with 45.
“This has been a special group all season and I was proud of the way the girls stepped up when the pressure was on,” said Clare coach Kyle McKown. “Our main objective was to win the state and I thought we could compete and we came close.
“We did well. We were All-State eight times and that’s the best we’ve done since I’ve been coaching. The teams ahead of us all performed very well and I congratulate them.”
Junior pole vaulter Kasey Staley was second in the state last year and cleared that bar by winning it all this time. She set a state record in the process with a 12-4 effort.
“She works year-round and is just an amazing vaulter,” said McKown. “Her best going in was 12-3, so breaking the record wasn’t that much of a jump for her. She just had to do it on that day and she did. She continues to get better every year and we’re looking for even bigger and better things next year.”
The dependable distance duo was next on the hit parade.
Junior Jasmine Harper was second in the 1,600 with a time of 5:04.39, with freshman Lainey Veenkant fourth in 5:06.35.
Harper was third in the 3,200 in 11:09.29 and Veenkant was eighth in 11:21.91.
Veenkant also joined forces with Lexy Harton, Paige Gould and Ellie Johnson to earn All-State honors in the 1,600 relay for running sixth in a time of 4:09.
“Jasmine has been All-State six times in the 1,600 and 3,200 now and she’s just been a rock for us for three years,” McKown said. “Lainey dropped 23 seconds off her time in the mile between eighth grade and ninth, and she is now our first freshman to be All-State three times.”
Gould, a senior, ran third in the 300 hurdles in 46.06.
“She only missed winning it by three-tenths of a second and she ran the fastest race of her life,” siad McKown. “Paige sacrificed a lot for the good of the team by running a lot of different events and she is an athlete who has really had to battle. She tore her ACL in her freshman year and started over at ground zero. She is going to continue running at Davenport College and I think her best is yet to come.”
Gould grabbed a third All-State medal by teaming with Harton, Johnson and Staley to place third in the 800 relay in a school-record time of 1:46.91.
The Pioneers were a perfect 7-0 in Jack Pine dual meets and cruised to the outright championship by winning the league meet with 191 points. Gladwin was second with 114.5.
They ran away with the regional title as well, finishing on top with 146.5. McBain was second with 82.5.
Clare hosted the MITCA meet, which features full teams who had to qualify to compete.
“That was a craazy day,” said McKown. “It was a day for our whole team to shine and we’ll never forget it.”