MANISTEE — A year ago, life was eerily empty.
The COVID-19 pandemic had the world at a standstill, including the local prep athletes of the spring. With the entire season canceled and more questions than answers at the time, 2021 felt like forever away.
For the Manistee track and field team, however, Friday evening made it all seem worth the wait. And they were anything but empty handed.
The Chippewa boys and girls were crowned Lakes 8 Conference champions on their home track, with a sweep of the championship meet.
"Just a solid team performance all the way around," said Manistee coach Eric Thuemmel. "I was thrilled we even had a season and got to compete this year, so the fact we ended up with two championships on our home track, that's just a great feeling.
"I know the kids are feeling fantastic right now, and I'm proud of them all."
Manistee edged Ludington for the titles in both boys and girls competition, as the girls topped the six-team field with 185 points and the boys placed first with 165. The Orioles were runners-up with 175 points on the girls side and 163 for boys.
"I knew the guys and girls both would be within just a few points of Ludington, one way or another," Thuemmel said, "so it was going to come down to the wire.
"And when it's that close, you can't point to any one event, one race, or one person," he added. "It was a total team effort, both boys and girls."
The Chippewas picked up big wins throughout the evening, as the boys were paced by first-place finishes from Dylan Johnson in the 400-meters (55.92); Luke Kooy in the pole vault (11' 8); and the team of Luke Senters, Griffen Antal, Abdul Ghennewa and Johnson in the 4x800 relay (9:07.84).
The Manistee girls were led by victories from Libby McCarthy in the 300-meter hurdles (52.61) and the high jump (4' 10); Lacey Zimmerman in the 100-meter dash (13.94); Ashtyn Janis in the 200 (28.75); Raegan Codden in the 100-meter hurdles (19.31); and Danni Miles in the long jump (14' 7.5).
The Chippewas also won three of four relays in girls competition, as Zimmerman, Kasey Eckhardt, Codden and Janis took first in the 4x100 (55.27); Zimmerman, Eckhardt, McCarthy and Janis won the 4x200 (1:55.18); and Allie Thomas, McCarthy, Eckhardt and Zimmerman won the 4x400 (4:33.52).
While the wins were huge, Manistee's depth was the key to victory on both sides.
"We had a first or second place for almost every event on the girls side, and we placed a lot of kids in the top 7 throughout the whole meet," Thuemmel said. "We've got a lot of good sprinters, a lot of good distance runners; you can kind of pick and choose in each event.
"We've got kids who contribute every which way," he added, "and that's what has worked. Everybody bought in this season and they've all been working really hard."
May 15, 2021 at 08:41AM
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Chips are conference champs - Manistee News Advocate
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