The Saline Reporter
A Heritage Newspaper
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Saline boys take home SEC title
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 31, 2007
Ann Arbor Pioneer's regional title came by a half-point in the final event over the Saline boys' track team. When the Hornets won their title at the Southeastern Conference Red Division meet at Adrian Wednesday, May 23, it arrived with slightly less drama.
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The Hornets won the meet 95.5 to 81, and along with their victory in the May 9 SEC jamboree gained enough ground in the SEC Red standings to give Saline the conference championship despite their 71-65 dual meet loss to the Pioneers early in the season.
"It's extremely satisfying," said Hornet co-head coach Brian Boze. "We invested a lot in Regionals, but we wanted this and our guys fought and performed when we needed to."
As they had been throughout the season, the Hornets were led by their field athletes. Quinn Dawson (151'1"), Gabe Helmuth (140'11.5"), and Joey Everett (133'6.5") swept the top three places in the discus, and Everett continued his dominance of the shot put with a first-place throw of 51'8". Dawson added a third place in the shot, Drew Jurgenson (19'8.25") and Cory Farrell (19'5") finished 2-3 in the long jump, and Tyler Olsen (5'10") tied for third in the high jump.
All together, field events accounted for more than a third of Saline's points total.
"They were the key to victory," Boze said. "They've been doing it all year."
With the girls' SEC title out of reach, the Saline girls made some lineup changes in preparation for this weekend's state meet. Nonetheless the Hornets claimed second at the meet behind state title favorite Pioneer and set a pair of school records in the process.
"We didn't really load up both barrels, so to speak," said head coach Mike Smith. "We've got a chance to really do something at state and we didn't want to run anyone too hard. But overall we performed well, got a lot of personal bests and two school records."
The Hornet girls finished with four first-place and a total of nine All-Conference (i.e .top-three) individual performances. Three of the wins came, predictably, from Saline's distance runners as Meagan Creutz (2:21.8) won the 800 meters, Kate Carter (5:05.6) won the 1600, and Alex Leptich (11:21.5) took the 3200. Carter's time in the 1600 tied Leptich's freshman record set earlier in the season.
But the two school records came in the sprints as Corrie Castro broke her own mark in the 100 dash, running 12.1, and Castro, Taylor Franz, Kim Miller-Tolbert, and Lauren Zakrasjek broke the program's 800 relays record, set at Regionals, by running 1:43.19. Both times were good for runner-up finishes.
The other first-place finish came from Miller-Tolbert as she jumped an SHS senior-class record 17'5.5". Kim Turrentine (10') took second in the pole vault. Third-place finishers included Lindsey Cummings (2:29.2) in the 800, Mary Rzepka (16'6") in the long jump, and Castro (26.02) in the 200 dash.
Other All-Conference performers for the Saline boys included Branden Post, second in the 110 (14.83) and 300 (40.44) hurdles; Sam Burchyett, third in the 100 (11.12) and 200 dashes (22.48); Blake Johnson, first in the 800 (1:58.58) and second in the 1600 (4:24.76); Brian Hernandez, third in the 800 (2:00.24); and Brian Conn, second in the 3200 (9:52.57).
The Hornets' attention now turns to this weekend's state meet, where the Saline boys will enter as the defending state champs. Although Boze says he expects to score with Everett in the shot, Post in the 300 hurdles, and the Johnson- and Hernandez-led 3200 relay (all of which enter seeded in the top three), he does not expect a second consecutive state title.
"The state meet is about superstars. We just don't have the seeds to (repeat)," he said. "But we will score well. We should finish in at least the top 10, if not the top five."
It's a similar mindset to the one Smith says his team — which could win a state title in the 3200 relay, in which they will enter as the top seed — will have as they approach state.
"We're seeded pretty well," Smith said. "Our goal is top five, but if we have a good day, get a little lucky, we could maybe get up to third or fourth."
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