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Photos contributed by Susan Sniegowski
MONTAGUE — Ludington’s girls track and field team capped an undefeated regular season by claiming the West Michigan Conference Lakes Division championship Friday at Montague, while the Orioles boys team placed fourth overall.
The Ludington girls finished with 127 points to secure sole possession of the conference title, finishing ahead of Fremont (93) and Montague (91). The Orioles boys scored 62.5 points to place fourth behind champion Whitehall, Muskegon Oakridge and Montague.
Ludington coach John Lipa said the girls championship effort was fueled by contributions throughout the lineup.
“I really felt it was a whole team effort with everyone doing their part and taking that next step,” Lipa said. “It just seemed as the meet went on, the girls stepped up and were ready to go.”
Camille Brahm led the Orioles by winning both the long jump and high jump. Brahm also earned an early state-meet qualifying mark in the high jump.
Eliza Schwass captured conference titles in the 800-meter run and 1,600-meter run while also setting her third school record of the season. Schwass ran a 2:08.61 in the 800, breaking the previous school record of 2:12 set by Lauren Biggs in 2017.
Allison Brandt added a key runner-up finish in the 800 for Ludington.
The Orioles also won the 4×200 relay as the team of Harper Rasmussen, Greta Kehrer, Sophia Janicki and Leah Allen posted a season-best time.
On the boys side, Lipa said the Orioles were hoping for a higher finish but still had several standout performances.
Freshman Jayce Hodges performed well in the sprint events, while Walt claimed the conference championship in the shot put and finished second in the discus. Rockne Lemere added a third-place finish for the Orioles.
Ludington’s 4×800 relay team of Raymond Karboski, Gabe Grierson, Oliver Kolb and Tyler Keillor turned in one of the top performances of the day, running an early state qualifying time of 8:00.2. The relay shaved 20 seconds off its previous season-best mark.
Final team standings were:
Boys
- Whitehall, 169
- Muskegon Oakridge, 99.5
- Montague, 74
- Ludington, 62.5
- Fremont, 57
- Muskegon Orchard View, 35
- Manistee, 30
Girls
- Ludington, 127
- Fremont, 93
- Montague, 91
- Manistee, 80
- Whitehall, 59
- Muskegon Orchard View, 40
- Muskegon Oakridge, 29
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