By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
Southwest lower Michigan will be well represented at the Division 1-4 track meets being held at various sights on Saturday.
The Division 2 meet will be staged at Zeeland High School in Holland, while the Division 3 event will take place at Comstock Park. In Division 4, the meet is being held at Forest Hills Eastern High School.
Division 2
In the boys' portion of the meet, Niles has just one participant as Andrew Wortham will compete in the 400-meters.
His time of 51.9 is ranked 25th.
For the girls, the Lady Vikings will have two individual entries and a relay team.
Baysia Cox, a two-time regional champion, will compete in both the shot put and discus, while Maddie Rodts will compete in the 800-meters.
Niles will also send its 3,200-meter relay team of Taylor Brandstatter, Anne Tyler, Rodts and Liz VandenHeede.
Cox's throw of 102-2 is ranked 22nd, while Edwardsburg's Lanie Ford with 23rd at 101-5.
In the shot put, Cox's toss of 36-7 is 12th best coming into the state meet. Ford's mark of 34-6.75 is 25th.
Cox placed eighth in the shot last year after coming in 32nd.
"Baysia has been a strong force in the area for the past four years," Niles coach Jami Foster said. "We hope she medals in both events this year."
Rodts, a regional champion, will have the seventh ranked time with a 2:22.21.
Niles' 3,200-meter relay is 22nd best at 10:16.97.
"This will be Maddie's third year returning to the state track meet on the 3,200-meter relay team," Foster said. "Maddie ran her best race and time at the regional in the open 800 this year. Maddie has worked so hard during the off season to meet her team and individual goals."
Brandstatter and Tyler are both freshmen, who stepped up to replace a pair of runners from last year's state qualifying squad.
"We had two spots to fill and these two freshmen filled the gaps. We couldn't be prouder," Foster said. "They have worked hard the entire season to be on the relay team and make it to state.
"Liz has continued to work hard these past few years to improve her time to help the team head to another state final," she added.
Dowagiac will also take a pair of individuals and a relay team to the state finals.
Sophomore Kaisha Martin qualified for both the 100- and 200-meters, while senior Emily Primley will compete in the pole vault.
Martin was the regional champion in the 100-meters.
The two will then combine forces with Jacoya Brookins and Cierra Mattix to form the 400-meter relay team.
Martin's time of 12.83 in the 100-meters puts her 15th in the field, while her 200 time of 26.79 is 18th.
"Kaisha has a real opportunity to do well in her best race, the 100-meter dash," Dowagiac coach Ken Jordan said. "Last year she made the semifinals and we'd like to see her in the finals this year. Once you are in the finals, anything can happen."
Primley's height of 9-5 places her 18th coming into the meet.
"Emily Primley has been improving leaps and bounds in the pole vault," Jordan said. "She's worked very hard since the regional and we're very excited to see what she can do on Saturday."
Dowagiac's 400-meter relay team comes in seeded 17th this year. The team ran a time of 51.99 at the regional. Andrea Bradshaw is the alternate on the squad.
"Our relay team was seeded 15th last year and we finished sixth," Jordan pointed out. "This year we are seeded 17th and hope to see the same improvement. Our last two races haven't been our best, but we're very capable of putting together a great race."
Division 3
Brandywine's Bryton Hutchings will bring the 28th best jump into the pole vault competition after clearing 12-feet at the regional.
"Bryton was regional champion as a junior and has experience at the state meet so he knows what to expect," Brandywine coach Terry Borr said. "A late season injury has slowed him as of late but he is going into the state meet hopefully vaulting at his best. Going 12-foot at regionals in the rain with an injured knee shows a lot."
Buchanan's Clinton Orr will compete in three events as he qualified in the long jump, 200-meters and as a part of the 400-meter relay.
Orr went 21-0.5 in winning the long jump and is seeded third. In the 200-meters, his time of 23.1 is seeded 17th.
The Bucks' 400-meter relay team is seeded 10th with its time of 44.72.
Chelsea Adolph, Torrie Eger and Emily Lakin will represent the Buchanan girls' track squad in a trio of events.
Adolph, a regional champion, will compete in the pole vault, where her height of 8-6 is 26th best.
Eger will compete in the 3,200-meters, where she ran a time of 12:11.0, which is 28th best entering the state meet.
Lakin will go in the 400-meters. She ran a time of 1:02.0 to earn the 15th seed.
Division 4
Cassopolis' Chastity Williams will compete in the 100-meters. She ran a time of 12.86 at the regionals, which places her 10th.