Pittsford senior Brooke Smith leads track D4 state qualifiers with three regional titles

HILLSDALE — In the last chance for many senior athletes to earn a trip out to Hudsonville for the D4 track state finals, there were multiple career-best efforts at the Region 35-4 finals at Hayden Park in Hillsdale.

One of those seniors, a distance runner from Pittsford, led the county athletes in attendance with a total of three individual regional titles.

More: Hillsdale Academy track teams win team regional titles; multiple Colts qualify for state

Pittsford senior Brooke Smith won the girls 800, 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Smith was the only athlete to claim three individual titles in non-relay events. Smith, daughter of Pittsford track coach Brian Smith, heads back to the finals with a chance to earn multiple all-state honors. She ranks fifth in the state standings for the 800.

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The senior ran 4,000 meters near the end of the regional finals schedule to earn two of those titles. Smith's titles were an example of the overall group effort that the Wildcats put in to earn state qualification.

"To go back-to-back-to-back like that, I don't think that has ever happened (for the Pittsford girls track team)," coach Brian Smith said. "The 800 and two-mile is a tough double when all you have is the finals in the 200 in-between. Overall, the team effort was awesome today. Everybody right down the line was great. I'm proud of the group."

Smith wasn't the only Wildcat or County athlete to earn state qualification for this year's D4 finals in Hudsonville on Saturday, June 1. Check out each qualifier result for Camden-Frontier, Will Carleton Academy, Pittsford and Reading.

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Camden-Frontier

In boys high jump, Ethan Wickham and Dominic Kurtz tied for second place with a distance of 5-feet, 9 inches. They will represent their program at the state finals.

Will Carleton Academy

WCA senior Tyler Barnes qualifies for the boys long jump event after jumping 19-feet, 10 inches to take fourth overall.

Pittsford

Pittsford had senior Bryce Williams qualify in the boys 800-meter run, taking second with a time of 2:06.43.

Williams helped the 4x200 boys relay team of Gavyn Carden, Noah Pann and Teagan Williams qualify after taking second with a time of 1:36.80.

Teagan Williams would qualify again for states, this time in the pole vault event. The junior won the regional title with a clearance height of 12-feet. His teammate Chloe Fowler won the girls pole vault regional title with a clearance height of 9-feet, 6 inches. Fowler is ranked sixth in girls state standings and Williams is fourth in boys state rankings.

Pittsford senior Halle Clark will represent the Wildcats in the girls 400-meter dash after earning third overall with a time of 1:04.47.

Pittsford junior Ava Mallar earned second in the 300 hurdles to qualify with a time of 48.51 seconds. This time ranks Mallar eighth in the state.

Pittsford had three girls relay teams qualify for the state finals. The 4x200 team of Ana Camila Salazar, Breana Probst, Halle Clark and Ava Mallar qualified after taking fifth with a time of 1:54.60.

Clark and Mallar would anchor the 4x400 team that included Salazar and Karlee Embach. The team took second with a time of 4:18.30. They rank 10th in the state.

Mallar, Clark, Riley McCumber and Smith would take second in the 4x800 relay with at time of 10:20.18. The team is ranked eighth in the state.

Reading

The Reading Rangers had a successful final, earning multiple regional titles in individual events and in relays.

Sophomore Brayden Wright was a two-time individual title winner after winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.21 (PR) and the 200 with a time of 23.33. He currently ranks seventh in D4 100-meter dash times.

Senior Brady Kling won the regional title in the boys 400-meter dash, setting a new PR time of 51.86 seconds. He ranks 12th overall in the stare standings.

Senior Tayshawn Bester, ranked No. 2 in boys 110-meter hurdles, won the regional title with a time of 15.08 seconds. The 2023 state champion continues his journey to chase down his second state title.

Sophomore Abigail Spencer ran to a third-place finish in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, qualifying for states in both events. She ran a PR time of 13.10 in the 100 and a time of 27.43 in the 200.

Reading junior Abigail Affholter won the regional title in girls shot put with a throw of 34-feet, 6 inches. Senior Sydnee Mauk set a new PR throw distance in discus of 106-feet to win the regional title. Affholter qualified for states after taking second with a throw of 101-feet, 4 inches.

The girls 4x200-meter relay team of Caylee Whinnie, Bria Wiler, Paige Santi and Abigail Spencer qualified for the state finals with a third-place finish and a time of 1:53.09.

The Ranger boys track team qualified in every relay event, winning three of the four races.

The 4x100 team of Kling, Connar Rudy, Cayden Whinnie and Bester won a regional title with a time of 44.65 seconds. They are currently ranked fifth in the state.

The 4x200 team of Bester, Kling, Rudy and Brayden Wright won a regional title with a time of 1:32.42. This time ranks them fourth in the state.

Kling, Jeremiah Bedford, Colton Hoover and Brayden Wright ran down a 4x400 regional title with a time of 3:32.43. This time ranks them second in the state.

The 4x800 team of Case VanAken, Colton Hoover, Kutter VanAken and Jeremiah Bedford took third with a time of 8:50.23 to qualify for the state finals.

More: A school record fell as Jonesville track athletes win at regionals and qualify for state

Other Results

Hillsdale Academy won two regional championships, with multiple athletes winning individual titles and qualifying for the state finals. A separate story about the Colts can be found at hillsdale.net.

For Waldron, Sophomore Ryan Anderson had a PR in the 800 dash with a time of 2:14.38, taking seventh but could not qualify for the state finals. Senior Brexton Daley took sixth and seventh in the shot put and discus competition but did not qualify for states.

Litchfield's 4x100 boys relay team of Brayden Bradley, Dominic Carter, Caleb Watson and Xander Dilyar took 11th overall. Dilyar had a PR in long jump (14-06). Jerome Vasquez had a new PR throw in both shot put (30-10) and discus (90-03). Kelsey Conley had a new PR in girls shot put (23-05) and in discus (75-11).

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Pittsford senior Brooke Smith leads track D4 state qualifiers with three regional titles