By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Roscoe Payne of Flint Carman-Ainsworth had the day of his life Saturday at the Division 1 state track and field at Rockford.
As it turns out, Carman-Ainsworth needed every point.
Payne clocked the 110-meter hurdles in 13.99 seconds for first place and also won the 300-meter intermediate hurdles at 37.69 seconds for another first place. He was also the third leg on the 4x200-meter relay in 1:28.00 for first place.
When the points were added up, Carman-Ainsworth won the state title with 56 points compared to 55 for East Kentwood.
East Kentwood won the final event of the meet, the 4x400-meter relay in 3:20.56. But Carman-Ainsworth came in second at 3:21.16 to get enough points for the win. Defending champion Ann Arbor Pioneer tied for 14th.
Payne's contributions were obviously huge.
“My finish in both hurdles is my strength,” Payne said. “My clearance over the hurdles was good. In the 110, I hit one hurdle but that was it.”
Payne, who said he'll be attending Middle Tennessee State, said the weather wasn't ideal in the hurdles.
“The windy conditions didn't make it easy, especially in the 300 hurdles."
The Division 1 track champion for girls was defending champ Ann Arbor Pioneer with 59 points to slip past Jackson with 54 points. Ariel Roberts led Pioneer by setting a new state record of 5-9 in the high jump. She also won the 300-meter low hurdles. Pioneer has now has now won three straight state crowns.
Division 2
Williamston won the Division 2 boys meet at Zeeland with 57 points compared to East Lansing with 42 points and Zeeland West with 32. Donny Stiffler won the discus and shot put to lead Williamston.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern won the Division 2 girls meet with 54 points, finishing ahead of Ypsilanti with 40.
Marieme Mbaye led Northern with a first place in the 100-meter dash at 12.45 seconds.
Division 3
The closest Albion ever came to a Division 3 boys track finals was a second-place finish in 2000. But Saturday, the Wildcats reigned supreme with 44 points to edge Allendale's 43.
The champs won the 4x100-meter and 4x200-meter relays to help them win the title. Three athletes, Todd Atchison, Mike Ridley and Durant Crum, were on both relays.
“We met our expectations,” Albion co-coach Mike Jurasek said. “We knew it'd be close with Allendale and that we would need a little luck.”
Albion was fourth in last season's state meet.
“The top two teams, Detroit Country Day and Williamston moved up to Division 2,” Jurasek said. “We felt we had a chance to win it this time.”
The girls state title in Division 3 went to Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard with 50 points to finish ahead of second-place Pine River with 42. Amy Myler won the 300-meter low hurdles in 46.08 seconds and Richard also won the 4x100-meter relay.
“I felt we had a chance to win this,” Richard coach Carl Brock said. “The relays were the key. We won one and finished second in the other three. This is what we wanted to do at the beginning of the season. We finished second last year, so first place was our goal. We had some underclassmen come through for us. Expectations were high. We were ready. We faced some good competition.”
Division 4
Potterville won the Division 4 girls meet at Ada Forest Hills Eastern with 49 points while Reading was second with 38. Potterville was led by its first-place 4x200-meter relay team of Kelsey Letson, Jenna Whipple, Kaila Cook and Breann Beck in 1:47.18.
The boys meet was won by Pewamo-Westphalia with 49 points, followed by Jonesville with 34. Jay Spitzley won the 100-meter hurdles for P-W and also was on the first-place 4x200-meter relay team. P-W also won the 4x100-meter relay.
