D4 Track Finals: Athens Bennett wins state title, 10 local athletes compete

HUDSONVILLE, MI. - Teams from across the state traveled to Baldwin Middle School in Hudsonville on Saturday for the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) LP Division Four Track and Field State Finals. Among those hundreds of athletes making the trip were several from right here in the Branch County area, with four of those coming home with All State honors, including one state championship.

Tekonsha Indians

Three Tekonsha Indians made the trip to the big stage looking for postseason glory as Kyle Redd, Wyatt Blashfield, and Dani VanLente all traveled to compete at the state finals.

Senior Kyle Redd had quite a big weekend, coming off his team's district title in baseball on Friday, Redd traveled to the state finals to compete in the 100-meter dash on Saturday. Redd put together a solid time, finishing in fourteenth place in a time of 11.56 seconds.

Also coming off a district title just the day before was senior Wyatt Blashfield who made his second straight trip to the state finals to compete in the discus. Blashfield also had a solid day, taking twentieth place in the state with a throw of 115 feet, 6 inches.

On the women's side of the competition, it was senior Dani VanLente making her third straight trip to the state finals to compete in the 3200-meter run. VanLente finished in fifteenth place at the event, running a time of 12 minutes, 40.27 seconds to cap a very successful long distance career for the Tekonsha running program.

Athens Indians

The Athens Indians sent seven different athletes and a relay team to the D4 State Finals, coming away with four All-State honors, including one state title.

Junior hurdler Landon Bennett brought home not one, but two All-State honors, one of which was the first state title of his career. Bennett bested the field in the 300-meter hurdles, winning the D4 state crown in a personal best time of 39.85 seconds. Bennett also earned All-State honors in the 110 hurdles, taking third place in a time of 15.33 seconds. Bennett's win in the 300 meter hurdles was not only a new personal best for the junior, but also broke the Athens High School record for the event

Also competing for the Athens boys was sophomore Nollan Fry who finished in tenth place in the pole vault with a vault of 11 feet, 6 inches.

Athens senior Jocelynn Hall earned her third straight All State honor in the 100 hurdles, taking third place in a time of 16.20 seconds. Hall won the D4 state title in the event her sophomore year and took runner-up honors her junior season before capping her career with another spot on the podium. Hall, along with all the other seniors competing in sporting events this year, saw her freshman season taken away due to the pandemic.

Athens had one more All-State honor this season as the 4x100 (400) meter relay team of Charley Williams, Layla Williams, Kami Parlin and Jocelyn Hall took eighth place in a time of 53.43 seconds.

Also competing for the Athens Lady Indians at the D4 State Finals was senior Kylie Quist who finished in tenth place in the 800-meter run in a time of 2 minutes, 29.82 seconds while also taking eleventh place in the 1600-meter run in a time of 5 minutes, 31.77 seconds, a personal best.

Rounding out the Athens effort was Kami Parlin who finished in sixteenth place in the high jump with a jump of 4 feet, 10 inches while Shelby Evans finished in twenty-seventh place in the long jump with a jump of 14 feet, 5.25 inches.

For full results of the Division Four State Finals, you can visit https://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/meet/481011/results/all.