After a long three months of training and competing, some of the best local teams and individuals will now gear up for the biggest race of the year.

For Reed City, a second-place finish at the Division 3, Region 20 final punched the Coyotes’ first team
ticket to the state finals for the first time since 1984.

“We had some outstanding performances at regionals and all of our kids seem to be peaking right now,” Head Coach Rich Saladin said. “It's hard to single out a runner as all of our team is meeting expectations.”

The Coyotes will be represented on the men’s side by sophomore Gus Rohde, juniors Ryan Allen and
Anthony Kianus, seniors Ty Kailing and Mason Dozier, and freshman Aaron Allen and Paul Saladin. Reed City will also be competing on the women’s side with senior Nora Smoes qualifying individually with a 10th place finish.

Chippewa Hills will also be making the trip to Brooklyn this season with a third-place finish from the
women’s team, composed of junior Ava Hollandsworth, freshmen Quinn Hatfield, junior Haylee
Livermore, sophomore Augusta Bowman, and junior Brookelyn Webster. The Warriors will also have
Jake O’Neill in the men’s race competing individually with a third-place finish at the home regional.
“Jake has done a tremendous job of working hard and improving every day,” Head Coach Zach Hatfield said. “The entire girls’ team has worked towards this and each team member played a crucial role in the team’s success.”

Rounding out individual qualifiers from the Region 20 race are juniors Tyler Vining and Miranda McNeil of Morley Stanwood, sophomore Coleson Cruzan of White Cloud, and senior Elizabeth Ringling of Pine River.

Over in Region 10 of Division 2, the Cardinals of Big Rapids will send two individual qualifiers to the state meet on the men’s side. Both seniors Owen Westercamp and Ben Knuth will race at the finals courtesy of their sixth and twelve place regional finishes respectively.

The Tri-County Vikings will also be sending a representative in the men’s race after Ramon Hernandez earned his ticket with a 10th place effort.

“This year was a big step for our program,” Head Coach Weston Rackley said. “Now that (our) kids have seen it happen, it shows they can do it too.”

On the women’s side, Remington Arney will be for Newaygo in the Division 2 title race after a 10th place race last weekend.

The State Finals will take place Saturday, Sep. 4 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The
Division 3 men’s race will begin at 10:10 a.m. followed by the women’s race at 10:50. Division 2 races
will begin at 1:30 p.m. for the men and 2:50 p.m. for the women.