HAMILTON — The one-day nature of the state finals meet means every point counts, or, as Whitehall coach Kirk Mikkelson put it, “do you have the right day on the right day?”
For the Vikings, Saturday was not what they hoped for; entering the day with dreams of maybe getting in the race for the team title, they instead caught several bad breaks and ended up scoring 16 points, settling for an 18th-place tie.
Things started out terrifically for Whitehall, with Ca’Mar Ready taking second in pole vault, marking the third straight year a Viking did that (David Conrad did it in 2022 and ‘23). Seeded just eighth coming in, Ready delivered a clutch vault on his final attempt at 14-1 to stay in the fight and ended up in a one-on-one matchup with defending champ Sam Vesperman of Grosse Ile trying to clear 14-7. Ready couldn’t do that, but his 14-4 mark was the best a Whitehall vaulter has ever cleared at a state meet - all the more impressive considering, Mikkelson said, he struggled with his footwork throughout the day.
“He had a little issue with his steps,” Mikkelson said. “It was too late to figure it out once the jumping started so he was stuttering and losing a little speed, but he still vaulted great today. He had a couple coaches approach him afterwards and ask him what he’s doing next year, so we’ll keep an eye on him. He did himself some favors.”
Concurrently, Whitehall came close to some big points in high jump. After previously being thought out for the state meet with a severe ankle injury that’s dogged him all year, junior Camden Thompson talked his way into competing, with his trainer telling him he could have three jumps. Thompson passed until the bar hit 6-6 and gave it a shot, hoping to score some team points, but was unable to clear that height. Teammate Ayden Mendoza cleared 6-3, which tied his season best, and finished ninth.
Unfortunately, that solid effort was the last thing that went Whitehall’s way. Fairly heavy rain fell during many of the remaining events, and the Vikings, who were the #3 seed in the 800-meter relay, endured handoff difficulties during the race and finished 23rd. Like Mikkelson said, “it’s a crapshoot.”
“If Corunna or Berrien Springs bobble a handoff instead of us in the 4x200, it’s a whole different day,” Mikkelson said, referring to two of the top teams in that race; Berrien Springs won it.
In the 400 meters, Trannon Aylor was the favorite as the defending state champion, but raced out too quickly to start the race, clearing the first 200 meters in under 22 seconds. (Ironically, that would’ve placed him very highly in the 200, but he withdrew from that event to focus energy on the 400 and the 1,600 relay.) He ran out of gas late and finished third with a time of 49.62 seconds - a fabulous time for a mortal, but over a second slower than Aylor’s PR from two weeks prior at the regional meet. Coincidentally, it was that same PR time (48.49 seconds) that Notre Dame Prep’s Zachary Mylenek ran to win the race.
“It’s hard because you want to run a faster time, so you say, ‘Oh, I’ll do this in the first 200,’” Aylor said. “It obviously bit me in the butt. It wasn’t what I’m used to doing, so I probably shouldn’t have tried something new, but it’s a learning experience.”
In the 200, Malcolm Earvin entered the day as the top seed and cruised to a win in his preliminary heat, but disaster struck in the final as he pulled up towards the end of the race with a hamstring injury, finishing seventh. Trainers told Earvin not to run in the 1,600 relay, where the Vikings were also seeded first, so the team was forced to withdraw from the event.
It was an unfortunate end to spectacular athletic careers for Earvin and Aylor, who each enjoyed remarkable individual and team achievements playing football and track (Aylor also played basketball). Aylor maintained perspective even amid the disappointment.
“I’m obviously very grateful for everything,” Aylor said. “It’s easy to say, ‘I didn’t do this,’ or ‘I didn’t do that,’ but also, a lot of things as a team and me personally that I’ve accomplished, and honestly you’ve just got to look at that stuff and be proud of it. Not a lot of people even get the opportunity to do stuff like this.”
Also for the Whitehall boys, Earvin was 10th in the 100 meters, Kal Koehler finished 16th in the long jump, and Stewart Waters was 26th in the 1,600 meters.
Cami Kraai placed 18th in the 800 meters for the Viking girls, and Arianna Black was 19th in the high jump.
