KENT CITY – Novella DeGraaf was an elite and versatile athlete before a knee injury took out her sophomore track and field season.
She proved she was back – really back – earlier in the season, but the Saugatuck junior showed again how elite and versatile she could be, scoring 20 of the Trailblazers’ 30 points and leading them to a fourth-place finish on Saturday, May 30, at Kent City High School.
DeGraaf finished state runner-up in the pole vault (10-9), third in the 100-meter hurdles (14.83) and third in the long jump (17-2).
Saugatuck’s Kamryn Sixberry, Ellyse Heyser, Lyvia Curtis and Alina Martinson took third in the 4×800 (9:51.40).
Martinson finished fifth in the 400 meters (59.44) and 21st in the 800 (2:28.78).
Fennville’s Isabelle Sliter took 21st in the 1,600 (5:54.01) and 22nd in the 3,200 (13:20.66).
Olivet won the meet with 82, followed by Lansing Catholic (76) and Pewamo-Westphalia (61.5).
In the boys meet, Saugatuck finished 27th with six points. Monroe St. Mary’s won with 39 points.
Saugatuck’s Charlie Robison took third in the 300-meter hurdles (39.57), 19th in the 200 meters (23.00) and 21st in the 100 meters (11.18).
Alek Diaz, Ira Brown, Sawyer Monroe and Grant Rehkopf took 18th in the 4×800 (8:29.64). Rehkopf was 10th in the 800 meters (2:00.45). Jackson Bowman was 27th in the 3,200 (10:13.67) and Monroe was 34th (10:23.47).
Chase Skinner, Robison, Diaz and Rehkopf took 19th in the 4×400 (3:33.81).
Fennville freshman Julian Weimer finished 15th in the long jump (19-11 3/4).
Black River’s Jonas Ballard took 13th in the 3,200 (9:54.34).
Division 4: Calvary state runner-up in relay
Holland Calvary’s distance crew continued to shine after winning the cross country state title in the fall.
The Crusaders finished runner-up in the 4×800 relay as Christian Getz, Elijah Laninga, Noah Schipper and Gibson White crossed the finish in 8:16.52.
Schipper was 14th in the 1,600 (4:40.62). He also took 11th in the 3,200 (10:24.51).
Calvary finished 28th with eight points. Hillsdale Academy won with 46, holding off Eau Claire (44).
Kalamazoo Hackett won the women’s meet with 44, one point ahead of Hudson.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Saugatuck’s Novella DeGraaf earns three top-3 finishes at state track