HART – It seems that opposing teams that have been waiting for a falloff from Hart’s track and field team will be waiting even longer. The Pirates hosted two home meets in the last week, posting dominant performances in both, despite losing key pieces from last season.
The girls’ team was particularly impressive on Saturday, April 6 when they claimed a first place finish at the annual Hart & Sole Music Invite. An 11-team pool wasn’t enough to dethrone the Pirates, thanks in large part to great showings from upperclassmen.
Junior Addi Hovey and sophomore Addison Hain led the way in the short distance events. Hovey claimed first place finishes in both the 100-meter and 200 races while Hain followed up with fifth and sixth place finishes in those same events. Hain and Hovey also joined forces with senior Laura Bitely and junior Lilly Hopkins for a first place finish in the 400 relay.
Hovey continued to be a force in field events as well as she continued the pace she set in the high jump in 2023. A jump of 5-4 was enough to give Hovey first place in that event as teammate Imogene Brumbaugh was the only competitor who came close with a jump of 5-0 in second place.
Long distance runs were headlined by junior Jessie Jazwinski who continues to show why she’s a top runner not only in the state of Michigan, but in the country as well.
Jazwinski posted a personal record (PR) while claiming first in the 400, with a time of 1:01.15. Though she didn’t run the 1600 or 3200, those events are where Jazwinski typically scored points for Hart. Jazwinski did take part in the 1600 and 3200 relays alongside teams composed of Jazwinski, Hain, Lexie Beth Nienhuis and Bitely (1600) and Jazwinski, Kenai Kokx, Brooklyn Carter and Elea Bachmann (3200). That 1600 relay team finished in first while the 3200 relay team placed fourth.
Hart’s girls also flashed greatness in hurdling events. Senior Jasmyne Villanueva claimed first in the 100 hurdles with a PR time of 16.60 while Jazwinski snagged a first place finish in the 300 hurdles.
Sophomore Shelbie Choponis was Hart’s top athlete in throwing events for the girls. Choponis posted an 11th place finish in shot put with a 25-1 ½ throw before tossing 88-10 in the discus for a third place nod.
Hopkins and Nienhuis were two of three Hart girls to participate in pole vault. Hopkins finished with a vault of 8-6 for a second place finish while Nienhuis came in third with an 8-0 vault.
The boys team wasn’t quite as fruitful on Saturday as they finished in fifth place as a team. Eman Hertzler, Hunter Chaffee and Caleb Westerbeek were heavily involved in that effort.
Hertzler placed fifth in the 100 and was a member of the 400 and 800 relays which both took second respectively. Joining Hertzler on those relay teams were Chaffee, Chase Lorenz and Payden Stone (400) and Chaffee, Joseluis Andaverde and Connor Edwards (800). Chaffee was also in the 100, finishing in 10th place.
Lorenz also provided a spark individually, placing fifth in the 200 before posting a PR time of 54.60 in his sixth place finish in the 400. Lorenz joined forces with Edwards, Andaverde and Westerbeek in the 1600 relay for a second place finish as well.
Westerbeek was the Pirates’ top athlete in the hurdles, placing second in the 110 hurdles with a PR time of 15.89 before taking third in the 300 hurdles.
One area where Hart’s boys struggled mightily compared to last year was in the throwing events. That’ll tend to happen when you lose someone like Kellen Kimes who is now competing collegiately at Liberty University.
Sophomores Jose Torres and Caleb Ackley were the top throwers for Hart. Torres led the way in shot put with a throw of 38-6 while Ackley recorded a throw of 37-5. Those scored ninth and 12th place finishes respectively. Ackley also took 20th in discus with a throw of 87-9.
Rounding out the boys top performers were a trio of top 10 finishers in the long jump. Stone finished in third with a jump of 19-0 while Andaverde and Edwards finished behind him in eighth and ninth place.
A bunch of Pirates also scored PRs on the day with 21 different athletes scoring the best marks of their career in their respective events.
Hart continued its impressive run into Tuesday, April 9 when they hosted North Muskegon and Shelby for a WMC Rivers showdown. Both the boys and girls team notched first place finishes, defeating the Tigers and Norsemen.
The girls had a particularly easy outing as they dominated Shelby, scoring 119.5 points to the Tigers 15.5, and took care of business against the Norse with 95 points to North Muskegon’s 38.
Hart had an easy time in most events as they scored first place finishes in the 100, 400, 3200, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 400 relay, 800 relay, 1600 relay, 3200 relay, shot put, discus, high jump, pole vault and long jump.
Leading the way individually was Villanueva, Hovey and Jazwinski with three first place finishes. Choponis cleared the throwing events, taking first place in both the shot put and discus.
The boys also had an easy time taking down rival Shelby by a score of 101-16. The Pirates narrowly escaped with a win over North Muskegon, defeating them by just a single point at 68-67.
Top performers for the Pirate boys in that meet were Bobby Jazwinski III who finished first in the 3200 and second as a part of the 3200 relay team and Westerbeek who finished first in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles and as a member of the 1600 relay team.
