Whitehall runners Stewart Waters and Adalyn Britton exploded for personal best times Friday at the Division 2 regional meet at Benzie Central, earning the right to have their final high school races be at the state meet.
Waters finished in fifth place in the boys' race, and Britton was 10th in the girls' race to earn state spots. The top 15 individual finishers automatically qualify for state.
Both runners blew past their previous personal best times on the fast Benzie course. Waters secured a time of 15:48.8, only the second time he has cleared 16 minutes. Britton's performance was even more remarkable relative to her career results; she finished over a minute faster than any other time she's run for Whitehall.
The Viking boys finished a solid fourth at the regional meet. Hunter Parsons (16:42.5) and Drew Boeringa (16:44.6) also set personal best times, finishing 22nd and 23rd respectively. Freshman Rex Pumford showed reason to be excited for his future, placing 28th and slashing his PR by 50 seconds, at 16:54.2. Tyler Van Antwerp made it 5-for-5 for Whitehall scorers setting PRs, finishing 64th and posting a time of 17:58.7.
Whitehall's girls team finished 11th at the regional race. Cami Kraai capped a sterling career as a Viking by finishing in 19:49.6, a season's best time, and placing 24th. Samantha Mead (60th, 22:17.6), Corina Mitteer (61st, 22:19.6) and Kassie Sapp (69th, 22:55.9) also scored for Whitehall; Mead set a personal best time.
