Olivet Girls Continue Reign as Peters Closes Championship-Filled Career
By
Todd VanSickle
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
KENT CITY – After winning its first Finals championship in girls track & field a year ago by just five points, Olivet extended its title reign with another close finish Saturday at Kent City.
The Eagles scored 82 points at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship meet to outpace Lansing Catholic (76), with Pewamo-Westphalia (61.5) third.
“I am an alumni of the school, so to come back and do this is, is awesome,” Olivet head coach Brian Lincoln said. “We knew going in that it is was going to be a battle with Lansing Catholic. Our girls stepped up, like they have all season and for the past four seasons.”
Olivet senior Emily Peters claimed her fourth 300-meter hurdles title in 44 seconds. She qualified for this meet in seven events.
“It is pretty crazy,” said Peters said, who plans to run track for Northwood University next season. “Going into my freshman year, I knew I was pretty fast, but I never expected to have this kind of success.
“This is a perfect ending. It is the culmination of all my hard work. I am so grateful for this.”
Peters also took second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 14.83 seconds as the Eagles had success in several events.
Celina Sinclair won the 200 meters with a personal best of 24.91 seconds after finishing second in the prelims. The Eagles’ 400 relay team of Bailey Powell, Lola Miars, Peters and Sinclair took first place (49.51) over Kingsley (49.53) and Traverse City St. Francis (49.77). Olivet’s 800 relay team (Peters, Sinclair, Miars and Kendall Eggerstedt) also found the top spot on the podium (1:44.67).
Pewamo-Westphalia won the 3,200 relay (9:40.94) with Julia Paxton, Katherine Schafer, Adelyn Thelen and Calista George. Lansing Catholic was second and Saugatuck finished third.
Montrose’s Addyson Stiverson won the shot put with an all-Finals record of 55 feet, 6½ inches. The previous record (50-9½) was set in 2021 by Bryon’s Sarah Marvin.
Second place went to Pewamo-Westphalia’s Jenna Spitzley with a toss of 38-1¾. “If you would have asked me a week ago, I didn’t think I would have been in the 38 range,” Spitzley said.
The Pirates senior also won the discus with a throw of 136-7. She credited her family for her success.
“I had my brother there,” Spitzley said. “He has been coaching me a lot and helping me.”
She will attend Hillsdale College in the fall and plans to throw the shot put, discus and the hammer at the collegiate level.
Olivia Beaudrie, of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, won the high jump with a leap of 5-4. Julia Sergeant, of Houghton Lake, took first place in the pole vault clearing 11 feet after finishing sixth in the event last spring.
“I am really happy with my progress this year,” Sergeant said.
Despite being the top seed, she was a little nervous coming into meet.
“There were a few girls I was a little intimidated by,” Sergeant said. “There were two girls I have never seen vault before, but I knew what I was capable of and I did it.”
Novella DeGraff, of Saugatuck, had a personal best of 10-9 in the pole vault to finish second. She also finished third in the long jump with a personal best of 17-2. Smantha Hopkins, of Harrison, was first with a leap of 17-4¾.
Both of DeGraff’s marks in the field events set school records. It was the second year DeGraff had competed at the Finals, although she missed last season’s meet due to a torn knee ligament. She also ran a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles for third place (14.83).
“Today has been pretty chaotic,” DeGraff said. “I planned to try my best, but I didn’t expect I would do as good as I am. My mentality was to have a good time.”
Lansing Catholic’s Grace Wonch (4:58.84) and Josie Bishop (4:58.89) took first and second, respectively, with personal bests in the 1,600 meters. Bishop won the 800 meters (2:16.07), while Wonch took the bronze. Wonch also claimed the 3,200 meters (10:53.12) and Tiya Feldpausch, of Olivet, was second. (10:58.84).
The reigning 100 hurdles champion Julia Hughes repeated with a run of 14.55 seconds. She took third in the 300 hurdles.
Erie Mason senior Giuliana Nastale repeated as the 100 champion in 12.11 seconds. Sinclair, of Olivet, was second. Ella Clause, of Clinton, ran a personal best (57.99) to claim the 400. Centreville's Diannah Schwartz finished first in the 100, 200, 400 and shot put adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) Olivet's Emily Peters, center, clears a hurdle on the way to a runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles race Saturday. (Middle) Montrose's Addyson Stiverson launches the shot; she set the all-Finals record in the event. (Click for more from Mary Wilson and John Willoughby/RunMichigan.com.)
Chip Hills Caps Perfect Season Perfectly
May 31, 2014
By John Leerar
Special to Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – Remus Chippewa Hills coach Sally Schafer wasn’t optimistic about her team’s chances halfway through the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Saturday at Houseman Field.
“Things weren’t going the way I thought they had to go the first half of the day,” Schafer said. “I thought we were going to have to score in the upper 40’s to win. And even with a perfect second half of the meet, that wasn’t going to happen. It was going to be an OK day.”
When asked where she thought her team would finish at that point in time, Schafer responded, “Third or fourth.”
However, the lower-than-anticipated point total turned out to be enough, as the Warriors won the meet and their first MHSAA Finals title with 34 points. Lansing Waverly was second with 31.
Chippewa Hills did not win a single event, but scored points consistently enough to build a lead.
“We scored in six events today, which is the most we’ve ever scored in since I’ve been coaching,” Schafer said. “All of the girls came through at the end and ran consistently across the board today. We faltered a little bit, and were disappointed here and there, but when it came down to the last race, they got it done and did what they needed to do.”
The race Schafer was referring to was the 1,600 relay, the last event of the afternoon. The Warriors came into that race 10 points ahead of Waverly, the top seed for that event. Chippewa Hills had to place in the top eight to secure the championship and did so, finishing sixth in a time of 4:03.87.
Senior Megan O’Neil was a major contributor for Chippewa Hills, scoring 16 points by herself with second-place finishes in the 800 and 1,600 runs.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet that (the 1,600) was Megan O’Neil’s last race,” Schafer said. “But she’s going to go on to bigger things. I’m sure she’s very happy her high school career ended like this.”
Schafer also made sure to give credit to her entire team. “This championship still took our entire team. We had 10 girls here today who all helped us win,” she added.
Chippewa Hills finished the season unbeaten.
The LP Division 2 1,600-meter record fell at Houseman Field. Junior Karrigan Smith of St. Johns edged out the previous record of 4:51.67 in that event, running a 4:51.53 while beating the rest of the field by more than two seconds.
“It’s such a great feeling,” Smith said. “This is the first state championship in my school’s history for the girls, so it’s a really important moment for me as well as my team. I’m just so thankful to be here.
“My goal during the race was to stay behind the lead girl and kick it in the last 200 meters. I’m just happy that I could execute today, and it’s a great feeling. I had no idea I was even close to the record until my teammates informed me.”
Spring Lake also made its presence known. The sister duo of Allie and Gabriella LeRoux took first and second, respectively, in the pole vault. Allie, a senior, finished with 11 feet, 8 inches, while her freshman sister Gabriella vaulted 11-5. Junior Carlyn Arteaga won the 800, finishing in 2:16.09.
“I’m happy with my performance today,” Arteaga said. “I’m glad everything worked out. My best time before this was 2:17, so this is a PR (personal record) for me. I qualified for the 400 as well as this race, but I decided to just concentrate on the 800. I wanted to go all in on this race and it paid off. I just started running the 800 as my main event this year, so I’m very happy about how it turned out.”
Senior Brittany Casey of Zeeland East dominated the field events, winning both the shot put and discus. She threw 43-1¼ in the shot put and a 138-10 in the discus.
“I’m still in shock about today. I’m so excited about my performance,” she said. “I was especially satisfied with my discus throw, which was a personal record by about six feet.”
Other field winners include Charley Andrews of Battle Creek Harper Creek in the high jump and Gabriella Collins of Mount Morris in the long jump. Race winners include Alison Rich of Haslett in the 100 hurdles, Josie Yesmunt of DeWitt in the 100 and 200 dashes, Zoe Eby of Carleton Airport in the 400, Hannah Coverdill of Marine City in the 300 hurdles and Kaela Theut of East Grand Rapids in the 3,200 run.
PHOTOS: (Top) Remus Chippewa Hills’ Kylie Schafer runs her leg of the 3,200 relay Saturday at Grand Rapids Houseman Stadium. (Middle) Chippewa Hills celebrates its first MHSAA championship. (Head shot) Karrigan Smith, St. Johns. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)