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. Bishop 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.)
Fowler Girls Add Team Title 12, Addison's Brown Wins 3 to Double Career Count
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2025
HUDSONVILLE – Addison’s Molly Brown lunged toward the finish line, dropped her head and quickly realized she had run her final race.
The senior standout wrapped up a stellar high school career by winning her last event Saturday, the 300 hurdles, and capped the day with three individual championships at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals at Baldwin Middle School.
“I was thinking about it before the race, and I was like, ‘This is it. let’s make it count,’” Brown said. “I crossed the finish line knowing it wasn’t one of my best races of the season, but I crossed the finish line and my immediate thought was, ‘Thank you God,’ because He’s gotten me here.”
Brown also won the 100 hurdles for the third straight year and the 100 dash, while finishing third in the long jump.
She ended with six career Finals individual titles.
“For me to win three state titles my senior year, I’m just so thankful,” Brown said. “I’m a super competitive person and so I never want to lose, and I wanted to win all four. But this was the best long jump final that I’ve ever seen at this state meet, so I’m happy with my third (place).”
Fowler put forth another dominating effort to win the team title for the second-straight year. The Eagles racked up 70 points for the convincing victory.
Frankfort, which won a pair of relays (400 and 800), placed runner-up with 43 points. Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep edged Addison by one point to take third.
“Last year I didn't share with them that much as far as seed, but this year I was straight up with them and told them we were seeded with a little bit of a lead and so let's go build on it and the finish will take care of itself,” Fowler coach Neil Hufnagel said. “I think we felt more relaxed and had more fun today than we did last year.
“We had four tremendous seniors who all have high goals and expectations for themselves in everything they do, and they really took our team from the start of the year and gave them that leadership and motivation that we needed to get to a high level at the state meet.”
Senior Ella Hufnagel (also Neil’s daughter) was the lone event winner for the Eagles, leaping to a victory in the long jump.
“Our coach said he was going to be more open with us about the seeding,” she said. “And at practice he said that the target was going to be on us, but we should use that as confidence and go out and race like we do every week. We don't have to do anything special to make it happen.”
Fowler’s depth played a major factor, especially in the sprint relays as they placed runner-up in the 400 and 800.
“Ella had a great day, and what freed her up to run four high-quality individual events is tremendous depth on our team,” Neil Hufnagel said. “It’s as much a credit to our sprint corps that could cover the relays and place high in the sprint relays without her and free her up to score team points where we could best use her.”
Fowler now has won 12 Finals team titles.
“Our underclassmen stepped up huge for us, and I’m pleased with how I did,” Ella Hufnagel said. “No better way to go out than ending on back-to-back championships, and to do it with my dad as my coach … I’m forever grateful.”
Mason County Central senior Payton Haynes repeated as champion in the pole vault (10-3), while Johannesburg-Lewiston senior Allie Nowak also made it back-to-back titles with a victory in the 800 (2:18.45).
Unionville-Sebewaing junior Layla Bolzman won the 200 for the second-straight year with a time of 25.74 seconds, and Whitmore Lake sophomore Kaylie Livingston cruised to a repeat win in the 3,200 (11:03.47).
Hillsdale Academy, which took fifth as a team, won the 1,600 and 3,200 relays.
PHOTOS (Top) Addison's Molly Brown, second from right, crosses the finish line first in the 100 hurdles championship race at Baldwin Middle School. (Middle) Fowler's Ella Hufnagel, far left, faces against Alcona's Addi Beatty and Saginaw Nouvel's Claire Long, among others, in the 200 final. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)