Kiaunis and Lundquist receive CN Meet scholarships

CADILLAC — A great Monday led to a very good Tuesday for two area student-athletes.

Anthony Kiaunis of Reed City and Madisyn Lundquist of Cadillac are the scholarship winners at the 51st annual Cadillac News Track and Field Meet, held Monday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Each will receive $2,725 toward their college education. Funds for scholarships come from entry receipts and advertising in the program distributed at the event.

Scholarships are based on News Meet performance, academic performance, academic involvement, and community involvement.

Kiaunis won the 800 meters Monday in 2:02.51, was second in the 1600 in 4:33.54 and then ran the benchmark leg of the Coyotes’ 1600 relay that took first place in 3: 35.33.

“It’s really awesome,” Kiaunis said. “I didn’t know much about it until a month ago when my coach told me there was a scholarship involved in the competition.

“I was just going to run the 1600 and say it was good. Once I knew that, I had to put my name out there and organize more events.

Kiaunis came in second behind teammate Gus Rohde in the mile and said he struggled.

“I was a little disappointed with my performance in the mile,” he said. “For two laps I was worried because I started cramping, so it didn’t work.

“I was pretty happy with the 800. I felt comfortable in the first lap, then I rolled in the last 50 meters. The 4×400 also seemed to be a very smooth race. We changed the lineup, me last. My brother (Andrew) did a great job getting a big lead in that first leg.

Kiaunis graduated from Reed City High School with a 3.62 GPA and plans to attend Muskegon Community College in the fall to study business. He will also be a member of the Jayhawks cross country and track and field programs.

He helps with the Coyotes’ youth running camp in the summer and also hosted a disc golf fundraiser for the athletics program this year.

“Anthony always puts his team first and is a selfless leader,” Reed City coach Theresa Sims said.

“This was demonstrated during his regional 4×800 race when he lost his shoe during handoffs and not only completed his portion of the race, but did not relinquish the lead of his team.”

Lundquist is also grateful to receive the Cadillac News Meet Scholarship.

“I’m very grateful,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting it, if I’m honest. But I’m really happy to have won.

Lundquist won the pole vault Monday at 10 feet, 6 inches and narrowly missed what was a meet-record jump of 10-10.

She won the 400 in 1:01.69, ran a leg of the 800 relay, setting the meet record, finished first in 1:46.48, then anchored the 1600 relay to a first-place finish in 4:15.95.

“The competition really meant a lot to me this year because we had a track,” Lundquist said. “It’s the first time I’ve won four events.

“I told them before the 4:00 p.m. relay that we had to go win it because it was our last race in this stadium.”

The Cadillac track was not available for competition in 2022, then construction/renovation was underway last year.

Lundquist will graduate from Cadillac High School with a 3.97 GPA and plans to attend Saginaw Valley State University to major in marketing and earn a degree in business administration. She will also be a member of the Cardinals track and field team.

She is a member of the school’s National Honor Society, Junior Rotarian, Class Council and Student Council.

Lundquist has worked on Project Christmas, volunteered at Forest View Elementary School, done peer tutoring, worked at the Senior Expo and helps young student-athletes learn to excel in track.