Two boys break high jump record at 51st Cadillac News competition

CADILLAC — The boys’ high jump record at the Cadillac News track meet has stood strong since 1975.

No longer.

McBain junior Ben Rodenbaugh and Marion senior Braden Prielipp both jumped 6 feet, 7.5 inches to set a new high jump record at the 51st Cadillac News Track and Field Meet Monday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The previous record was 6-7, set by Ed Vanderber of Kalkaska.

“I could tell that once I got to six feet and cleared that pretty easily, I knew I had a good chance of, at least, competing for a PR and even getting that meet record” , Rodenbaugh said.

Before the competition, Rodenbaugh said he knew he would compete with Prielipp to win the event and possibly break the record. Rodenbaugh finished first with the fewest failed attempts. Prielipp finished second.

“It feels good because I know that at least my name will be in this paper for a long time, hopefully,” Rodenbaugh said.

Prielipp’s record-breaking jump came after a failure at last year’s Cadillac News meet in Lake City. Prielipp said he was confident in his ability to break the record after consistently improving 6-7 and 6-8 throughout the season.

“It was a very long-standing record,” he said. “It was nice to see it go down.

Rodenbaugh and Prielipp will both compete in the U.S. high jump this Saturday. Rodenbaugh will be at the MHSAA Division 3 state finals in Kent City, while Prielipp will be at the MHSAA Division 4 state finals in Hudsonville.

Reed City junior August Rohde nearly broke another meet record in the 1,600 meters. Rohde clocked 4:20.71, missing the record by 0.14 seconds.

Despite setting a personal best, Rohde was not satisfied with Monday’s results. He said he felt good before the race, but had a slow third lap.

“There’s always next year,” he said.

Rohde was also the second leg of Reed City’s 1600 relay, which finished first with a time of 3:35.33.

Before the Division 3 state finals, Rohde said he would compete in the 3200 relay. He said he thought his team had a good chance of winning.

He is also deciding whether to compete in the 800 or 1600 in the United States. Rohde said he was leaning toward running the 1600.

“I also have a chance to put a really good chance in there, so I’m excited,” Rohde said.

The Cadillac relay teams had great success Monday. Their 3,200 relay (8:45.78), 800 relay (1:33.82) and 400 relay (44.89) teams each finished first.

Sophomore Alex Gebhard and senior Nolan Nixon ran the first two legs of the 3200 relay. Nixon said they had a different plan than usual for the race, as they were looking to build a big advance to begin.

In the end, their plan worked as their final two runners managed to close out the race for Cadillac.

“It feels good,” Gebhard said. “We put in the effort and it finally paid off. »

Other track winners included Caleb Miller of McBain in the 100 (11.24), Darin Kunkel of Lake City in the 200 (22.65), Andrew Kiaunis of Reed City in the 400 (53.32), Anthony Kiaunis of Reed City in the 800 (2:02.51), Mesick’s Kyle Redman in the 3,200 (10:15.51), McBain’s Eli Wilt in the 110 hurdles (15.98) and McBain’s Jacob Hart in the 300 hurdles (41.74).

Other field event winners included Manton’s Carter Helsel in the shot put (53-1.5), McBain’s Kameron Nethaway in the discus (128-11), Reed City’s Jack Deitsch in the long jump (20- 0.5) and Robbie Root of Lake City in the pole vault (11). -6).

College teams also participated in this year’s competition. Winners included Manton in the 1600 mixed relay (4:11.05), Manton’s Gabe Helsel in the 100 (12.10) and Reed City’s Abraham Kiaunis in the 1600 (5:04.65).