State meet shatters records

What a day! At Division I, despite nasty winds, the athletes came through big-time. We saw two all-time state records: Sarah Birkmeier vaulted 13-0, and East Kentwood's boys blasted 41.47 for the 4 x 100. [Note: this is the time of year where you hear people using the term "state records" very loosely, or when you hear it stated as a rule: "state records can only be set at the state meet." Nonsense--state records can be set at any legit meet. State meet records can only be set at the state finals.]

I also noticed at least two other class records, in addition to Birkmeier's (an 11th grade state record). Drake Johnson of Pioneer clocked 14.44 into a headwind for a 9th grade hurdle record, and Nick Kaiser's 1:52.13 in the 800 is the new 10th grade record. There may be more, but I have a lot of results to sift through. Surprisingly, Mike Atchoo's 4:07.71 is not an 11th grade record--Dathan Ritzenhein was a junior when he clocked his state record 4:05.9.

I'll have more on the state finals tomorrow--right now I am far too tired to make any sense at all. Tune in tomorrow for more of the story behind the results. We have tons of photos, and athlete interviews by David Mitchell.