The Eagles are Regional champions! Thanks to series of clutch performances, Grand Rapids Christian prevailed convincingly over East Grand Rapids, 162-139.5, as well as over the rest of the Regional field on a rainy day in Ionia on Saturday.

Rowan Cebulski led the way for GRC, switching back and forth between a series of events to earn valuable points for the team. Cebulski took second in the high jump with a leap of 5'2", as well as second in the pole vault (9'9"). In the long jump, she trailed coming into her final jump, but leapfrogged East's top jumper to take the Regional crown with a PR mark of 16'4.5". Cebulski also took third in the 100-meter hurdles.

In that hurdle race, Violeta Sanmarino was starting her own stellar day. The Eagle spinter earned the top seed in semifinals, and then ran a PR race of 15.39 to crush the field and earn a Regional title. Sanmarino then ran a leg of the 4 x 100-meter relay team with Olivia Brunink, Paris Rodgers, and Allie Groenenboom; the foursome won the race by over a second to earn the Regional championship with a mark of 51.35. Sanmarino finished her day with a strong race in the 300 hurdles, earning second in 49.25.

Cebulski and Sanmarino weren't the only Eagles with banner performances. Kijana Callwood finished second in the shot put with a PR toss of 33'0.25", and picked up an incredible win in the discus. On her final throw, Callwood tied a competitor from Forest Hills Eastern, 119'4" to 119'4". In the discus, however, ties are broken by looking at the second-best throw, and there, Callwood emerged victorious.

Madelyn Frens helped the Eagles keep piling on. After racing the 4 x 800-meter relay with Natalie VanOtteren, Payton Holtz, and Naomi Nelson, where the Eagles turned in a strong state-qualifying second-place finish of 9:46.93, Frens took second in the mile in 5:04, then raced to victory in the 3200 in 10:58. 

Also qualifying for the state championship was Olivia Brunink in the 100-meter dash. The senior flew to a new PR of 12.84 to earn second place; Brunink was also fourth in the 200 in 27.75.

Also qualifying for the State Championship and helping the Eagles pull away for the team victory was Natalie VanOtteren's 3200 race. The sophomore finished third, with her 11:25 time comfortably qualifying her for States.

It wasn't just the state qualifiers who earned the Eagles their victory, however. A deep roster of regional medalists put Grand Rapids Christian over the top. GRC earned huge points in the jumps with some incredible leaps from Ana Wittung in the pole vault, who cleared 8'6" for fourth place; Abigail Hoekzema in the high jump, where her PR leap of 5'0" earned her fourth; and from Nadia Schoon in the long jump, where she moved up from ninth in the prelims to take fifth with a strong mark of 14'10.25".

In the mile, Kristin Winkle ran a season's best performance to take eighth in 5:34. In the 800, Payton Holtz stepped up to run a PR time of 2:27.19, which earned the Eagle sophomore fourth. Anika Bouwman turned in a strong time of 1:05 in the 400 to take fifth, while in the 100, Marie Line Henderson battled through a hamstring issue, running an incredibly gutsy race to take fifth in a PR time of 13.21.

In the 300 hurdles, Za'Naya Mosley flew to a PR of 52.21, good enough for sixth. The Eagles 4 x 200 and 4 x 400 relay teams rounded out the scoring, with the 4 x 2 taking fourth and the 4 x 4 taking sixth.

Congratulations to the Eagles on an incredible win at the Regional Championships, and best of luck to all competitors who are advancing to the State Championship on Saturday, June 4th at Forest Hills Eastern. Come on out and support Eagle Athletics!