*Courtesy of the Cadillac News

HUDSONVILLE — Aiden Harrand knew what the bigger picture was.

The points meant way more than the times.

Way, way, way more.

The Buckley junior phenom was so glad she could contribute to that bigger picture because she remembers the other side of the coin.

It all paid off on a scorching Saturday as Harrand and her teammates won the MHSAA Division 4 Track and Field state title at Hudsonville’s Baldwin Middle School.

Anchored by Harrand’s three first-place finishes and one by freshman Brooklynn Frazee, the Bears totaled 52 points to win the title. Portland St. Patrick was second at 49 and Indian River Inland Lakes third at 38.

“It’s the most amazing thing ever,” Harrand said after the long, hot day had finally wrapped up. “My freshman year, I came in with two girls and so to come back my junior year and have a team win it means the world to me.

“That’s why I do this.”

Buckley coach Jolie King was overflowing in her praise of her team — both boys and girls — for what it accomplished Saturday, along with a ton of community support in the stands and around the complex.

“The opportunity to do this was amazing,” she said. “They knew what they were capable of doing and then came in and did it. They did better than they thought they could. They battled the heat, but so did every other team.

“We just did what we needed to do. This is a family right here and the support we’ve had from our community is unmatched. What our parents did for us today … we feel like champions regardless if we had won it or not.”

That included air conditioning.

Yes, someone brought an air conditioner to the state track finals in hopes of keeping the athletes a little cooler on a day when temperatures on the track were in the 90s under a relentless sun.

“Our principal brought it for us thinking we could seal it in the tent but it didn’t work,” Harrand said. “My dad is an electrician so he wired it up for us and it still didn’t work (in the tent).

“So we were just wrapping ourselves around it individually. It was so nice.”

Nice wouldn’t even come close to Harrand’s day, though.

She delivered a performance with four events — including the three firsts in track’s longest races — that made her the buzz of the day.

Harrand started by winning the 1,600-meter run in 4:56.54 before coming back to win the 800 in 2:17.08 and the 3200 in 11:14.90. She finished by anchoring the 1600 relay team (Frazee, Kinsey Peer, Addisen Harrand) to an eighth-place finish in 4:18.46 that secured the title after St. Patrick took second in the meet’s final event.

While those times are slower than Harrand’s usual blistering pace, she was more focused on getting the points for the team.

“I wanted the (1600) record (4:51.73) but I am a junior and I have next year,” she said. “Winning as a team meant way more to me. I knew I had the 3200 and I knew that was going to be tough.”

Harrand felt like she had more competition in the 800 and 3200 but she easily won both races. Officials allowed coaches to throw water on their runners in 3,200 as they ran the backstretch because of the heat. It also led to one of Harrand’s lighter moments.

“I didn’t care about my time … I was just holding on for dear life in the 800,” Harrand said. “I was terrified because the other girls were right there behind me and I knew they weren’t giving up.

“The two-mile was bad … it was rough. The water was nice but our principal hit me in the face and I was like, whoa! Then my coach hit me in the face with it a few times, too, but it was great.

“I wanted that race and I wanted it for my team so I had to do it.”

Frazee, a sprinter, didn’t have to worry as much about saving her legs as she was in track’s three shorter events with the 100, 200 and 400, along with the 1600 relay.

She won the 100 dash in a personal-best 12.47 seconds before taking second in the 200 dash in another PR at 26.36 seconds. Frazee added three more points by finishing sixth in the 400 dash at 1:01.75 out of the middle of three heats, as well.

“I was really confident coming into the 100 and I was just so excited,” she said. “The 200 was really good and that other girl was just out so fast.

“I was proud of myself, though, because I PRed and broke the school record again.

And the team title was the icing on the cake.

“Coming into this, we knew we had a chance when we qualified nine girls,” Frazee said. “It was amazing.

“We knew we could do it … we just had to work hard as a team.”

Buckley tied for sixth on the boys’ side with a pair of relay teams winning state titles.

The 800 relay of Jake Romzek, Jeremiah Pasbjerg, Jackson Kulawiak and Nick Simon took first in 1:30.76 while the same foursome took first in the 1600 relay in 3:29.13 when Simon held off the challenger from Concord down the stretch.

Romzek, Kulawiak and Simon are seniors, making that 1600 relay quite emotional for King and her boys. A lot of tears were shed in the waning minutes of the meet when it hit them that was their final race together.

“We came into it knowing that we had won it last year and we’ve got the same team again so we’ve got to win it again, you know,” Simon said. “My legs were a little tired after six different races but we still managed to get it done so I am pretty happy.”

Simon got the baton in second place in the 800 relay but made it up down the stretch.

“I got it when we were in second so I knew I had to go once I got the baton,” he said. “Once I was on the corner, I was gone.”

Simon also earned all-state honors with a third-place finish in the 100 dash in 11.17 seconds and a fourth in the 200 dash in 22.45 seconds. The 3200 relay of Garret Ensor, Pasbjerg, Kulawiak and Matthew Bently was sixth in 8:22.70.

Northern Michigan Christian senior Isaac Bowden went out on top, too, as he won the pole vault title at 13-feet.

None of the final three competitors in event cleared 13-3 Saturday and Bowden took first on fewer misses.

“That’s kind of the interesting thing about pole vault and high jump is that sometimes you don’t succeed but you do,” Bowden said.

“The order of the other guys’ placings isn’t what I expected because like half of the top eight from last year are here again.

“We have five guys over 13 feet and 13 feet ends up being the ending height.”

Regardless, it’s a state title.

“It’s pretty big,” Bowden said. “It’s been the goal for me ever since I finished third last year. I had the same height as second place and it went down to faults, too.”

Fellow senior Nathan Eisenga was on the podium with an all-state finish in the high jump as he took fourth at a personal-best leap of 6-1. Eisenga and Bowden, along with Collin DeKam and Tucker Tossey, took sixth in the 1600 relay in 3:37.54, as well.

Marion junior Braden Prielipp took second in the high jump at 6-7, a year after winning the D4 title in the event.

He was beaten out by Fruitport Calvary Christian sophomore Bradley Richards, who went 6-10 on Saturday.

Mason Salisbury wrapped up his standout career by taking third in the 300 hurdles in a personal-best time of 41.95 seconds while Salisbury and Braden Prielipp joined Dru Van Epps and Gavin Prielipp on the 800 relay that took sixth in 1:32.45.

On the girls’ side, senior Harley Bear took fourth in the discus at 117-6 and fifth in the shot put at 36-2.25.

Mesick senior Colton Eckler earned all-state honors in the 100 dash, as well, as he took sixth in 11.29 seconds.

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