Athletes in the Grand Rapids Area Catholic Elementary Athlete Council (GRACEAC) set a range of new track records this spring. Way to go!
Competitors from St. Anthony of Padua in Grand Rapids were especially impressive, setting new records multiple times. Eighth grader Katie Clifford twice broke the senior women’s pole vault record, which was 9’6” entering this season. Clifford topped that record with a 9’9” vault on April 28 and then 10’0” on May 6. Then on May 13, she eclipsed that by vaulting 10’6”! Her effort placed her top among Michigan middle schoolers and among the top six nationally, according to Athletic.net. Katie was featured in Mlive and will compete for West Catholic High School, where she’s going in the fall.
A junior girls 400 meter relay team from St. Anthony set new records this season, too. The record was 1:00.06 entering this season. Fifth and 6th graders Reese Polega, Lauren Ignatoski, Jocelyn Hipp and Ally Olszewski ran it in 59.60 seconds on May 6. They beat that on May 13, running 58.86 seconds.
On the boys’ side, the 5th and 6th grade team from Our Lady of Consolation in Rockford and St. Patrick in Parnell set a new junior boys 400 meter relay record. Entering this season, the record was 1:00.93. Cody Weber, Joop Schulten, Bryce Fongers and Levi Mills ran it in 58.86 seconds on April 28.
Quinton Bauer, an 8th grader at Holy Spirit in Grand Rapids, set a new senior men’s 800 meter record. On May 13, he ran in 2:14.31, topping the previous record of 2:15.40.
A new record was also set in the junior men’s 800 meter. Jacob Brown, a 6th grader at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Belmont ran in 2:22.36 on May 13, beating a 26-year-old record of 2:23.40.
Congratulations to our athletes!