By COLBY SCHIKORA
Advance Reporter
HILLSDALE – For the second consecutive season, the Blissfield Lady Royals track and field team ran down its competition to finish atop the standings in the LCAA.
Blissfield finished off its regular season at Hillsdale High School for the LCAA Championship meet scoring 155 points, followed by Ida’s 142. Blissfield finished 7-0 in dual meets this season.
Four girls finished first team All-LCAA: Hope Miller in the 800, 1600, and 3200, and Hailey Sills, Kaleea Braun, Anna Hallett, and Mollie Yeager in the 4×800.
“This group of girls are amazing,” Blissfield coach Brian Sills said. “They show up every day ready to get it done. Like I said at the beginning of the season, I don’t have as many girls as I’d like, but the ones I do have are super talented.”
Blissfield demonstrated not only their ability to win meet-in and meet-out, but did it through persevering the weather throughout the season. Competing in track and field also means competing with mother nature, and the Blissfield girls did it even when their coach didn’t expect them to.
“We joked that we might not remember how to run in dry conditions,” Sills laughed. “Before our dual with Ida, when it looked like the weather might be rough – and it was – I told the girls that I was okay with it because there isn’t a tougher group of girls in the LCAA. Not one time this season did I have a girl ask to skip an event at meet. I actually had the opposite, where I told girls they didn’t have to run and they ran anyway.”
Finding themselves as the defending LCAA champions, the Lady Royals were now the hunted, not the ones doing the hunting. Blissfield embraced the goal of winning another league title against other talented schools – and succeeded.
“We knew winning a league title was a possibility and a title was a goal of ours,” Sills said. “The LCAA is always tough; Ida is already qualified for team states, and Madison will likely qualify this week.”
Next up for Blissfield is the regional meet at Madison on Saturday. The Blissfield girls are more than capable of leaving regionals victorious, but the focus is moving as many girls along to the state meet as possible.
“If we compete like we are capable of, a regional title isn’t out of the question,” Sills said. “That said, my focus is going to be advancing as many girls to the state meet as possible, not necessarily maximizing points to try to win the regional.”
Blissfield girls track has also qualified for MITCA team states in Manton on May 23. With hopes of still finishing higher, Blissfield is currently ranked sixth in Division 3.
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