DEARBORN – Mother Nature stopped long enough to allow the Downriver League track and field meet between Southgate Anderson and Dearborn Edsel Ford to come to an end Tuesday.
This was the second of four scheduled dual league matches for the two schools. Anderson last week opened the page with a sweep of Taylor High, while Edsel Ford saved the split on the road against Trenton.
By the end of the day, it was another divisive result for the home Thunderbirds. Edsel Ford’s girls’ team won against visiting Anderson, while the boys’ Titans earned their second league win.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Track and Field – Southgate Anderson vs Dearborn Edsel Ford
BOYS | Anderson 76, Edsel Ford 61
A total of 11 wins in 17 events led Anderson to their second team win in as many double-league games. That included winning more than half of the 12 track events as well as all but one on the field side of the ledger.
Among the most notable athletes who contributed to the team’s victory for the Titans was Seth Bodary, who shined on the bench and on the field. Bodary contributed three event wins including one individual effort. That came in the long jump (19′-1), where he beat the runner-up, Edsel’s Ubaidullah Abdul-Rahim, by nearly two feet (17′-2).
Bodary then was part of two winning runs for Anderson. He first teamed with Tenelle Clemons, Hunter Druchniak, and Malik Fadhl to win the 4×200-meter relay (1:37) before joining LaVelle Hughes, Adonnis Golidy, and Isiah Daviston to win the 4×100-meter relay (46.85).
Clemons also earned a pair of individual victories on Tuesday. First, he and Fadhl finished 1-2 in the high jump (5′-6 and 5′-3, respectively). Then back on the track, it was Clemons (54.15) followed by Druchniak and Daviston rounding out the top three in the 400m.
Meanwhile Daviston was the winner of the 100 meters (12.02), narrowly beating Edsel Ford’s teammates in the aforementioned Abdul-Rahim and Trav’on Foster.
Anderson also took first place in both hurdle events with Christian Audette winning the 110m (18.92) and Jackson Sage later winning the 300m (44.71). Sage also teamed with Artemio Gonzales, Maks Kiss, and Antoine Johnson to win the two-mile relay (9:24).
Back on the side of the field, Drayden Long gave the Titans a pair of victories by winning both shooting events. For the first time in a long time he outscored 10 competitors in the shot put (42′-4) before doing the same in the discus (91′).
Despite being satisfied with three wins on the day, Abdul-Rahim was one of Edsel’s best performers overall on Tuesday. The freshman led a field of 23 runners in the 200 meters (24.41).
Elsewhere for the Thunderbirds, they got a strong showing from another sophomore Abdu Eljahmi, who won both the 800m (2:15) and 1600m (4:59). Henry Vena also had a good day taking first place in the 3200m race (11:53); he finished runner-up to Eljahmi in the 1600m.
Eljahmi was also part of Edsel’s lone relay victory, anchoring the team of Caleb Wilson, Salman Awin, and Deveon Morris to win the 4x400m (3:55).
And on the field side, the Thunderbirds’ lone win came in the form of Blaise Kane, who cleared 9′-6 for first place in the pole vault.
GIRLS | Edsel Ford 77, Anderson 59
Just as the Anderson boys did, the Edsel girls also walked away with first-place awards in 11 events on Tuesday, winning seven of the track events and four of the five field events.
Fiona Kane won three individual events for the Thunderbirds, two on the track side and one more in the field. The sophomore bested everyone in the 100m (13.68) and 200m (28.20) while also jumping more than anyone else in the long jump (16′-3).
Kane was also on the winning local relay team, teaming with Maisy Gerlach, Sarah Reda, and Ava Steinhebel to win the 4x100m (54.18). Gerlach and Reda were first and second in another first-place relay, this time teaming with Margaret Malone and Jewelvia Griffin to win the 4x200m (1:58).
Steinhebel was victorious in the high jump (5′), an event in which he was champion at the Dearborn All-Area Championships this past weekend. The Wayne State University recruit finished second to Kane in the long jump as well. And Griffin on Tuesday took the first place in the 400 meter race (1:08); finished second to Steinhebel in the high jump.
Edsel also placed first in both obstacle races. The winner of the 100m hurdles race was Rayyan Abdrabboh (19.74), who finished third out of four runners in the 300m hurdles and won with teammate Mackenzie Grizzell (56.51).
The Thunderbirds represented the top spot in both hurling events on the field side as well. The shot was eventually won by Jaelyn Dexter (26′-2) while Tashauna Powell-Samuel was the winner in the box (61′-5).
Arguably the most impressive athlete Tuesday regardless of gender was Anderson’s Sparrow Centeno, who accounted for four of his team’s six wins.
Individually, Centeno was victorious in both the 800 meters (2:34) and 1600 meters (5:57), the latter of which he won by nearly a full minute. The Titans senior was part of two relays, including a strong comeback effort in the 4x800m relay, joining teammates Victoria Czyzewski, Marina Borg, and Julianne Nadolski (12:05).
Centeno and Borg then later teamed up with Mariah Crump and Joannea Ruci to win the 4x400m to complete Tuesday’s meet (4:56).
Elsewhere, Nadolski claimed a personal best in the two-mile (3200m) race (13:58). And freshman Alana Gomez scored the Titans’ lone win on the field side as she and Edsel’s Isabella Marcoux tied the game-high 6′.
UP NEXT
The next event for both teams comes next Friday, April 26 at the Marauder Invitational hosted by DRL member school member Gibraltar Carlson. It will be a conference clash of its kind as it will be a battle between DRL and Huron League schools.
After that, the two programs will resume the DRL conference portion of their schedule next week. Anderson will return home and host Lincoln Park on Apr 30 (3:30). Edsel meanwhile after participating in the Rams Relays hosted by Flat Rock on May 3 will host the aforementioned Carlson on May 7 (3:30p).