The tears in Kyle McKown’s eyes told the story as did the smile wrapped around Adam Burhans’ face.
In the final home meet of the 2018 season the Clare Pioneers did their long-time coaches proud.
As it was both Pioneer track and field programs earned Michigan Interscholastic Coaches Association (MITCA) Division 3 state titles Saturday at the Brookwood Athletic Complex, marking the first time in school history that both programs claimed a state title in the same year. One year ago the boys won the D3 crown while two years ago the girls did.
On Saturday they swept up the competition via gritty and gutty performances all day long.
On the girls side the Pioneers won their second D3 title in the last three years, finishing with 1,423 points. Adrian Madison was second with 1,361.50 points while Ida was third with 1,246.50.
On the boys side Clare won its second D3 MITCA title in as many years as it posted 1,487 points. Berrien Springs was runner-up with 1,427.50 while Ithaca landed ninth with 1,099.5 points.
In short it was a great day to be a Pioneer.
“It’s incredible, these girls picked up points all day long and knew exactly what they needed to do and they did it,” said a teary-eyed McKown in the moments following the meet. “The entire team came together to accomplish this and it’s something that the whole program gets to share, from the middle school on up through the high school. It’s a great feeling.”
For the Lady Pioneers they had it pretty much wrapped up heading into the final event. The high-fives on the infield at Brookwood spoke to this share knowledge. On the boys side it came down to the last event, the 1,600 relay. Watching the final race from the press box Burhans knew his team was on the cusp, yet he also knew if his team had a false start it would drop them to second.
There was not false start and the Pioneers finished second in event to lock up back-to-back state titles.
“It was a little bit bittersweet, but awesome at the end there,” said Burhans. “It was a fight with Berrien Springs all day long. We had some things work out our way in terms of disqualifications by other teams but our guys also stepped up.”
Early on in the meet Burhans was pacing the press box about to rip his hair out after one of his top sprinters pulled up with an injury in the 100 dash. The Pioneers also had a hurdler stumble, thus early on it wasn’t looking good. Yet, from the mid-point on out the hosts dominated via their depth.
“That hurt, but other guys stepped up and gave us MVP-type performances today,” Burhans added. “Jake Hawley was our fill-in guy today and he did a great job. Our relay teams were great and our throwers went way over the top. Xavier Martin was also great, winning the 200 and finishing runner-up in the 400. All of our kids overachieved today and that makes me proud.”
Much like the boys team the girls also had to overcome some adversity. Senior Erin Weeks played the role of utility performer and she came up big in every instance.
“She’s our catalyst, she gets us going,” said McKown of Weeks.
Weeks said, “We weren’t supposed to win today, but we knew if we moved up in certain spots we could make it happen. Collectively, we all moved up in every event. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to win but we did it and it’s a great feeling.”
Senior Zac Stickler added, “Going back-to-back is pretty special. What makes it more special is we have a great senior class who wanted to repeat. This is my last home event ever at Clare so that makes it even better.”
The Pioneers will also compete at the MHSAA state finals in Comstock Park on Saturday looking to pick up team titles in the D3 finals at Comstock Park High School.