With the founder of the meet on hand, the 13th annual Garland Invitational was held Thursday, May 10, at a new venue for the first time.

Bruce Garland, a former Suttons Bay teacher, principal and coach, attended the meet to help out and was rewarded by watching several closely contested races, and a pair of meet records recorded by Glen Lake teammates Marissa Treece and Amber Therrien.

This year’s Garland Invitational, for the first time ever, was held at Glen Lake because Suttons Bay’s track is undergoing a renovation. The meet is also different from most track events in that two team members’ times in non-relay events were added together to determine final standings.

The top two “teams” for each individual event were awarded medals.

Suttons Bay was third and Glen Lake fifth in the boys’ meet, while the Laker girls were third and the Norse sixth.

Garland saw the emergence of Suttons Bay freshman distance runner Ben Wynsma, who had three first-place finishes and a second.

Suttons Bay coach Cody Inglis said Wynsma has a bright future for his track career, and he also credited Drew Palmer for “mentoring” his young teammate.

“I’m proud of the way Drew, who is a senior, worked hard with Ben, who is a freshman. The two did a great job together,” said Inglis.

Wynsma was part of the winning 3200-meter relay team of Brandon Morio, Mark Jasinki and Palmer (8:53). Palmer and Wynsma’s combined times of 21:56 in the 3200 and 9:49 in the 1600 earned the duo a pair of gold medals. Palmer and Wynsma also added a silver in the 800 meter (4:22).

Other top finishers for the Norse boys were Kegan Rummel and Nalen Brockman, second in discus in (226’ 7”); Eric Hernandez and John Visser, second in the 100; Kegan Rummel and Collin Gaudard, third in the pole vault (21’ 6”)’ Blaine Fritz, Alex Dingrando, Ryan Gardner and Morio, third in 1600 meter relay (3:45); Neil Bell and Fritz, third in the 400 meter (1:46); and Rummel and Jessie Bunker, third in the 110 hurdles (38.1).

For the Suttons Bay girls, Kelly Kerr and Jenny Mahla combined to win the high jump in 9’ 3”. Also posting top-three finishes were Elizabeth Adams and Cassandra Buffum, second in the 3200; Robin Ostrowski and Caleigh Lennerth, second in the 300-meter hurdles (1:56.7); Lennerth and Mahla, second in the 100 hurdles (37.7); Adams, Buffum, Lizzy Freed and Brianna Korson, third in the 3200 relay (10:42); and Korson and Adams, third in the 1600 (11:53.).

Standout performances for Glen Lake were turned in by Treece and Therrien, who posted meet records in winning the 800 (4:55.7) and 1600 (10:47.01). Treece and Therrien also joined Abbie Christiansen and Ashley Leach in winning the 1600 relay (4:20.46), and Treece added her fourth first-place of the day by combining with Nadine Gilmer in winning the 3200 (25:10.15).

“We had a perfect day for the meet. There was a slight breeze and warm temperatures. When you put that together with good competition it makes for great performances,” said Glen lake coach Paul Christiansen.

Other strong performances from Glen Lake came from Christiansen and Leach, who were second in the long jump (27’ 93⁄4”) and third in the 100 (28.31); Dani Frost and Trish Lootens, third in the shot put (56’ 1”); and Christiansen, Leach, Therrien and Anna Brown, third in the 400 meter with a season’s-best performance (54.81).

The Laker boys’ team received third-place finishes from Will Urquhart and Mike Kandel in the discus (214’ 9”); Weston Buchan and John Lee, third in the long jump (35’ 6”); Lee and Mike Keim, third in the 1600 (10:28); and Buchan and James Kozacek in the 100 (24.1).

The Glen Lake boys’ team competed in a meet Monday at Central Lake and took sixth place in the 17-team field. Manton was the overall winner.

Glen Lake coach Pete Edwards said that all of his athletes set personal records at the event. Points were awarded to the top eight athletes in each event, with medals for the top six.

Junior discus-thrower Will Urquhart took second place (128’ 1”) with a best-ever toss. Other medals went to Joey Czapek, Eric Otto, Lee and Keim, fourth in the 3200 relay (9:47); Colby Thoreson, fourth in the 100 (11.94); and Teddy Butrick, fourth in the 200 meter (24.65).

The next meet for both Suttons Bay and Glen Lake is Saturday at the Regionals in Frankfort. Field events and running prelims begin at 9:30 a.m., with the finals at 1 p.m.