TRAVERSE CITY -- A picture was worth some history.
Sophomore Rachel Zeppa became the first Grand Traverse Academy athlete to win an event at the 34th annual Record-Eagle Honor Roll track meet, edging out two-time defending champion Britt Frantz of Frankfort in a photo finish in the 100 meters.
"My coach told me to lean at the line and not before it and I guess that's what got me first," said Zeppa, who was clocked in 12.54
Zeppa came back to get Frantz in the 200 as well. Frantz had won the 100 and 200 at the last two Honor Roll meets and was runner-up in both as a freshman.
It also allowed Zeppa to avenge a loss to Frantz in the 200 at the regionals on May 17, not that the Grand Traverse Academy runner was looking to settle any score.
"She got me in the finals," Zeppa said. "But I got her in the semifinals and the prelims, but what can you say.
"I want to beat everyone. I want to be first. I'm not being cocky about it, but I want to go to the Olympics."
Frantz, who will get another shot at Zeppa in the 200 at the Division 4 state final, said the close race will pay dividends to her, too.
"It makes me better as a runner and I like the competition," said Frantz, who ran a 12.67 in the 100. "It's just how it goes."
Frantz said she may have gotten off to a little better start at the 100. The finish was so close it had to be reviewed several times before declaring Zeppa the winner.
"I got out of my blocks real well and kept turning my arms faster," she said. "We were dead-even pretty much the whole way."
Even the GT Academy coaches weren't sure who won.
"We couldn't tell," Reggie Horning said.
"I thought it was Rachel all the way," added Sarah Warnke, who still holds the Honor Roll 1600 relay record running for Benzie Central in 1999. "We had confidence in her."
And how could her coaches not considering how far Zeppa's come in a year. She's lowered her time by eight-tenths of a second in the 100 and has gone from a 27.8 in the 200 to the 26.06 she turned in on Tuesday.
"It feels great," Zeppa said. "The hard work paid off this year. I beat my times from last year and improved on them widely."
Zeppa wasn't the only sophomore to turn in a pair of victories. Hannah Meachum of TC St. Francis did the same in the hurdle events while TC Central's Maren Bahra also won two.
Meachum's races lacked the drama of the 100 and 200. Meachum won the 100 hurdles (15.95) by nearly a full second and won the 300 hurdles (48.54) by just under a second and a half.
"It's exciting," Meachum said of her two victories. "I've been working real hard this year and it's just fun to see the results."
Meachum qualified for state in both hurdles and the pole vault. Her best seed at state is in the pole vault, but she scratched out of the event at the Honor Roll.
"I didn't vault today because my coach didn't want me to do three with states coming up," she said.
Bahra posted her double-victory day in the long jump (16'21/2") and the 400 (1:01.33).
TC West athletes won a pair of field events as Ashley Leitner won the pole vault (10'4") and Margeaux Raymond the high jump (5'). Kingsley's Ashley Graves won the discus (114'2") while Bellaire's Molly Poel captured the shot put (39'91/2").
Poel's throw was her best this season by 11 inches, even in the cold and windy conditions.
"I guess it's good to do that right before states on Saturday," said Poel, who is seeded first in the shot put. "Hopefully I can do that again -- or better.
"I think I do better when I'm not nervous, when I just go out there and throw. Maybe I want to get it over with."
TC Central and TC West dominated the relays on Tuesday. The Titans won the shorter events, the 400 (53.29) and 800 (1:51.5), while Central took first in the 1600 (4:13.28) and 3200 (9:54.66).
TC Central also had the champions in the 1600 and 3200 with Katie Perkins and Taylor Mattarella (11:33.13), respectively. Benzie Central's Michaela Carnegie blew away the field in the 800 (2:23.7).
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