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The storms that had been forecast eventually swept over the four venues, and the accompanying lightning forced meet organizers to halt the proceedings several times.

Despite the distractions brought on by the weather, and having the meet stopped and re-started multiple times, the competitors remained focused. Voice certainly had no trouble keeping his goal of a state title in his mind.

Although he was denied the gold medal in the pole vault, Voice did send a bolt of lightning through the Ramblers spectators in attendance - and certainly his coach, Andy Place.

He finished third in the event, with a vault of 14 feet, 0.10 inches and thus earned All-State recognition, breaking his own school record twice as he went through the preliminaries.

The only miss he had was at 14 feet, 3 inches. Kyle Lund of Lakeview won the state championship at 14-9, and runnerup Monahan Brad of Hudson went 14-6.

Voice was All-State last year as well with a fourth place in the pole vault.

Boyne City finished with six points on Voice's third place. Detroit Country Day edged Williamston, 70-69, for the team title.

Natasha Bell became the first Boyne City female sprinter to become All-State, finishing seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.98 seconds. She also made it to the semifinals in the 100- meter dash.

"This is an awesome accomplishment," said Place. "She has been running great all year, and she deserves the All-State recognition. The competition at the state meet is tremendous.

"She had to run some of her best times all year to advance to out of the preliminary heats. She competed in the 100-meter dash at the state meet last year, but did not make it out of the preliminary heat. "Her goal at the beginning of the season was to make it to the 100-meter semifinal heat. She did that, and more, this year. I think the 200 meters is her best event."

Bell was the regional and conference champion in both the 100 and 200 this season. She was also part of the 1600-meter relay, which did not run until nearly 9 p.m. due to the weather delays.

Also running on that team for the Ramblers were Casmear Kerr, Caitlyn Wonski and Jessica Nichols.

It was the first time Nichols, a senior, qualified for the state meet during her excellent track career. The team ran close to their best time of the year.

"Jessica really had an outstanding season this year after coming off an outstanding volleyball season," Place said. "She is a tremendous all-around athlete.

"She ran her personal best in the 100-meter dash. She also ran a good 300-meter low hurdle race. She is our school and LMC recordholder in the 300 low hurdles."

Wonski, a junior, finished 10th in the pole vault last year, but struggled to a height of 9 feet this year. She vaulted a personal best of 10 feet earlier in the season. She is a two- time regional and conference champion in the pole vault.

"I am very proud of our athletes," said Place. "We have had a great season. Our All- State athletes contributed a lot to our team, but our successful season was truly a team effort."