Sports in Brief: Jones wins Adidas Nationals; Spitters awarding grant; Bowling finals change | Local Sports

Jones wins Adidas Nationals

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Hunter Jones won the indoor 5,000-meter run at the 2021 Adidas Indoor Nationals Friday night at the Virginia Beach Sport Center.

The Benzie Central sophomore finished the race with a time of 14:49.76 to beat Ty Garrett, a sophomore in Highlands Ranch, Co., by less than a second. Garrett raced for a time of 14:50.57.

Both Jones and Garrett broke the sophomore record of 14:54.29, held by Elijah Armstrong of Pocatello, Idaho since March of 2013. Armstrong is now a sophomore at Boise State University.

Jones races in the 2 mile Saturday as well.

Pit Spitters to give $2,000 in equipment

TRAVERSE CITY — The Traverse City Pit Spitters and the Northwoods League Foundation are teaming up to award a grant, worth more than $2,000 of Rawlings youth baseball equipment.

In total, The Northwoods League Foundation will award 22 equipment grants to youth organizations in communities with NWL teams.

Organizations that qualify as a 501(C)(3) organization, school or school-based program or community-based organization. The organization must not be individual, for-profit business, political, or religious organization and provide opportunities for kids aged 9-12 to play within a community served by a NWL affiliate.

In 2019, the Pit Spitters first year, the grant was awarded to the Traverse City American Legion and in 2020 the grant was awarded to the Traverse City Dream Team.

To apply for the grant, visit www.PitSpitters.com. The deadline for application submissions is April 1, 2021.

MHSAA changes bowling postseason

EAST LANSING — The Michigan High School Athletic Association altered its 2021 girls and boys Bowling Regionals and Finals, scheduled to begin in March, out of COVID-19 protocols.

Regionals, typically a two-day competition with team competition Friday and singles Saturday, will still be two days, but boys will compete Friday and girls compete Saturday. Instead of bowling separate competitions to determine qualifiers for the team and singles Finals, all Regional participants will bowl four regular games on their designated day, with those scores determining the Finals qualifiers for both formats.

Two teams — instead of the traditional three — and 10 singles will advance to the MHSAA Finals to be bowled March 26-27. All teams will compete Friday and singles Saturday, as in the past, and traditional scoring will be used in the Finals.

“Bowling the boys and girls on separate days for Regionals will allow host bowling centers to spread competitors out among twice as many lanes,” the MHSAA’s press release read. “Fewer team qualifiers for Finals also will limit congestion at those four sites.”

Follow Andrew Rosenthal on Twitter @ByAndrewR