Added on April 7, 2025 Sara Swanson

Manchester track and field pre-season outlook

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Grant Johnson long jumping. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

submitted by Michael Coltre, Coach, Manchester Track and Field

The Manchester Track and Field program is off and running for its spring season. This season will be like no other as the team has high expectations with a good blend of returning talent and newcomers and will also be juggling the construction going on around the athletic complex for the new eight-lane track project. Manchester currently has an undersized six-lane track, which is not a standard track size and is limiting on what you can do. The current track is at the end of its life and needs a structural boost, which has brought about this project.

The expansion to eight lanes will allow for the potential to host the Conference Championship Meet and Regional, as well as double duals and more teams at the annual Manchester Metric Relays. It will also create more space on the track in practice, which will improve training and safety. This Track Complex should be on par with some of the best schools in the area and will improve our athletic setup for all sports. The track program is the largest athletic program in the school system that will benefit many of the students who go to Manchester.

Some of Coach Coltre’s best memories attending Manchester Community Schools was spending six seasons running track for the Flying Dutchmen. It’s the sport that makes you a better athlete for your other sports, it’s great at improving your mental toughness, and it gives you the opportunity to succeed as a teammate and an individual. The funds for this project were approved by the voters of Manchester in the recent bond. The Track Program thanks you!

The team is excited about it but needs to be patient and creative for practice this season. With construction and demo already underway the team has had to adjust and recreate their field event areas (this is still in process but hopefully will be up to par shortly). For many who don’t know, track is not a sport where you just go and run around in a grass field and call it good. All but a couple events require precise markings, equipment, and surfaces to practice on with specialized equipment like spikes, hurdles, and 12- to 14-foot-long pole vault poles. There is a lot of technique and skill in this sport. This makes practicing difficult if these areas are missing or displaced. It would be like a basketball team not having a ball or rim to practice on or a soccer team not having access to a ball or goal nets at practice. This project has been something that has been needed for a while and the track has needed the TLC, so the team will overcome this adversity. However, the team could not be more thrilled that they will have a new track with new field event areas next season!

Last season, the boys finished 4–1 in the conference dual meet schedule and 2nd in the East division behind Conference Champ Napoleon. They would finish T-5th overall after the conclusion of the Conference Championship meet. The boys also finished in 6th place in their D3 Region last year. The girls finished 3–2 in the East division and T-7th overall, trailing only Napoleon and Conference champ Grass Lake in the East. Both look to move up the standings this year.

The team will also be moving to a new division and region this year. The Dutch will be in D4 for the first time and their new Regional is in Concord on Friday, May 16. The boys will attempt to win their first Regional crown since 2007 and the girls will try to win their first Regional ever.

Leading off the Flying Dutchmen are their two returning State qualifiers in juniors: Grant Johnson (400m and 300m hurdles) and Siera Jedele (100m hurdles). Both are looking to expand their success into more events at the State level this season. The Dutch are also looking for big years from seniors Nathan Fletcher and Faith Branner in shot put and discus, Sawyer Lutton in the hurdles, and Jesse Sangster and Brady Reed in the pole vault.

Juniors Cade Sayer (800m and 400m) and Valorie Hieber (shot put, hurdles, 200m, and 400m) are looking to build on their success from last year. Fellow juniors Olivia Woods (sprints and HJ), Lucy Baran (distance), and Justin Gale (distance) are set for good seasons. The sophomore class led by Jayden Johnson (sprints), Alec Dodak (distance), Ethan Hittle (sprints and pole vault), Caroline Mason (distance and HJ), Teagan Clarke (pole vault and distance), and Amanda Hieber (distance) are all ready to take the next step in the conference and region.

The Throwing Crew is still young outside of Fletcher and Branner with many underclassmen continuing to get stronger and move up in the rankings, with Brett and Lucas Brothers to keep an eye on among many more. Senior Rocco Guido has also moved to the throwing events this season and could contribute an added boost to this group!

The Dutch also have a solid influx of new talent in junior Walter Ahrens (sprints and LJ) and freshmen Gavin Horky, Brennan Woods, Eli Finnegan, and Gavin Lindeman. On the women’s side, newcomers Natasha Seaman, Elle Woods, and Audrina Lauer are all ready to contribute on day one.

This year the Dutch will not have any home events because of the construction so the annual Manchester Metric Relays will take a one-year pause before returning next year on their new track. We will have many events close to home this season, including three at Napoleon and two at East Jackson.

The first meet of the year is set for Friday, April 11, at the Napoleon Invitational. The dual meet schedule starts on Tuesday, April, 15, at Grass Lake against East Jackson. The Dutch add a new meet this year on one of the best track facilities around at the Hillsdale Gina Relays on Saturday, April 19. The Conference Championship is set for Friday, May 9, in East Jackson. The new Regional in Concord is set for Friday, May 16. The season will wrap up at the Selby All-Area Classic on Tuesday, May 27, and conclude at the D4 State Meet on Saturday, May 31, in Hudsonville at Baldwin MS.

Our full schedule and results can be found on Athletic.net. You can follow along with our social media on Facebook at “MHS Track and Field”, or Instagram at “GoDutchTrack”. Manchester has a great blend of talent and skill, which should make for an exciting season. Many of these athletes have been putting in the work this past off-season and you can already see the improvement. Come out and support these hard-working athletes as they look to make some noise and leave their mark in Manchester history! Go, Dutch!