Boys’ track take 3rd in the final conference standings — Conference Championship Recap

Track Team picture after the Conference Championship Meet. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

submitted by Michael Coltre, Coach, Manchester Track and Field 

Best night of the season thus far on the track on Friday, May 9, in our Conference Championship meet in East Jackson! PR’s all over the place! We had a two-event Conference champion in Nathan Fletcher with his wins in the discus and PR in the shot put (49’9.5). Our boys’ 4×4 relay team of Brennan Woods, Sawyer Lutton, Gavin Horky, and Grant Johnson took 3rd and punched their ticket as an Early Qualifier for the State meet running in 3:34.78. We also had another couple of close calls for conference champs.

The boys took 4th place in the meet with 68 points, which put them in a tie for 3rd in the overall standings with Columbia Central. Jonesville and Hanover-Horton tied for the Conference Crown. Both Jonesville and Hanover-Horton have very good track programs (as does Columbia Central) and all will be scoring points in the D3 State meet, which is the division above Manchester right now. Last year, the boys tied for 5th place. The girls just missed out on 8th place in the meet and surpassed last year’s point total to score 47.5 points. They would take 9th place overall in the standings but in an interesting tidbit, they would defeat the team who took 2nd place in the league (Leslie) in a dual meet. Grass Lake was the girls’ conference champion. The point spread between 4th and 9th place was less than six points so the middle of the conference was very bunched up.

On the boys’ side:

• Jayden Johnson took 2nd in the 100m with a PR that came down to a tie breaker (11.41). He also ran the anchor leg on the 4×2 and 4×1 relays, which both took 7th.
• Grant Johnson took 2nd in the 300H with his 2nd fastest time ever, and PR’ed in both the 110H (15.28) and long jump (19’7), where he took 3rd in both. He was also anchor leg on the 3rd-place 4×4 relay team which EQ’ed for States in 3:34.78.
• Our 4×800 relay team of Gavin Horky, Justin Gale, Alex Dodak, and Cade Sayer ran a 5-second PR in 8:54.99 and took 5th.
• Sawyer Lutton took a pair of 7ths in the 100H and 300H in two fast races. He also ran a great leg on the 4×4 relay that took 3rd. Sawyer was also a member of the 7th place 4×2 team.
• Cade Sayer ran a season-best time in the 800 and took 8th.
• Brady Reed took 8th in pole vault.
• Walter Ahrens ran great lead-off legs on the 4×2 and 4×1 relays, which are closing in on State AQ marks and took a pair of 7th places.
• Gavin Lindeman was also on both of those relays and ran well.
• Ethan Hittle was a member of that 4×1 relay team.

Other standout efforts:

• Brett Brothers PR in shot put
• Rocco Guido four-foot PR in discus
• Brennan Woods PR in the 400 in 55.35
• Gavin Horky PR in the 800 in 2:11.22
• Gavin Lindeman PR in the 200 in 24.72
• Ethan Hittle PR in the 200 in 26.36
• Alec Dodak huge PR of seven seconds in the 3200 to 10:50.61. He just missed placing in both the 1600 and 3200 and both events were highly competitive
• Liam Pierce huge PR in the 3200 to 12:40.19

On the girls’ side:

• Siera Jedele led the way with two PR’s in the 100H (16.94) and 300H (50.10) and both placed her in 3rd place. She also ran the anchor leg on the 4×200 relay that took 3rd (1:54.80), and the 5th-place 4×400 relay that improved by five seconds! Both of those relays are on or just under the Regional AQ time for States.
• Olivia Woods had a great day in taking 4th in high jump and running some of the fastest splits on the 4×100 relay (6th place), 4×200 relay (3rd), and lead off leg of the 4×400 relay (5th)
• Valorie Hieber had a great day, too, in taking 5th in the 300H with a big PR (53.70) and running great legs on the 4×2 and 4×4 relays that had really great improvements. She just missed out on making the finals in the shot put.
• Audrina Lauer PR’ed by over a half foot in the long jump to take 5th place (15’3) and she was a member of our 6th-place 4×1 and 3rd-place 4×2 relay.
• Natasha Seaman PR’ed in pole vault to 7’6 and tied for 6th place. She was also a member of the 4×1 relay that took 6th.
• Faith Branner PR’ed in the discus to 91’3 and placed 6th.
• Caroline Mason PR’ed in the 800 in 2:45.48 and took 8th, and was a member of the 5th-place 4×4 relay team.
• Teagan Clarke took 8th in pole vault and was a member of the 7th place 4×800 relay team that ran a season best time.
• Elle Woods, Lucy Baran, and Amanda Hieber were also on that 7th-place 4×8 relay team.
• Memphis Conklin PR’ed in long jump, the 200, and ran on the 6th-place 4×100 relay team.

Other stand-out efforts:

• Elle Woods PR’ed in the 400
• Teagan Clarke PR’ed in the 3200

On Monday, May 12, the Dutch had their last tune-up before the Regional Friday in Napoleon at the Last Chance Meet. It was an unscored meet but an Early Qualifier event to improve times and seeding before Regionals. We also used it as a workout day since we no longer have a track to practice on. There was a slew of PR’s last night!

Field Events:

• Maya Freeman in both shot and discus
• Memphis Conklin in long jump
• Grant Johnson in discus

Running Events:

• Girls’ 4×800 relay season PR improvement of 20 seconds (Elle Woods, Caroline Mason, Lucy Baran, Amanda Hieber)
• Gavin Lindeman in the 100 and 3.5 second PR in the 400 (56.05)
• Liam Pierce in the 1600 (5:53.59)
• Girls’ 4×100 relay tied a season PR 55.41 (Memphis Conklin, Natasha Seaman, Valorie Hieber, Siera Jedele)
• Boys’ 4×100 relay over half-second season PR of 46.41 and right at the State Qualifier of 46.40 (Walter Ahrens, Ethan Hittle, Gavin Lindeman, Jayden Johnson)
• Gavin Horky in the 400 (55.89)
• Caroline Mason in the 400 (1:09.68)
• Siera Jedele in the 300H (49.80, which is 13th in the State)
• Cade Sayer in the 800 (2:10.29)
• Lucy Baran and Teagan Clarke with big PR’s in the 800
• Sawyer Lutton (25.61) and Natasha Seaman (30.68) in the 200
• Justin Gale in the 3200 (12:12.70)

Look for next week’s paper for results from our Regional in Concord, which is on Friday, May 16. Go, Dutch!

Boys’ throwers: Lucas Brothers, Nathan Fletcher, Brett Brothers, and Rocco Guido. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

The girls’ 4×800 relay team of Elle Woods, Teagan Clarke, Lucy Baran, and Amanda Hieber. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.