Added on June 2, 2025 Sara Swanson

Dutch Take 5th and 8th at Team States!

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Both teams pose at Team States after being introduced during the Parade of Athletes. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

submitted by Michael Coltre, Coach, Manchester Track and Field

The Flying Dutchmen competed in the D4 MITCA Team State meet on Saturday, May 24, in Hillsdale, and both teams held their own against the best teams in our division. Both backed up their season-long rankings on the track as the boys took 5th overall and the girls took 8th overall in the state! On the boys’ side, Kalamazoo Hackett was Team State Champs, and on the girls’ side, Hillsdale Academy was the champion. This was the first time the girls have ever competed in the MITCA Team States. They had qualified based on their high Power Ranking score. The boys qualified for the first time since 2007 from their Regional Championship and this was the third time in school history they qualified.

Grant Johnson won the 110m hurdles and Nathan Fletcher won the discus! We scored points all over, but some of the biggest highlights were:

Grant Johnson — 2nd in the 300m hurdles, 3rd in the 200m with a PR (23.08), and anchored our 4th-place 4×4 relay
Nathan Fletcher — 4th in shot put
Siera Jedele — a pair of 4th places in the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles as well as anchoring our girls’ 4×2 relay to a 3rd-place finish in a season-best time
Olivia Woods — tied for 4th in high jump and ran a PR in the 400m to take 4th. She would also run a great leg on that 4×2 relay
Audrina Lauer — took 6th in the long jump and had over a second improvement in the 200m and ran a great leg on the 3rd place 4×2 relay
Valorie Hieber — was the 4th part of the 4×2 relay that finished 3rd, which dropped 1.5 seconds to 1:53.39
Jesse Sangster took 5th in the pole vault and ran a PR time in the 100m
The boys’ 4×2 relay of Walter Ahrens, Sawyer Lutton, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson took 4th and had a big PR to 1:36.30, which would have been fast enough to qualify them for States at Regionals
The girls 4×4 Relay of Olivia Woods, Caroline Mason, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele improved their time by over 1.5 seconds and ran a time that would have gotten them qualified for States (4:28.44)
The boys’ 4×4 relay took 4th (Brennan Woods, Sawyer Lutton, Cade Sayer, Grant Johnson)
The girls’ 4×8 relay ran a season PR with a team of Elle Woods, Lucy Baran, Amanda Hieber, and Caroline Mason

Other standouts and PRs:

Justin Gale — long jump, 1600m, and huge PR in the 3200m
Natasha Seaman — 100m and 200m
Liam Pierce — 1600m and 3200m
Memphis Conklin — 100m
Elle Woods — 400m
Vince Budd — 10-second PR in the 800m
Amanda Hieber — the 800m
Brett Brothers — a two-foot PR in shot put
Amanda Hieber — 800m
Lucas Brothers — shot put

On Tuesday, May 27, at Jackson High School, the Dutch competed in the annual Selby Classic, which is a qualifier event for the Jackson area’s best. This takes the top nine in all laned events, and top 12 in all distance and field events. This event includes all divisions, so it’s something the athletes work all year to qualify for since it gives them a chance to compete against the bigger schools we don’t normally see, like Jackson and Parma Western. Manchester came away with some more medals as we had a good group competing!

Sawyer Lutton won the 300m hurdles in one of his best times of the year. He had a speed burst in the last 30m to overtake the two in front of him and had a dramatic photo finish to win. He also took 6th in the 110m hurdles
Nathan Fletcher took 2nd in discus and 3rd in shot put
Siera Jedele took 2nd in the 300m hurdles and 4th in the 100m hurdles
Grant Johnson took 2nd in the 110m hurdles
Alec Dodak took 4th in the 3200m
Natasha Seaman took 5th in PV
Teagan Clarke tied for 6th in PV
Girls’ 4×200 relay of Memphis Conklin, Natasha Seaman, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele took 4th
Girls’ 4×800 relay of Caroline Mason, Lucy Baran, Amanda Hieber, and Valorie Hieber took 4th
Boys’ 4×800 relay of Cade Sayer, Alec Dodak, Justin Gale, and Brennan Woods took 5th
Liam Pierce ran a season PR in the 3200m

Next week you can read about how the Dutch fared at the D4 State Meet in Hudsonville on Saturday, May 31. This is the pinnacle of the track season where the best of the best compete to see who is All-State. Go, Dutch!