Added on June 9, 2025 Sara Swanson

Dutch Track finishes on a high note at State Finals!

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page Send by Email

Audrina Lauer hands off to Olivia Woods in the 4x200m relay. Photo courtesy of Michael Coltre.

submitted by Michael Coltre, Coach, Manchester Track and Field

Manchester had a great showing Saturday, May 31, at the D4 State Finals in Hudsonville as the boys took 10th place. Manchester is now home to three new all-state athletes! All-state is anyone placing top eight in this meet as this is the best of the best in the entire state (160+ schools in our division). You don’t realize how big the state of Michigan is and how many different towns and cities there are until you go to a meet like this. That is why it is such an accomplishment to qualify for this meet and to do well at it.

Nathan Fletcher – ALL-STATE — Beat his own school record discus in throwing 151’ to take 5th place! He threw great and ended his track career on a high note. He also placed 14th in shot put.
Grant Johnson – ALL-STATE — Took 3rd in the 110m hurdles and 5th in the 300m hurdles! This is after bouncing back from a rough fall on May 27 at the Selby meet. Grant also ran anchor leg on our 4x400m relay team that took 11th in the state.
Siera Jedele – ALL-STATE — Took 8th in the 300m hurdles with a PR time of 48.56! She moved up three spots from her seeding. This after placing 9th in the 100m hurdles and just missing out on all-state honors in that event by .16 of a second.

Some other great efforts:

Jesse Sangster PR’ed in the pole vault with a jump of 12’, which placed him 11th in the state!
Natasha Seaman jumped 7’9 in pole vault to take 13th as a freshman!
Sawyer Lutton ran close to his season PRs as he took 22nd in the 110m hurdles and 17th in the 300m hurdles.
Teagan Clarke jumped 7’3 in pole vault to take 21st!
Jayden Johnson ran close to his best 100m and took 21st!
Alec Dodak ran close to his PR and took 26th in the 3200m!
Olivia Woods tied for 29th in high jump with a jump of 4’7!
Our girls’ 4x200m relay improved three spots from their seeding and took 18th in running their second-best time of the year! This team consisted of Audrina Lauer, Olivia Woods, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele.
Our boys’ 4x400m relay of Brennan Woods, Sawyer Lutton, Gavin Horky, and Grant Johnson took 11th! We were the only team that had a freshman in the top 12 teams and we have two in Brennan and Gavin. They definitely held their own! Gavin ran his best split of the season.

This is the 5th-most points scored at a state meet in school history (14) for the boys. This is the highest finish (10th) since 2007 where they took 9th. Overall, another great day on the track and a fitting end to this season.

On Thursday, June 5, the track team had their annual end-of-season awards banquet.

Awards were as follows:

Most Valuable — Grant Johnson/Nathan Fletcher and Siera Jedele
Most Improved — Sawyer Lutton and Natasha Seaman
Coach’s Award — Jayden Johnson and Teagan Clarke
Sportsmanship — Justin Gale/Alec Dodak and Olivia Woods
Most Versatile — Jesse Sangster and Valorie Hieber
Most Dedicated — Ethan Hittle/Gavin Lindeman and Caroline Mason
Best Attitude — Liam Pierce and Faith Branner
Overcoming Obstacles — Cade Sayer
Newcomer of the Year — Gavin Horky and Audrina Lauer
PR Champions (Top 5) — BOYS: Grant Johnson (18) 1st, Gavin Horky/Gavin Lindeman (16) T-2nd, Liam Pierce (15) 4th, and Sawyer Lutton/Justin Gale(14) T-5th. GIRLS: Memphis Conklin (21) 1st, Valorie Hieber/Siera Jedele (19) T-2nd, Natasha Seaman (18) 4th, Teagan Clarke/Elle Woods (16) T-5th.(PR is a Personal Record. We track how many times someone PRs and improves during the season.)
MITCA Academic All-State: Teagan Clarke, Siera Jedele, Grant Johnson, and Nathan Fletcher

NEW SCHOOL RECORDS:

Grant Johnson — 300m hurdles 39.70 – Old record 2007 — Zach Greca 40.85
Nathan Fletcher — Discus 151’0 — Old record 2008 – Nick Ross 143’0

Special thank you to our coaching staff! This group has put in a ton of time and many of them are volunteers. Track meets can be some long days sometimes, but every one of them is out there because they love the sport and like seeing the athletes improve. Many are former MHS alumni giving back to the community. Some, like Emily Tucker, who coaches the middle school, has been coaching for 25 years! Thank you, staff! Go, Dutch!!

Assistant Coach (Distance-High Jump-Team Event Organizer) — Stephanie Johnson
Assistant Coaches (Pole Vault) — Lindsey Hassett and Don Fuller
Assistant Coaches (Throws) — Cody Branner, Jason Lindemann, and Garrett Corwin
Assistant Coach (Hurdles-Long Jump) — Addie Gale
Assistant Coach (Distance) — Liam Riley
Assistant Coach (Sprints-Handoffs) — Sydney Jedele
Track Aide/Timing Specialist — Krista Scharpenberg
Middle School Coaches — Emily Tucker and Holly Horodeczny