The Team with their Regional Championship trophy. Photo credit: Michael Coltre.

submitted by Michael Coltre, Coach, Manchester Track and Field

Boys are Back-2-Back Regional Champs! Girls Take 3^rd!

Concord, Mi – it was a great night on the Track for the Flying Dutchmen!  The Boys won the Regional for the 2^nd straight year and fourth time in School History (2006, 2007, 2025, 2026) as they would amass 96.5 points.  Webberville took 2^nd with 72 points, Portland St Patrick came in with 66, and Concord rounded out the top 4 with 64.  On the Girls side, Concord won, and Portland St Patrick was 2nd, but our Girls ran great and amassed 79.5 points to take third which was an improvement from last year’s fourth place finish.  This was the highest finish for the Girls team since 2008! About halfway through the meet our Girls were leading the meet with very strong performances in the Pole Vault and Hurdles.

We had plenty of Regional Champions!  Teagan Clarke got it started as she would jump 8’0 to win the Pole Vault. The next Regional Champion was our Boys 4x800m Relay who had just missed out last year on going to States so they were on a mission.  Cade Sayer ran the leadoff leg, followed by Justin Gale, Alec Dodak, and Gavin Horky as the anchor.  They would run a time of 8:45.36. Next up was Grant Johnson in the 110m Hurdles as he would tie his PR of 14.84 he set last year at Regionals. Siera Jedele would take the Regional Crown after running a PR time in the Prelims (16.51) as she would win the 100m Hurdles.  The 100m Hurdles was one of the best moments of the evening as Manchester took 1^st, 2^nd, and 4^th in the event.  Valorie Hieber would punch her ticket to States in grabbing 2^nd with a time of 17.12, and Natasha Seaman would PR by .6 of a second to take 4^th in 17.91.

Our next Regional Champion would be our Boys 4x200m Relay which consisted of Ethan Hittle, Grant Johnson, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson.  They would run a 1:32.30 which is currently 2^nd in the State and 3^rd overall in School History!  Siera Jedele would grab another Regional Crown in the 300m Hurdles with a season best time of 48.83.  Teammate Valorie Hieber would run a PR time of 51.57 to take 2^nd and a ticket to States! Our Last Regional Champion would be Jayden Johnson in the 200m with a blistering PR time of 22.52 which was nearly .7 seconds better than 2^nd place.  And this is all just our Regional Champions!  On the day we set a school record for 16 State Qualifiers (10 Boys and 6 Girls).  These entries cover nine events!

Our Boys 4x100m Relay team of Wesley Earhart, Ethan Hittle, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson would run a season best time of 45.65 which is currently the 6^th best time in School History and qualify for State! The Girls 4x400m Relay of Elle Woods, Caroline Mason, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele would cut five seconds off their season best time to run a 4:23.88 which was good for 2^nd in the Region and a ticket to States! Grant Johnson would jump 20’4 in the Long Jump to take 3^rd and get a Regional AQ mark to qualify for States. Our Girls 4x200m Relay team of Elle Woods, Audrina Lauer, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele would cut two seconds off their best time of the year to run 1:53.53 which was good for 3^rd place and a ticket to the State Finals!  Michael Navitskis ran great in the hurdles as he would take 6^th in both hurdles and PR in both (16.67 in the 110m Hurdles and 44.80 in the 300m Hurdles).  His time in the 110m Hurdles would be fast enough to qualify him for the State Meet! Jayden Johnson would PR in the 100m dash in a very fast field as he would run a 11.23 which was good for 4^th but only .04 seconds off 1^st.  It was a photo finish!

Alec Dodak would take 3^rd in the 3200m and 7^th in the 1600m. Brennan Woods would run a PR time of 54.28 in the 400m to take 6^th and he would tie for 8^th in the High Jump. Gavin Horky would PR in the 800m in 2:08.89 to take 5^th.  Ethan Hittle would take a big 4^th in the Pole Vault as he would tie his PR of 10’0 and he would run a PR in the 100m dash 12.21.  Our Boys 4x400m Relay team of Brennan Woods, Cade Sayer, Michael Navitskis, and Gavin Horky just missed out on States as they would run 3:42.30 and take 5^th. Natasha Seaman would take 4^thin the PV and just miss out on States with a leap of 7’6.  Caroline Mason would take 7^th in the 800m.  Gavin Lindeman would take 8^th in the Long Jump.  He would also run a big PR in the 200m in 24.29.

Our Girls 4x100m Relay of Audrina Lauer, Natasha Seaman, Olivia Woods, and Abbi Austin would take 5^th in the 4x100m Relay and just miss the AQ time for States.  Olivia Woods would tie for 6^th in the High Jump.  Our Girls 4x800m Relay of Charlotte Williams, Teagan Clarke, Amanda Hieber, and Caroline Mason would take 8^th.

State Qualifiers

Grant Johnson – 110m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles, 4x200m Relay, and Long Jump

Jayden Johnson – 200m, 100m, 4x200m Relay, 4x100m Relay

Cade Sayer – 4x800m Relay

Justin Gale – 4x800m Relay

Alec Dodak – 4x800m Relay

Gavin Horky – 4x800m Relay

Michael Navitskis – 110m Hurdles

Ethan Hittle – 4x200m Relay, 4x100m Relay

Gavin Lindeman – 4x200m Relay, 4x100m Relay

Wesley Earhart – 4x100m Relay

Teagan Clarke – Pole Vault

Siera Jedele – 100m Hurdles, 4x200m Relay, 300m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay

Valorie Hieber – 100m Hurdles, 4x200m Relay, 300m Hurdles, 4x400m Relay

Elle Woods – 4x200m Relay, 4x400m Relay

Audrina Lauer – 4x200m Relay

Caroline Mason – 4x400m Relay

Special PR Shout Outs:

100m: Audrina Lauer 13.89

200m: Giuliana Brothers

3200m: Liam Pierce 11:31.58 and nearly stole a place in the 3200m. He ran over a 20 second PR!

Conference Recap: Girls Take 3^rd, Boys 4^th in Cascades Conference!

Jonesville, Mi – Now that the dust has settled from our weather threat affected Conference Championship meet, we can finalize our league standings.  After the Girls finished 7-1 in the Dual meet season, and after the conclusion of the Conference meet, they finish in 3^rd place overall (right behind Grass Lake and Napoleon), which is the highest finish since at least 2021 and highest since the league went from 8 to 12 teams.  The Boys finished 6-2 in the Dual meet schedule and would finish 4^th place overall in a highly competitive league.  The three teams to finish ahead of the Boys; Hanover-Horton, Columbia Central, and Jonesville are top ten teams in D3.

We had Conference Champions in three events!  Our first Conference Champs who built on their strong Regional showing last week was our 4x200m Relay team of Ethan Hittle, Grant Johnson, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson!  They would run a time of 1:32.60.  Our next event was the 300m Hurdles where Grant would run his best time of the season in 40.01 as he won the event!  Jayden Johnson would cap off our Conference Champions with a win in the 200m with a PR time of 22.50.

We had a couple near misses with Siera Jedele in the 100m Hurdles and 300m Hurdles.  She has run well all season but just wasn’t her day as she missed 1^st in the 100m hurdles by .02 seconds.  In the 300m hurdles, she won the fast heat by nearly 20m and thought she had the Conference Crown wrapped up, but a quirky conference allowance of someone with no time on the season, allowed someone to pass her from the slow heat.  She never lost a 300m hurdle race all season but just missed being a conference champion. Very quirky situation. Grant Johnson would take 2^nd in the 110m hurdles by .15 seconds against one of the top D3 110m hurdlers.

Our 3^rd place Honorable Mention members are Grant Johnson in the Long Jump, Jayden Johnson in the 100m, Valorie Hieber in the 100m Hurdles and 300m Hurdles, and our 4x100m Relay team running a half second PR and running the 2^nd fastest time in School History of 45.11! That team consists of Wesley Earhart, Ethan Hittle, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson.

4^th Place – Honorable Mention

-4x800m Relay (Cade Sayer, Justin Gale, Alec Dodak, and Gavin Horky)

-4x400m Relay (Brennan Woods, Cade Sayer, Michael Navitskis, and Gavin Horky)

5^th Place – Honorable Mention

-High Jump – Brennan Woods and Olivia Woods

-4x100m Relay (Audrina Lauer, Natasha Seaman, Olivia Woods, and Abbi Austin) – Season PR time

-4x400m Relay (Elle Woods, Caroline Mason, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele)

-100m Hurdles – Natasha Seaman

6^th Place – Honorable Mention

-400m – Elle Woods (near PR time)

-High Jump – Gavin Horky (Season best jump of 5’9)

-Pole Vault – Teagan Clarke (tied her PR of 8’0)

-4x200m Relay (Elle Woods, Audrina Lauer, Valorie Hieber, and Siera Jedele)

7^th Place – Honorable Mention

-Pole Vault – Natasha Seaman (tied PR of 8’0)

-Discus – Ava Rentfro and a PR in the Shot Put of 27’6

-Long Jump – Gavin Lindeman and Audrina Lauer

-400m – Brennan Woods

-110m and 300m Hurdles – Michael Navitskis

8^th Place – Honorable Mention

-Pole Vault – Eli Finnegan (PR of 10’6!)

The Dutch are next is action tomorrow which is Tuesday May 26^th at the annual Selby Classic All-Star meet which is the Jackson areas best in all divisions.  This is an honor to qualify and run in this meet and a great tune up for the State Finals on Saturday May 30^th in Hudsonville, Mi.  Next week you can read about Selby and how our team did at the D4 Team State at Hillsdale. Go Dutch!

The Boys 4x200m Relay pose after being Conference Champions. Ethan Hittle, Grant Johnson, Gavin Lindeman, and Jayden Johnson. Photo credit: Michael Coltre.

The Girls 4x400m Relay after qualifying for States. Siera Jedele, Valorie Hieber, Caroline Mason, and Elle Woods. Photo credit: Michael Coltre.

The Team celebrations after winning the Regional Championship for the 2nd year in a row! Photo credit: Michael Coltre.

The State Qualifiers poses together. Back row: Grant Johnson, Justin Gale, Michael Navitskis, Wesley Earhart, Cade Sayer, Gavin Horky, Alec Dodak, Front Row: Teagan Clarke, Valorie Hieber, Ethan Hittle, Elle Woods, Audrina Lauer, and Siera Jedele. Not pictures: Gavin Lindeman. Photo credit: Michael Coltre.