05/24/2026
Boys are D4 Team State Runner-up!!! Girls take 9th!
Hillsdale, Mi – Manchester just graduated its 155th Senior Class on Thursday May 21st. In the School system’s entire history you can count on one hand the times that a Manchester athletic team has placed inside the top two at State competition as a team. Before 2013, everyone pointed to the 1993 Manchester Silverdome appearance and their runner-up finish to Iron Mountain in Manchester’s best Football season ever. In 2013, the Girl’s Basketball team went 27-1 and won the Class C State Championship. I’m not in the school right now to look at the banners, but there is at least one and maybe two Wrestling top twos at their Team States in the last 20 years. Outside of those, Manchester has not had many in school history. We have had a lot of great teams (across many sports), and others that ran up against some super teams, but not many that place top two in the State. On May 23rd, 2026 you can add another one of those teams to that select group. The Manchester Boys Track Team has placed top two in D4 at their Team State!
The first person you have to start talking about on this team is Senior Grant Johnson. At the Team State, he would do four individual events and he would do well in all of them! He would take 2nd in the Long Jump, 110m Hurdles, and 300m Hurdles. He would run against his biggest competition in a preview of next Saturday at the State Finals and he is right there. He would also take 9th in the Discus. Our 2nd person you need to talk about with this team is Junior Jayden Johnson who has had an outstanding season. He would go onto win the 200m in 22.70, take 5th in the 100m, and anchor our 4th place 4x100m Relay and 5th place 4x200m Relay.
Now, those are the two you have heard the most about, but this is a Team State and it takes the whole team to win and this team proved that there are many more names that contributed to this team title! Justin Gale stepped up big time today as he would run on our 3rd place 4x8 Relay which is normal for him, but he would run a PR in the 1600m in 4:59.10. He would then have to sub into the 800m because of injury where he would run a great time and pick up big points for our team. He would then run the 3200m where he would set a PR of 11:23.81. 6400m of running, all to help bring a trophy back to Manchester for the fourth week in a row!
Next up would be our distance warrior who has been feeling under the weather since Regionals week. He has had a very strong season, but this has set him back from what he is capable of. Even with that, he was still able to rise to the occasion today. Alec Dodak would run a great leg on the 4x8 Relay. He would then run a solid 1600m and gut out a solid performance in the 3200m when he was not feeling the best. He did that for the team, and it made all the difference!
There were plenty of others that stepped up and rose to the occasion:
-Brennan Woods – 6th place in HJ, 7th place in the 400m, 15th in the 200m, and would run a great lead off leg on the 4x400m Relay team that clinched the meet
-Michael Navitskis – 7th in the 110m hurdles and 9th in the 300m hurdles, and ran a great leg on the 6th place 4x4 Relay on his Birthday!
-Gavin Lindeman – 9th place in LJ, 13th in the 200m, and ran great legs on the 4th place 4x1 Relay and 5th place 4x2 Relay
-Gavin Horky – 11th place 800m and HJ, great anchor leg on the 3rd place 4x8 Relay, and great anchor leg on the 6thplace 4x4 Relay
-Cade Sayer – 12th in the 800m, great lead off leg on the 4x8 Relay that took 3rd, and a great leg on the 4x4 Relay team that took 6th
-Ethan Hittle – 14th in the PV, solid in the 100m, and ran legs on the 4th place 4x1 Relay and 5th place 4x2 Relay
-Eli Finnegan – 15th in PV, solid in LJ, and a PR in the 400m in 1:01.67
-Liam Pierce – would PR in the 1600m and run great in his last 3200m of his career and take 19th
-Wesley Earhart – would run a solid 100m and start off the 4th place 4x1 Relay and the 5th place 4x2 Relay
-Brett Brother – threw solid in both the Shot Put and Discus on the last day of throwing of his career
-Lucas Brothers – threw solid in both the Shot Put and Discus and did his job
-Donte Johnson – did his job in High Jump to score big points
-Milo Ryan – threw a PR in Shot Put to do his job
-Max Harvey – ran his 400m to pick up his points for the team
Without any of these efforts, Manchester is not 2nd place in the State. The Dutch finished with 1342 points. 3rd place was Royal Oak Shrine with 1334.5 and only 7.5 points behind. 4th was Kalamazoo Hackett with their great Track pedigree and 1306 points. Gobles rounded out the top five with 1240 points. This was competitive and Manchester rose to the occasion in adverse conditions!
On the Girls side, the scoring was well balanced even with the cold and rainy weather conditions, but a few stood out as the girls team improved upon their 10th place power rankings as they would take 9th overall in the meet. Siera Jedele would take 3rd in both the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles. She would also anchor the 7th place 4x2 Relay. Valorie Hieber would take 6th in the 100m hurdles and 10thin the 300m hurdles, as well as run a great leg on the 7thplace 4x2 Relay and 4x4 Relay.
Ava Rentfro would have a great day! She would throw a PR in the Disc of 92’7 to take 5th, she would take 15th in the Shot Put, and in a new event the 200m, she would fill in and run a great time of 30.68 for 23rd. Audrina Lauer is next up. She would take 4th in LJ, 18th in the 100m, and run on the 7th place 4x2 and 8th place 4x1. Elle Woods had a good day as she would take 10th in the 400m, 19thin the PV, and run on the 7th place 4x2 and 4x4 Relays!
Teagan Clarke would take 11th in the PV, 20th in the Discus with a PR of 70’4, run a season best in the 1600m, and be on our 4x8 Relay! Natasha Seaman would take 12th in the PV, 18th in the 200m, 23rd in the 100m hurdles, and run on the 8th place 4x1 Relay. Olivia Woods would take 5th in the LJ with a PR of 14’0.75, 11th in the HJ, and be on the 8thplace 4x1 Relay. Caroline Mason would run on our 4x8 Relay, take 20th in the 1600m and 800m, and run on our 7th place 4x4 Relay! Charlotte Williams would be on our 4x8 Relay, then run the most mileage you can in a track meet as she would run the 800m, 1600m, and 3200m in adverse conditions and she would rack up a ton of points for the team! Amanda Hieber stepped up today and she would run on our 4x8 Relay, take 26th in the 400m, and 25th in the 800m, then fill in on our 7th place 4x4 Relay!
Abbi Austin would take 25th in LJ, 26th in the 100m, and be on our 8th place 4x1 Relay. Isabella Rattray threw solid today in both the Shot Put and Discus as she closes out her Freshman season. Giuliana Brother would run two PRs in the 100m, and 400m, and she would also run the open 200m. Cordelia Matthies would throw solid in her last Shot Put of her career.
We are entering the last week of the season. Those who have qualified for the prestigious Selby Classic on Tuesday May 26th will run that day. The 16 State Qualifiers will head to Hudsonville on Friday May 29th for their big day on Saturday May 30th at the MHSAA State Finals. Go Dutch!!
