These Hillsdale Academy state-ranked athletes look help their team earn regional medals

HILLSDALE —Last season was the final Region 35-4 championship that Hillsdale Academy hosted at the Hillsdale College Muddy Waters Stadium track and field facilities. This year, the Colts and coach Mike Roberts will host the 2024 regional finals at the newly built Hayden Park track and field facility this Friday, May 17.

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Local teams competing in the event include Camden-Frontier, Hillsdale Academy, Hillsdale Will Carleton Academy, Litchfield, Pittsford, Reading and Waldron. In addition, Addison, Adrian Lenawee Christian, Athens, Britton Deerfield, Burr Oak, Colon, Mendon, Morenci and Petersburg-Summerfield will be in competition.

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Field events will begin at 1 p.m. The 3,200-meter run is slated to start at 3 p.m. All running event finals begin one hour after prelims, with a slated start time of 5:30 p.m. All tickets for this event must be purchased online at GoFan and are $7 per person.

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While all of the local teams will bring many athletes with a shot to earn medals at regionals, several Colts runners and field event competitors are state ranked in their respective events for 2024. Check out the list of athletes that will look to earn state qualification and medals at this years finals.

2023 Recap

Last year, the Hillsdale Academy girls track team won the regional championships in a stormy afternoon of competition and followed it up with a fifth-place finish at the state finals, where two relay teams brought home state titles. The Academy boys team finished runner up at regionals and sent multiple athletes to the state finals, bringing home all-state honors and a ninth place team finish.

Girls Track and Field

Senior Iris Millies is 25th in the 100-meter dash state rankings and 26th in the 200.

Senior Angela Alvarez ranks 20th in the 400-meter dash standings.

Junior Caroline Roberts ranks eighth in the 800 dash. Teammate Allie Miller is ranked 21st as a freshman. Teammate Haven Socha is ranked 40th. Roberts was a state qualifier in this event last season and won a regional title.

Ruth Brownlee is 29th in the 1,600 rankings. Teammates Ella Walton and Abby Brownlee rank 32nd and 35th, respectively. Brownlee qualified for states last season in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Walton is ranked 16th in the 3,200 rankings. Ruth Brownlee is 25th overall. Abby Brownlee is 33rd.

Freshman Lucy Cote is seventh in the 100 hurdles rankings. Cote qualified as an eighth grader for the 300 hurdles, an event she ranks 10th in this season. Teammate Madison Sallows ranks 20th in the 300 hurdles. Zoe Plemmons is 37th.

The 4x100 team of Socha, Cote, Alvarez and Millies are ranked seventh in the state. Three of these athletes won a regional title last season in the 4x100 and took 10th at states.

The 4x200 team of Socha, Alvarez, Sallows and Millies are ranked sixth. This team earned all-state honors last year at states after winning a regional title.

The 4x400 team of Socha, Roberts, Cote and Alvarez are ranked third in the state. Roberts, Socha and Caroline Roberts helped Roberts' older sister, and '23 graduate, Megan Roberts win a state title in this event last season.

The 4x800 team of Socha, Miller, Roberts and Alvarez are ranked third in D4 this year. Alvarez and Roberts helped Roberts' older sister and '23 graduate Whitney Wilkinson win a state title last season in this event.

Sophomore Evie Gray is the highest ranked discus thrower in Hillsdale County for Division 4 standings, ranked 10th currently.

Julia Caspar is ranked 29th in high jump. Anne Gray and Iris Millies are tied at 13th in pole vault. Teammate Natalie Spielman is 37th. Socha is tied for 26th in long jump rankings.

Boys Track and Field

Grayson Rorick is ranked 12th in the state for the 800 dash. Senior Thomas Holm is currently ranked 28th.

Rorick and Holm both qualified for states last season in the 1,600. Holm is currently sixth in state rankings. Rorick is 19th.

Holm was an all-state honoree last year for the 3,200 and is ranked ninth in this year's standings. Teammate and 2023 state qualifier Reece Poole is ranked 35th.

Sophomore Dawson Scharer is 10th in the state in 110 hurdles rankings. Teammate Alex Richards is 16th. Scharer is third in the 300-meter hurdles rankings. Richards is 10th.

The 4x400 team of Richards, Zane Socha, Jay Jenkins and Dawson Scharer is ranked 11th. The 4x800 team of Holm, Socha, Jenkins and Rorick is fifth in the state. Both of the Colts' 2023 4x400 and 4x800 teams were all-state, with the 4x800 team earning runner-up.

Senior Dominick Scharer is ranked seventh in shot put and fellow senior Magnus Heckel is ranked 19th. Both Hillsdale College track commits are ranked in discus. Scharer is the No. 1 ranked athlete with a 10-feet lead on a throw of 165-feet, 8 inches. Scharer earned all-state last season, taking third at the finals. Heckel is 17th.

Zane Socha is tied for 26th in high jump rankings. Connor Hill is tied for 13th in Pole Vault. Hudson Mackie is tied for 24th.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale Academy to host regional track championship; Preview