On the Diamond: Jonesville left fielder Carsen Cornila sends Bradley home to beat Napoleon
Watch Jonesville junior Carsen Cornila drive in the game-winning run (5-4 final) with a double base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning.
HILLSDALE COUNTY — This Saturday, athletes across the state of Michigan will converge on several athletic facilities for the MHSAA track and field state finals. Locally, several athletes will have not just opportunities at all-state honors but also to end their careers with state championships.
One of those athletes is Pittsford senior Teagan Williams. Williams, a three-sport athlete for the Wildcats since his freshman year, is closing in on an opportunity to win a Division 4 boys track and field pole vault state championship.
Williams came close last season, finishing runner-up to 2024 Frankfort’s Adam Townsend at the D4 state finals. Williams and Townsend each had a clearance of 12 feet, 6 inches, but Williams was beat by Townsend after multiple cleared heights in the tiebreaker.
The senior has had an impressive final season for the Wildcats. He has won seven pole vault events and was an early qualifier for the state finals. His wins this season included SCAA East, Region 35-4 and Hillsdale County Area Best championships.
He recently broke his personal best height at the area best meet, clearing 13-feet, 6 inches, a foot higher than his jump last season at the state finals.
This jump is the best recorded result out of all ranked Division 4 boys track pole vaulters. The next best clearance height is 13-feet, 1 inch. Williams says it’s going to take a lot of prep and a clear mind to make a similar clearance height at the state finals.
“It will take a lot of mental preparation and a rest, not getting nervous and in my own head about it,” Williams. “I used to have a tendency to do that a lot.”
Certainly, a state title would be a nice conclusion to a dedicated athletic career for the Pittsford Wildcats.
“Since I went to states last year and did somewhat decent, now I just go and have fun,” Williams said. “And that’s what I’m going to go do this Saturday is go have fun. Hopefully I come out as a state champion. I was close last year, and I was really looking forward to it this year, and I hope I get it.”
Williams gave credit to his coaches and friends for, alongside himself, putting in the work this summer to make this final year of Wildcat athletics fun.
Williams isn’t the only Wildcat pole vaulter with all-state and more in the cards this year. Pittsford senior Chloe Fowler looks to compete for a girls D4 pole vault state title. The senior finish just outside all-state last year, but the senior has won 11 events this year, including conference, regional, Area Best and MITCA championships.
Her PR of 10-feet 2 inches places her third in the results standings from Division 4 athletes so far this year. However, she looks to be within range of the second-place athlete. The first-place athlete posted an 11-foot jump this season, but that was a number reached only once this season.
Projected Title Contenders
Williams and Fowler won’t be the only state title contenders at this year’s state finals. Both in Division 3 and 4, there are local athletes poised to compete, and there may be even more surprise contenders when results start posting on Saturday, May 31.
In Division 3, boys track athletes Caleb Blonde and Zander Goodwin are projected top three finalists. Blonde is ranked third in the 800-meter run. Goodwin ranked in the top four for 300-meter hurdles, where his best time of 39.16 is right in the ballpark of the other top three ranked athletes’ times.
In Division 4 boys track and field finals contenders, Hillsdale Academy junior Dawson Scharer looks to compete in both the 110 and 300-meter hurdles events. He is ranked first overall in the 300 hurdles out of all recorded results this season with a time of 38.31. He’s also an all-state projected athlete in the 400-meter dash, but he’s within two seconds of everyone in the top five standings in Division 4.
Hillsdale Academy junior Grayson Rorick is ranked first overall in the D4 boys 800-meter run. His time of 1:55.43 is just in line with second-place junior Abenezer Cerone from Royal Oak Shrine Catholic. Rorick could also run in the 1,600-meter run, currently second with a 4:20.25 and within four seconds of the leader. He also projects as an all-state athlete in the 3,200-meter run, should he choose to run that event.
The Hillsdale Academy girls 4×400 and 4×800 teams both look to compete for state titles. The 4×4 team of Madison Sallows, Lucy Cote, Georgia Whalen and Caroline Roberts are second in D4 girls track standings with a time of 4:10.81. The 4×8 team of Ella Walton, Allie Miller, Elizabeth Caspar and Roberts rank first with a time of 9:47.75. The 4×4 team is near a second behind the current first place team, and the 4×8 team ranks first by several seconds.
All-State Contenders
Hillsdale boys track junior Ashton Thornsbury is right within all-state range with his 6-feet, 4-inch-high jump, which is tied with several other top 10 athletes in the D3 boys standings.
Other potential all-state athletes and relay teams includes Hillsdale’s girls 4×100-meter relay of Jayce Graham, Effie Heckel, Emily York and Megan Kast. Right now, they are a projected podium team in eighth place with a time of 51.10 seconds.
Academy junior Luke Molenkamp’s time of 1:59.42 projects as an all-state contending athlete in the D4 boys 800-meter finals.
Pittsford’s boys 4×200-meter relay region title team of Mondale Kneffler, Noah Pann, Teagan Williams and Brendon Nave is 10th in the standings of D4 with a time of 1:34.14. They are within a second of the No. 6 ranked team.
The Colts’ boys 4×400-meter relay team of Timothy Gaebler, Luke Molenkamp, Dawson Scharer and Alex Richard is sixth in D4 standings. The 4×800 team will also look to compete for an all-state finish, although two different teams from the Academy were qualified for the state finals, so it remains to be seen which will run. Senior Colt Joel Miller is eighth in D4 boys shot put standings.
Hillsdale Academy senior Caroline Roberts is ranked third in the girls D4 800-meter run standings with a time of 2:17.78. She also has a shot at all-state in the 1,600-meter run. Pittsford girls track senior Ava Mallar looks to join Roberts with a potential podium finish in the 800-meter run, sitting seventh in the standings after a recent run at the Area Best Meet.
Academy sophomore Lucy Cote will compete for an all-state finish (and maybe more) in both the 100 and 300-meter D4 girls hurdles finals. She ranks fourth in the 100 with a time of 15.60 and sixth in the 300 with a time of 47.20. Ava Mallar is 10th in the 300 hurdles, and Cote’s senior teammate Madison Sallows ranked ninth.
The Division 3 track finals will be held at Kent City High School. The Division 4 finals will be held at Hudsonville High School. More information and ticket links can be found at mhsaa.com. All MHSAA finals events tickets must be purchased at GoFan. Parking is paid for at the state finals and at GoFan.
