Chelsea Track and Field Teams Split with Pinckney

It was a close battle at the SEC White dual meet between the Chelsea boys and girls track and field teams at Pinckney Tuesday night.

The boys knocked off the two-time defending SEC White champion Pirates 73.5-63.5 and the girls fell to the Pirates in a tough 70-67 decision.

The Bulldogs had a strong showing the field events and relays in the boys meet.

Chelsea won three of the four relays with wins going to the 4x88 team of Jackie Dell, Brant Maley, Beckett Boos, and Connell Alford, the 4x200 team of AJ Smith, Caden Steele, Gus Wehrly, and Kai Ziolkowski, and the 4x100 team of Regan Plank, Ethan Collins, Steele, and Gibson Ichesco.

The Bulldogs swept the high jump with JJ Turnbow, Plank, and Cash Anderson taking the top three spots, while Indiana Hurst, Carson Freeman, and Chase Maihofer swept the shot put.

Turnbow and Ichesco took the top two spots in the long jump and Maihofer was third in the discus.

Alford won the 3200 and was second in the 1600, while Ethan Kwaske was second in the 110 hurdles and Peyton Kifer second in the 300 hurdles.

“In preparing for the meet, we knew that this would be a tight meet and that we would really have to show up and compete.,” Coach David Slusser said. “We moved a few athletes into positions where we thought they could score and were successful in executing our plan.”

The girls came up just short against the Pirates.

Carley Grabarczyk had a big night in winning the 100, set a PR in the 200 with a win, and was part of the winning 4x100 with Baize, Eva Dewaele, and Teagan Hill.

Anna Brant won the shot put and sicus, while the Bulldogs won the 4x800 with the team of Ceci Bayer, Madison Morgan, Sam Bieber, and Natalia DeMea.

Leila Wells won the 100 hurdles and the 300 hurdles with the third fastest time in D2 this season.

Hill was second in the 100 with a PR and was part of the winning 4x400 with Addie Howard, Brianna Wenzel, and Caitlyn Ash. Howard was also second and Wenzel third in the 400.

DeMea placed second in the 3200 and Aleeah Wells was second in the 100 hurdles.

“We need to continue to learn from our mistakes and build off our current level of performance if we want to excel in upcoming meets,” coach Loren Thorburn said. “Although we lost a close meet, we had a significant number of personal records (PRs) and season best marks, which was enjoyable to watch.”