Jaelyn Ray seemed destined for greatness as a distance runner from the first time she raced for Pinckney as a cross country freshman in 2023.
The jury was out on Elliana Neuer, who dual-sported as a junior varsity call-up on Hartland’s 2023 state championship softball team while having modest success running track and field that season.
Both became part of Livingston County track history — again — by winning state championships on Saturday, May 30.
After finishing second by 0.59 seconds in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4 minutes, 53.71 seconds, Ray won the 3,200 in 10:36.99 in the Division 2 finals at Hamilton High School.
In the Division 1 finals at Rockford, Neuer won the 1,600 in 4:51.73.
They are only the fifth and sixth girls from Livingston County to win individual state track and field championships. The others are Howell’s Ellen Dempsey (high jump, 1974), Fowlerville’s Debbie Hughes (three titles in 1974 and 1975), Brighton’s Julie Stowers (800 in 1998) and Howell’s Sophie Daugard (shot put in 2023)
Neuer, who was 15th in the 1,600 last year, won by 0.77 seconds over El McMahan of Rochester Adams.
“It’s an unreal feeling,” Neuer said. “It’s crazy. I knew it was a possibility going into this race. I knew if I locked in, I could do it. It definitely feels surreal, especially since I never got all-state or placed at the track state meet before.”
Ray won her state championship in her third and longest race of the day. Before taking second in the 1,600, she took fifth in the 3,200 relay in 9:35.30 with Julia Garcia, Brooklyn Reason and Madeline Baugh for the first of her three all-state performances.
“It was just a wave of emotions when I crossed that finish line,” Ray said. “It wasn’t a (personal record), but that really wasn’t what I was going for. At this point in the season, it’s all about place. I know I came up short in the 1,600 and we had a good 4×8. I just thank God and my coaches and teammates. It was just a surreal moment.”
Ray set Livingston County records in the 800 and 1,600 this season, but her 800 mark was reclaimed by Brighton senior Juliet Lewis. Lewis, whose mark Ray broke by running 2:12.96 on May 21, finished fourth in Division 1 with a time of 2:12.89. Neuer took seventh in 2:14.06 after winning the 1,600.
Howell senior Emma Kanka made Division 1 all-state in two events, placing fifth in shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 7.5 inches and seventh in discus at 121-9. Brighton junior Kaydence Hoolsema made all-state in high jump for the second time, placing fourth at 5-4.
Howell junior Jack MacGregor took second in the 3,200, lowering his school-record time to 9:02.68. Northville’s Brandon Cloud edged MacGregor in a kick to the finish by 0.28 seconds.
Brighton junior Blake Kulesza was sixth in the 800 in 1:55.01 and ran on a sixth-place 3,200 relay team with Owen Collin, Evan Cummings and Zach Wyderko. They finished in 7:54.47.
In Division 2, one Pinckney hurdles record fell and another was nearly broken.
Senior Sam Burtts ran a time of 14.49 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles prelims, breaking the school mark of 14.64 set by Kurt Reichenbach in 2008 and coming within 0.01 seconds of the county record set by Fowlerville’s Kevin Henry in 2004. Burtts was fifth in the finals in 14.69.
Junior Davea Crowe took fourth in the 300 hurdles in 44.90, putting her fourth all-time in the county.
Pinckney’s girls finished seventh in the team standings with 27 points.
In Division 3, seniors Lauren Hammond and Ella Heffner of Charyl Stockwell made all-state with sixth-place finishes. Hammond ran 25.84 seconds in the 200 and Heffner 2:20.07 in the 800, both school records.
Baseball
Division 2 district at Chelsea
Chelsea will be glad to see Owen Zylka graduate from Pinckney.
Zylka threw his third postseason gem against the Bulldogs, throwing a five-hitter and striking out 10 in a 2-0 victory in the district semifinals. Zylka has allowed only one run and 12 hits against Chelsea in 20 innings of postseason play, winning 4-0 in the district final two years ago and losing 1-0 in the district semis last season.
Zylka also singled in the first inning when Pinckney scored both its runs. He scored on a Henry Taube single and Taube scored on a single by Owen Putnam.
The Pirates won their fourth district title and second in three years by beating Fowlerville, 3-1.
Jax Raymond pitched all seven innings for the Pirates, striking out seven. Geoffrey Bickley gave up only five hits and fanned six in six innings.
“We got two great pitching performances,” Pinckney coach Bill Cortez said. “Our seniors stepped up big-time in both games with some clutch hits. The boys did the little things well today.”
Pinckney (19-17) will face Williamston at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 3 in a regional semifinal at Chelsea.
Fowlerville (7-23) beat Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard 15-3 to reach the district final. Griffin Brodersen and Jacob Hardies each drove in three runs, while Connor Richmond was 3-for-5 for Fowlerville.
Softball
Division 2 district at Chelsea
Pinckney was eliminated by Chelsea for the fifth straight year, losing 9-5 in the district final after beating Gabriel Richard 10-0 in the semifinals.
Natally Pease was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and allowed only one hit while fanning eight against Gabriel Richard. Hailey DuRussel was 3-for-3.
The Pirates couldn’t come back against Chelsea after the Bulldogs took a 6-1 lead with a five-run second inning. Addison Wroblewski went 1-for-4 to finish the season with a county-best .500 batting average.
Boys lacrosse
Hudsonville 11, Hartland 8
Connor Gilbert scored four goals and two assists for Hartland (17-5), which had a 16-game winning streak snapped in the state Division 1 quarterfinals at Lowell.
Clayton Penzien had one goal and one assist. Jaxon DeLaBarre had four ground balls and caused three turnovers. Nate Anderer made 15 saves.
Detroit Catholic Central 15, Brighton 4
Joey Skoczylas scored twice in the state quarterfinals for Brighton (16-5).
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County produces two girls track and field state champions
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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