ROCKFORD — Milena Chevallier and her teammates are raising the bar for Farmington Hills Mercy’s track team.
In Chevallier’s case, that bar is set precisely at 5 feet, 11 inches. And she was able to leap over it, winning an individual state championship for high jump at the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s track and field finals at Rockford High School on June 3.
Not only that, Chevallier set a new Division 1 state record, and came within one-quarter inch of breaking the all-time, all-class mark, established back in 1980.
“It was definitely a lot of pressure, but I feel like I’m finally starting to show what I can do at the meets, so I’m hoping for the big six feet soon,” she said.
The Mercy junior was one of four Catholic League athletes to claim state titles last weekend, along with University of Detroit Jesuit’s Jaiden Reed, Warren Regina’s Ella Jenkins and Marine City Cardinal Mooney’s Tyler Lenn.
Chevallier, who often bested her competition be several inches in regular-season meets, found herself locked in a battle with Plymouth Salem’s Madison Morson. While the other 19 jumpers had bowed out at 5’8” or lower, Chevallier made some real pressure jumps — she cleared 5’10” on her third attempt to remain in the contest, and also got over 5’11” on her final attempt to gain the winning edge.
“Five-eleven was a (personal record) for me, and it was so fun competing against Maddie and the other jumpers. It was probably one of the most fun meets I’ve been to with the competition level and everything,” she said. “Usually in the other high school meets, I’m jumping by myself. I enjoy the competition, so I think that helps me.”
Chevallier then attempted to become the first high school girl in Michigan history to clear six feet, but fell short in her three trials.
“The second attempt was really close; I looked back and watched the bar fall down,” she said. “I was just more in the mindset of let’s have fun and see what I can do.”
This was only Chevallier’s second season as a high jumper. Ironically, she was placed in different events when she first joined Mercy’s track team back in 2021.
“I was a distance runner my freshman year,” she said, with a tone of slight embarrassment in her voice. “Yeah, I did the 400-800-mile, and I enjoy high jump a lot more. Honestly, I hated to run, so I thought, let’s try high jump. I asked my coach about it, and it honestly has worked out pretty well.”
Spurred by Chevallier’s individual championship, and a pair of runner-up finishes in the sprint events by sophomore Taryn Henderson, the Marlins finished a program-best fourth place at the Division 1 state finals. Mercy scored 32 points, finishing behind only perennial powers Oak Park, Detroit Renaissance and Ann Arbor Pioneer.
“The girls showed up,” coach Michael Montijo said. “They put some work in, we had a beautiful day today, they had good competition and they did what they were supposed to do.”
Henderson placed second in the 100 (11.93 seconds) and 200-meter dashes (24.53). She also ran on the fifth-place 4x400 relay with Nora Gerzema, Cree Hollier and Jenna Buchan. Mercy’s 4x200 relay of Joie Blakey, Haley Lipscomb, Bryce Costa and Skylar Clark finished seventh.
“We brought 13 girls today, and we’re looking to bring more next year,” Montijo said. “We still have a lot of depth in our program, and most of them are young, which is what I’m most happy about. The majority of the kids here today were freshmen. We had one junior, two sophomores and the rest were freshmen. So we’re deep, and I think next year we’re going to be deeper.”
Mercy won the Catholic League’s Bishop Division championship on May 13, and a week later, claimed the first regional team title in school history.
“Overall, we’re just proud and happy for the program,” Montijo said. “The kids did a great job.”
Reed, Jenkins, Lenn also finish first
While University of Detroit Jesuit couldn’t repeat as Division 1 boys team champions, Jaiden Reed provided a top highlight when he won the 100-meter dash in 10.74 seconds, out-leaning runner-up Trey McGinnis of St. Joseph. Reed had finished second in the race in 2022.
However, Reed pulled up lame in the 200 dash finals and finished seventh. He anchored the Cubs’ second-place 4x200 team (1:27.11) with Jaden Jennings, Julian Robinson and Cameron Hendrix. Elijah Dotson placed fifth in the high hurdles (14.47) and fourth in the intermediate hurdles (39.05).
Overall, U of D Jesuit totaled 29 points, finishing fifth as a team.
At Division 2 competition held at Ada Forest Hills Eastern, Jenkins won the 100-meter high hurdles (14.77) and finished as runner-up in the intermediate hurdles (46.44) — reversing her all-state finishes from last year. Jenkins accounted for all of the Saddleites’ 18 points, which placed them ninth in team standings.
And in the Division 4 finals at Hudsonville’s Baldwin Middle School, Lenn entered the meet with the eighth-best seed time in the 1600-meter run, but ran a personal-best by five seconds to set a new state record for the division in 4:14.30. Lenn also won the race by four seconds.
20 others are all-state athletes
Several other Catholic school athletes attained All-State honors for finishing among the top eight in their events at the state finals.
Warren De La Salle’s Dalton Drogosh, Sheron Sutton, Aaron White and Walker Neff set a school record of 42.11 in the 4x100 relay, placing them fifth at the Division 1 meet.
Divine Child’s Michael Hegarty was nipped at the finish by 3/100th of a second to finish as runner-up of the Division 2 1600 run in 4:14.82. Hegarty joined Dylan McGrath, Colin Murray and Nathan Ulcak to finish fourth in the 4x800 relay (7:51.08), while teammate Isaiah Ploucha was fifth in discus (158’ 3”).
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Zachary Mylenek was runner-up in the 200 (21.88) and fourth in the 100 (10.80), while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook’s Solomon Kwartowitz was third in the 3200 (9:16.99). Orchard Lake St. Mary’s had two athletes earn all-state: Charles White was second in the high hurdles (15.01) and Ryan Mooney was fifth in high jump (21’ 7.75”).
In the Division 2 girls’ competition, Divine Child’s Grace Steffes was third in discus (125’ 5”) and sixth in shot put (37’ 11”), while Cranbrook’s Lynzi Evans was seventh in the high hurdles (15.89).
Two athletes placed in the Division 3 meet at Kent City: Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett’s Taurian Dorty finished third in the high hurdles (15.15) while Madison Heights Bishop Foley’s Alyssa Samartino was fifth in the 100 dash (12.67).
At Division 4, Allen Park Cabrini’s Ava Teed was third in the 3200 (11:30.80) and fifth in the 1600 (5:19.78); Chesterfield Austin Catholic’s Helana Napiorkowski was seventh in the 3200 (12:03.49) and Cardinal Mooney’s Gabriela Gashaj placed sixth in the intermediate hurdles (48.32).
Cabrini’s Christopher Russelburg added an eighth-place finish in the boys’ 1600 race (4:31.21).
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