ANN ARBOR — Even though Ann Arbor Greenhills’ girls team is a little bit smaller than the squad that won last year’s Catholic League track and field championship, the girls don’t feel it’s a hassle to take on a larger workload.
“This year I’ve run the 4-by-1, the 1, the 2, the 4-by-2, the 4, and the 4-by-4, and in this meet I ran the 2, 4, the 4-by-4 and the 4-by-2," senior Navya Ashok said. “It’s like a tiny but mighty girls team, and I really like it because everyone is so supportive of each other, and it’s such a nice community to be a part of.”
“I do the mile, the 2-mile, the 800 and the 4x8,” added her classmate, Anika Bery. “I think that we have a lot of talent, so people do several events each time and they are able to get first or second and third, so it’s not too hard.”
Ashok, Bery and the rest of the Gryphon girls heard their names announced among the top finishers all afternoon on Wednesday, as Greenhills cruised to the team title for the second consecutive year, besting eight other schools by a wide margin.
“We don’t have the biggest squad, but man, in field events, in sprints, in distance, they’re strong,” coach Jared Bussell said. “It’s nice to be on the home court, but it doesn’t matter where we are — we’re going to go out there, we’re going to fight, we’re going to show up.”
Greenhills accumulated 181 points, well ahead of Allen Park Cabrini (runner-up with 100), Royal Oak Shrine and Grosse Pointe Woods University-Liggett (tied for third with 74 apiece), to win the inaugural St. Anne’s Division championship.
Greenhills was the lone repeat team winner among six schools winning CHSL track titles. It was a similar story to last spring, when the Gryphons were 83.5 points ahead of the nearest competitor (competing in the Cardinal Division).
They established their dominance early, winning the first two events on the track. Bery, Janaan Rehman, Nata Yonkoski and Claire Redman took the 4x800-meter relay (11:46.66), and Lauren Sheffield won the 100-meter high hurdles (18.99). The team’s other first-place finishes came from Manya Tijoriwala (300 hurdles/55.36), Jayla Johnson (high jump/4’ 8”) and the 4x200 relay of Eleana Zhuang, Ella Song, Ashok and Vic Cunningham (1:52.71).
The meet’s top individual was Allen Park Cabrini’s Ava Teed. The Central Michigan University commit closed out her Catholic League career by winning all four of her events: the 1600 (5:14.84), the 800 (2:34.89), the 3200 (11:25.36) and the 4x400 relay (4:29.35).
Boys meet: Liggett steps into winner’s circle
University-Liggett has an athletic tradition dating back to before 1900, but the Knights are still accomplishing new things. Liggett won the inaugural St. Anne’s Division boys track championship Wednesday at Greenhills, and it was the school’s first Catholic League title in the sport.
Liggett scored 154 points, outpacing host Greenhills (140), Marine City Cardinal Mooney (81) and seven other schools.
Sprint success was Liggett’s calling card — as it has been all season long — but the Knights balanced that out with several prime finishes in other event areas as well.
Santino Cicarella won the 100, 200 and 400 dashes (11.12/22.61/50.42). Jermaine Calloway Jr. was the high hurdle champion (16.79). Liggett won two of four field events with Jordan Stefanides taking the shot put (45’ 2.75”) and Marvin Hartfield winning the high jump (5’ 8”). The Knights also won the 4x100 relay with Pierre Walker II, James McCullough, Calloway and Hartfield (45.45).
“Our team has just really bonded well. We bring the work ethic and intensity in practice every day, and by just staying focused and doing what we needed to do, we knew it would all work out and we got first,” said Cicarella, who also ran on the 2023 Catholic League champion team at University of Detroit Jesuit before transferring to Liggett.
Liggett had also won all three regular-season jamboree meets this spring.
“I’m very, very proud of the team. This is my third year on the team and I’ve seen a lot of growth,” Hartfield said. “The leadership on our team pushed everybody and we realized we had a shot to win the trophy. Every day we’re out there, every workout, it’s just a good environment to be in.”
“It’s been a blessing to work with the kids and get them to come and join our team, and actually have fun with this sport,” coach Jermaine Calloway said. “It’s not all about winning on the big stage, but it’s about winning within yourself. That’s been the draw.”
Winning the title on Wednesday was not as easy as his athletes made it look, coach Calloway said.
“We had a lot of trials and tribulations,” Calloway said. “We had people get injured, we had people quit, we had people just leave. So we didn’t know where we were going to be, but we knew if we put our best foot forward, we could accomplish our highest goals.”
Royal Oak Shrine sophomore Abenezer Cerone figured in three first-place finishes. He won the 1600 with a kick on the final lap (4:29.50), led the 800 wire-to-wire (2:07.86) and started Shrine’s winning 4x400 relay with teammates Logan Porada, Jack Rice and Anthony Sobeck (3:38.78).
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