Slattery's High-Scoring Day Helps Hackett Catholic Prep Prevail by Slimmest of Margins

By Brian Freiberger 
Special for MHSAA.com

May 30, 2026

HUDSONVILLE – Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Clara Slattery made sure her name will remain known after Saturday. 

The junior took home Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals championships in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, along with a blazing fast 200-meter time of 25.26 to win her third event of the day. 

All of those helped the Fighting Irish claim the team championship with 44 points – just one more than Hudson. The title was the program's first in this sport.

“It means a lot since last year I struggled in the 200 and 300, and it was good for me to get back. It helps show me that my training is paying off,” Slattery said. “I will take with me most from this season being around my friends and teammates, especially those seniors that are graduating. They really help when they're screaming at me, pushing me to go even harder.”

Frankfort finished a close third in the team standings, with Fowler fourth and Whitmore Lake and Gobles tied for fifth.

Alcona senior Addi Beatty broke LPD4 Finals record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.22. She also had quality performances in the high jump and long jump, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively. 

Alcona's Addi Beatty, middle, runs to the 100-meter dash title. “I have been working for this for years,” Beatty said. “Last year I got state runner-up (in the 100), and I was a little sad about it, so it's good to come here this year and win it all.” 

Concord sophomore Annie Saenz placed her name into history as well after breaking the 25-year-old girls high jump record with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches. To go along with the meet record, Saenz now holds the school record as well. 

“It feels great. I've been working hard to get the records … that’s been my goal all season. I hope to just keep working hard, keep reaching higher heights, and, like, be happy about this, but focus on the next thing,” Saenz said.

Mancelona junior Leili Frollo took home the top honor in pole vault with a height of 11 feet to win her first Finals championship. Despite attempts being hours in-between, Frollo remained focused.

“It was kind of slow because people were checking out for an event, so I waited hours between my jumps, which is really different for me,” Frollo said. “I was just really glad that I had my coaches and family supporting me. I am super excited. I've been wanting this for a while, and I worked so hard, so I feel so proud of myself that I was finally able to accomplish that.” 

Gobles 3,200 champion Libby Smith blazed her way to the title with a time of 11:16 in a highly-contested race. 

“I just went out racing. I was worried about time. I didn't even start my watch. I can't even look at this,” Smith said.

Around the 900-meter mark, Smith hit the turbo boost, and luckily she had enough in the tank to finish the race because 1,600 champion Kaylie Livingston of Whitmore Lake was at her heels.

Gobles’ 3,200 relay team of Smith, Lauren Shaffer, Ava DeYoung and Madison Cooley also earned a championship. 

“I’m not giving up by myself when it gets hard; I just keep pushing through,” Smith said.

Lilly Szappan from St. Charles won the adaptive shot put with a throw of 18 feet, 8.7 inches.

“It just proves to me that I can do more than I think I'm capable of at times,” she said. “A lot of people say that just because I am different, that I can't do as much or can't do as well. But this just proves everybody wrong. And it proves to myself that I can do good things.”

Other champions included Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central’s Claire Long in the 400, Kingston’s Norah Kiley in the 800, St. Louis’ Tess Farkas in the shot put, Unionville-Sebewaing’s Ryleigh Ewald in the discus and Buckley’s Brooklynn Frazee in the long jump. Frankfort’s 400 relay, Portland St. Patrick’s 800 relay and Kingston’s 1,600 relay also were winners.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep's Clara Slattery, second from left, charges over a hurdle on the way to winning the 100 hurdles championship Saturday. (Middle) Alcona's Addi Beatty, middle, runs to the 100-meter dash title. (Click for more from Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)

#TBT: Pioneer Mourns Champion Coach

July 9, 2015

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Ann Arbor Pioneer this week mourned longtime girls track & field and cross country coach Bryan Westfield, who died Sunday at the age of 72 and led Pioneers teams to a combined 19 MHSAA team championships over a career spanning more than three decades.

The Pioneers won their first girls track & field title under Westfield in 1985, edging Detroit Cass Tech 56-50 in Lower Peninsula Class A at Flint’s Houston Stadium. Pioneer went on to win the next six LP Class A titles, then strung together four more straight wins from 1996-99. His track & field teams won five more titles during the first decade of the 2000s, most recently in 2008, and the program holds the record for Lower Peninsula Finals championships with 16, six more than Detroit Renaissance.

Westfield’s girls cross country teams won back-to-back LP Class A titles in 1987 and 1988, and then won again in 1997.

Westfield graduated from Ann Arbor High School – the predecessor to Pioneer – in 1960 having lettered in football and track & field. He competed in both at Cornell University and eventually returned to Pioneer as a teacher. He also had a brief stint with the New York Giants’ developmental squad and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1964.

He began coaching Pioneer’s girls track & field and cross country teams in 1978 and coached both during the 2014-15 school year. He was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014, among a number of accolades earned over the years.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. The school’s track was dedicated in 2012 to Westfield and former boys track & field coach Don Sleeman.

Click for Westfield’s obituary and coverage of his passing from AnnArbor.com.

PHOTO: Coach Bryan Westfield stands with his 1990 team after it won the Lower Peninsula Class A track & field championship.