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Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep's Clara Slattery, second from left, charges over a hurdle on the way to winning the 100 hurdles championship Saturday.

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.)

High 5s: 5/22/12

May 22, 2012

None of this week's High 5s honorees knows much about losing. Ann Arbor Pioneer's Drake Johnson is unequaled in his best race, Decatur's Erika Southworth has averaged more than 25 wins pitching each season of high school, and the Remus Chippewa Hills girls track team hasn't lost during the regular season in nearly a decade.

Erika Southworth

Decatur senior

Softball

Southworth, a pitcher, is finishing her fourth varsity season after earning all-state honors after all of her previous three. She both won her 100th game and notched her 1,000th career strikeout last week, putting her in the MHSAA record book in both categories. Southworth is 24-3 this season with a 0.83 ERA and 199 strikeouts, and also leads her team with a .448 batting average and 35 RBI. She's signed to play next season at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and is considering a major in business. Decatur is ranked No. 7 in the state coaches Division 4 poll.

Celebrate good times: "My 100th win was at home, and they gave me a picture that said '100 wins.' It's really nice. ... My 1,000th strikeout was at Climax-Scotts, and my teammates were counting down in the dugout. I was batting one inning, and I could hear them whispering. After the strikeout, my catcher called timeout and came out and gave me a hug. Then the umpire (asked what had happened), called timeout, gave the ball to my coach and announced it to everyone on the field."

Commander-in-chief: Southworth is her class' president and has been part of the student council and National Honor Society. "I like being involved with my class. I've gotten to know a lot of people that I wouldn't usually talk to in a regular school day."

I learned the most about pitching from: One of my high school teammates from a couple of years ago (Kelsey Vliek), her dad (Jeff) got me into it. After that, I just played travel ball, and my coach would help. Then I just went to different pitching coaches." 

Competing with Cole: Southworth has a fun rivalry with little brother Cole, a freshman wrestler and baseball catcher. "We both take strength and conditioning at school, different hours but we do the same lifts. So we try to beat each other that way. ... This year is the first year I've ever pitched to him. I always told my mom it wasn't a good idea. I'd just aim for his face all the time."

The ball starts here: "I like that I start out every play. The pitcher kinda controls the game, controls the pace of the game. I like knowing where most of the balls are going to be hit. (And) I think it's more of a challenge. I always go for more of the challenging things."

(Click to read more.)

Drake Johnson

Ann Arbor Pioneer senior

Track and Field

Johnson, who has signed to play football this fall at the University of Michigan, is a two-time MHSAA Division 1 champion in the 110-meter hurdles, and won both that race (14.25) and the 300 hurdles (38.63) at Friday's Division 1 Regional at Saline. He also ran on the second-place and state-qualifying 1,600 relay and on the third-place 800 relay. Johnson owns the Pioneers' record in the 110 hurdles of 13.7 seconds. Last fall as a running back, he was tops in the state with 2,809 yards rushing, sixth in the MHSAA record book for one season. He also is interested in running track at U-M.

Loving both for different reasons: "I like the thrill of football. I love the games, the scoring, the hype around football. Track, it's just the competitiveness of one-on-one. It's your best effort against their best effort." 

I learned the most about running from: "I've always had my coaches at Pioneer, and my dad (Michael Johnson) has always been my hurdles coach. If I feel like I'm not running as well as I can, I can say, 'Hey dad,' and he'll say come to the track a couple times and we can fix it."

As a running back, I try to be like: "Not a single person, but a combination of Tyrone Wheatley and Eric Dickerson. Just watching videos with my dad, I got interested in seeing what (Dickerson) ran like. He really was amazing at what he did."

My favorite thing to do that isn't a sport is: "I love watching movies. Any movie I can find. I love the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies, and I love the 'Oceans' (Eleven, Twelve, etc.) movies."

Up next: Johnson will major in philosophy and psychology, and eventually wants to be a psychiatrist. "Just knowing how people think. ... I always tried to see things from other people's points of view. I'm an open-minded person, and (I enjoy) the whole study of trying to see how people think."

(Click to read more.) 

Remus Chippewa Hills girls track and field

Heading into last week, the Warriors were riding a 74-dual meet win streak, and edged Mount Pleasant by 1.5 points to win their Division 2 Regional on Friday. Chippewa Hills, competing in the Central State Activities Association tonight, also won its 10th-straight league championship meet Tuesday. Most of the Warriors are underclassmen -- the team has only one senior.

(Click to read more.) 

This spring's previous honorees