Thriving with Dual-Sport Athletes, Brandywine Claims 1st Girls Track Regional Title
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2026
NILES – Just a few days after the 2025 girls track & field season had ended at Niles Brandywine, Terry Borr and his coaching staff were already looking forward to the start of the 2026 campaign.
"We had done a really good job at the 2025 Regional meet with the team finishing third. Our only goal that day was simply to qualify as many kids as we could for the state meet," Borr said.
Impressed with the effort put forth at last season’s meet by his Bobcats, Borr and his assistants used that as strong motivation for their athletes to attain high goals this spring.
"As a coaching staff we got together, talked things over and put some things in place with our No. 1 goal this spring being to win a Regional championship," Borr recalled.
Borr knew that wouldn't be an easy task at Brandywine, which like most small schools, must share several athletes with other spring sports teams. Out of 13 athletes on his 2026 track & field roster, eight were dual-sport participants.
Freshman Grace Colbert, junior Lily Gill, senior Karleigh Byrd and sophomore Alison Murray also played tennis.
"I managed to balance both tennis and track by prioritizing both as much as possible,” Byrd said. “Whether that was fitting in both practices and even matches and meets in the same day, that was easy to do because both my coaches are very understanding about each sport and my dedication to both programs.”
Freshman Hailey Smith also competed in softball, and freshmen Laila Wogatzke and Aubrey Burt are soccer players as well.
"We don't have a lot of practice time with some of these girls. But a lot of them are all just quality athletes and that helped us out a great deal,” Terry Borr said. “Five of these girls have broken over six school records here over the last three years.”
Borr also credits the strong contributions of his assistant coaches Brian McNamara (distance runners), Becky Shafer (throws) and Jeff Miller (hurdles).
"Brian has really worked well with our distance runners. Jeff is our football coach and he worked this spring with some of our hurdlers. Becky does a great job with our throwers too," Borr said.
Despite being spread so thin with limited practice time for nearly half the squad, Brandywine accomplished its preseason goal of winning the first Regional championship in girls track. The Bobcats placed first with 97 points to claim the Division 3 Regional at Bangor.
Brandywine scored points in 13 of 17 events to take the top spot and edge Red Arrow (a cooperative of Three Oaks River Valley and New Buffalo) by three points.
"Almost everybody on our team scored for us in the Regional. It really was a team effort,” Borr noted. “A couple weeks before the meet we had the Red Arrow team beating us by three points. So we figured out where we could put kids in different events so we could gain the maximum amount of points.”
Brandywine junior Mackenna Price was the Regional long jump champion (15-10¼).
"I think what makes me such a good competitor in the long jump is my confidence and ability to set my mind to any distance I believe in. My athleticism helps me by allowing me to push myself to be the best athlete I can be," Price said.
She teamed with Allison Kline, Byrd and freshman Zaya Price for third in the 1,600 relay. She also placed eighth in the 800.
"Makenna's desire to work hard, get better, and improving her speed down the runway all make her a good long jumper. Now she's just working more on the technical aspects to keep improving," Borr said.
Senior Allison Kline, sophomore Isabella Padron, Burt and freshman Laila Wogatzke took fifth in the 3,200 relay.
Zaya Price earned runner-up in the high jump. Murray placed second for Brandywine in the 1,600 run, fourth in the 3,200 and seventh in the 800.
"This year I succeeded the most in my 1,600. I enjoy that race the most because it takes a lot of mental strength, especially doing multiple events in one day. You really have to push yourself to the limit,” Murray said. “It's fun to watch myself and my mindset as years of running go by. My confidence and positivity are improving.
"I run cross country, and it prepares me well for track because it takes a lot of hard conditioning, like hills, pace workouts, long runs, and more. They are the same kind of workouts that you need to be successful in both sports. Since cross country is a whole 5K, the races in track, like the 800 and 1,600, feel way quicker and easier."
Byrd earned fifth in the 200 and joined Mackenna Price, Zaya Price and junior Lily Gill on the winning 800 relay (1:53.63).
"I think what makes our sprint relays so strong is that we are all so athletic and we have good chemistry. Everyone on our team pushes themselves, and we try our hardest," Zaya Price said.
Gill was a Regional champ in the 100-meter hurdles (16.19) and earned second in the 300 hurdles. Colbert took second in the 100 hurdles.
"Lily is a great athlete who has yet to reach her full potential in the hurdles. Her mechanics have improved along with her speed and athleticism. That’s what makes her a great competitor,” Borr said. “We believe that Grace will be an all-stater within the next couple years in the hurdles as well.”
Colbert, Byrd, Zaya Price and Gill swiped second in the 400 relay.
"I enjoy running in the sprint relays because working with a team of really fast girls who work as hard as you is such a fun experience," Byrd said.
Brandywine had two all-state places at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals on May 30 at Kent City. Gill finished sixth in the 100 hurdles, and Zaya Price was sixth in the high jump.
Scott Hassinger is a contributing sportswriter for Leader Publications and previously served as the sports editor for the Three Rivers Commercial-News from 1994-2022. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Berrien, Cass, St. Joseph and Branch counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Niles Brandywine junior hurdler Lily Gill attacks a hurdle during one of her races this season. (Middle) Makenna Price sails through the air for Niles Brandywine in the long jump. (Below) The Niles Brandywine girls track & field team and coaching staff pose for a photo with the 2026 Division 3 Regional trophy at Bangor. (Action photos by Tanya Hagen. Team photo provided by the Niles Brandywine athletic department.)
Sprint Star Leads Southfield Christian Surge
By
Tom Markowski
Special for Second Half
May 2, 2018
SOUTHFIELD – The village of Grass Lake, located in Jackson County, and the country of Nigeria are worlds apart in many ways.
But at Southfield Christian, chance circumstances have brought the two together – and the results have had a positive effect in the classroom and in the sport of track & field.
Todd Crouch ran track at Grass Lake High School and then in college at Spring Arbor before graduating in 2007. Crouch became a substitute teacher at Grass Lake soon after graduation, and he also helped coach the track team.
But securing a full-time teaching position wasn’t easy. Remember the times. The recession of the late 2000s left few unscathed.
“I applied, applied and applied,” Crouch said. “I graduated in 2007, and the recession followed. It was a situation where people who were working were holding onto their jobs, and art teachers weren’t in high demand.
“Then someone, I don’t even know who this person was, slipped me a sticky note. There was a message to contact a person. I had no idea what was going on. I’d never been to Southfield, and here I was contacting the superintendent at Southfield Christian, Sue Hoffenbacher, about a possible interview and Sue told me that she had been waiting for my call. I interviewed on a Friday, and on Monday I had the (teaching position).”
That was 2010. Crouch is now in his eighth season also as the girls and boys track & field coach at Southfield Christian and he teaches art classes at the high school level and at the middle school, which is located on the same campus.
In retrospect, Crouch said it was his destiny to coach and teach at a religious school like Southfield Christian.
“It’s a good story,” he said. “God meant for me to be here.”
It gets better. Southfield Christian won its first MHSAA track title last season, when the girls team finished with 62 points, 10 ahead of second-place Fowler at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals held at Houseman Field in Grand Rapids. The program’s previous best finish was runner-up in 2007.
Chika Amene and Kaelin Ray, both juniors last season, were the stars on that team. Amene placed first in the three sprints and ran the third leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay team. Ray ran the second leg in that race, placed first in the 300 hurdles and third in the 100 hurdles.
Of the six athletes who qualified for last year’s Finals, five were possibilities to return this spring. Two of those five, however, are not competing in track at this time. Crouch said Ray is focusing on club volleyball this spring. Junior Grace Sanders competed in Southfield Christian’s first two track meets but suffered an injury also playing club volleyball – she could return to the track before the end of this season and was part of last year’s 800 relay that finished third at the Finals.
But Crouch remains optimistic his team can contend for another title. The Chargers have 16 on the girls varsity team, and a number of those athletes have stepped up and shown much improvement over last season – including seniors Grace McFerrin and Shelby Goodson, who both ran on the 800 relay at Houseman last spring as well.
Southfield Christian’s chances begin with Amene, the best athlete in Division 4. Her parents, Chinedum and Uchenna, were born in Nigeria, and both competed in sports. Her mother was a track athlete in high school and Uchenna played soccer in college at University of Detroit Mercy. Amene’s brother, Dubem, is a sophomore and also runs track.
Physically, Chika Amene is stronger this season and competing at a higher level. If she can match what she did last season, that’s 40 points at the Finals, assuming she and three teammates can grab a first in a relay.
Amene has been a sprinter since before junior high. Early on she excelled in the 100 and 200. Gradually, the 400 became her best event. It took Amene until late in her freshman season to approach the 400 seriously, and it took an athlete on the boys team to provide that push.
Blake Washington is a junior at University of Michigan, and his best event is the 400. But it wasn’t always his favorite. Like Amene, Washington concentrated on the 100 and 200 early in his high school career.
“It was at the Regionals of his sophomore year,” Crouch said. “We had some injuries, and we told (Washington) he had to fill in. He ran so well in the (1,600) relay that I said to him, ‘You know, we’re going to have you work on that.’”
Washington set the LP Division 4 Finals record in the 400 in 2015 (49.34) that still stands.
“I was a freshman when Blake was a senior,” Amene said. “The 200, in my mind, was my best. Blake ran the 100 and 200, and transitioned to the 400. I didn’t even think about the 400. In one meet, one of my coaches said to run in the (1,600) relay and my time was really good. So I started training in the 400 as a sophomore.
“(Washington) was like a mentor. He gave me advice on my classes, my school work and running. He taught me a lot in the 400. He told me to make sure I got out fast, to get out hard. In college he told me to have my priorities straight, and don’t get distracted.”
Amene’s time when she won the 400 last season was 58.83. Her personal best is a 57.6. She ran 57.96 to finish 17th in March at the New Balance Nationals Indoor held in New York.
“I’m slowly getting back into shape,” she said. “That indoor season takes a lot out of you.”
A goal-setter, Amene said she hopes to run a 55 flat at the MHSAA Finals.
Amene said she’ll likely follow Washington to U-M. Amene’s grade-point average is 3.7, and she intends to major in business or economics with an eye on law school. She said she’s always been a Michigan fan, and the fact that a second cousin attended U-M doesn’t hurt – that cousin being 2012 Ann Arbor Huron grad Cindy Ofili, who won three LP Division 1 individual titles as a high school senior before becoming a Big 10 champion and Olympian representing Great Britain at the 2016 summer games.
Tom Markowski is a columnist and directs website coverage for the State Champs! Sports Network. He previously covered primarily high school sports for the The Detroit News from 1984-2014, focusing on the Detroit area and contributing to statewide coverage of football and basketball. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Chika Amene, far right, leads the pack during a sprint. (Middle) Chika, with parents Chinedum and Uchenna at last season’s MHSAA Finals. (Photos courtesy of the Amene family.)