Jacoya Brookins won the 300-meter hurdles for Dowagiac Tuesday afternoon in the Chieftains' Wolverine Conference meet against South Haven. (The Daily News/RON HARNER)

By DON EDEN
Dowagiac Daily News

Dowagiac senior Pierre Reed helped the boys’ track team achieve a last race victory once again for the Chiefs in a Wolverine Conference dual meet.

The 1,600-meter relay squad won with seven seconds to spare to outlast the visiting South Haven Rams 70-67 while the girls suffered a close 73-62 defeat.

“That last race always makes me nervous in a close meet, so I do the best that I can for us to win,” stated a smiling Reed.  “Myself and the team were not doing well my first three years, but happy we all are getting better.”

Reed won convincingly in both the 110 high hurdle and 300-meter low hurdle races as his time are improving in both with better form over the obstacles.

“My freshman year I ran more of the 300, but got better at the 110 highs and hopefully still can improve,” noted Reed. “My goal is to make it to State in my last year as the coaches (Mike Stanger and Ken Jordan) help me improve by making me work hard every day.”

The close final score was nothing compared to the virtual three-way tie in the 100-meter dash as Ram junior Joshua Taylor nosed out Dowagiac juniors Troy Butcher and Austin Adams by .04 seconds.

A pair of seniors for Dowagiac (2-2 Wolverine) vaulted the highest with the pole as Kyle Wright and Collin Tidey beat South Haven senior Mike McGarr.

Other field event winners for the Chiefs were senior Michael Hemenway in the shot put and freshman Dontel Highsmith in the high jump. Senior Kasey Proshwitz and sophomore Chris Gantt won the 400- and 800-meter runs respectively for the victors.

“Proud of how the kids jumped up in the last race to win as a lot of mental mistakes caused by the coaches made this race so close,” said Stanger. “A lot of kids are stepping up for us, but Reed has improved dramatically over the last four years and will get everything he can from his senior year.”

Almost gaining its first victory in the conference this year the girls team has quality, but not quantity which fell short with narrow defeats in the 80-0 and ,1600- meter relays.

“The 800 relay was an important race for us and lost (.44) by under a second which would have made the 1,600 more interesting (.26) where it was real close,” commented Jordan.  “We won nine events but once again our lack of numbers hurt us.”

Hurdles were not a problem as Dowagiac swept the 100 with senior Andrea Bradshaw leading the way over juniors Jacoya Brookins and Ashley Pritchard with Brookins winning the 300.

Sophomore Regina Kennedy showed her prowess in the shot put and discus by out throwing South Haven senior Clareese Paul in each event with senior Cierra Mattix capturing the pole vault.

Showing her speed in winning both the sprints was junior Kaisha Martin, who also out-long jumped Bradshaw for Dowagiac as both joined Brookins and Mattix for the 400-meter relay crown.

A quartet of individual championships were won by lone South Haven sophomore Grace Carver who won the 400, 800, 1,600 and 3,200 races with a teammate finishing second in each except the latter where Kelsey Cleveland was the runner-up for Dowagiac.

“It is rare to win those four events as she (Carver) did a great job for them, but (Kaisha) Martin also won all 4 of her events,” concluded Jordan. “It was a great effort by all the girls who gave it their all as our chances will be better in the bigger meets.”

Boys’ results
South Haven…67
Dowagiac…70
3200 relay: 1. Dowagiac (Chris Gantt, Robert Andrade, Joey Pasternak, Kasey Proshwitz) 9:46.53; 110 hurdles: 1. Pierre Reed (D) 15.98; 100: 1. Taylor (SH) 11.10; 800 relay: 1. South Haven (Taylor, Bell, Bradley, Thomas) 1:36.17; 1600: 1. Lewis (SH) 4:48.99; 400 relay: 1. South Haven (Taylor, Bell, Bradley, Thomas) 45.33; 400: 1. Kasey Proshwitz (D) 55.6; 300 hurdles: 1. Pierre Reed (D) 45.37; 800: 1. Chris Gantt (D) 2:11.54; 200: 1. Thomas (SH) 23.05; 3200: 1. Katt (SH) 11:36.37; 1600 relay: 1. Dowagiac (Pierre Reed, Damone Huff, Austin Adams, Chris Gantt) 3:49.17; Pole vault: 1. Kyle Wright (D) 11-0; Shot put: 1. Mike Hemenway (D) 41-5; Discus: 1. Gantt (SH) 113-8; Long jump: 1. Dontel Highsmith (D) 20-5; High jump: 1. Taylor (SH) 5-8
Girls’ results
South Haven…73
Dowagiac…62
3200 relay: 1. South Haven (DeWitte, Hooper, Johnson, VanWynan) 14:09.00; 100 hurdles: 1. Andrea Bradshaw (D) 17.63; 100: 1. Kaisha Martin (D) 12.37; 800 relay: 1. South Haven (Paul, Martin, Simon, Brown) 1:56.69; 1600: 1. Carver (SH) 6:41; 400 relay: 1. Dowagiac (Andrea Bradshaw, Jacoya Brookins, Kaisha Martin, Cierra Mattix) 53.49; 400: 1. Carver (SH) 1:06.85; 300 hurdles: 1. Jacoya Brookins (D) 55.92; 800: 1. Carver (SH) 2:48.88; 200: 1. Kaisha Martin (D) 26.67; 3200: 1. Carver (SH) 12:51.25; 1600 relay: 1. South Haven (VanWynan, Meskausas, Martin, Ticknor) 4:59.74; Pole vault: 1. Cierra Mattix (D) 8-3; Shot put: 1. Regina Kennedy (D) 26-11; Discus: 1. Regina Kennedy (D) 82-9; Long jump: 1. Kaisha Martin (D) 15-4; High jump: 1. Ticknor (SH) 4-4