Brighton, Cameron Cheetam achieve Livingston County regional track and field rarities

GRAND LEDGE — It was, without question, the greatest day of track and field in Brighton history.

Its girls team had won seven regional championships and the boys two before Friday, but never had there been a double trophy ceremony for the Bulldogs.

Both championships were no-doubters, not once Brighton’s deep distance crews hit the track to dominate the 3,200-meter run in the next-to-last event.

Brighton’s boys scored 98.5 points, repeating as champion by a 22-point margin over Hartland. The girls racked up 108 points for a 36.5-point cushion over Sturgis.

The Bulldogs became the first Livingston County program to win boys and girls regional championships in the same season since Pinckney swept the Class A meet at Milford in 1996.

“At the start of the year, the captains had the same goal of like, ‘Hey, let’s try to be regional champs again,’” Brighton boys coach Amanda Bell said. “Both the distance coach (Chris Elsey) and I sat down and scored it out and told them, ‘This is a really realistic thing again. You guys are deep enough in a lot of different places that you guys can go after it again.’”

Brighton’s boys won their third title in the last five seasons after never winning one previously, while the girls won their first since 2008.

“It has been a while,” Brighton girls coach Sam Etter said. “I was talking to Coach Bell about it. We were trying to shoot for this double last year. It’s real exciting for the girls program. This will be the first time in history the girls and guys were regional champs in the same year. It makes me feel like a proud momma to see all these girls come out. We were scoring points in places we weren’t even projected to be in the top eight.”

While both Brighton squads got points in various events, distance was a clear strength for each.

The boys scored 68 of their points in the 3,200-meter relay, 800, 1,600 and 3,200. The girls scored 63 points in those events.

Senior Luke Campbell pulled off a difficult triple on a hot day. He was on the first-place 3,200 relay team with Ian Cox, Josh Hamilton and Bode Cooper, took second in the 1,600 in 4:17.27 and won the 3,200 in 9:26.35. Both of Campbell’s individual times were personal bests.

“I was a little sick this week, so I was nervous coming in,” Campbell said. “I knew I had a job to do, though. That 4x8 didn’t go the way I wanted to as an individual, but luckily my teammates pulled through. The mile and two mile, I just gave it everything, represent Brighton.”

Pulling a similar workload for the girls was senior Carrigan Eberly.

Eberly began her day by anchoring the 3,200 relay team to a winning school-record time of 9:19.30. The team that also included Gabrielle Bolitho, Nikki Carothers and Juliet Lewis broke the mark of 9:19.9 set in 2016.

Eberly then won the 1,600 in a personal-best 5:06.27 before placing fifth in the 3,200 in 11:19.10. She became the first Brighton girl to win the 1,600 since Elizabeth Kinneer in 1999 and first from the county since Hartland’s Avery Evenson in 2010.

“It’s been my goal since freshman year to go to state in the 16,” Eberly said. “Kristi (Matuszewski, Brighton’s distance coach) hasn’t had an athlete in the 16 go to states before. I was really determined to be her first. I’m in love with the 16. I think it’s the greatest event there is.”

The county’s greatest individual performance, to nobody’s surprise, came from Hartland senior Cameron Cheetam.

Cheetam won the 100-meter dash in 10.92 seconds before taking second to Jackson phenom Ahmad Ameen in the 400 and 200 despite running county-record times. Cheetam ran the 200 in 21.66 seconds and the 400 in 47.75. Ameen ran 21.64 and 47.66.

In the meet’s final event, Cheetam made up a large gap to help Hartland finish second in the 1,600 relay.

By winning the 100, he became the first Livingston County boy to win that event at regionals since Howell’s Josh Gardner in 2011 and the first Eagle since Beejay Brown in 2005.

He won it despite a late start from the blocks.

“I heard the gun, but I just didn’t decide to go,” Cheetam said. “Everyone else left the block. I don’t think I was focused enough. I don’t think I was in my zone. I just forgot when the gun goes off, I have to go.

“The guys probably had like one or two steps on me, so it’s not like a lot. They definitely had space and I just had to gain.”

The county’s other regional champion was Hartland senior Aubree Meyer, who won shot put with a toss of 40 feet, 1 inch.

The state Division 1 meet will be June 1 at East Kentwood.

Livingston County state track and field qualifiers

BOYS

100: 1. Cameron Cheetam (Hartland) 10.92

200: 2. Cameron Cheetam (Hartland) 21.66; 4. Evan Bryan (Hartland) 22.54

400: 2. Cameron Cheetam (Hartland) 47.75

1,600: 2. Luke Campbell (Brighton) 4:17.27; 4. Tyler Langley (Brighton) 4:19.57

3,200: 1. Luke Campbell (Brighton) 9:26.35; 2. Tyler Langley (Brighton) 9:28.35; 3. Jack MacGregor (Howell) 9:29.15; 4. Tyler Brock (Brighton) 9:32.94.

800 relay: 2. Brighton (Brayden Platt, Sam Meriweather, Wyatt Nabozny, Lawrence Wells) 1:29.21.

1,600 relay: 2. Hartland (Evan Bryan, Robert Wisniewski, Carson Cook, Cameron Cheetam) 3:24.82; 3. Brighton (Owen Buckley, Colin Robertson, Bode Cooper, Ian Cox) 3:24.93.

3,200 relay: 1. Brighton (Ian Cox, Luke Campbell, Josh Hamilton, Bode Cooper) 7:56.30; 2. Howell (Drake Wallace, Jack MacGregor, Lucas Wood, Noah DeLand) 7:57.69.

Discus: 4. Bobby Kanka (Howell) 149-6.

High jump: 2. Romen Williams (Howell) 6-4; 3. Dylan Lawrence (Hartland) 6-4.

Pole vault: 3. Noah Thames (Howell) 14-0.

Long jump: 2. Evan Bryan (Hartland) 21-1.5.

GIRLS

400: 2. Addison Payne (Brighton) 58.45.

800: 2. Juliet Lewis (Brighton) 2:17.10; 3. Gabrielle Bolitho (Brighton) 2:19.81.

1,600: 1. Carrigan Eberly (Brighton) 5:06.27.

3,200: 2. Nikki Carothers (Brighton) 11:09.97.

100 hurdles: 2. Annie Yang (Howell) 16.39.

1,600 relay: 2. Brighton (Addison Payne, Gabrielle Bolitho, Selena White, Juliet Lewis) 4:01.52.

3,200 relay: 1. Brighton (Juliet Lewis, Gabrielle Bolitho, Nikki Carothers, Carrigan Eberly) 9:19.30.

Shot put: 1. Aubree Meyer (Hartland) 40-1.

High jump: 2. Lexi Le (Howell) 5-2.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton boys, girls sweep track and field regional for first time