Voting is now open for this week's Top Performers-State Qualifier Edition poll

Each week The Daily Reporter presents its Top Performers, those local student-athletes that had big weeks in their chosen sports. This week’s edition of Top Performers is a little different, as track athletes arguably had their biggest week of the year with their respective regional events and conference championships. Because of the sheer number of state qualifiers that came out of Branch County in the sport of track, we here at The Daily Reporter are calling this week’s Top Performers poll, Top Performers-State Qualifier Edition.

Only athletes who qualified for the MHSAA State Finals in the sport of track will be included in this week’s Top Performers poll. Included in each individual athlete's write up is also a recap of what they did at their own respective league meet.

Reminder, we here at The Daily Reporter are attempting a new format for our Athlete of the Week award, and it all begins right here with our Top Performers.

Included in this article will be the best of the best from the past week, some that have caught our eye and some still who were nominated by coaches or parents. Attached to this article will be a poll allowing you, the readers, to vote for who you think was this week’s Top Performer. This poll is unlike the Athlete of the Week poll, this one is of the style where anyone can vote as many times as they want. The top 4-6 vote getters after the weekend will move on to Breathe Free Duct Cleaning Athlete of the Week vote, which is announced every Friday. It is a new format and we here at the newspaper are testing to see how it may work, so if it does not work, our apologies.

So, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, here is this week’s Top Performers-State Qualifiers Edition.

Girls Track - State Qualifiers

Brianna Barle- Coldwater Cardinals- Barle earned a spot at the MHSAA state finals after earning first place in both the 100 and 200 adaptive races. Barle, who used a racing wheelchair, took first in the 100 adaptive in a time of 34.90 and took first in the 200 adaptive in a time of 1:19.04.

Brookelynn Parker, Quincy Orioles- Parker punched her own ticket to the MHSAA Individual State Finals in two events thanks to regional championship wins in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.84 seconds and first place in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.43 seconds. Parker also took sixth place as part of the 1,600-relay team. Parker went on to take second place in the Big 8 in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles and second place in the 1,600-relay team.

Ella Grabowski, Coldwater Cardinals- Grabowski will make her trip to the Division Two state finals after taking fourth place in the long jump at regionals with a jump of 16 feet, 8 inches. Earlier this week Grabowski went on to take first place in the long jump at the I-8 league meet, winning the event with a new CHS record jump of 17 feet, 5 inches.

Elli Foley, Coldwater Cardinals- Foley will make her return trip to the MHSAA state finals after winning regional titles in both the shot put and discus. In the shot put Foley bested the field with a new CHS school record throw of 40 feet, 6.5 inches. In the discus Foley finished in first place with a throw of 109 feet, 3 inches. Foley took first place in the shot put at the I-8 league meet with a throw of 37 feet, 11.75 inches and second place in the discus with a throw of 104 feet, 6.5 inches.

Grace Huff, Coldwater Cardinals- Huff not only earned her return shot at the MHSAA state finals in the 800, she did so in record breaking fashion. Huff took first place in the 800 at the Division Two regional in a new Coldwater High School record time of 2:17.24. Huff was also part of the state qualifying 800 relay team who won a regional title in 1:46.18. Huff went on to win the Interstate 8 conference title in the 800 with a time of 2:22.41. Huff was also a part of the second place 800 relay team and the second place 1,600 relay team.

Jaelah Sloan, Coldwater Cardinals- Sloan will be making the trip to the MHSAA state finals after taking fifth place in the long jump with a state qualifying jump of 16 feet, 4.25 inches. Sloan will also represent the school as part of the state qualifying 800 relay team who won regional gold in 1:46.18.

More: Union City girls track secures Big 8 conference crown, Quincy finishes in second place

Jaiden Hayes, Bronson Vikings- Hayes earned a state qualification at regionals, taking fifth place in the 300 hurdles in a qualifying time of 49.78 seconds. Hayes also took sixth in the 100-meter dash.

Nevada Gillons, Union City Chargers- Gillons qualified for the MHSAA State Finals in four different events based on her efforts at regionals last Friday. Gillons took second place in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles, followed by a second-place finish in the long jump and fifth place finish as part of the state qualifying 400 relay team. Gillons also took home four gold medals from this past week’s Big 8 conference meet, winning the 100 hurdles in 15.58 seconds, the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.80, the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, 8.75 inches, and first place as part of the winning 400 relay team.

Boys Track-State Qualifiers

Alex Dunn, Quincy Orioles- Dunn qualified for the state finals in the high jump, taking fourth place with a jump of 6 feet. Dunn also took seventh in the long jump at the regional level. Dunn went on to claim Big 8 conference championship honors in the high jump with a jump of 6 feet, 2 inches and took sixth in the long jump

Boston Bucklin, Bronson Vikings- Bucklin has proven repeatedly why he is one of the best half-milers in the state. At this week’s Big 8 tournament Bucklin took first in the 800 in a time of 2:02.90 while also taking third as part of the 1,600-relay team and second as part of the 3,200 relay. Bucklin also took seventh place in the regional finals, qualifying for the state finals in 2:03.05. Buckln was also a part of the eighth place 1,600 relay team and a part of the sixth place 3,200 relay team. To finish out his regional effort Bucklin took sixth in the high jump.

Clayton Benson, Quincy Orioles- Benson qualified for the MHSAA Individual state finals in two different races, thanks to a fourth-place finish in the 110 hurdles in a state qualifying time of 15.78 followed by a seventh-place finish in the 300 hurdles in a state qualifying time of 42.66. Benson also qualified for the state finals in the high jump where he took fifth place with a jump of 6 feet. Benson went on to claim Big 8 championship honors in the 300 hurdles in a time of 41.57 seconds, while also taking third place in the 110 hurdles

Corey Turner, Quincy Orioles- Turner continued his dominance of the pole vault, winning a regional title and qualifying for the state finals with a vault of 13 feet, 6 inches. Turner went on to take second place in the pole vault at the Big 8 meet.

Garrett McVicker, Coldwater Cardinals- McVicker earned his first trip to the MHSAA state finals as the junior took sixth place in the shot put with a state qualifying throw of 49 feet, 2.5 inches. McVicker took sixth place in the shot put at the Interstate 8 league meet while finishing twelfth in the discus.

More: Union City boys win Big 8 track and field crown

Hunter Sinke, Union City Chargers- Sinke found himself on the podium for several varied reasons, one of which is his 400-meter prowess as he secured one win and one state qualifying effort in the quarter mile, taking the 400 in the Big 8 meet in 52.75 while finishing in third place in the regional finals in a state qualifying time of 50.90 seconds. Sinke was also a member of the third place 400 relay team at the Big 8 meet, followed by a second-place finish in the 800 relay, and third place in the 1,600-meter relay. At regionals Sinke qualified for the state finals as part of three relay teams, earning a ticket to the finals as part of the 400-relay team (fifth place), the 800-relay team (sixth place), and the 1,600-relay team (fourth place).

Jackson Reilly, Coldwater Cardinals- Reilly really stepped into his own down in the throwing pits this season, as the sophomore qualified for the Division 2 state finals in both the shot put and the discus. In the shot Reilly took second place with a personal best throw of 51 feet, 5.5 inches while also taking fifth place in the discus with a throw of 144 feet, 9 inches. Reilly continued his impressive throwing season at the I-8 League Meet on Monday, taking first place in the discus with a new personal best throw of 156 feet, 1 inch while also taking third place in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet, 10.75 inches.

Kaleb Handy, Quincy Orioles- Qualified for the state finals in the pole vault, finishing in fifth place with a vault of 12 feet. Handy also took fourth place at the Big 8 league meet in the pole vault.

Kam Brackett, Bronson Vikings- Qualified for the state finals in the high jump, finishing in third place at the regional level with a jump of 6 feet, 2 inches. Brackett also took fifth place in the long jump at regionals. Bracket went on to finish in fifth place in the high jump at the Big 8 League meet and took fourth in the long jump. 

Logan Cole, Union City – Cole continued his dominant ways down in the throwing pits, at both regionals and the Big 8 conference meet. Cole took second place in both the shot put and discus at regionals, earning a return trip to the state finals. Cole went on to sweep the conference titles at the Big 8 league meet, winning the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 1 inch and the discus with a throw of 158 feet, 10 inches.

Nathaniel Maurer, Union City Chargers- Maurer qualified for the MHSAA state finals with a third-place finish in the 300 hurdles in 41.35 seconds, a state qualifying time. Maurer will also be heading to the finals as part of the state qualifying 800 relay team and the state qualifying 1,600 relay team.

Voting for this week’s Top Performers will run through the weekend and end on Monday at 5 p.m. The top 4-7 athletes will then move on to the Breathe Free Duct Cleaning Athlete of the Week vote. The vote for Top Performers runs different than the Athlete of the Week vote, as with the Top Performers one can vote as often as they like as many times as you like. Make sure your favorite athlete moves on to the Breathe Free Duct Cleaning Athlete of the Week vote! Vote now, vote often!

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Vote now for this week's Top Performers-State Qualifier Edition