Manchester eighth grader Hayden Rideout is the 2025 Southern Hills Athletic Conference champion in three events- Long Jump (shown above), the 100M Dash and the 200M Dash. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

Manchester eighth grader Hayden Rideout is the 2025 Southern Hills Athletic Conference champion in three events- Long Jump (shown above), the 100M Dash and the 200M Dash. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

<p>West Union’s Ethan Caldwell clears the hurdle on his way to a third place finish in the Boys 110 during last week’s SHAC Junior High Meet, held at Manchester High School. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

West Union’s Ethan Caldwell clears the hurdle on his way to a third place finish in the Boys 110 during last week’s SHAC Junior High Meet, held at Manchester High School. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
<p>With a throw of 34’3”, North Adams’ Jax Kingsley is the 2025 Boys Shot Put champion in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

With a throw of 34’3”, North Adams’ Jax Kingsley is the 2025 Boys Shot Put champion in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
<p>Peebles seventh grader Gemma Wilson competes in the Girls 1600M Run at the May 9 SHAC Junior High Meet in Manchester. Wilson placed fifth overall in the race. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)</p>

Peebles seventh grader Gemma Wilson competes in the Girls 1600M Run at the May 9 SHAC Junior High Meet in Manchester. Wilson placed fifth overall in the race. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

Bright sunshine greeted the junior high girls and boys track teams from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference as they congregated at Manchester High School on May 9 for the annual conference track meet. It was an exciting evening for everyone involved and the team championships went to the Whiteoak girls and the Eastern Brown boys.

Though none of the Adams County teams finished in the top three of the team standings, a number of county athletes turned in scoring individual performances. The top eight finishers in each event scored points for their team (10,8,6,5,4,3,2,1) and following is a list of the junior high athletes from Adams County who were in the top eight (champions in bold).

Girls High Jump: 1. Katie Myers, Peebles (4’4”); 2. Lyrric Hanson, Manchester (4’4”); 3. Zaylee McClanahan, Peebles (4’4”)

Boys High Jump: 1. Fletcher Watkins, West Union (5’2”); 4. Jax Davis, North Adams (4’6”); 5. Ashton Ashworth, Peebles (4’4”)

Girls Long Jump: 1. Hayden Rideout, Manchester (17’2.5”); 2. Katie Myers, Peebles (14.5”); 4. Lillian Harper, North Adams (13’3.75”); 6. Dayzee Wheeler, Peebles (12’11.5”)

Boys Long Jump: 2. Caleb Phipps, Peebles (15’9.75”); 4. Dawson Souder, North Adams (14’7”); 7. K.J. McClary, Peebles (14’6.25)

Girls Shot Put: 4. Sophia Hall, West Union (27’11”); 8. Kendi Mason, Peebles (23’4”)

Boys Shot Put: 1. Jax Kingsley, North Adams (34’3”); 2. Walker Newman, Peebles (32’); 5. Brody Hall, West Union (30’); 8. Evan Alexander, Manchester (26’2.5”)

Girls Discus: 3. Annabelle Kitchen, Peebles (66’2”); 4. Leila Nichols, Peebles (54’4”)

Boys Disucs: 2. Jax Kingsley, North Adams (98’9”); 3. Walker Newman, Peebles (95’9”); 8. Joseph Burns, West Union (84’8”)

Looking for the rest of the story? Of course you are! Look no further than the May 14 edition of The People’s Defender. Pick up your copy in any village of the county or even better, get your year-long subscription started today and you’ll never miss any of the region’s best news and sports coverage. Call (937) 544-2391 to get the Defender delivered every week right to your mailbox!