EAST JACKSON – Teams from across the region made the trip to East Jackson High School on May 16 looking both for team and individual postseason glory with the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division 3 Regional 25 track and field meet.

For athletes to qualify for the MHSAA Division 3 state finals, an individual must finish in the top two of their respective events or meet a pre-determined time or distance for their chosen event.

In team standings the top two teams advance on to the MHSAA State Finals based on points earned throughout the meet. In the girls portion of Friday’s meet none of the three Branch County teams that traveled to East Jackson earned a spot in the state finals, however several individuals did reach that milestone. The team from Grass Lake won the regional girls title on Friday with a score of 84 points while the team from Lumen Christi took second with 64 points. The Quincy Orioles suffered a bit of heartbreak, missing the cut by a single point, finishing in a tie for third place with 63 points. The Orioles tied with Homer for third place in the event. Union City finished in a tie for eighth place with 37 points while Bronson finished in 16^th place with 17 points.

Here is a rundown of each Branch County team and their regional effort.

Quincy Orioles

Brookelyn Parker, Jr. – The junior hurdling ace for the Orioles captured not one, but two gold medals on Friday, sweeping up in the hurdle events. Parker won the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 15.98 seconds, followed by a win in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.38 seconds, punching her individual ticket to the MHSAA state finals for both events.

Ashlyn Fickle, Freshman – Fickle picked the right time to jump to a personal best, doing so on the big stage and earning a trip to the MHSAA state finals in the process as Fickle took third place in the high jump with a state qualifying jump of 5 feet, 2 inches.

The MHSAA presents regional medals for the top eight places in each event. Earning a medal for their effort at the regional meet for Quincy was Elizabeth Longardner, seventh place in the 200; Elizabeth Craig, fourth place in the 400; Lainey Yearling, fifth place in the 3,200; the 800 relay team of Craig, Kora Timmons, Abby Tinervia, and Cheyenne Marske, eighth place; Hallie Jones, third place in the shot put; Addison Hasten, fourth place in the shot put and fourth place in the discus; Brooke McVicker, third place in the pole vault; and Abby Tinervia, sixth place in the long jump.Bronson VikingsAubree Calloway, Sr. – Calloway is the rare athlete who seems to be good no matter what she does. The Spring Arbor-bound senior proved that on Friday, earning herself a spot at the MHSAA state finals in her first year running track with a gold medal win in the high jump with a personal best jump of 5 feet, 3 inches.Also earning a top eight finish for Bronson was Miriam Sanchez, third place in the 800 and the 1,600-relay team of Itzel Albarran, Calloway, Alonna Goodsell, and Sanchez, eighth place.Union City ChargersSkyler Fraley, Sr. – Fraley qualified for the state finals in the 3,200-meter run, finishing in third place in a state qualifying time of 12 minutes, 03.62 seconds. Fraley, who broke the long-standing 3,200 meter school record last week in a win, broke her own record in her state qualifying run this week.More: Track: Coldwater girls wrap up win at Berrien Springs, boys finish fourth

Earning a medal with a top eight finish for Union City was Attica Hoath, sixth place in the 200; Alli Gautsche, fourth place in the 3,200; Alaina Labar, sixth place in the 100 hurdles; Kylie Creech, third place in the 300 hurdles and sixth place in the pole vault; the 400 relay team of Labar, Emme Eyre, Katie Johnson, and Hoath, eighth place; the 800 relay team of Johnson, Eyre, Addison Miller, and Hoath, fifth place; the 3,200 relay team of Alissa Skirka, Gautsche, Parker Williams, and Fraley, fourth place; and Addison Miller, seventh place in the pole vault.

All three teams will now look to finish out their team season on Wednesday when they travel to Quincy High School for the Big 8 conference championship. Union City enters the meet with an undefeated dual meet record and looks to wrap up their second straight conference crown.

For all things Branch County track and field stay tuned to The Daily Reporter at www.thedailyreporter.com or follow The Daily Reporter on all social media sites. For any questions or comments about this article or coverage in general please email sports editor Troy Tennyson at ttennyson@thedailyreporter.com.

The June sucker, the humback chub and the Ute ladies’-tresses have been listed under the Endangered Species Act for decades. But each has made strides toward recovery over the last five years, the Department of Wildlife Resources says.

An endangered species is any species at serious risk of extinction in a specific area or throughout all of its natural habitat.

The June sucker is a native fish only found in Utah Lake and its tributaries. DWR reports the fish declined due to overharvesting, water-flow alterations and drought, habitat changes, and more. At one point, fewer than 1,000 June suckers were in existence. The fish was added to the endangered species list in 1986.

In 2021, the June sucker was downlisted from endangered to threatened. Ongoing conservation efforts, like Provo River Delta Restoration Project, have helped increase the June sucker population 30,000 to 45,000.

The humpback chub is a relatively small fish with a pronounced hump behind its head. It was listed as endangered in 1973 after large dams and human water use changed river flow, impacting its population.

The fish was downlisted to threatened in 2021 after successful conservation efforts through the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program.

Utah Divsion of Wildlife Resources

Finally, the Ute ladies’-tresses is an orchid plant. It features a long spike of small white flowers arranged in a gradual spiral.

The plant was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1992 due to habitat loss. At the time, it was found only in Utah and Colorado.

Through habitat management and protection work the wildflower can now be found in eight Western states and southern British Columbia in Canada. In January the Ute ladies’-tresses was removed from the list.