Monroe County Region high school sports roundup for Saturday, Oct. 3

MILAN – Erin Dowen set a goal when she took over as Monroe's girls swimming coach five years ago.

She wanted to see her team win the Monroe County Championship.

At the time that seemed a bit ambitious.

"I don't think anyone other than Milan has ever won it," Dowen said.

That changed as Monroe rang up 573 points to overwhelm the field on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.

"It feels great," Dowen said. "My first year we were dead last and I think we scored less points than what we won by today."

Dowen's Trojans were 112.5 ahead of runner-up Bedford led by freshman Karis Beaton, who narrowly missed state qualifying times in winning the individual medley in 2:17.08 and the backstroke in 1:02.21.

She also led off Monroe's winning 200 freestyle relay, which also included Morgan Kleinow, Blayne Lynch and Sophia Smith.

Smith won the 50 freestyle and was second in the butterfly.

Kleinow was second in the 100 and Andie Eby, Emma Boyd and Ava Dowen posted third-place finishes.

"We had a lot of fast swims," Dowen said.

Bedford coach Holly Scheffer said the same thing.

"We have improved greatly," she said. "We swam awesome today."

Sydnee Knaggs wpm the 100 freestyle for the Mules and was second in the 200. Bedford got thirds from Kendra Bland and Samantha Smth.

Evelyn Gill of third-place Milan was named Swimmer of the Meet after winning the 200 (2:01.3) and the 500 (5:17.88) and swimming with Afton Presley, Kenleigh Vandergrift and Ashtyn Bergstrom on the winning 400 relay.

"I am really happy," Gill said. "I loved swimming with all my friends in the relay."

She also loved keeping the Swimmer of the Year Award in Milan after former teammate Mary Kate Wayne won it the last two seasons.

"We were very close," Gill said. "It's awesome to follow in her footsteps."

Milan could not compete with the depth of Monroe and Bedford, but won two of the three relays and four individual events. Also taking first for the Big Reds were Kaylin Brown (diving), Avery Hovatter (butterfly) and the medley relay of Afton Presley, Tori Kimberly, Hovatter and Ashtyn Bergstrom.

Jillian Layman of fourth-place Dundee won the breaststroke in 1:12.86.

Audrey Grosteffon, Bedford: Ran 19:19.5 to win the Gibraltar Carlson Marauder Invitational. The host team took the team title as Giada Fioritto, Madison Slade, Ada Cain, Harper Jackson and Reagan Reaume ran 7-9-24-27-30. Airport's Ella Baker finished sixth, Maliah McKibben of Bedford eighth, Iva Ravindra of Bedford 17th and Zoey Smalling of Monroe 31st.

Tanylei Neff, Erie Mason : Finished 26th for Mason's best showing in the Clay Invitational. Maddie Kolbe was 30th.

Jack Dunwoody and Wyatt DelValle, Gibraltar Carlson : Took second and third individually to lead Carlson to first place in their own Marauder Invitational. Also finishing in the top 30 were Cam Varner of Bedford (7), Colton Childress of the Monroe Milers (10), Gavin Rohr of Monroe (15), Hunter Rodak of Airport (20) and Mason Martin of Milan (26).

Caleb Healey, Erie Mason : Took third place in the Clay Invitational to help his team finish third. Teammate Porter Ravary ran seventh.

Addison Hill, Whiteford : Rang up 85 assists, 48 digs and 10 aces as Whiteford went 4-3-1 in the D3/D4 Showdown. Other big days for the 17-9-3 Bobcats came from Macy Ovall (37 kills, 38 digs), Jordyn Opatrny (24 kills), Avery Welch (72 digs, 18 assists) and Rilee Ingram (21 digs, 11 aces).

Aileen McNamara, Cindy Tracy, Elizabeth Sparks, and Emma Sparks, Flat Rock : Took seventh in the 400 freestyle relay to help the Rams take 11th place in the Wayne County Championships with just six swimmers.

Reese Foster, SMCC : Displayed outstanding serving skills during a 25-12, 25-10, 25-16 victory over Monroe. "Every time she served, she went on like 9-point runs," SMCC coach Kim Windham said. "Her serving was phenomenal." Alexa Turner, Allie Ruhlig and Avery Yaeger also stood out on Senior Night for the 17-1 Kestrels.

Addison Hill, Whiteford : Filled up the stat sheet with 20 assists, 12 digs and 4 aces in a 25-18, 25-19, 25-19 sweep of Morenci. Jordyn Opatrny led with 9 kills and Avery Welch racked up 34 digs for the 14-7-2 Bobcats.

Aubrey Iocoangeli, Erie Mason : Recorded 25 digs and 5 blocks in a 25-21, 25-16, 25-18 loss to Lenawee Christian. Other leaders for the 9-7-1 Eagles were Addie Homrich (10 kills), Kensey Kreger (5 blocks) and Kaylee Wright (10 assists).

Sophia Nolff, Dundee volleyball : Led in both kills (11) and digs (13) during a 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-14 conquest of Jefferson. Mckenzie Heath also had 11 kills, Audrey Federer finished with 33 assists and Lacey Evans was credited with 12 digs and 9 aces.

Brit Yglesias and Trey Heaton, State Line Christian : Scored two goals each in a 5-2 triumph over Pittsford Freedom Christian. Heaton also had an assist. The other goal was scored by Brady Holmes and Clifford Whitenburg, and Luke Rains had assists.

Maddox Oberski and Cory Gore, Bedford : Netted first-half goals that carried the Mules to a 2-1 win over Dexter.

AJ Wells, Monroe : Scored off an assist from Jimmy Maylen for his team's only goal in a 7-1 loss to Ann Arbor Skyline. Colin Gray and Evan Ortiz played well for the 5-11-1 Trojans.

Samantha Smith, Kendra Bland, Lily Johnson and Syd Knaggs, Bedford : Won the 200 relay and qualified for the MISCA state meet during a 112-71 loss to Saline. Smith won the 50 freestyle and Bland, Alex Lenz, Taylor Sadoski, Annabelle James, Ella Scheffer, Camille Hensen hit personal bests.