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Now, he takes it to the next level and goes after a state medal ... hopefully gold ... at the state championships on Saturday, June 2. Few would bet against his chances.

Rain threatened early, accompanied by gusting winds. But that soon gave way to clearer skies, and warmer temperatures that lifted everyone's spirits.

With the Mancelona cheering section urging him on, Duerksen breezed through the preliminaries and semifinals easily. It left the other competitors grimacing to themselves as they contemplated the finals. Not much changed there, either, with Duerksen getting off to a great start and burning up the track as he brought home the gold medals.

In the 110-meter high hurdles, Duerksen's winning time was 14.9 seconds, while he took the 300-meter intermediate hurdles in a time of 40.1 seconds.

Duerksen also qualified for state in the 200-meter sprint with a second place in a time of 23.4 seconds. Michael Herczak had a fifth place in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 4.5 inches.

Also taking a fifth place was the Ironmen's 800-meter relay team of Duerksen, Herczak, Josiah Simmons and William Bowen in a time of 1:38.

Manton's depth propelled the Rangers to the regional title. They placed in all 17 events and scored a team total of 115.5 points. Marion finished second with 79.5.

On the girls side, it was Beal City winning the team title with 120 points, followed by Marion (107) and McBain (74.5).

Kayla Adkins came home a regional champion in the 400-meter run, winning the race in a time of 1:03.5. She was the only girl from Mancelona to qualify for state.

Danielle McCarty finished sixth in the 1600-meter run with a time of 6:16.90, and she was ninth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 14:56.