STURGIS — Back to back regional champions.

That is what you can call the Niles boys track team as it held off Benton Harbor once again to the win the Division 2 regional championship at Sturgis Friday night.

The Vikings were led by Jordan Brown, who won the 200- and 400-meter runs as an individual, as well as being a member of the Niles first-place 1,600-meter relay team.

The Vikings finished with 112 points, while the Tigers were a distant second with 87.5 points. Edwardsburg finished fifth with 60 points and Dowagiac was 12th with 15 points.

“This championship is among my very favorites in my 18 years of coaching,” Niles coach Tony Todd said. “I want to thank God, of course, and my outstanding coaching staff, my athletic director all of the Niles staff and the Niles community. I am a blessed man to have such great coaches and people around me. Next stop, a state championship.”

The state finals will be June 2 at Zeeland East High School.

The regional championship was the sixth in Todd’s career at Niles.

Brown won the 200 and 400 with times of 23.24 and 51.15 respectively.

The 1,600-meter relay team, which also consisted of Isiah Johnson, Devin Tomlinson and Javon Ball, posted a time of 3:32.49.

Brown was also part of the Vikings’ 800-meter relay team, which was the runner-up Friday night with a time of 1:33.40. Also on that squad were Owen Gardner, Johnson and Austin Brookins.

Ball finished second in the 400-meters with a time of 52.60, while Johnson was second in the 100-meters with a clocking of 11.49. Joshua Norris ran 15.53 in the 110-meter high hurdles to finish second.

Dowagiac’s Shawn Little was a two-time state qualifier after finishing second in the 3,200-meters with a time of 10:05.17 and fourth in the 1,600-meters with a time of 4:36.63.

Edwardsburg’s Jack Knoll finished second in three events to qualify for the state finals.

Knoll was the runner-up in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 42.48, cleared 6-feet in the high jump and went 20-9.25 in the long jump.

The Eddies’ Adam Treadway was a regional champion in the high jump with a leap of 6-2.

For the first time in 17 years, the Edwardsburg girls track team qualified for the state finals.

Edwardsburg won the regional championship with 106 points to easily outdistance runner-up Three Rivers, which finished with 83 points.