Chesaning Puts Away Win in Final Event
By
Wes Morgan
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2017
COMSTOCK PARK – The boys on the Chesaning track & field team are emotionally spent.
A Saturday saturated with stress gave way to pure bliss as the Indians kept grinding all the way to a Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship at Comstock Park.
Their lead dwindled to a single point, 43-42, with only the 1600-meter relay remaining. The Indians finished in fifth place — the most memorable fifth-place performance, perhaps, in the program’s history.
Chesaning ended the day with 47 points, followed by Hillsdale (42) and Frankenmuth (30).
Hillsdale’s Spencer Eves made things very interesting as his 6-foot, 7-inch performance to win the high jump boosted the Hornets to within a point of the lead with one event remaining.
However, knowing exactly what needed to be done in order to finish off the team title had Chesaning’s mile relay team focused. The mission was pretty clear at that point.
“We had to beat Hillsdale,” Sam Forsyth said. “So we went to work.”
Paxton Ruddy, Hayden Giesken, Forsyth and Zach McFarlan pieced together a time of 3 minutes, 24.03 seconds for fifth place. Hillsdale was 18th and the rest is history.
Chesaning produced a critical victory in the 800 relay when McFarlan, Brady Fraiser, Brandon Keys and Forsyth crossed the line in 1:29.55.
Forsyth gained even more points for the Indians with a first-place distance of 21-6½ in the long jump and a third-place performance in the 200 (22.88). McFarlan was third in the 400 with a personal-best time of 49.32, and the 400 relay team of Anthony Aquado, Fraiser, McFarlan and Keys landed on the all-state team with a seventh-place time of 43.93.
Ruddy also cleared a height of 6 feet, 6 inches for third place overall in the high jump.
“We knew coming into the meet that we had a chance at being in the top two,” Forsyth said. “But nothing is guaranteed. No matter what you are ranked in an event, you can never completely count on anything in track.
“Today was probably the most stressful and also the most successful day of my life. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of the meet. Winning titles in the 4x200 and the long jump is great, but bringing home the team title meant the most by far.”
There was certainly a pattern Saturday with wins coming in pairs for others in the field.
Wyoming Lee junior Thomas Robinson couldn’t be stopped in the sprints as he won the 100 in 10.84 and the 200 in 22.04. Bridgman’s Brian Patrick, a senior, dethroned defending 800 champ Anthony Evilsizor (Constantine) with a time of 1:53.81 in personal-record fashion. Patrick also went on to claim the mile championship with a dominant victory (4:11.50) that was a personal record as well.
Evilsizor, who is headed to the Marine Corps now that his high school career is over, tipped his cap to Patrick.
“I just tried to stick on his back to the end and see what happens,” said Evilsizor, whose time of 1:55.50 was a season best. “He didn’t die out. I knew he was the one coming for me. He’s put in the work. I’m not going to complain. It has been fun. I’m happy with second place.”
The hurdle races belonged to Houghton Lake’s Jackson Blanchard, a junior who ran a personal best to win the 110 hurdles (14.81) and his fastest time in the 300 (38.50).
In the throws, Frankenmuth senior Dan Stone muscled his way to a shot put championship with a distance of 60-9¾ (personal best) and a discus title with a throw of 171-00.
PHOTOS: (Top) Chesaning's Sam Forsyth launches during the long jump, which he won to help his team to the overall title. (Middle) Wyoming Lee's Thomas Robinson holds off Forsyth and others in the 200. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Indoor Tracks Give UP Early Opportunities
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 13, 2017
HOUGHTON — There was a time when hosting a track meet in early April was nearly impossible in the Upper Peninsula.
Meets comprised of four field events were held in the Sault Ste. Marie High School gym in the early 1970s, with similar type meets sometimes held at a few other U.P. schools.
Indoor tracks, however, weren’t available in the U.P. back then, and the long winters sometimes made it difficult to hold outdoor meets even in mid to late April.
That no longer holds true as Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan University host indoor meets for high school student-athletes each April.
On April 6, a majority of the Copper Country schools, plus Iron River West Iron County, Iron Mountain, Munising and Negaunee participated in an indoor invitational at Tech, where the top three finishers of each event reached the podium. Team scores, however, weren’t recorded.
“I think it’s really important that we got this meet in,” said Houghton boys coach Dan Junttila. “It’s nice that Tech does this for us. We got a chance to see what the kids can do, and the coaches get a chance to get times on them. With the weather being the way it is, you never know what you might get this time of year.”
This served as the season debut for every school entered except Munising, which opened at Eagle River, Wis., Northland Pines on March 23.
Many U.P. track athletes will travel to Marquette to compete in indoor meets at NMU within their respective divisions Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Munising senior Michaela Peramaki took full advantage of her opportunity to compete in early-season meets, winning the girls pole vault with a school-record leap of 10 feet, 7 inches at Eagle River.
Peramaki then topped that effort last week by winning with another school-best jump of 11 feet at Tech, where one corner of the five-lane, 200-meter track is used as a runway.
“Vaulting here is not much different from any other track,” said Peramaki. “We had plenty of room.
“It’s so important to get a meet in at this time of year. This gives you a chance to work out the kinks. It’s a relief to finally get that (11-foot jump) under my belt. The guy running the vault gave me a few pointers, and I think my plant was a big part of my vault.”
The gym floor was used as a runway for high jump, won by Houghton’s Cara Monette at 4-10.
“I thought it went pretty good,” said Monette, who didn’t practice high jump this year until April 5. “I had to cram everything into one day. It’s different jumping from the gym floor. You get all the room you need, which gives you all the space to do what you want to do.”
The Chassell girls won the 3,200-meter relay in 10 minutes, 37.12 seconds, and Lela Rautiola took the 1,600 (6:10.34) followed by teammate Jenna Pietila (6:12.66).
Chassell’s boys got a first from Karsten Kytta in the 400 (58.35).
“I thought it was great for us to get on a track,” said Chassell coach Marco Guidotti. “We saw a lot of encouraging performances. Our girls in the 4x800 looked real strong. We have some depth coming up. Karsten taking first in the boys 400 was also a real bright spot. It was nice to see some of our kids come through in the sprints and middle distances.”
West Iron senior Emmy Kinner won four races, including the 60-meter dash in eight seconds, 200 (28.44), 400 (1:05.31) and long jump (14-11), just three days after the Wykons started practice.
“It’s different on a short track because it’s harder to pace yourself,” said Kinner. “I definitely ran more conservative (than on a 400 track). Although, we’re glad to get this meet in because we have a lot of new girls on our team.”
The Houghton boys showed their strength in the distances, winning the 3,200 relay (8:45.76) and taking the top two spots in the 800 and 1,600.
Houghton senior Nick Wilson won the 800 (2:13.25), and Clayton Sayen took the 1,600 (5:06.12).
“We feel good about today,” said Wilson. “Our distances did well. Everybody ran well. This meet helps us a lot. This gets us in better shape for the Dome meet (Marquette Invitational on April 18).”
The Gremlins also took the 1,600 relay (3:51.9) and grabbed four of the top five places in pole vault.
“We have 46 boys out, but still need to get an opportunity to see what they can do in competition,” said Junttila. “We want to see who’s going to respond to it. Leif Odegard (a junior) has been running in the shadows of our top-notch distance and middle distance runners, but he’s running excellent times. He’s really coming on.”
Lake Linden-Hubbell senior Brendan Middleton captured the 60 (7.13) and Siena Anderson took the girls 60 hurdles (10.25).
“I enjoy running the 60 more than the 100,” said Middleton, who will play football at Tech this fall. “I compare it to the 40. You can go full out, and I’ve got to get more explosion for football. It was good to get to see how fast the other people were and get a chance to run on a softer track.”
LL-H coach Gary Guisfredi also says the meet is beneficial.
“Right now, we like to come to this meet, especially with the weather being so questionable all the time,” he added. “It’s nice and dry and nice and warm in here. You don’t pull any muscles. This is a nice meet to find out what we have in different events.”
PHOTO: Hurdlers finish a race in the rain during last season's Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals.