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Fast and Steady, Newberry Wins Race
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2017
KINGSFORD — Steady improvement through this season paid off for the Newberry boys track team Saturday as it scored 130½ points to win its first Upper Peninsula Division 2 title in 11 years.
The Indians were followed by three-time defending champ Ishpeming with 102 and Stephenson at 58.
“We had a lot of great performances,” said Newberry coach Gene Schroll. “Our goal was to improve through the year, and we did that. We had our share of firsts and scored in every event. We were fortunate enough to have four good seniors.”
Senior John Paramski had a hand in four firsts, taking long jump at 18 feet, 10 inches, shot put (48-7) and discus (119-5) and helping the Indians take the 400-meter relay in a U.P. Division 2 Final-record 45.03 seconds on a day that saw temperatures soar above 80 degrees in Dickinson County. St. Ignace previously set the 400 relay record (45.11) in 2009.
“The weather and atmosphere helped,” said Paramski, who will play football at Michigan Tech this fall. “When you have all the teams here, it really motivates you. It’s nice to have everything come together in the U.P. Finals.
“I didn’t have my best throw in disc, but it was good enough.”
Classmate Alex Johnson won the 110 hurdles in 15.99 seconds, edging Norway’s Inocenio Stankevich on a lean, and placed third in the 300 (43.69).
Ishpeming senior Grady Kerst took first in the 800 (2:00.65) and 1,600 (4:29.11), anchored the winning 3,200 relay (8:37.40) and was runner-up in the 3,200 (10:36.22).
The Hematites also took the 800 relay (1:35.69) and placed second in the 400 (45.70) and showed their depth in the distances.
Ishpeming’s Daren Guichin was runner-up in the 800 (2:10.73), with Kyle Pruett fourth (2:12.62).
In the 1,600, Spencer Giroux placed third (4:42.15), followed by teammate Jonah Broberg (4:54.45). Giroux also took third in the 3,200 (10:40.13).
Stephenson sophomore Montell Glover became a triple winner, taking the 100 (11.41), 200 (23.65) and 400 (50.76) and anchoring the second-place 800 relay (1:36.51)
Munising sophomore Matt Revord set a meet record in pole vault (13-6), topping the previous best (12-6) by Sam Winkler of Stephenson in 2001.
“In practice, I’ve been working on getting vertical,” said Revord. “I had 13-9 cleared, but came down on the bar. I definitely felt quick on the runway, but I wasn’t as fast as on other days. I’ve been working on inversion for the most part.”
Ironwood sophomore Nick Niemi took the 3,200 (10:20.23), anchored the winning 1,600 relay (3:43.47) and placed second in the 1,600 (4:36.99).
PHOTOS: (Top) Newberry’s anchor runner stretches to finish a meet record run in the 400 relay Saturday. (Middle) Ishpeming’s Grady Kerst passes Newberry’s Kindred Griffis during the 3,200 relay. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
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Saugatuck, Dunn Dominate in D4 Repeat
June 4, 2016
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – There was little question that Saugatuck junior Blake Dunn was the individual star of the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 track & field meet Saturday afternoon at Houseman Field.
Dunn swept the 110 and 300-meter hurdles, both in meet-record times, to lead Saugatuck to the championship just one year after the Indians shared first place with Concord. Saugatuck finished with 66 points to easily outdistance runner-up Evart’s 32. Cassopolis was third with 30.
It was Saugatuck’s third MHSAA championship in the past four years, and the Indians were runners-up in 2014.
“The distance guys let me know that we would have won the meet without Blake,” Saugatuck coach Rick Bauer said. “They get tired of my harping at them and asking why they don’t score as much as Blake. We used to be a distance program that ran track, and now we’re a pretty complete team.”
Dunn dominated the 110 hurdles as he set an LP Division 4 Finals record by winning in 14.33 seconds. He won by more than a second while running into a headwind.
“There was nothing I could do about the wind, so I just did the best I could,” he said. “I’m just really glad that I was able to run a good race.”
Dunn’s double came in the 300 hurdles, which he won in 38.31 seconds, another meet record. That victory was by nearly two seconds, and it was his second consecutive MHSAA title in that event.
“Basically, I try to get out as hard as I can and make those guys try to catch me and see what happens from there,” Dunn said. “I just have to hit the hurdles and keep pushing.”
Dunn is one of the top all-around athletes in the state. He was quarterback on the football team, played basketball and already has decided to play baseball at Western Michigan University. In fact, he had to leave his baseball team, which played in the District tournament Saturday, to compete in the track meet.
“It was a hard choice, but I had faith in my baseball guys that they could come out with a couple of wins,” he said. “It’s awesome that the coaches let me play both sports.
“I’ve been playing football, basketball, baseball and track my whole life, and I think it has helped me keep fresh for every season,” he added. ‘They announced a stat that there are fewer injuries for people who play multiple sports, and I think it keeps my muscles relaxed and loose.”
Bauer was thankful that Dunn was able to be on hand at Houseman.
“That’s a kid who throws 90 miles per hour and probably is going to be in the majors someday; that’s great. Thanks,” he said.
Dunn also ran a leg on Saugatuck’s fourth-place 400 relay, joining teammates Jordan Mitchell, Cole Hartman and Jeff Kohlmeyer.
“The 4 by 100 was kind of a surprise,” Bauer said. “We came in fourth, but we beat our school record by a half a second. That’s the sort of thing you hope happens.”
Saugatuck also was second in the 3,200 as Keegan Siefert, Nick Butch, Orlando Carrion and Zachary Pettinga finished in 8:17.84.
While Dunn had the only individual championships for Saugatuck, the team was loaded with plenty of excellent finishes. Perhaps the most inspiring was the second-place finish in high jump by senior Mervyn Auffret, an exchange student from France.
“We didn’t expect him to score at all, and he ended up in second place,” Bauer said. “I didn’t expect that to happen. He had never tried track until this year, and he didn’t know anything about high jump. He also qualified in the hurdles, so he was a great addition to our team.”
Auffret certainly will return to France with some stories to tell.
“I have told all my friends about the high jump and that I’m good at it, but it was really hard at first,’ he said. “I didn’t know much about it. Really, I didn’t know anything.”
Saugatuck had other strong finishes. In the 3,200, freshman Corey Gorgas was second and junior Pettinga was third. Evan Hotary was fourth in the pole vault (12-9), and Xavier Cardona took fourth in the shot put.
The only other individual double-winner at the meet was Santana Scott of Evart. Scott won the 1,600 in 4 minutes, 22.89 seconds and took the 3,200 in 9:42.83.
Other individual champions in the running events were Billy Wojnowski of Big Rapids Crossroads, who edged Montez Brewer of Concord 11.15 to 11.16 in the 100. Freshman Alec Muck of Sand Creek won the 200 in 22.50, Deion Gaston of Cassopolis took the 400 (50.20) and Daniel Mikovits of Concord captured the 800 in 1:58.50.
In the field events, Jacob Kulhanek of Merrill repeated as champion in the pole vault by clearing 13 feet, 9 inches. Southfield Christian sophomore Blake Washington won the high jump at 6-5, just 1 inch higher than Auffret.
Delvon Hines of Melvindale Academy of Business & Technology won the long jump (20-9.25), Paxton Titus of Brighton Livingston Christian took the discus (162-11), and Jacob Lechner of Harbor Springs won the shot put (13-9).
Relay winners included Melvindale ABT in the 400 (43.75), Muskegon Catholic Central in the 800 (1:31.30), Centreville in the 1,600 (3:28.28) and Hillsdale Academy in the 3,200 (8:13.34).
PHOTO: Saugatuck's Blake Dunn clears a hurdle on the way to an individual title while helping his team to the overall championship at Houseman Field. (Photo by Angie Graham/RunMichigan.com.)