Ishpeming Dominates with Record Total
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2015
KINGSFORD — It was a dominating performance by the Ishpeming boys during Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Track and Field Final, to say the least, as they retained their title with a U.P.-record 164 points.
The Hematites were followed by archrival Ishpeming Westwood with 75 and Iron River West Iron County at 64.
Senior Nate Meyer paced the Hematites with four firsts, taking the 100-meter dash in 11.64 seconds, 200 (23.36) and 400 (54.33) and anchoring the winning 1,600 relay.
“I’ve run my 400 faster, but had PRs (personal records) in the 100 and 200,” said Meyer. “I had very good starts, and my brother Zach who runs in college (at Hillsdale College) has worked with me. I don’t think I would have won those races without him helping me.”
Ishpeming grabbed the top three places in the 800. Tommy Potter won that race (2:11.64), followed by Daren Guichin (2:12.38) and Derek Mahoski (2:15.87).
“Nate and Tommy are the backbone of our team, and we surround them with good people.” said Hematites coach Scott Syrjala. “Taking the top three places in the 800 is huge. We have a great group of seniors who are just very competitive.”
Ishpeming captured the 400, 1,600 and 3,200 relays and was runner-up to West Iron in the 800.
Potter added a second in the 1,600 (4:45.92), with Guichin fourth (4:59.31).
Westwood’s Vincente Carlson dominated the 110 hurdles (15.77) and 300 (42.59), finishing more than two seconds ahead of the field in each race.
Brandon Olson provided West Iron with a first in long jump at 19 feet, three inches. Rusty Johnson was runner-up in the 400 (56.23). Teammate Nik Thoney took second in the 200 (23.87), and Johnson placed third (23.96).
Fourth-place L’Anse scored 34 of its 55 points in the weight events, with Levi Hoskins winning discus (139-9) and Ryan Delene taking third (102-4). Brandon Kempainen took shot put (42-7¾) and Hoskins was runner-up (41-0).
Ironwood senior Jared Joki won the 1,600 (4:43.35) and 3,200 (9:58.02).
The 3,200 combined runners in Division 1 and 2, with Marquette junior Lance Rambo the overall winner in a U.P. Division record time (9:50.03).
“I was happy with how everything went, although I would have liked to have kicked it in a little sooner (in the 3,200),” said Joki, who plans to attend Brigham Young University this fall. “Lance got little bit of a gap on me and I did my best to minimize that. My place was to stay with him as long as I could.”
Joki, who hopes to run cross county and track in college, liked Saturday’s cooler weather conditions better than the 86-degree heat the athletes endured a year ago.
“We had nicer weather than we had last year,” he said. “It was more comfortable for running this time.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Nate Meyer pulls ahead of the field for one of his three sprint championships Saturday at the U.P. Division 2 Final. (Middle) Tommy Potter, right, and teammate Daren Guichin take off at the start of a race; they finished first and second, respectively, in the 800, and second and fourth in the 1,600. (Photos courtesy of Cara Kamps.)
Pickford Hangs On with Win in Final Event to Secure UPD3 Championship
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KINGSFORD — They were tested, but the Pickford boys came through with their first Upper Peninsula Division 3 track & field championship in a decade Saturday.
Pickford scored 91 points, followed by Munising with 82 and 2021 champ Dollar Bay at 56. Pickford was runner-up to Dollar Bay last season, with this team title its first since 2012.
The Panthers secured the title by winning the 1,600-meter relay in 3 minutes, 37.83 seconds.
“We were up by one point going into the 1,600 relay,” said Panthers’ coach Garde Kangas. “You can’t get much closer than that. One kid who’s a part of all our relays couldn’t be here because he had to go to a funeral. We had some kids step up. In long jump, we were seeded fourth or fifth and our guy (Noah Barowski) got second, and we ran our best time all year in the 1,600 relay.”
Junior Caden Awbrey provided the Panthers with a first in the 300-meter hurdles in 41.98 seconds and a second in the 110s (17.24).
“I really liked the start, but got a little sloppy in the end,” he said. “About halfway through I started clipping the hurdles (in the 300s). Although, this is something I can build on. I need to work on my form, and that takes time.
“Overall, I think the day has gone pretty well. Our 1,600 relay is fast and our 3,200 is solid. We were missing some people and still PR’d.”
Dollar Bay senior Nik Thomas set two UPD3 meet records on a sunny and warm day. He was clocked at 4:25.91 in the 1,600 and 10:05.59 in the 3,200, topping the previous-bests of 4:28.68 and 10:08.51 by Bessemer’s Uriah Aili three years ago. Thomas also won the 800 (2:01.27) and placed fourth in the 400 (53.03) on Saturday.
Ewen-Trout Creek senior Jonah Nordine was runner-up in all three races Thomas won, at 2:06.39, 4:40.3 and 10:26.51, respectively.
Munising was led by the Peramaki brothers. Micaiah won the 100 (11.52), 200 (23.7) and 400 (51.98) and discus at 127 feet, 4 inches, and Josiah took pole vault at 13 feet, 4 inches and placed third in long jump (18-4¾).
North Central junior Luke Gorzinski anchored the winning 400 relay (45.34) and 800, clocked at a school-record 1:35.31, and was runner-up in the 100 (11.57) and 200 (23.94).
“Our handoffs absolutely went real well,” he said. “I’ve had more time to work on those now that baseball is over. This is pretty awesome. We’ve been working toward this all season.”
Junior Trent Naser provided the Jets with a victory in the 110 hurdles (16.76) and a third in the 300s (42.78).
PHOTOS (Top) Pickford's Caden Awbrey (6) leads the 300 hurdles on the way to winning the race Saturday. (Middle) Dollar Bay's Nikolas Thomas celebrates his win in the 1,600, one of his three championships at the meet. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/Run Michigan.)