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.)
Dollar Bay Cashes In on School Records for 1st Finals Title
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2021
KINGSFORD — History was made in the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals on Saturday as the Dollar Bay Blue Bolts were crowned champions for the first time with 67 points.
They were followed by Pickford with 55 and Rapid River with 47.
Dollar Bay set school records while winning the 1,600-meter relay in three minutes, 42.88 seconds and 3,200 relay in 8:31.01.
Bessemer had won the 3,200 relay eight years in a row. The Speedboys, however, took third this time (8:58.64).
“We got it done,” said senior and Bay College basketball recruit Davin Hill. “Our coach pushed us hard all year. Our practices were harder than the meets.”
Senior John Norland anchored the winning 3,200 relay and took the 400 (51.38) and 800 (2:07.1).
“We knew we had a chance to win the U.P. Finals,” he said. “I ran my second-fastest split (2:01) in the 3,200 relay. The 400 and 800 are tough races. The 800 is very close to a sprint.”
Conner LeClaire added a first in the 300 hurdles (42.33) and second in the 110s (17.63).
Pickford’s lone first came on Hayden Taylor’s toss of 42 feet, 8¼ inches in shot put with Cedarville senior Drew Bailey taking second (42-2).
Rapid River senior Parker Dausey won discus (126-1) and classmate Max Lenaker took high jump (6-1).
North Central took the 400 relay (46.32) and sophomore Luke Gorzinski captured the 200 (23.29), edging Republic-Michigamme’s Isaac Lawrence by two hundredths of a second.
Lawrence won long jump (20-2) and placed third in the 100 (11.69), one hundredth of a second behind Munising’s Micaiah Peramaki.
Brimley senior Cameron Hoornstra won the 100 (11.62), and Rudyard’s Gannon Smith took pole vault (10-6).
Chassell senior Kolson Kytta became a double winner, taking the 1,600 in a school-record 4:35.37 and 3,200 (10:45.14) on a hot and humid day in Dickinson County.
“I did a lot of visualization about how I thought the races would do,” said Kytta, who’s considering running at Michigan Tech. “I put in a lot of training to get better. I don’t think the heat affected me too much.”
Lake Linden-Hubbell recorded its lone first in the 800 relay (1:38.04), and Carney-Nadeau senior Tim Hodson crossed first in the 110 hurdles (17.58).
“Our handoffs looked pretty good,” said senior Caleb Klein, who anchored the winning 800 relay. “This was our best time all year ,and I think the competition helped us a lot. All the adrenalin from all the fans being here also got me going.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Dollar Bay's A.J. Datto passes the baton to Davin Hill during the 1,600 relay Saturday. (Middle) Chassell's Kolson Kytta leads the pack after completing six laps of the 3,200. (Below) Carney-Nadeau's Tim Hodson won the 110 hurdles with Connor LeClaire from Dollar Bay taking second, Pickford's Josh Sullivan taking third, and Powers North Central’s Trenton Naser taking fourth. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click to see more at RunMichigan.com.)