Junior Leads Marquette Back to Top of UPD1
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2015
KINGSFORD — Many coaches believe you win with seniors. But junior Lance Rambo has stepped up to the plate for the Marquette boys track team all season.
Rambo won two individual events Saturday while helping the Redmen earn their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 title in three years with 131 points at the MHSAA Finals.
Defending champ Kingsford settled for runner-up honors this time at 98. Third-place Houghton had 72.
Rambo set a U.P. record in the 3,200-meter run in nine minutes, 50.03 seconds, topping the previous record (9:53.14) set by Mickey Sanders of Marquette four years ago. He also took the 1,600 (4:28.84).
In the 3,200, which combined the Division 1 and 2 runners, Rambo was followed by Ironwood senior Jared Joki (the D-2 champ) in 9:58.02.
“I was extremely surprised by my time,” said Rambo. “Jared kept me on my toes the whole race. He’s an excellent runner, and we helped push each other for a long time. That felt great. I wanted to win it for our team.”
Marquette senior Andrew Banitt added firsts in the 400 (51.59) and 800 (2:00.82) and Payton Muljo won shot put at 43 feet, 6½ inches, edging Sault Ste. Marie’s Tim Eiola on his final throw.
“Payton did a great job,” said Rambo. “When we heard that he won, we were even more pumped up for this meet. I’m just happy with how we ran as a team.”
Marquette also won all four relays.
“This was a great effort by our guys, and Muljo got us started today,” said Marquette coach Kyle Detmer. “This is a deep team with great senior leadership. Lance and Andrew did a great job for us and (seniors) Matt Millano and Kyle Dickison were excellent leaders.
“The kids in the U.P. across the board are the greatest on the planet. This is a top-notch meet. This was just another fantastic job by the people here in Kingsford.”
Kingsford’s Trevor Roberts was a double-winner, edging Negaunee’s Connor Hetrick on a lean for the 100 title (11.39) and taking long jump (20-10½). Brandon Kowalkowski provided Kingsford with a first in high jump (6-0), with Marquette’s Jedidiah Weber second (5-11).
Dan Harrington and Mike Jamar placed second and third for Kingsford in long jump at 19-9 and 19-8, respectively.
Hetrick bounced back to win the 200 (23.24) and Negaunee’s Jason Bell repeated by winning the 110 hurdles (15.77) and 300 (41.31) for the second straight season.
Houghton gained firsts from Jack Budd in pole vault (11-0) and Brad Ohtonen in discus (129-6). Ohtonen added a third place in shot put (42-2½).
PHOTO: Marquette's Brett Place pushes past the finish line first, just in front of Kingsford's anchor, to give the Redmen a victory in the 400 relay. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps.)
Ishpeming Adds to Near-Decade Reign Atop Upper Peninsula Division 2
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KINGSFORD — The Ishpeming boys have allowed very little to stand between them and the Upper Peninsula Division 2 track & field championship in recent years.
They added another trophy to their collection Saturday by scoring 116 points.
The Hematites, who won three of the last four titles outright and shared the fourth, were followed by Iron Mountain with 102 points and St. Ignace at 63.
Senior Jonny Matson scored 36 points for the Hematites, who also have either won or tied for the title six of the last seven seasons.
That string was interrupted only in 2017 when they were runners-up to Newberry and three years later by COVID-19.
Last year, the Hematites shared the title with Norway.
Matson won the 400-meter dash in 53.58 seconds and long jump at 18 feet, 11¾ inches and was runner-up in the 100 (11.73) and 200 (23.77).
“Jon has been a great leader for us, and Parker Gauthier and Hunter Smith picked it up,” said Troy Smith, who shares Ishpeming’s coaching duties with his wife Trisha. “We greatly appreciate the effort of our coaching staff (Morgan Kangas, Khora Swanson and Hailey Smith). They’re a big part of our success.
“Our numbers have been a little low, but we have a great group of kids.”
The Hematites won the 3,200-meter relay in 9 minutes, 4.42 seconds, and Tramon Gauthier added a first in the 110 hurdles (16.67) and second in the 300s (43.0).
Smith was runner-up in high jump (5-11), and Parker Gauthier placed third in the 3,200 (11:44.6).
Iron Mountain’s Matt Colavechhi won the 100 (11.56) and 200 (23.71), and senior Luke Ruble added victories in the 1,600 (4:54.69) and 3,200 (10:52.05).
The Mountaineers also won the 400 relay (45.31) and 800 (1:34.42).
Bark River-Harris was runner-up in the 400 in a school-record 45.34
“Nick (Anderson) started real good and got us in a good spot,” said BR-H junior Vincent Martin, who ran the second leg. “We were seeded fourth. We knew the other three teams were good in the first and anchor legs. We mixed up our lineup a little and were in first going into the third leg.”
St. Ignace got a first from junior Reese McLean in the 800 (2:09.06), and Owen Lester took pole vault (10-0).
“That was a PR by three seconds,” said McLean. ‘With this being the last meet, I decided I might as well put everything into it. I think I started out all right. I wanted to get to the front right away.”
West Iron County’s Landon Sundelius won the 300 hurdles (40.56) and placed second in the 110s (16.74), and Nathan Hochstein of L’Anse was high jump champion at 5-11.
Manistique earned a victory in the 1,600 relay (3:43.99).
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming's Tramon Gauthier leads West Iron County's Landon Sundelius and they take first and second in the 110 hurdles. (Middle) Iron Mountain's Matthew Colavecchi edges Bark River-Harris's Vincent Martin by three hundredths of a second to seal the win in the 400 relay. Other members of Iron Mountain's winning relay were Max Jayne, Joey Colavecchi, and Kurt Adiano Ryan. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/Run Michigan.)