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.)
Speedy Mann Helps Make Hackett Catholic Prep Champ to Chase Again
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
HUDSONVILLE – After two years away, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep is back on top of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 boys track & field world.
Using a balanced effort Saturday, the Irish held off 2021 champ Carson City-Crystal to take home the Finals hardware with 64 points. The Eagles finished with 56, while Wyoming Potter’s House Christian placed third with 45.
“Everybody came to work. We knew if we stood a chance, everyone had to get every point possible, and our guys did that,” Hackett coach Carl Scholten said of his team, which added its first title since repeating in 2018 and 2019. “This is a competitive group that has been driven to succeed all year, and this is a great culmination of all their work.”
Highlighting the day for the Irish was a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-meter dash. Junior Liam Mann took home the victory with a time of 22.82, while teammates Andrew Finley and Isaac Backman finished right behind him.
Mann was overcome with energy after the finish, so much so that he tripped and tumbled to the ground. However, the pain of the fall couldn’t overcome his joy of winning.
“I just gave it my all and as I was coming through, I started to celebrate a little bit and my legs just gave out,” Mann said of the tumble. “The race felt great. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but it felt great to win and see my teammates right there with me.”
Mann was also with Finley and Backman, and also Evan Wurtz, as the winning 800-meter relay team. The Irish finished with a time of 1:31.55. Backman came through with a championship of his own in the 400, winning with a time of 50.85.
Along with the three event wins, Hackett had a combined six runner-up or third-place finishes on the day.
Carson City-Crystal came up just shy of repeating as champion, but the Eagles still had three championship performances of their own.
Michigan-bound Zane Forist finished his throwing career on a high note, resetting his LP Division 4 Finals records in both the discus (200-4) and the shot put (67-5). His shot put toss was ¾ of an inch from matching the all-Finals record.
“I really didn’t know about (the record) until today, so it wasn’t something I was really shooting for,” Forist said. “I just wanted to PR (personal record), and I did that in both of my events, so I am really happy with my performance.”
Cavanaugh Barker took home the 300 hurdles title for Carson City-Crystal with a PR time of 40.02. He also finished second in the 110 hurdles.
Potter’s House was led by distance runner Lezawe Osterink, who won championships in both the 1,600 (4:24.29) and the 3,200 (9:38.23).
“The mile was more challenging. I have to do a lot of work in the mile,” Osterink said. “I was confident going into the two-mile. I knew I just had to run my race. In the mile, I knew I couldn’t make a mistake, because there were some really fast guys in that race that could leg me out.”
Flint Beecher junior Jaylin Townsend repeated as champion in the 100 dash with a time of 10.78. Townsend managed to win despite his left hand being in a cast after breaking a finger a little over a week ago.
“I feel pretty good about how things went. I’ve had to change my block start because of the broken finger,” Townsend said of his injury, which also is on his baton-carrying hand but didn’t prevent him from anchoring two scoring relays on the day. “It affected me more mentally than it did physically. I just had to focus on getting out quick and working on my technique.”
Reading junior Tyler Bays came out a winner in the 800 run with a time of 2:00.02, while Colon’s Alexander Stoll won the 110 hurdles with a PR time of 14.92.
Buckley won the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:30.71, while Clarkston Everest Collegiate won the 400-meter relay in a time of 44.17.
Coleman’s Isiah Biers won the championship in the pole vault with a PR vault of 13-4. Peck’s Alex Affer won the long jump with a PR leap of 22-3.25, while Marion’s Braden Prielipp won the high jump with a PR jump of 6-9.
PHOTOS (Top) Hackett's Andrew Finley, middle, wins his 100 dash prelim Saturday. (Middle) Flint Beecher's Jaylin Townsend, also middle, wins his 100 prelim as well on the way to repeating as race champion. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/Run Michigan.)