Kozisek's Rare Feat Helps Pickford to Impressive Rise & Title Repeat
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KINGSFORD – The Pickford boys moved up a division after winning last year’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals title. And it didn't faze them a bit.
They dominated the field Saturday, finishing with 151 team points. Manistique was second with 90, Ishpeming third with 87 and St. Ignace fourth with 73.
In the process, Pickford ended the Hematites' four-year run on top of Division 2.
The Panthers won nine of the 17 events. Hayden Hagen won all of the distance events and David Kozisek won both of the hurdle races along with the high jump and long jump to become just the ninth male athlete to win four individual events at an MHSAA Finals. Brayden Altoft took home a first in the shot put as did the 400 relay team (Cole Warner, Kendrick Brace, Altoft and Owen McConkey).
One of the more exciting finishes of the day came in the 200-meter dash when Bark River-Harris’ Kavin Fredrick dove for the win ahead of Manistique’s Wyatt Demers.
Demers was Fredrick’s biggest concern. Why? He’s really fast, and he usually beats him in the 200.
Fredrick led until about 50 meters to go, and he could see Demers’ arms coming up.
“So I thought to myself, ‘Well, I mean I’ve got to dive if I want this,’” he said.
And so he did.
“I took a big dive and I won by a hundredth of a second,” Fredrick said. “I’m a little cut up, but totally worth it if you ask me.”
No, he hadn’t tried that before.
“It’s my first time ever diving and it worked, so I’d recommend it,” Fredrick said. “It feels great. I went in thinking it would be a tough race against a couple people that I was up against. And I actually did it, so that’s a good feeling.”
Demers picked up a Finals title in the 100 dash.
The Broncos also the 800 relay (Justin Bergquist, Fredrick, Cristian Spear and Vincent Martin). Manistique won two relays, the 1,600 (Grant Mason, Dillon Hayes, Carter Miller and Demers) and the 3,200 (Mason, Brenden Mead, Ben Gilroy and Austin Hinkson).
The Emeralds’ Mason was first in the 400.
In the field events, Ishpeming’s Brayden Martin won the discus and St. Ignace’s Owen Lester repeated in the pole vault.
PHOTOS (Top) Pickford’s David Kozisek crosses the finish line first in the 300 hurdles Saturday. (Middle) Bark River-Harris’ Kavin Frederick and Manistique’s Wyatt Demers race for the finish line, with Frederick crossing first by one hundredth of a second. (Below) Runners begin the 1,600, including eventual winner Hayden Hagen (1) of Pickford and runner-up Alex Korpela (4) of Ironwood. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)
Keweenaw Classic Provides Indoor Competition as UP Spring Begins
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 28, 2022
HOUGHTON — The weather may still be in no particular hurry to warm up, but many Upper Peninsula track & field teams found a way to beat the elements earlier this month.
Michigan Technological University, as it had for many years, was ready to lend a helping hand and hosted its annual Keweenaw Classic indoor meet April 12.
Northern Michigan University also has hosted high school meets inside the Superior Dome for more than 25 years. Those meets, however, have been interrupted by COVID-19.
This year’s event at Tech included a pre-meet clinic for the first time.
“The Tech athletes were very helpful,” said Houghton boys coach Erik Johnson. “With no meets in the Dome, this kind of fills a void. It was absolutely critical to get this in. With 44 guys on the team, any open meet you can get is good. This gives us a chance to compete with schools we often don’t see.”
Baraga coach Tammy Crittenden was also thankful for the opportunity.
“The clinic was very helpful,” she said. “Hopefully, our kids got something out of it. We also brought our middle school kids to the clinic. They do a nice job putting on this meet and helping all the student-athletes.”
L’Anse coach John Jacobson had similar thoughts.
“The clinic was very valuable, and I think we learned a few things,” he said. “We’re very thankful to have this opportunity. A lot of work goes into this.”
Team scores weren’t kept, and shot put was the lone field event.
“We appreciate the opportunity to do shot put,” said Negaunee girls coach Vickie Paupore. “That’s one area I think we’re going to be real strong. It was nice for our younger kids to have this experience. I’m very grateful for our kids to have a chance to compete this early in the season. We still have snow on our track.”
Bark River-Harris sophomore Mackenzie Hoffmeyer, who won the 60 and 200-meter dashes, was grateful to have a chance to compete.
“I was real nervous at first,” she said. “After the 60 I felt little more relaxed. I was in the fifth lane in the 200. I knew I had to go out fast.”
Ontonagon junior Makennah Uotila was also anxious to get the season underway.
“Getting a meet in right now was huge,” she said. “Pretty soon we’ll be doing two meets a week. This was good for conditioning.”
Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie hosted two indoor meets this year with the more recent one taking place April 21.
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Ontonagon’s Makennah Uotila, here starting the 400 at last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals, was among athletes who competed at the Keweenaw Classic. (Photo by Kara Camps.)