Marquette Holds Off Charging Kingsford for 1-Point Finals Victory
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KINGSFORD — The Marquette boys retained their Upper Peninsula Division 1 track & field championship here Saturday, as they squeezed past the Kingsford Flivvers 138-137.
The Houghton Gremlins placed third with 56 points.
Marquette held a three-point lead heading into the day’s final race, the 1,600-meter relay.
Kingsford won it in 3 minutes, 35.29 seconds, but Marquette secured the team title by placing second (3:36.01).
Marquette junior Carson VanderSchaaf set a UPD1 record in the 3,200 at 9:46.53 seconds, shaving more than three seconds off the old mark (9:50.03) by Lance Rambo of Marquette in 2015.
VanderSchaaf also took the 1,600 (4:23.45), followed by his twin brother Colin (4:28.46) for Marquette, which also won the 3,200 relay (8:32.36) on a sunny and warm day at Flivver Field.
Colin VanderSchaaf later took the 800 (2:00.79). He was followed by Houghton senior Eric Weiss (2:03.18) and teammate Cullen Papin (2:03.77).
Weiss was also runner-up in the 3,200 (10:07.12) and third in the 1,600 (4:37.2).
Cayden Dahlen provided Marquette with a first in discus (139-8), and Sam Markey captured the 110 hurdles (16.64)
Kingsford showed its depth in the sprints with Michael Floriano taking second in the 100 (11.51), followed by Diego Przeslakowski (11.67) and Cardel Morton (11.81).
Floriano then won the 200 (23.12), edging teammate Trestan Larson by two hundredths of a second.
Przeslakowski added a first in the 300 hurdles (40.76), and the Flivvers took the 400 relay (44.2) and 800 (1:33.22).
Kingsford’s Lucas Tappy won shot put (47-1) and Cole Myllyla gained top honors in long jump at 20 feet, 2¾ inches with Marquette’s Tyranon Dahlin runner-up at 20-1¼.
Calumet’s Dryden Nelson captured the 100 (11.37) and placed third in the 200 (23.39), and Houghton’s Cade Holombo took the 400 (51.39), edging Morton by one tenth of a second.
Menominee senior Brady Schultz retained his high jump title at 6-7 after also setting the meet and his school’s record at 6-8 at last year’s UPD1 Finals.
Schultz added an inch this spring to his former school record leap, soaring 6-9 at the Marinette, Wis., Invitational on May 9.
Ishpeming Westwood had an individual champion in pole vault as Lenny Pizziola jumped 12 feet to edge Sault Ste. Marie’s Jackson Gervasio by six inches.
Marquette's Jim Bennett and Sault Ste. Marie's Johnny Osborn competed in the first-time adaptive races. Bennett won the 100 (24.31), 200 (47.52) and 400 (1:39.74), and also competed in shot put (13-4).
PHOTOS: (Top) On the second corner of the final lap of the 3,200 relay, Houghton's Eric Weiss, Marquette's Carson VanderSchaaf, and Sault Ste. Marie's Jonathan Willis are neck-in-neck. Marquette's VanderSchaaf was able to hold off Houghton's Weiss for second place, and Sault Ste. Marie's Willis took third. Other members of the winning Marquette team were James Kraeg, Adam White, and Braden Ketzenberger. (Middle) Kingsford's Trestan Larson starts the winning 800 relay. Teammates included Brody Kopp, Michael Meneguzzo, and Diego Przeslakowski. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/Run Michigan.)
St. Joseph Boys Make Every Point Count in Clinching 1st Finals Since 1997
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2023
ROCKFORD – Entering the final event of Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final, the 1,600 relay, St. Joseph was in first place – but by the slimmest of margins.
St. Joseph had 35.75 points, while Rockford had 35, Clinton Township Chippewa Valley had 32, and Ann Arbor Huron had 30.
Bears head coach Todd Rose knew his team was in the second heat before faster teams after, but his for sure needed to be faster than Rockford.
“I don’t teach them to worry about who they are running against,” Rose said. “Just run within themselves and run how we teach them.”
St. Joseph did that behind the team of Shay White, Will Fiesbeck, Eli Toney and Alex Moyer, finishing fourth in the event with a time of 3:21.50 to earn a meet-best 40.75 points – clinching the program’s first Finals team championship since 1997.
Chippewa Valley was runner-up with 38 points, while Rockford was third at 36 points.
St. Joseph senior Gerald Capaccio scored 18 precious points for his team, most notably winning the discus with a winning throw of 167-2. Capaccio said he was in second going into his last throw.
“I just had the mindset that everyone can have a big throw, and it just has to be me that gets the big throw,” Capaccio said. “It happened on my final throw.”
Capaccio also was second in the shot put with a throw of 56-11¼.
In addition to Capaccio earning big points in the shot put and discus, Rose gave credit to high jumper Joshua Scott for finishing in a tie for seventh in that event. That gave the Bears two points, and they proved to be especially important as the team won by less than one.
It’s rare when a runner does something that hasn’t been achieved since before automobiles were invented, but Ann Arbor Huron senior Braxton Brann had that distinction.
Brann won the 110 hurdles and the 200 dash, becoming the first athlete to win those two events at the same state meet since 1895 – three decades before the MHSAA was formed.
“It’s great to be in that kind of conversation,” said Brann, who will run in college at Ohio State.
First, Brann won the 110 hurdles in a time of 13.77. He said that was the event he was most concerned about.
“I haven’t really been consistent, so I just wanted to be that,” Brann said.
Feeling much more comfortable and at home in the 200 dash, Brann ran a winning time of 21.12.
“Everybody comes in looking at the stats of everybody else,” he said. “I saw I was in the best position to win. But I knew I had to run by butt off against this great field and come out with a win.”
Just about everyone in the stadium did a double-take when Northville’s 3,200 relay time was posted. The team of Brandon Latta, Brock Malaikal, David Whitaker and Brendan Herger set a new all-Finals record with a blistering time of 7:35.32, which was the best time in the nation this year.
Herger said when he got the baton on the anchor leg, he knew his teammates set him up incredibly well. But even he and Northville couldn’t have foreseen this.
“I had to run 1.54 to get it, and then I ended up running a bit faster than that,” Herger said. “I was so happy. I love my boys so much. It was great to share the moment together.
Herger also ended up finishing second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.19 behind Utica’s Trent McFarland.
Detroit U-D Jesuit senior Jaiden Reed won the 100 (10.74), and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley junior Shamar Heard won the 400 (47.78). Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills senior Benne Anderson won the 1,600 (4:05.44), and Grand Haven junior Seth Norder won the 3,200 (9:04.68). Kalamazoo Central senior Kayenn Mabin won the 300 hurdles (38.31). Rockford in the 400 (42.01), Chippewa Valley in the 800 (1:26.41) and Oak Park in the 1,600 (3:18.90) also won relay titles.
Battle Creek Lakeview senior Andrew Berryhill was champion in the shot put (58-¼), and Saline senior Dolan Gonzales won pole vault (16-0). Ann Arbor Huron junior Andrew Harding won the high jump (6-7), and Canton sophomore Quincy Isaac won the long jump (22-11). New Baltimore Anchor Bay sophomore Luke Bowman competed in the adaptive 100 (19.65), 200 (35.66) and 400 (1:14.39).
PHOTOS (Top) St. Joseph celebrates its LPD1 championship Saturday. (Middle) Ann Arbor Huron's Braxton Brann finishes one of his two race wins. (Below) Northville makes the final exchange of its record-setting 3,200 relay. (Photos by Jamie McNinch [top two photos] and Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)