Performance of the Week: Ann Arbor Huron's Braxton Brann
May 5, 2023
Braxton Brann ♦ Ann Arbor Huron
Senior ♦ Track & Field
Brann led Huron to the team win at the prestigious 9th Courageous Invitational on Saturday at Wayne State with first places in the 100 and 200-meter dashes and the 110-meter hurdles, and as part of the runner-up 1,600 relay. His time in the 110 hurdles (14.07) is the fastest in Michigan in that event this season, and he also has the state’s fastest times this spring in the 100 dash (10.47) and 300 hurdles (38.74) and is tied for the fastest in the 200 (21.63).
After finishing second in the 200 and fourth in the 100 at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals, Brann is undefeated in his four individual events this spring. Saturday was the first time he’d run on the 1,600 relay this season, and he was joined in part by his sophomore brother Ashton – who also runs sprints and hurdles. Braxton is signed to continue his academic and track careers at Ohio State, where he will major in business.
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2022-23 Honorees
April 27: Owen Patton, Vestaburg track & field - Report
April 20: Lilly Damm, Millington softball - Report
April 13: Larissa Huffman, Mackinaw City track & field - Report
April 6: Darius Acuff, Detroit Cass Tech basketball - Report
March 23: Regan Finkbeiner, Hemlock basketball - Report
March 16: Alaina Yaney, Grand Ledge gymnastics - Report
March 9: Braeden Davis, Dundee wrestling - Report
March 2: Gabriel Sanchez-Burks, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Feb. 23: Grace Sobczak, Marquette swimming - Report
Feb. 16: Kaitlynn Demers, Gibraltar Carlson competitive cheer - Report
Feb. 9: Indya Davis, West Bloomfield basketball - Report
Feb. 2: Braydon Sorenson, Onekama skiing - Report
Jan. 26: Shayna Hruska, Iron Mountain wrestling - Report
Jan. 19: Kayla Tafanelli, Warren Woods-Tower bowling - Report
Dec. 20: Brenden Paden, Riverview Gabriel Richard hockey - Report
Dec. 16: Tuff Scott, Holton bowling - Report
Dec. 9: Macey Fegan, Standish-Sterling basketball - Report
Dec. 2: Treyton Siegert, Gladwin football - Report
Nov. 24: Lily Witte, Dexter diving - Report
Nov. 17: Navea Gauthier, Shelby volleyball - Report
Nov. 10: Derek Huisman, Holland Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3: Thomas Westphal, New Baltimore Anchor Bay cross country - Report
Oct. 27: Justin Wickey, Colon football - Report
Oct. 20: Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13: Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6: Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30: Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22: Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15: Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8: Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1: Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25: Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report
PHOTO Ann Arbor Huron's Braxton Brann runs the 110 hurdles at Ypsilanti Lincoln. (Photo by Draugalis Photography.)
VanderSchaaf Brothers Help Marquette Pull Away for UPD1 3-Peat
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KINGSFORD – The Marquette boys had a little more breathing room Saturday than last year.
They defeated Kingsford at the Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals by just one point a year ago, but were 20 points better than the Flivvers this time around to claim a third-straight Division 1 championship.
Marquette finished with 134 points, Kingsford had 114, third-place Sault Ste. Marie 90 and fourth-place Gladstone scored 51.
Like the team, Marquette’s Carson VanderSchaaf won an event for the third straight year – the 3,200-meter run. He finished in 9:55.25, edging Sault Ste. Marie freshman Gabe Litzner by less than a second.
“I ran a little bit quicker last year, but (in) a little more favorable conditions,” VanderSchaaf said. “It’s pretty hot out, and I’m not quite feeling the best today.”
He might have had two U.P. titles Saturday, but his brother Colin, also a senior, gave Carson a runner-up finish in the 1,600 by less than two seconds.
“My brother outkicked me in the 1,600,” Carson said.
Colin won it in 2021, Carson in 2022 and now Colin in 2023.
Colin also won the 800 for Marquette on Saturday, edging teammate Cullen Papin by six hundredths of a second.
Marquette also won the 400 and 1,600 relays. Nate Benninger, Adam DuVall, Wyatt Lakenen and Kyler Sager made up the 400 relay team with Kai Chouinard, Ben Rayhorn, Papin and Colin VanderSchaaf on the 1,600 relay.
Sault Ste. Marie’s Carter Oshelski won two U.P. titles, in the 200 and 400 dashes. He outpaced runner-up Colin VanderSchaaf in the 400.
“In the 400, I just tried to stick with the top guy and try to beat him down the stretch,” Oshelski said. “And then the 200, I sprinted it all.”
Kingsford won the 800 relay (Cole Myllyla, Jack Olson, Conor Quick and Michael Floriano) and Sault Ste. Marie placed first in 3,200 relay (Caleb Klier, Logan Haskins, Cody Aldridge and Litzner).
Iron Mountain’s Will Fairchild was also a double winner, taking both of the hurdles races. Floriano took first in the 100 dash.
The Flivvers were strong in the field events. Noah Johnson won the discus, tying the U.P. Division 1 Finals record at 160 feet, 5 inches (with Terry Martin of Manistique). Cardel Morton won the long jump and Garrett Veale the shot put. Darrent Butler claimed the high jump for Menominee’s only event win on the day, and Sault Ste. Marie’s Rayce Rizzo took the pole vault.
In the Division 1 adaptive events, Marquette’s Jim Bennett won the 100, 200 and 400 and Sault Ste. Marie’s Johnny Osborn took first in the shot put.
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Colin VanderSchaaf crosses the finish line first in the 1,600 relay Saturday. (Middle) Kingsford's Michael Floriano, second from right, edges Sault Ste. Marie's Carter Oshelski in the 100. (Below) Iron Mountain's Will Fairchild, left, and Gladstone's Luke Bracket are step for step with each other in the 300 hurdles. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)