#TBT: Payment's Jump Sets Standard
May 28, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Brimley's John Payment entered the 1989 Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals with a personal-best high jump of 6-foot-8¾ – achieved in a meet only four days before the final competition of his high school school.
He left Marquette High School that May 27 with an all-Finals record of 7-1 that remains the all-time high and is the only all-Finals boys track & field record held by an Upper Peninsula athlete.
The 6-foot-3 Payment graduated as a three-time U.P. Finals champion in the event and entered his senior season with a best jump of 6-6. He cleared 7 feet twice at the 1989 Finals to tie and then break the then-previous all-Finals records set by Sterling Heights Stevenson's John McIntosh and Ann Arbor Pioneer's David Elliott set in 1979.
Brimley swept the top three places in high jump at the U.P. Class D Final in 1989, with Payment followed by teammates Bob Carrick and Kevin Sutton. Payment twice missed at 7-0 before eclipsing that mark and going for more.
"We're one big team," Payment said at the time. "Bob was telling me how far I was jumping from the bar. Bob told me I was too far out and to come in. That's when I cleared 7-1."
Only four others have jumped 7-0 at MHSAA Finals.
Click to read more from the Sault Evening News and its piece that is published as part of the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame website.
Freshman Distance Ace Impressing Again as Sault Gets on Track
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 14, 2023
SAULT STE. MARIE — Gabe Litzner made quite a first impression here April 7, dominating the 3,200-meter run at the Second Annual Yooper Invitational track & field meet.
The Sault Ste. Marie freshman was clocked at 10 minutes, 7.84 seconds in the 16-lap race on the 200-meter track inside Lake Superior State University’s Norris Center, more than a minute ahead of the field in his high school varsity debut.
“I’m pretty happy with that,” said Litzner, who was crowned Upper Peninsula Division 1 cross country champion last fall. “I wanted to take it somewhat easy because of all the turns. I didn’t want to injure myself. I’m surprised by my time. I was shooting for 10:20.”
Charlevoix squeezed past Kalkaska by half a point for the boys team title, with the Blue Devils finishing fourth. The Indian River Inland Lakes girls won with 100 points, five ahead of Sault Ste. Marie.
“I was a little nervous at first,” said Litzner. “I had a little bit of butterflies, but they tend to go away after you get started. This is a big step up from junior high track. I’ve definitely been able to build off what I did in cross country.”
Senior teammate Cody Aldridge was runner-up to Kalkaska junior Gavin Guggemos in the 1,600. Guggemos was clocked in 4:42.3 with Aldridge at 4:43.92.
“It wasn’t a PR (personal record), but it’s a good start to the season,” said Aldridge, who led until well into the final lap. “I just tried to do my best and see where I’m at and got a chance to see where the competition is at. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pull it off. I hit a hurdle (near the inside lane) coming into the final straightaway, although I think he had me anyway. He got a PR, which is good for him. It feels like I have room for improvement.”
Sault senior Cassandra Gallagher placed second in the girls 3,200 (13:19.52), 11 seconds behind Cheboygan sophomore Samantha Harke.
“For the beginning of the season, I’m happy with that,” said Gallagher. “I thought it was more difficult to pace myself because we were on a smaller track. I had IT band syndrome and spent a lot of time in physical therapy this winter. I didn’t get to train as much as I wanted, but this was better than I expected.”
Gallagher won the 3,200 (13:27.84) and was runner-up in the 1,600 (6:19.7) in a triangular meet at Alpena on Tuesday.
The Sault girls won at Alpena with 66 points, followed by Traverse City Central with 34 and Alpena at 32.
Litzner won the boys 800 (2:13.45) and 1,600 (4:43.35), and Aldridge took the 3,200 (10:14.56) as the Blue Devils boys (34) finished third to Alpena (62) and the Trojans (41).
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 Sault Ste. Marie’s Gabe Litzner leads the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Cross Country Final in the fall. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)