Team of the Month: Berrien Springs Boys Track & Field
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 29, 2022
With two elite standouts comparable to the best pairs on any team statewide, and a deep group of sprinters capable of scoring major points, Berrien Springs track & field coach Johnathan Rodriguez had a feeling this could be a special spring for his boys team.
He scheduled tougher for that possibility, and planned everything pointing toward the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final on June 4.
But Rodriguez didn’t breathe easily until that morning at Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
“I think the whole month, I think I was on pins and needles thinking of everything that could go wrong or wondering if we were ill-prepared or if we didn’t run them enough,” Rodriguez said. “And then we got to the meet that day, and they were just fresh and jumping around and happy, and we’re loose. They did very well.”
Berrien Springs – the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for June – capped its season that day with its first MHSAA Finals boys track & field championship.
The title also was the first for the school in any sport since 2006, when the Shamrocks’ baseball team won the Division 3 title.
“We weren’t big on trying to win every meet. We were just thinking, all right, let’s try to be healthy for that state meet. So we were kind of smart in how we handled things and just scheduled things out so we can peek at the right moment,” Rodriquez said. “And I think it’s kind of a gamble that made us all uneasy, but they were just on fire that day.”
The boys track & field team had finished LP Division 3 runner-up in 2018, its highest Finals finish since coming in second in 1953. But with enrollment lines driving downward the last many years, Berrien Springs found itself it a much different spot beginning in 2021. The Shamrocks went from one of the largest schools in Division 3 to one of the smallest – the 11th-smallest of 155 teams this season – in Division 2.
Still, Berrien Springs received a strong indication it could compete with anybody this season when it ran at an invitational April 29 in Warsaw, Ind., against a number of larger Indiana schools include state power Carmel. Senior Jamal Hailey won the 100 and 200 meters, the 400 relay finished second, and senior James York was third in high jump as the Shamrocks hung with competition similar to the best they’d see in Michigan this spring.
Berrien Springs also possessed the right strengths to succeed in a championship format. The Shamrocks won their Regional by 37.5 points May 20 in part because the sprint group took nine top-eight places in the 100, 200 and 400 and won the 400 and 800 relays. The same formula worked as they won the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship meet the next week.
At the Finals at Forest Hills Eastern, Hailey won the 100 (10.77) and 200 (22.11) and York won the long jump (22-10). The 400 relay of senior Junyoung Chung, York, sophomore Jake Machiniak and Bailey won the 400 relay (42-44), and senior CJ Porter, Young, freshman Zander White and York placed eighth in the 800 relay (1:31.11). Freshman Noah Jarvis just missed scoring with a ninth place in the 400 (50.99).
With points spread out across several contenders, Berrien Springs’ 41 won the meet by eight.
Hailey finished the season undefeated in the 200 and with only one non-win in the 100, a runner-up finish at an early-season invitational. The 400 relay also was undefeated except for that second place in Indiana. York was undefeated in long jump except for finishing second in the Regional and league before coming back to win at the Finals. The 400 relay won every time he was a part.
Berrien Springs has had some recent success in other sports, particularly with Hailey leading a football team that went 10-1 last fall. This spring’s championship could be a catalyst for more Finals-level success in the near future across other sports.
“I hope so. I think that every kid that we had qualify (for the Finals) was a multi-sport athlete kid, and I think our 4x1(00) team, everybody on there was a three-sport athlete guy,” Rodriguez said. “Our athletic department works well, like our football guys lift with football two days a week and then come after track practice, so we have that nice working partnership with all the athletes.
“Now that we’ve shown that we can get there, I think it’s (shown) the kids at our school that hey, we can beat the bigger schools. We can hang. Track did it. Maybe we can do it next.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2021-22
May: Houghton boys golf - Read
April: Plainwell girls soccer - Read
March: West Bloomfield girls basketball - Read
February: Cadillac girls skiing - Read
January: Hartland hockey - Read
December: Midland Dow girls basketball - Read
November: Reese girls volleyball - Read
October: Birmingham Groves boys tennis - Read
Houghton Teams Sweep at Invitational to Honor Longtime Coach, Teacher
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2024
HOUGHTON — Dan Juntilla more than likely would have enjoyed a day like this past Tuesday at Houghton High School.
Although the former Houghton boys track & field coach couldn’t be there in person, he was probably enjoying the sunny and seasonably cool afternoon in spirit during the third annual memorial invitational held in his honor.
“He was a special guy,” current Houghton boys head coach Erik Johnson said. “I had the privilege to coach with Dan, and this is something which would have been special to him. He was always there for everybody.”
The Gremlins dominated this year’s version of the Dan Juntila Memorial Invite with 250 points. They were followed by Negaunee with 86 and Dollar Bay with 74.
“Dan was such a nice guy,” Dollar Bay coach Ben Tampas said. “He wanted to see everybody do well. Even if his team won, Dan was quick to point out how well everybody did. During the coaches’ meetings, he always had a quick joke to lighten everything up. He wanted to keep everything from getting too serious. He was always willing to answer your questions. He never turned his back on anyone. He was always willing to help. He would have loved this, too.”
The Houghton girls also won with 118½ points. Calumet was runner-up at 104 and Negaunee, which brought a partial team, placed third with 86.
Juntilla, who died unexpectedly on Jan. 9, 2022, graduated in 1970 from Wakefield High School where he was class president and lettered in football, basketball, tennis and track.
He lettered in football at Michigan Tech and earned a master’s degree in social work, counseling and secondary education at Northern Michigan University.
Juntilla coached track and football for decades at Houghton, where he taught English and local history.
“Dan was my coach when I was a freshman,” Gremlins’ senior Brody Mattila said. “He had a lot of influence on our program. This is a real special day.”
Mattila, who will be attending the University of Michigan on an academic scholarship this fall, won the 110-meter hurdles in a school-record 15.26 seconds, long jump at 19 feet, 8½ inches, and anchored the winning 400 relay (45.74) in his final home meet.
“I was excited when I found out I got the record,” he said. “I’ve been shooting for this all year. We had perfect conditions, and my warm-ups went great. I’m looking forward to the U.P. (Division 1) Finals (Saturday at Kingsford).”
Mattila’s hurdles record was one of at least five set Tuesday.
“This was another good day for us,” Johnson said. “Our 3,200 relay has been strong all year, and Brody setting the record in the 110s helped set the tone. We’ve struggled in shot put and discus for many years, but this year we’ve been doing quite well. The field events have been coming through for us. Everybody was stepping up.”
Chassell junior Kalvin Kytta took the boys 3,200 in a school-record 10:08.69, and West Iron County senior Danica Shamion collected four victories, setting school records in three of her races.
“It has always been my goal to go under 10 minutes in the 3,200,” Kytta said. “This takes some of the pressure off for Saturday. Now I can just go after a sub-10.”
Shamion set records in the 200 (25.79), 400 (56.74) and high jump (5-5) and captured the 100 (12.75).
“Running in the 56s in the 400 was my goal since last year’s U.P. Finals,” she said. “This feels amazing. I had a Hancock girl (senior Brielle Kero) right beside me, and it was close all the way. She really pushed me. Getting the 200 record is also something I wanted to do for some time, and I’ve been working on high jump a lot. This takes a lot of the pressure off, but I still have one more high school meet left and I’m going to give it my all. I’m not done. I’m not stopping now.”
Kero was runner-up in the 200 (26.73) and 400 (58.92).
Juntilla also served as a Little League coach, hockey manager and a mentor to many and was recognized by the MHSAA for 40 years as a registered game official as he refereed basketball at the high school, middle school and elementary school levels.
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 Houghton's Brody Mattila crosses the finish line during a downpour in the 400 relay at the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference championship meet May 22 in Ishpeming. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)