Gaylord Record-Setter Embracing Challenges As Championship Season Approaches

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

May 3, 2024

Katie Berkshire has her eyes on the prize today.

Northern Lower PeninsulaAnd she’ll have her eyes on another prize Saturday. After that she’ll move on to more conquests yet this track season.

That pattern will be repeated for the next two years on the track and along the cross country course.

Berkshire, a sophomore at Gaylord High School, is already a long-distance record-holder and a regular feature at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. Today, she is throwing out the welcome mat to her opponents as Gaylord hosts its annual Blue Devil Classic.

She is welcoming this weekend’s competition because she knows fast races help her get better every day. Winning, although it happens often, is not her top priority. Putting in the work and getting better is what matters most, according to Gaylord girls track & field and cross country coach Lindsey Yates.

“She’s more than just a fast runner,” acknowledged Yates. “She knows she has to put the work in to get good results, and she’s always wanting more.

“The proof is in the pudding in what she does,” Yates continued. “She is a special — very special — athlete and young woman.”

Berkshire started this season by breaking the school record in the 3,200 at Gaylord’s first meet. She’s hoping to break the school’s 1,600 record yet this spring. And, she’s hoping to add to her collection of Regional and conference titles this month.

Higher finishes at the Division 2 Final on June 2 also are on the mind of the running sensation, who had a strong showing as a freshman finishing third in the 3,200 and 10th in the 1,600.

Track is known as an individual sport, but Berkshire looks at it more as a team sport with friendly competition.

Running, which started in Gaylord Elementary’s “Mileage Club” for Berkshire, wouldn’t be the same without teammates.

“Cross country and track are individual sports, but the team is a huge part – without the team it wouldn’t be the same at all,” Berkshire said. “We have all put in so much effort, and we deserve to go out and race and show what we can do.”

Berkshire, seated, confers with the Blue Devils coaches. “She’s a gift to the team,” Yates added. “It is an individual sport, but she has the whole team with her and she rallies for the team and the team rallies for her – it’s a family.”

Gaylord has had its share of individual Finals champions in the past under boys coach Matthew Warren, who Yates notes has played an integral part in Berkshire’s training.  But Berkshire is a one-of-a-kind runner for Yates, who has served as both the girls track and girls and boys cross country head coach the past two years at Gaylord.

“I have not seen anything as fine-tuned as Katie Berkshire, and it’s a breath of fresh air,” said Yates, who assisted both Blue Devils programs a few years before taking over. “The intrinsic desire for her is amazing.”

Running cross country and track brings endless challenges for Berkshire to conquer. The results, she notes, come from the training.

“Running shows me any challenge that comes my way I can just overcome,” Berkshire said. “It shows me if I have a goal in my mind, I can accomplish it if I work hard and put in the effort.”

During the fall, Berkshire won eight of her 12 cross country races including the Big North Conference meet and Regional. She’s already qualified for three Division 2 Finals across the two sports and is likely going to add a fourth Finals next month at Hamilton High School.

Before that, Berkshire is going after another Big North title and a Regional championship. Competitions, like those ahead always bring out her best; the conference includes Division 1 opponents.

“I enjoy running against even girls that are faster than me because they always push me to be better and they are there obviously to race and try their best,” Berkshire said. “They are an influence to me that I can get there one day and I can maybe even beat them the next season.”

This year she has hopes of running a sub-5-minute 1,600 to capture the school record; her best in the race is 5:11. She takes on both distance races regularly and also is a regular in relays. In Wednesday’s dual meet at Alpena, she set two personal bests running a 2:25.60 in the 800 and 1:05.71 in the 400.

Berkshire’s favorite event by far is the 3,200, as she likes finding the right pace and rhythm to handle eight laps.

“Most people would think I am crazy for that,” she said of her pick for favorite. “It’s the longest race on the track, and it feels the best for me.”

Yates says Berkshire has yet to run her best 3,200 of the season. The conference, Regional and Final should bring out the best in Berkshire, she noted.

“She’s amazing, and setting the record isn’t good enough for her. She wants to do it again,” Yates said. “She also wants the mile record, and she’s hungry for it.”

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Gaylord’s Katie Berkshire readies for a relay Wednesday against Alpena. (Middle) Berkshire, seated, confers with the Blue Devils coaches. (Photos provided by the Gaylord girls track & field program.)

VanderKooi & Friends Deliver Western Michigan Christian's 1st Track Title

By Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com

June 4, 2022

HUDSONVILLE – Abby VanderKooi just needed a little help from her friends.

The Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior distance runner convinced her friends, volleyball standouts Kyla and Maddie Wiersema, to join the track team in their senior year to give WMC an added boost at the end of the season.

At Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals, Kyla scored in three events, while Maddie scored in two. That, combined with VanderKooi scoring in four of her own, gave the Warriors the lift they needed to win their first track & field Finals title, posting 52 points to finish just ahead of 2021 champ Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart, which scored 48.

“They’ve been friends since they were little kids, so they decided to come out this year,” WMC coach Greg Gould said of the Wiersema twins and VanderKooi. “We knew they were super talented and just added a lot to this team. To see them perform so well (Saturday) and help this small team of athletes win a state title is pretty incredible.”

VanderKooi herself had a big day, setting an LPD4 Finals record in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:49.25. It was her third time winning a Finals title in the event to go with four cross country state titles as well.

She also finished second in the 1,600, fourth in the 800, and was part of the 3,200 relay team that finished second.

“Today wasn’t about me, it was about what I could do for my team,” VanderKooi said. “I’m really happy with my performances, but I’m most excited about what we’ve been able to do as a team.”

The Irish had a big performance from senior Nicole Olivieri, who won the 200 in a time of 26.37, then set an LPD4 Finals record in the 400 with a time of 56.01. She was also the anchor leg of the winning 800 relay team (1:49.21) and the runner-up 1,600 relay squad.

“I was pretty tired after that 400, but I knew my team was depending on me for points in the 200, so that gave me a little more push,” Olivieri said. “(The 400 record) has been my goal since missing it by 0.18 seconds last year. That .01 was tough, but I can’t be mad. It’s an amazing accomplishment for me.”

Frankfort trackOlivieri’s teammate, Anna Plum, came away with the championship in the 300 hurdles with a personal-record time of 47.03.

Frankfort finished third on the day with 39 points, thanks largely to senior Tara Townsend.

Townsend collected her third pole vault state title with a leap of 11-6. She attempted to set an LPD4 Finals record of 12-1, but just couldn’t quite get over the bar.

“It was a little disappointing because I went 12 last year and I wanted to go higher, but I can’t really be too disappointed,” Townsend said of her vault performance. “I just took a deep breath on the last one and gave all I had.”

Townsend followed up her pole vault title by winning the 100 dash championship in a time of 12.79. She also was the anchor leg of the winning 400-meter relay team (51.87), while placing third in the 200 dash. Not bad while dealing with a hamstring injury in the process.

Buckley sophomore Aiden Harrand had an impressive day, as she took home titles in the 800 and 1,600 runs. In the 800, Harrand had a PR of 2:19.25, while she finished the 1,600 in a PR of 4:56.38.

Fowler won the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:10.11 to close out the meet. The Eagles came in fourth as a team with 35 points. Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest won the 3,200 relay with a time of 9:59.16.

Brynn Mericle won the 100 hurdles with a PR time of 15.93 to spark East Jackson to a fifth-place finish as a team.

In the field events, Morrice senior Emma Valentine repeated as the LPD4 high jump champion with a leap of 5-6.

“It was very nerve-wracking, because I wanted to repeat but I wasn’t sure how the day would pan out,” Valentine said. “I was very excited to be able to clear (5-6) again. It was great to be able to show up and perform well.”

Hillsdale Academy’s Anna Roberts took home the long jump title with a jump of 16-5.5. Gobles’ Elli Stender won the discus with a PR toss of 122-9. Kalamazoo Christian’s Tess VanDyk repeated as champion of the shot put with a throw of 41-7.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Muskegon Western Michigan Christian's Abby VanderKooi runs her leg of the 3,200 relay Saturday at Baldwin Middle School. (Middle) Frankfort's Tara Townsend, middle, wins the 100. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/Run Michigan.)