Girls Finals: Burning up the record book
June 2, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Rain or shine and everything in between couldn't keep a strong class of MHSAA Track and Field athletes from once again shining in the final girls meets of the season Saturday.
A total of 19 Finals records either were tied or broken during the seven championships events featuring schools from throughout both peninsulas. Three records were new bests for all Finals, regardless of division. And two athletes won four individual titles – another feat rarely seen.
Here's our breakdown of the best from Saturday's meets. It's impossible to include every highlight, of course. But feel free to comment below and tell us what we missed.
Headliner
Few have put together a Finals like Sami Michell’s in Division 3 – and no girl has done so in the Lower Peninsula since 1979. Adding to her three championships in 2011 and another in 2010, Michell won four events – long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and the 200 – and set three records in the process, including the all-Finals mark in the 300 erasing what had stood since 1984. She’s only a junior, and nearly pulled off the four-title feat last season but finished second in the 200. The last girl to win four events at one LP Finals was Mason County Eastern’s Maria Shoup, who did so at the 1979 Class D meet with victories in the 100 hurdles, 200 hurdles, 800 and long jump.
Record setters
All Finals and LP D3/300 hurdles – Sami Michell, Reed City – 42.23
(All Finals previous was 42.4, set by Benton Harbor’s Carolyn Ferguson in Class A in 1984; previous D3 was 43.84, also by Michell, set in 2011)
All Finals and LP D1/3,200 relay – Kelsie Schwartz, Ersula Farrow, Haley and Hannah Meier – 8:48.29
(previous was 9:05.47, set by Rochester in 2010)
All Finals and LP D1/1,600 run – Erin Finn, West Bloomfield – 10:17.86
(previous was 10:22.75, set by Rochester’s Megan Goethals in 2010)
LP D1/High jump – Keianna Ingram, Southfield-Lathrup – 5-9
(ties previous set by Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ariel Roberts in 2008)
LP D1/Long jump – Cierra Pryor, Jackson – 19-0
(previous was 18-9, set by Saginaw Arthur Hill’s Monsherri Hall in 2007)
LP D2/100 dash – Sydney Cureton, Detroit Country Day – 11.90
(previous was 11.92, also by Cureton, set in 2011)
LP D2/1,600 run – Sara Barron, Pontiac Notre Dame – 4:51.67
(previous was 4:54.07, set by Corunna’s Jamie Kryzmiski in 2000)
LP D2/400 dash – Kendall Baisden, Detroit Country Day – 54.58
(previous was 54.91, also by Baisden, set in 2010)
LP D2/3,200 run – Ali Wiersma, Allendale – 10:40.22
(previous was 10:40.66, set by Monroe Jefferson’s Beka Smeltzer in 2004)
LP D3/Long jump – Sami Michell, Reed City – 18-6.5
(previous was 18-1, set by Albion’s Juandretta Oliver in 2007)
LP D3/100 hurdles – Sami Michell, Reed City – 13.84
(previous was 14.07, also by Michell, set in 2011)
LP D3/800 run – Annie Fuller, Manistee – 2:13.03
(previous was 2:14.03, set by Albion’s Amelia Bannister in 2007)
UP D1/Long jump – Adeline Grier-Welch, Houghton – 17-3.5
(previous was 17-0.75, also by Grier-Welch, set in 2011)
UP D1/100 dash – Chelsea Jacques, Calumet – 12.55
(previous was 12.58, set by Escanaba’s Stephanie Ostrenga in 2005)
UP D2/Discus – Hunter Perry, Rudyard – 122-10.25
(previous was 120-4.75 by Iron River West Iron County’s Desirae Rasmussen in 2010)
UP D2/High jump – Nicole Vanderlin, Norway – 5-4
(ties previous record, also by Vanderlin, set in 2011)
UP D2/200 dash – Dani Gagne, Norway – 26.42
(previous was 26.47, set by Chassell’s Jamie Dompier in 2009)
UP D3/Long jump – Olivia Soumis, Ontonagon – 16-7.5
(previous was 16-5.5, also by Soumis, set in 2010)
UP D3/200 dash – Jamie Dompier, Chassell – 26.36
(previous was 26.65, set by Rapid River’s Stephanie Boyer in 2001)
Tales of the Trophy
LP D1: Grosse Pointe South continued its impressive two-year run with its second straight championship, this time by 13.5 points over Ann Arbor Huron. The same athletes who keyed the school’s cross country title in the fall did so again Saturday – distance runners Hannah and Haley Meier, Kelsie Schwartz and Ersula Farrow, plus sprinter Caitlin Moore.
LP D2: Detroit Country Day won six events and Dearborn Divine Child just two, but at the end of the afternoon they’d both scored 60 points to tie for the championship. Last season, Country Day was first and Divine Child second, while in 2009 those places were reversed. Country Day’s Brittany Mann repeated as champion in the shot put and discus, and Baisden won her third in the 400. Divine Child balanced the scoring with contributions from 10 entries.
LP D3: Frankenmuth won its third championship in four years and improved on last season’s runner-up finish by beating Benzie Central by 11. Relays were the key: the Eagles won both the 800 and 1,600 with Olivia Shelton, Emily Wee and Angela Ritter running on both, helped by Sydney Bronner on the 800 and Lauren Peterson on the 1,600.
LP D4: Fowler won its second straight after runner-up finishes in 2010 and 2009, edging Traverse City St. Francis by four points with a total of 54. Relays were the key for these Eagles as well. They won the 3,200 and 800 relays with seven athletes (Elizabeth Thelen was the only common runner between the two) to balance out wins by St. Francis’ Lauren Buckel in the 400 and 200.
UP D1: Marquette repeated and won its fourth in the last five seasons by edging Negaunee by seven points. Shayla Huebner and Jessica Fluette were half of the winning 1,600 relay and also won individual events. Fluette also was on the winning 3,200 relay.
UP D2: St. Ignace won its third straight and fourth in five seasons with 142 points – 46 more than runner-up Norway. The Saints won five events including a relay, with Sarah Cullip the star. She won the pole vault, 1,600 and 3,200.
UP D3: Brimley also repeated and won its fourth in five seasons, edging Eben Junction Superior Central by 12 points. Brimley won just four events, but got scoring from 12 entries.
So long, seniors
Cindy Ofili, Ann Arbor Huron – Won the 100, 200 and 100 hurdles and ran on the winning 800 relay at the LP Division 1 meet.
Kyra Jefferson, Detroit Cass Tech – Won the LP Division 1 200 championship for the third straight season, giving her four individual championships for her career.
Tori DeSira, DeWitt – Won the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles at the LP Division 2 Final, giving her five individual championships for her career.
Sara Barron, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep – As well as setting a LP Division 2 record in the 1,600 (see above), Barron repeated as champion in the 800.
Dani Gagne, Norway – In addition to setting the UP Division 2 record in the 200, she also won the long jump, 100 and 400, giving her 10 championships total during her career.
Megan Kangas, Norway – Joined her teammate as a repeat champion, winning the 100 hurdles to finish her career with four MHSAA championships total.
Lauren Spanger – Eben Junction Superior Central – Won the UP Division 3 400 title for the third straight season and the 800 for the second time in three seasons.
Click for links to all results.
PHOTO: Competitors race to advance to the 100-meter championship race during Saturday's Division 4 Final. (Photo courtesy of RunMichigan.com. Click to see more.)
Oak Park Girls Hurdle Competition Again to Regain LPD1 Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2023
ROCKFORD – For the fourth time in five seasons Saturday, Oak Park’s girls captured the Lower Peninsula Division 1 team title – this time with a meet-best 80 points at Rockford High School.
Last season’s champion Detroit Renaissance was second with 58 points, while Ann Arbor Pioneer was third at 56.
The Knights – runners-up a year ago – won again mainly thanks to their dominance in the hurdles. Senior Nonah Waldron won the 100 and 300 hurdles, but also Morgan Roundtree was third in the 100 (13.86) and second in the 300 (41.54) and Carrie VanNoy was fourth in both the 100 (14.18) and 300 (44.11).
Waldon said the team’s success was all about pushing each other the best they could in practice every day.
“It takes maturity to understand that you all can be great together,” Waldron said. “It took a lot of love for each other to be the best we can be.”
The Knights also were second in the 400 relay (47.71) and 800 relay (1:38.21), and third in the 1,600 relay (3:55.27).
“I think that dealing with losing and some adversity helps you grow,” Oak Park coach Brandon Jiles said. “I think the kids used the experience from last year to catapult them this year. We know it’s a points game. We know there are no style points in team championships. We spread the kids out to do what we needed to do. We’re not a depth team, but a quality team. They showed out, and I’m happy.”
Waldron won the 100 hurdles in a time of 13.56 before really putting on a show in the 300 hurdles. She won that event in a time of 40.37, which was the second-fast time in that event in the nation thus far this year. Waldron, who will run in college at USC, also won both hurdles events two years ago and won the 100 hurdles last year, but had a mishap that cost her last year’s title in the 300.
“Last year, I fell and tore my ankle,” she said. “That did motivate (me) a lot more than before. It made me want it more.”
If it wasn’t evident that Renaissance sophomore Jayla Dace might be the state’s next big sprinting star already, she established that on the biggest stage.
Dace won the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.90 and was a part of winning 400 and 800 relay teams. Dace also took third in the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.56.
“The starting gun is a horn, so I’m not really used to that,” Dace said of her strategy in the 100. “I had to really adapt quickly and to make sure I wasn’t the last person to get out of the blocks. Once you see people in the 100 ahead of you, it’s over. I just had to make sure when I started the race that I really didn’t see anybody.”
In the relays, Dace ran the second leg in the 400 and the first leg in the 800.
“I’m just happy we were able to execute,” Dace said.
Saturday was quite an inauguration into the pressure of a high school state meet for West Bloomfield freshman Kamryn Tatum. But she performed like a veteran, winning the 400 in a time of 55.74 and the 200 in a time of 24.10.
“I’ve been at big meets so I know how to deal with quite a bit of pressure, but I was still nervous because it was my first high school (Finals),” Tatum said. “I just wanted to run until the end of the line.”
Ann Arbor Pioneer junior Rachel Forsyth won the 800 (2:09.96) and 1,600 (4:44.22), and East Lansing senior Anna Delgado finished first in the 3,200 (10:33.87). Forsyth also was part of Pioneer’s winning 3,200 relay (9:01.19), and Detroit Cass Tech won the 1,600 relay (3:52.82) by 12 hundredths of a second ahead of Renaissance.
Howell senior Sophie Daugard was first in shot put (41-7), Allen Park junior Abigail Russell first in discus (148-7½), and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central junior Brooke Bowers won pole vault (12-3). Farmington Hills Mercy junior Milena Chevallier won high jump (5-11), and Rockford senior Maya Anderson was champion in the long jump (18-6½). Flushing sophomore Ally Ingrahm competed in the adaptive 100 (42.81).
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park's Nonah Waldron crosses the finish line first in the 100 hurdles Saturday. (Middle) Renaissance's Jayla Dace, right, charges toward the finish. (Below) West Bloomfield's Kamryn Tatum, far left, leads the 200. (Photos by Jamie McNinch [top photo] and Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)