Ironwood's Smith Sisters, Bessemer's Stone Set Fast Pace in Western UP
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 9, 2022
IRONWOOD — There are at least three shining stars on the western horizon in Upper Peninsula girls track as Ironwood junior Lilley Smith, her freshman sister Aubrey and Bessemer junior Natalie Stone are setting the pace among distance runners on the Gogebic Range.
Aubrey Smith won the 1600-meter run at 6 minutes, 0.5 seconds in last Monday’s Jack Kraemer Invitational on a cloudy and chilly day at Longyear Field.
Stone, who had been dealing with leg issues, was runner-up at 6:11.47, and Lilley Smith took fourth (6:14.03), just 34 hundredths of a second behind senior Olivia Soltero of Washburn-Port Wing South Shore (Wis.).
Lilley then dominated the 3,200 at 13:34.16, nearly two minutes ahead of the field.
“In distance running we’re competitive, yet everybody is friendly,” said Lilley Smith. “You gain respect for yourself and others.
“Aubrey has an amazing kick. We started real early. I started in seventh grade and fell in love with it.”
Aubrey Smith was in sixth grade when she began her running career.
“Our mom ran marathons and told us great stories about running,” she said. “When you’re done with a race, you look back at what you did and you’re proud of what you accomplished.”
Stone also ran in the 1,600 relay in which the Speedgirls took fifth.
“Everything is very tight,” she said. “I felt good today, but I’m still a little sore. I’m just so happy to be able to run because I love it so much. Running is a lifetime sport, and I want to do it all my life. I had missed six weeks. This is only my second day back, and my lungs aren’t quite there yet.”
Last fall, Aubrey Smith was runner-up and Lilley placed sixth at the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Cross Country Final at Marquette. Smith was third in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200 at last spring’s UPD2 Track & Field Finals.
“Aubrey is very talented and hard working,” said Ironwood cross country coach Ben Schmandt. “It’s challenging for a freshman to compete at the highest level. Lilley is also one of the hardest workers on the team. She exemplifies perseverance. She fell down at Hancock and was the first one to finish (fourth overall in cross country) with bleeding feet. That’s dedication in the truest form. She’s one of the most coachable kids we’ve had.”
Stone placed third at the UPD2 Cross Country Final and in the 1,600 in UPD3 last spring at Kingsford behind Mid Peninsula’s Landry Koski and Rudyard’s Tristan Smith.
“Lilley and Aubrey push me, and I push them,” said Stone. “It’s so much fun to run with them. Hopefully, the U.P. Track Finals will go better for me this year. Landry is a very good runner. She just came from behind and won it. She has a real strong kick.”
Bessemer coach Tracy Rowe refers to Stone as one of the team’s leaders.
“Natalie is a great runner,” she said. “You feel so bad for kids when they get hurt. I’m just glad she can run and feels better.”
At Friday’s Ontonagon Invitational, Aubrey Smith placed fourth (6:10.8) and Lilley was fifth (6:11.2) in the 1,600. Lilley then took second in the 3,200 (13:10.3).
“We enjoy running with each other,” Aubrey said after the meet in Ironwood “We give each other the thumbs up when we pass each other in a race.”
“I love Natalie,” Smith added. “I’ve been running against her since middle school.”
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.
PHOTOS: Bessemer’s Natalie Stone leads a race during last season’s UPD3 Finals at Kingsford. (Middle) Ironwood’s Lilley Smith is among those pacing the pack during last season’s UPD2 Final in the 1,600. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Sophomore Stars Lead Hart Girls' Latest Championship Charge
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KENT CITY – If the expression “Tradition never graduates” holds any validity, then girls track & field teams competing in MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 were put on notice again by Hart’s squad Saturday at Kent City High School.
Hart captured its second-straight LPD3 Finals championship and third in six years. And the Pirates did it with a pair of sophomores leading the way in Jessica Jazwinski and Addi Hovey.
Hart totaled 64 points to hold off runner-up Olivet (56.5). Lansing Catholic was third (46), Hillsdale fourth (46) and Jackson Lumen Christi fifth (31).
“This one was more nerve-racking (than last year) because the expectations were a little more there. Last year was more maybe a bit of a surprise,” said Hart coach Calvin Ackley, whose 2022 team scored 63 points and cleared the rest of the field by 24.
“They did great. They knew how to be champions because they were last year. I remember telling them last year halfway through the season that if they look around the room, this is probably the best team in the state and none of them told me they didn’t believe it at that time. This year I didn’t say anything because I think they just knew they were right up there.”
Hovey and Jazwinski are two of those athletes with said quiet confidence.
In Ackley’s words, Hovey was “great” as an all-around athlete and point-scorer, while Jazwinski was “honestly the linchpin” with her distance races.
The 5-foot-10 Hovey took first in high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches, and she placed third in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.53 seconds.
The Associated Press Division 3 first-team all-state basketball player, who helped Hart reach the hoops Semifinals in March, also ran on the Pirates’ third-place 400 relay (50.78) and seventh-place 800 relay (1:49.32) Saturday.
“It was fun,” Hovey said. “A lot of our older teammates put all the effort into (this season), and in the end I think it really paid off for how hard we worked this season. I’m really proud of us.
“I mean, I wish I did a little better in the high jump, but it’s really hot out so that has its side effects, but overall I’m pretty happy with how I did perform,” added Hovey, who established a personal best of 5-11 in the high jump this season, which ranked her fifth nationally in the event.
Jazwinski, a New Balance All-American runner who was the MHSAA LP Division 3 individual cross country champion last fall, earned all-state honors in four events Saturday.
She finished first in the 3,200 run (10:57.99), second in the 1,600 (4:58.86) and third in the 800 (2:16.22). Jazwinski also helped Hart score valuable points on the fourth-place 3,200 relay team along with Lexie Beth Nienhuis, Abigail Pretty and Alyson Enns.
“I’m super excited just because, like, I know all the girls so well and we’re all such good friends. To see everybody, like, working so hard at practices and improving … . This year, we actually have so many girls qualified for state that have never qualified before and just to see everybody improving, it’s so amazing.
“Just to contribute to that, I’m super excited about that.”
Other big winners Saturday included Almont senior Devin Johnston and Onsted sophomore Emmry Ross.
Johnston, a dual-sport athlete who also plays softball, raced to first-place finishes in the 100 (personal-record 12.14 seconds) and 200 (24.98 PR). She also anchored her team’s fourth-place 400 relay (50.92).
An Eastern Illinois signee for track, it was tough for Johnston not to be there for her softball team in Saturday’s District tournament. But track is her primary sport, and the decision certainly paid off for her.
“I’m glad that I finished out strong,” Johnston said. “Being a senior, it’s a lot of emotions but I’m glad I finished with the best I could do. I mean, I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m glad with how it went and how I performed.
“(Almont’s softball team) lost in Districts today, but I came here. My sophomore year, my primary was softball and I had to choose so I went to softball Districts that year instead of (track) states. Junior year, I picked (track) states and then this year I picked (track) states. I mean, it’s hard but going into two sports I kind of know it’s going to happen unless (the softball opponent) agrees to move (the game) and they didn’t this year.”
Ross, meanwhile, has a couple more years to perform at the track Finals. On Saturday, she won individual championships in the 400 (56.48) and 800 (2:11.25 PR).
Ross was all-state in a third event, running a leg on Onsted’s fifth-place 3,200 relay (9:48.46), and she just missed all-state distinction as her team’s 800 relay quartet finished ninth.
Like Hart’s Jazwinski alluded, Ross said that a key to performing well on the steamy afternoon was managing the heat.
“I was trying to keep in a very good headspace – it was the same for everybody, so I didn’t want to let it get me down. It was the same for everybody – not one person was running in any cooler temperature,” Ross said. “I just went out there and did the best I could, and I think I did very well.”
Other champions Saturday included: Lumen Christi’s Madison Osterberg in the 1,600 (4:55.02), Hillsdale’s Mia Hinz in the 100 hurdles (15.89), Olivet’s Emma Peters in the 300 hurdles (46.09 PR), Olivet’s Payton Otto in shot put (39-4½), Quincy’s Sophia Snellenberger in discus (141-5), Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Ally Olszewski in pole vault (11-3), Napoleon’s Alyssa Budd in long jump (17-11.5 PR), Olivet’s 400 relay (McKenzie Speer, Megan Neitzel, Alyssa Kennedy, Celina Sinclair; 50.30), West Catholic’s 800 relay (Ally Olszewski, Alexis Patterson, Aislynn Sweedyk, Claire Arends; 1:46.36), Olivet’s 1,600 relay (Emily Peters, Sophia Pell, Olivea Gessner, Cassie Coleman; 4:06.68) and Lansing Catholic's 3,200 relay (Tessa Roe, Frances Melinn, CC Jones, Hannah Pricco; 9:23.82).
Running tradition has been strong at Hart for a number of years. The Pirates’ girls cross country program won five straight MHSAA LP Division 3 titles (2017-2021) and placed fourth in the fall of 2022.
Expectations are high across Hart’s cross country and track programs. Even though athletes graduate each season, the next group comes in prepared to carry on that tradition.
“I mean, after last year, you kind of look at, ‘We’re missing Kendall Williamson, we’re going to miss Lauren VanderLaan,’ and think, ‘How are we going to fill those gaps?’” Ackley said.
“But I remember watching Addi Hain (now a Hart freshman) – I go to the middle-school meet, I watched her run and I’m like, ‘That girl’s going to help us next year,’ and sure enough, she did. So that’s a good feeling. … We’re going to miss (seniors) Savanna (Owens) and Aspen Boutell and I know I am missing some other girls that are scorers for us, but there will be girls that will step up and take those spots hopefully. We’ll see.”
PHOTOS (Top) Hart’s Addi Hovey, center, sprints alongside Comstock’s Ti’Anna Murphy-Ryan, left, and Almont’s Devin Johnston. (Middle) Jessica Jazwinski leads a race by a large margin for the Pirates. (Photos by Carter Sherline/RunMichigan.com.)