Jokela Stars Again, Lake Linden-Hubbell Reigns This Time as Outright Champ
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2024
KINGSFORD — Lake Linden-Hubbell junior Emily Jokela had quite a workout here Saturday and has three individual victories to show for it.
The Lakes also benefitted from her effort as they earned the Upper Peninsula Division 3 track & field team championship.
LL-H, which shared the title with Stephenson a year ago, scored 72 points this time. Newberry edged Stephenson 64-62 for the runner-up trophy.
“Our Regional has been tough since 2016,” Lakes’ coach Gary Guisfredi said. “Since that time, teams from our Regional have won the U.P. Finals eight times. Emily scored 38 points alone today. Our shot putter (sophomore Maddy Dudenas) taking third and our girl (sophomore Cleo Milkey) taking fourth in long jump were big points. We knew Newberry and Stephenson were going to be tough.”
Jokela opened with a victory in the 100-meter dash in 13.04 seconds. Later, she set UPD3 Finals records in back-to-back races, taking the 400 (58.61) and 300 hurdles (44.8) prior to placing second in the 200 (27.03).
“My starts were better than usual,” she said. “Those (open 400 and 300 hurdles) are tough races, but you just got to push through that. You always try to prepare for that in practice. I just try to beat everybody to the next hurdle.”
Her effort in the 400 topped the old mark (58.7) by Superior Central’s Lauren Spranger in 2011, and in the hurdles she bested her own record (45.63) from a year ago.
The Lakes, who finished undefeated this year, also won the 800 relay at 1:52.52.
“I think our handoffs were good,” senior Rebecca Lyons said. “It feels great to be U.P. champions. We were really excited about this meet. We knew Newberry and Stephenson were pretty good.”
Dollar Bay got a first on sophomore Kiera Isaacson’s leap of 5-3 in high jump.
Newberry, coming off a solid cross country season from last fall, showed its strength in the distances. Sophomore Samantha Taylor set the meet record in the 1,600 (5:14.9), topping the previous best (5:17.2) by Amy Kerst of Munising in 2011. She was followed by freshman Abby Taylor (5:22.7), Stephenson sophomore Faith Cappaert (5:36.7) and Newberry senior Kaylen Clark (5:37.49), who will run at Davenport University this fall.
Clark added a first in the 3,200 (12:33.7), withstanding a challenge from North Dickinson’s Mya Grunlund (12:43.65).
“I knew I had my kick and had to use it today,” Clark said. “I just wanted to defend my title one more time. I think my conditioning from cross country helped me. I missed three meets because of bronchitis. Once I got over that, I did a lot of slow miles. It was a struggle.
“I’ll get to run against Lola (Korpi) again in college. I’m real excited about that. It will also be exciting to do something new.”
Newberry also overcame a slow start to win the 3,200 relay (10:24.16).
“We weren’t too worried,” Abby Taylor said after anchoring that relay. “We knew Kaylen and Sam would close it. I felt pretty relaxed and confident in the final leg.”
Cappaert won the 800 (2:25.91), followed by Abby Taylor (2:33.34) and Clark (2:35.52), and senior Kayela Putnam added a first for the Eagles in pole vault (10-0).
Fourth-place Carney-Nadeau got the bulk of its points in the field events where senior Samantha Kedsch set a meet and school record in long jump at 16-11. Her effort also topped the previous best jump of 16-7½ by Ontonagon’s Olivia Suomis in 2012.
Junior teammate Mariska Laurila won discus with a school-record throw of 114-1 and added a first in shot put (33-1¼), with senior Kelsie Smith taking second (32-5).
Big Bay de Noc got a first from Destiny Bleau, who was clocked at 26.73 in the 200.
PHOTOS (Top) Lake Linden-Hubbell's Emily Jokela sets a meet record in the 400 with a winning time of 58.61 on Saturday. (Middle) Stephenson's Faith Cappaert (11) takes the lead and doesn't relinquish it while winning the 800. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)
Oak Park, Returning Individual Champs Lead Chase Again at Star-Filled Finals
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
Abby Russell has no problem throwing as the favorite with everyone else hoping to catch her.
In fact, the Allen Park senior embraces summoning up her best efforts in both the discus and shot put every time she lines up to throw. Russell said she's never equated success with the pressure of being a state champion.
"To be honest, no," said Russell, who closed out a stellar career by winning those two events at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at East Kentwood. "I just focus on myself. Going to see a sports psychologist has helped me a lot with that. We talk about the work you have to put in, and (success) being a consistency thing."
Whether it's pure talent or seeking professional guidance or the ability to deal with pressure, Russell finished off an outstanding career in winning the discus (156-6) and the shot (46-10) on Saturday. The two titles are added to a first as a sophomore and third as a junior in the shot. She's now a three-time champ in the discus.
The wins at East Kentwood were also personally rewarding to Russell, who didn't place in the shot as a freshman at Falcon Stadium. It's one of the few places where the University of Michigan-bound Russell figures she could have done better.
"I was real bad as a freshman, so I was happy to get back here again," she said. "I had a great time back then. I just didn't do what I wanted."
While Russell was among those dominating the individual meet Saturday, Oak Park was sweeping its way to a team title. The Knights finished with 88 points to easily outdistance runner-up Ann Arbor Pioneer's 42. Detroit Renaissance was third with 35 points, East Kentwood was fourth with 34 and Saginaw Heritage had 30.
Oak Park coach Brandon Jiles, whose team collected its eighth Finals title under his leadership, said he wasn't sure what type of showing a young team would make Saturday. Of the 35 athletes on the roster, just three are seniors.
Still, Jiles thought the team would be in the hunt along with Pioneer, Renaissance and Detroit Cass Tech. At least part of the success was winning the 800 (1:38.10), 400 (47.53) and 1,600 (3:47.99) relays. The other firsts were by senior Morgan Roundtree in the 300 hurdles (41.31), freshman Nevaeh Burns in the 400 (55.02) and senior Kylee King (2:10.53) in the 800.
"We thought we had a shot. We just take it one event at a time and do what we have to do. We only have three seniors, but they're really good kids. We'll have some good girls back next year, and they know they'll have to step up and score," Jiles said.
"I'm a very competitive person when I see other teams that are good. I think the girls are like that too. We're ready when it comes to championship time."
Roundtree said her two chief goals at the meet were accomplished. She wanted to join a long list of successful Oak Park sprinters while also leading a young team to a championship.
"I want to motivate my teammates, and I think I was able to do that," said Roundtree, whose 300 time is ninth best in the country. "We've had some good sprinters here, and I really wanted to become one of them."
Among the other champions was Lena Cleveland of Rochester, who went from finishing fourth in the long jump a year ago to winning (18-2) that event Saturday. Cleveland is a former sprinter who traded the 100 and 200 for the long jump a couple of years ago.
"I wanted to try the long jump, and it's worked out," she said. "I put in a lot of hard work over the summer and in indoor. I also worked hard in strength training in the gym. I didn't used to have access to a (long jump) pit, but I was able to put in the work."
Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer won the 1,600 (4:38.28) and 3,200 (10:15.57) to cap an outstanding four-year career. A two-time cross country Finals champ, Forsyth overcame illness to win the 1,600 a year ago. She was coming off a trip to the Trial of Miles meet in New York a couple of weeks ago, but said the Finals featured virtually no mental letdown.
"Maybe a little, but you can't control it," she said. "You can only control what you're doing that day. And I think I ran well. It was great because my sister was in the same three events I was in in 2017."
The other champions Saturday were Kamryn Tatum of West Bloomfield in the 200 (24.63), Brooke Bowers of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in the pole vault (12-9), Madison Morson of Salem in the high jump (5-10), Maya Rollins of Ann Arbor Pioneer (13.86) in the 100 hurdles, Willow Mason of Saginaw Heritage in the 200 (24.66) and Keyanna O'Tey of Sturgis in the 100 (12.08). West Ottawa won the 3,200 relay (9:00.27), and Fenton sophomore Molly Katic (100), Clarkston freshman Allison Thurman (200) and Sturgis freshman Vivian Massey (shot put) were the adaptive event champions.
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park celebrates its latest LP Division 1 team championship Saturday at East Kentwood. (Middle) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth leads the pack in the 1,600. (Click for more from John Brabbs/RunMichigan.com.)