![Ontonagon track](/sites/default/files/2022-04/220428_UPtrack_2H.jpg)
Keweenaw Classic Provides Indoor Competition as UP Spring Begins
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 28, 2022
HOUGHTON — The weather may still be in no particular hurry to warm up, but many Upper Peninsula track & field teams found a way to beat the elements earlier this month.
Michigan Technological University, as it had for many years, was ready to lend a helping hand and hosted its annual Keweenaw Classic indoor meet April 12.
Northern Michigan University also has hosted high school meets inside the Superior Dome for more than 25 years. Those meets, however, have been interrupted by COVID-19.
This year’s event at Tech included a pre-meet clinic for the first time.
“The Tech athletes were very helpful,” said Houghton boys coach Erik Johnson. “With no meets in the Dome, this kind of fills a void. It was absolutely critical to get this in. With 44 guys on the team, any open meet you can get is good. This gives us a chance to compete with schools we often don’t see.”
Baraga coach Tammy Crittenden was also thankful for the opportunity.
“The clinic was very helpful,” she said. “Hopefully, our kids got something out of it. We also brought our middle school kids to the clinic. They do a nice job putting on this meet and helping all the student-athletes.”
L’Anse coach John Jacobson had similar thoughts.
“The clinic was very valuable, and I think we learned a few things,” he said. “We’re very thankful to have this opportunity. A lot of work goes into this.”
Team scores weren’t kept, and shot put was the lone field event.
“We appreciate the opportunity to do shot put,” said Negaunee girls coach Vickie Paupore. “That’s one area I think we’re going to be real strong. It was nice for our younger kids to have this experience. I’m very grateful for our kids to have a chance to compete this early in the season. We still have snow on our track.”
Bark River-Harris sophomore Mackenzie Hoffmeyer, who won the 60 and 200-meter dashes, was grateful to have a chance to compete.
“I was real nervous at first,” she said. “After the 60 I felt little more relaxed. I was in the fifth lane in the 200. I knew I had to go out fast.”
Ontonagon junior Makennah Uotila was also anxious to get the season underway.
“Getting a meet in right now was huge,” she said. “Pretty soon we’ll be doing two meets a week. This was good for conditioning.”
Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie hosted two indoor meets this year with the more recent one taking place April 21.
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 Ontonagon’s Makennah Uotila, here starting the 400 at last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals, was among athletes who competed at the Keweenaw Classic. (Photo by Kara Camps.)
![Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep track](/sites/default/files/2022-06/220604_LPD4b_2H.jpg)
Speedy Mann Helps Make Hackett Catholic Prep Champ to Chase Again
By
Drew Ellis
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2022
HUDSONVILLE – After two years away, Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep is back on top of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 boys track & field world.
Using a balanced effort Saturday, the Irish held off 2021 champ Carson City-Crystal to take home the Finals hardware with 64 points. The Eagles finished with 56, while Wyoming Potter’s House Christian placed third with 45.
“Everybody came to work. We knew if we stood a chance, everyone had to get every point possible, and our guys did that,” Hackett coach Carl Scholten said of his team, which added its first title since repeating in 2018 and 2019. “This is a competitive group that has been driven to succeed all year, and this is a great culmination of all their work.”
Highlighting the day for the Irish was a 1-2-3 finish in the 200-meter dash. Junior Liam Mann took home the victory with a time of 22.82, while teammates Andrew Finley and Isaac Backman finished right behind him.
Mann was overcome with energy after the finish, so much so that he tripped and tumbled to the ground. However, the pain of the fall couldn’t overcome his joy of winning.
“I just gave it my all and as I was coming through, I started to celebrate a little bit and my legs just gave out,” Mann said of the tumble. “The race felt great. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but it felt great to win and see my teammates right there with me.”
Mann was also with Finley and Backman, and also Evan Wurtz, as the winning 800-meter relay team. The Irish finished with a time of 1:31.55. Backman came through with a championship of his own in the 400, winning with a time of 50.85.
Along with the three event wins, Hackett had a combined six runner-up or third-place finishes on the day.
Carson City-Crystal came up just shy of repeating as champion, but the Eagles still had three championship performances of their own.
Michigan-bound Zane Forist finished his throwing career on a high note, resetting his LP Division 4 Finals records in both the discus (200-4) and the shot put (67-5). His shot put toss was ¾ of an inch from matching the all-Finals record.
“I really didn’t know about (the record) until today, so it wasn’t something I was really shooting for,” Forist said. “I just wanted to PR (personal record), and I did that in both of my events, so I am really happy with my performance.”
Cavanaugh Barker took home the 300 hurdles title for Carson City-Crystal with a PR time of 40.02. He also finished second in the 110 hurdles.
Potter’s House was led by distance runner Lezawe Osterink, who won championships in both the 1,600 (4:24.29) and the 3,200 (9:38.23).
“The mile was more challenging. I have to do a lot of work in the mile,” Osterink said. “I was confident going into the two-mile. I knew I just had to run my race. In the mile, I knew I couldn’t make a mistake, because there were some really fast guys in that race that could leg me out.”
Flint Beecher junior Jaylin Townsend repeated as champion in the 100 dash with a time of 10.78. Townsend managed to win despite his left hand being in a cast after breaking a finger a little over a week ago.
“I feel pretty good about how things went. I’ve had to change my block start because of the broken finger,” Townsend said of his injury, which also is on his baton-carrying hand but didn’t prevent him from anchoring two scoring relays on the day. “It affected me more mentally than it did physically. I just had to focus on getting out quick and working on my technique.”
Reading junior Tyler Bays came out a winner in the 800 run with a time of 2:00.02, while Colon’s Alexander Stoll won the 110 hurdles with a PR time of 14.92.
Buckley won the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:30.71, while Clarkston Everest Collegiate won the 400-meter relay in a time of 44.17.
Coleman’s Isiah Biers won the championship in the pole vault with a PR vault of 13-4. Peck’s Alex Affer won the long jump with a PR leap of 22-3.25, while Marion’s Braden Prielipp won the high jump with a PR jump of 6-9.
PHOTOS (Top) Hackett's Andrew Finley, middle, wins his 100 dash prelim Saturday. (Middle) Flint Beecher's Jaylin Townsend, also middle, wins his 100 prelim as well on the way to repeating as race champion. (Click for more from Dave McCauley/Run Michigan.)