Marquette 4-Peat Full of Milestones
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2014
KINGSFORD — Marquette sophomore Lindsey Rudden on Saturday became the first female athlete to break the five-minute barrier in the Upper Peninsula Track and Field Finals, earning her second straight Division 1 title in 4 minutes, 55.28 seconds.
“At the beginning of the season, this was my goal,” she said. “I had a cheering section here and wanted to do something extraordinary. I can’t thank my parents, teammates and coaches enough. I just feel blessed to have this opportunity and be able to do it.”
She was followed by freshman teammate Amber Huebner at 5:15.25 and Menominee senior Kameron Burmeister (5:17.66) on a sunny and hot day at Flivver Field.
The Marquette girls were crowned champions for the fourth straight year with 145 points. They were followed by Escanaba with 86 and Negaunee with 71.
“The girls took care of business,” said Marquette coach John Peterson. “As coaches we were a little concerned because of the heat. But the girls were very disciplined and stayed under the bleachers until it was nearly time to do their events. Lindsey told me she wanted to break five minutes. We knew it was coming. We just didn’t know it would happen this soon. I told her to take it easy at first and if it felt right, go for it. It was a hot day, but a good day for our team.”
Rudden scratched from the 400 to allow for more recovery time, then retained her 800 title (2:23.54) and helped the winning 1,600 relay.
Huebner captured the 400 (1:00.44) and 3,200 (11:48.8), using a strong final lap to overtake Burmeister (11:54.32), and placed second in the 800 (2:24.12).
“It’s always hard to lead because you can hear the person behind you breathing,” said Huebner. “Plus, Kameron was hurting a little (with a sore hip). I feel bad for her. I just wanted to do my best in the 400. Hopefully, next year I can break a minute. Being my first time here, I was a little nervous. But the upperclassmen helped me through it. The whole team did a real good job. We all did what we had to do. We couldn’t have done it without Coach P.”
Marquette junior Hunter Viitala won the 300 hurdles in a school-record 46.27 seconds and helped the 1,600 relay. She also helped the Redettes place second in the 800 relay and took third in high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches.
“It was cool to see Hunter set the school record in the 300 hurdles,” said Peterson. “We certainly appreciate the efforts of our assistant coach Natalie Messano. She does a nice job with our sprinters and hurdlers.
“I think the U.P. Track FInals are the greatest athletic event in the Upper Peninsula. Getting the opportunity to see so many athletes compete on the same day is phenomenal.”
Escanaba senior Lynsey Collins anchored the winning sprint relays and was runner-up in the 300 hurdles (47.74) and fifth in the 100 (13.59).
Negaunee opened the day by winning the 3,200 relay, and junior Hailee Richards won discus (111-1).
Calumet junior Chelsea Jacques captured the 100 (12.73) and 200 (26.5) and anchored the second-place 400 relay, which finished just two steps behind Escanaba.
PHOTO: Marquette's Lindsey Rudden leads the field during one of her championship runs Saturday at Kingsford.. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)
Spartans' Sprinter Driven to Finish Fast
May 1, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sarita Dotson is one of those athletes who always is focused full-speed ahead -- and on those rare days when she's not, she puts on that her usual determined face as much for herself as to be an example for her younger teammates.
But there's an impressive depth to how the Battle Creek Lakeview junior explains what has driven her to become one of the state's fastest high school sprinters this spring.
She likes to keep her past races in the past. But for the occasional practice when Dotson needs an extra boost, she will recall last season, when she qualified 14th in failing to make the MHSAA Division 1 Final in the 100 meters and also fell just three spots short of making the semifinals in the 200.
Or she can draw on something closest to her heart, like her relationship with her grandfather, Grover Dotson.
"He really sets the bar high for me, in a lot of things in my life," Sarita said. "He moved here from Tennessee with 30 dollars in his pocket. That makes me think."
Dotson also has set a high bar for herself -- and is taking some speedy steps toward achieving lofty goals in the next month.
Dotson received one of Second Half's High 5s this week after earning the Most Valuable Female Athlete award for the second-straight season at Friday's Eldon Draime/Al Geisler Memorial All-City Meet at Battle Creek Harper Creek. She won the 100 (12.5 seconds), 200 (25.5) and long jump (16 feet, 3.5 inches) and ran on the winning 800 relay as her team also won the meet championship by more than 100 points. She also won those three individual events and was part of a first-place 800 relay the weekend before as Lakeview won its own Bill Dolezal Invitational.
Her times already are surpassing those she ran at last season's MHSAA Finals, when she posted a 12.51 in the 100 and a 25.99 in the 200 prelims. and Dotson hasn't even warmed up in the 100 yet -- she ran an 11.99 to win her Regional earlier in 2011.
Those times have brought her personal high bar into focus. Dotson has her sights set on the Lakeview records set by three-time MHSAA champion Erica Mann, who owns the school's fastest 100 in 11.81 seconds and the fastest 200 in 24.2 and went on to run at Michigan State University.
Ironically, it was Mann who first let Lakeview coach Becky Pryor in on the next talent headed her way after seeing Dotson run at one a club meet.
“(Mann) said, ‘Hey Coach, this girl is going to be pretty good.’ I asked what grade she was going to be in and she said ‘fifth,’” Pryor remembered. “I said, ‘Fifth? Really?’
"Even at that point, you could tell she was an athlete.”
Dotson humbly admitted she's always been fast: "In elementary school, I would race against all the boys, and I would always win," she said. But the winning carried over to her first competitive races in third grade.
She still looks up to Mann, who Dotson calls a "beautiful athlete inside and out." But although their physical traits differ -- Pryor said Mann was taller with long legs, while Dotson has more of a typical sprinter build fueled by strength and power -- the coach sees the same drive in Dotson as what pushed her champion predecessor.
"She's very fast, and she works very hard," Pryor said. "She doesn't slack off in practice, and she's a good leader on our team.
"She wants to be competing against the best."
PHOTO: Lakeview's Sarita Dotson (in purple) just missed qualifying for the championship heat at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.