Marquette Girls Prove Peninsula Power

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

June 1, 2013

KINGSFORD — Any questions?

The Marquette Redettes proved they're the Upper Peninsula's best girls track and field team beyond any shadow of a doubt Saturday, claiming their third straight Division 1 title with 145 points.

"We had a (triangular) meet in Escanaba on Tuesday, and it worked out well," said Marquette coach John Peterson. "I think it helped us keep our competitive edge."

Negaunee edged Escanaba 62½-54 for the runner-up trophy.

Freshman distance ace Lindsey Rudden set U.P. meet records in the 800-meter run in 2 minutes. 16.46 seconds, the 1,600 (5:05.5) and 3,200 (11:26.13) and helped the Redettes win the 3,200 relay.

Her effort in the 800 also was a school record.

"Three U.P. records in one day is pretty amazing," Peterson said. "Shayla Huebner running a 59-second quarter is also an excellent performance. We had so many kids do well today. They responded to every challenge in their way. This was just a fun day to see them compete."

Rudden's effort topped a pair of U.P. records from 2001, including a 2:21.3 clocking by Menominee's Mandy Long in the 800 and 11:38.2 by Sault Ste. Marie's Natalie Cahill in the 3,200.

 

 

 

Also falling by the wayside was the previous 1,600 record (5:19.73) by Iron Mountain's Kelly McClure in 2005.

"I felt great today," Rudden said. "Although I was also real nervous after what happened in the U.P. Cross Country Finals last fall. I have great teammates who will lift you when you're down. We all support and push each other. In the 3,200 relay, all the girls gave it their all. We were just nine seconds off the U.P. record."

Rudden, who went undefeated in all three distance events this spring, also was unbeaten going into the Cross Country Finals.

On that day, she was well ahead of the field with a half mile left in the 3.1-mile race at Munising when she became dehydrated, passed out and needed to be helped off the course.

"I'm realizing I need to become more serious about my running," Rudden said. "I need to be more focused. There's more pressure as it gets later in the season, especially when you're undefeated."

Huebner, who won the 400 at 59.29, added a second place in the 800 (2:21.32) and helped the winning 1,600 and 3,200 relays.

In the field events, sophomore Kirsten Iwanski won shot put at 31 feet, 4 inches, and Hunter Viitala took high jump (5-1).

"Marquette is getting some points in the field events," Peterson said. "It's so much fun to see the kids when they start in the spring and see how far they come. You can't beat the U.P. Finals. This is the best athletic event in the U.P., bar none."

Negaunee's leader was senior Ashley Veale, who won the 100 hurdles (16.57) and 300 (47.31).

Calumet sophomore Chelsea Jacques won the 100 (12.62) and 200 (26.62) and helped the winning 400 relay.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette freshman Lindsey Rudden leads the pack during one of her three record-setting races Saturday. (Middle) The Redettes pose with their championship trophy after a third-straight Finals win. (Photos courtesy of Marquette High School.)

Forest Area's Lange Goes Extra Record Mile in Extraordinary Recovery

By Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com

May 19, 2023

When Meagan Lange makes her bid to return to the MHSAA Track & Field Finals on Saturday at her team’s Regional meet, few of her opponents will know her story.

Northern Lower PeninsulaHer teammates likely won’t mention much, if anything, either.

But the Ricketts family no doubt will join hers and several more with ties to the Fife Lake Forest Area community who are aware of the details and cheering her on as she finishes up a successful – if not extraordinary – high school career.

If Lange’s story does not ring familiar, her track success may not seem unusual. But many would say it is unbelievable and offer other superlatives for what she’s accomplished.

Lange, a senior, will compete at Marion — which will host a tough Lower Peninsula Division 4 Regional — in an attempt to get back to the Finals in the 400 and 800 runs and 800 relay. She did all of the above her sophomore and junior years after missing out on her freshman season in 2020, which was canceled due to the pandemic.

Just weeks after finishing her great sophomore year, a car crash June 18, 2021, nearly ended her career and life.

“If anybody knew what she went through, they would be amazed at what she can do,” said Ron Stremlow, Forest Area’s coach. “It is amazing she can compete.

“Lucky to be alive, and she has come back to do what she has done.”

The accident occurred just a mile from her home. 

Lange rounds a curve during a relay race. “The superintendent at my school, Josh Rothwell, was called by the police that day to tell him to get grief counselors set up at the school and ready because ‘this girl’ was probably going to die,” Lange recalls being told. “The wrecker driver estimated I flipped about three to five times.

“I went out the passenger side windshield because I didn't have my seatbelt on,” she went on. “They say that my not having my seatbelt on may have actually saved my life.”

Lange, perhaps the most decorated track athlete in Forest Area’s history, knew all along she’d be back competing. Her comeback started with intense physical therapy even as her teammates may not have been aware of her recovery efforts during the school’s summer break.

“I've actually never really had my teammates ask me about (the accident and recovery),” Lange said. “I don't know if it's because they don't know how serious it actually was or if they are just glad I'm still here.

“It was kind of hard for me because people thought I was fine when summer was over, and I started going back to school because on the outside I looked fine other than a scar just above my right eyebrow that had 26 stitches in it at one point,” she continued. “But on the inside was the real damage, but no one could see that so no one really knew my condition except the people who were there with me.”

Lange credits the support of her father Jon, mother Kallie, and sister Lauren for getting through the summer of 2021 and returning to cross country, basketball and track her junior year. She also singles out her strong religious beliefs.

Meagan now holds Forest Area records in the 400, 800 and 1,600 runs, as part of the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays, and also for the 5K cross country race. Yet, she does not consider herself a long-distance runner. And, until just recently, she didn’t really understand why others might think her story was special.

But just a few weeks ago, in breaking that 1,600 record, she accomplished something especially memorable.

Weather conditions have severely hampered Lange and the Warriors’ opportunities to compete outdoors this spring; Lange and her teammates have only five meets under their belts. But the weather did permit them to make the short trip April 14 to Buckley, where she broke that school record in the 1,600 that previously belonged to 1987 graduate Dawn Ricketts.

Lange has rarely run the 1,600; in fact, she’s run it only once this spring – that day. Meanwhile, the Ricketts family is quite familiar with Lange’s story – and Dawn Ricketts was at the meet in Buckley with her brother Jim Ricketts. Dawn Ricketts reportedly raised her hands in jubilation after the official time was announced. 

Lange, far right, stands with Dawn Ricketts and coach Ron Stremlow.Lange’s father, who first coached the record-setter in second grade and “never stopped,” according to Meagan, oversaw her training for the 1,600 as she sought to add a record in that race to her growing list of accomplishments.

“A month before track practice started my dad started training me,” she said. “I put more work in before the season than I ever have.”

Lange credits her father for pushing her in the right direction and giving her tools along the way.

She just as quickly notes her mom played a crucial role in her recovery, from staying at her side in the hospital to driving to doctor and therapy appointments. “And, anything else I needed,” Lange said.  

Older sister Lauren was also a key member of the recovery team.

“She would come to the hospital with worksheets she had made, usually fill-in-the-blank type things, and make me do them.,” Lange said of her sister. “We would always make fun of my handwriting after because I could barely write, and it was almost illegible.

“The year prior to my accident she got diagnosed with cancer, and I felt she could relate to my situation more,” Meagan continued. “I would tell her things that I didn't tell anyone else because I thought she was the only one who would understand.”

Stremlow, who has coached track at Forest since 1984 with just a few seasons off, was Ricketts’ coach when she set the 1,600 record. Ricketts’ time was 5:58.5. Lange beat the time by 21 hundredths of a second, running a 5:58.29.

Stremlow is proud of both record setters and is amazed his current top miler is potentially headed back to the Finals again. If she qualifies Saturday, as Stremlow anticipates, Lange would advance to the LPD4 Finals on June 3 at Hudsonville.

“Jessica is pretty determined,” Stremlow said. “After the accident, she said she would make it back to the Finals, and she did!”

Tom SpencerTom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Forest Area’s Meagan Lange shows some of the many medals she’s received for her running achievements. (Middle) Lange rounds a curve during a relay race. (Below) Lange, far right, stands with Dawn Ricketts and coach Ron Stremlow. (Photos by Lauren Lange/Perfectly Imperfect.)