Negaunee Out-Throws, Out-Races Expectations to Reign in UPD1
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 5, 2022
KINGSFORD — The Negaunee girls were ranked third coming into the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals here Saturday.
Apparently, the Miners didn’t pay much attention to that as they captured their first title in four years with 119½ points. They were followed by two-time reigning champion Marquette with 98 and Sault Ste. Marie at 86.
“They outperformed their ranking,” said Negaunee coach Vickie Paupore. “Every single girl stepped up. I’m so proud of their grit and determination. Endla (Harris) was ranked eighth and placed second in the 1,600 (5:43.82) and Madison Pekrul winning the 100 hurdles (17.35) and taking second in the 300s (50.32) is an example of a freshman stepping up. We have good senior leaders, and they got the job done today. I appreciate the effort of all the assistant coaches. They make my job so much easier.”
In the weight events, Negaunee grabbed the top three places in shot put and senior Alyssa Hill, who plans to continue her track & field career at Bemidji (Minn.) State University, won discus at 120 feet.
“I had hoped to throw a little farther in disc,” said Hill, who set the school record at 123-4 in the Regional at Negaunee on May 19. “There was a little bit of wind, and I probably started thinking about it a little too much. I thought I had pretty good technique.
“A lot of girls on our team had PRs (personal records) today. Our 3,200 relay had its best time by about 30 seconds, and Natalie Bell had a PR in shot. We were ranked 1-2-7-8 in shot and got 1-2-3-5. We moved up a little.”
Junior Eliana Juchemich took shot put with a personal-best throw of 36-3¼. Hill was runner-up (32-5½) and Bell took third (31-6½).
“This is awesome,” she said. “I think my speed was pretty good in the circle, but I had to fix my angle before my release. You want to go with a 45-degree angle. You want to get good enough elevation and yet not too much. If you throw too high, you might not get the distance you want. That was an awesome thing today because everybody wants to win. Our team is real good. We push each other in practice, and it showed today.”
Aubrey Johnson provided Negaunee with an additional first in the 800-meter run (2:30.44).
Marquette showed its speed with Beax Truckey and Julia Ott placing 1-2 in the 100 and 200.
Truckey took the 100 (12.98) and 200 (26.51) and Ott was clocked at 13.01 and 26.59, respectively. The Redettes also captured the 400 (51.99) and 800 relays (1:48.37).
Sault Ste. Marie’s Claire Erickson won the 300 hurdles (49.55) and Cassandra Gallagher took the 3,200 (12:36.83).
Houghton senior and Michigan Tech recruit Ingrid Seagren, who led the entire 3,200 until the final home stretch, was runner-up (12:37).
“This is a real heartbreaker,” said Seagren, who helped the Gremlins win the 3,200 relay (10:19.08). “I’m disappointed in my finish.
“(But) we ran a decent time in our relay. I’m proud of our team.”
Escanaba senior Ciara Ostrenga won the 400 in a personal-best 1:00.22 and helped the winning 1,600 relay (4:16.27).
“After we got fourth in the 3,200 relay, I just wanted to work hard and try to leave here with an individual medal,” she said. “I think our relay did pretty good. All the girls worked and tried hard.”
Houghton's Maria Velat competed in the first-time adaptive events in the 100 (26.56), 200 (51.15), 400 (1:35.96) and shot put (10-0).
PHOTOS (Top) Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson charges toward the finish on the way to winning the 800 on Saturday. (Middle) Marquette’s Julia Ott (5) and Baux Truckey (4) have a close finish in the 200, with Truckey edging her teammate by eight hundredths of a second. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/Run Michigan.)
Heartbreak Pushes St. Francis to Finish Strong
June 1, 2013
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
HUDSONVILLE – After finishing as runner-up last year, the Traverse City St. Francis girls track and field team did not need any emotional motivation Saturday at the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Baldwin Street Middle School in Hudsonville.
St. Francis got it, anyway. But it came in a painful way.
Senior Kaitlyn Hegewald tore her Achilles tendon in her left foot as she began the third leg of the 800 relay and could not return to action. With Hegewald sidelined, the Gladiators posted three victories and captured their first MHSAA championship in track and field.
“I got the hand-off and took a few steps, and I just couldn’t step on my foot anymore,” Hegewald said while sitting in a golf cart with her left foot wrapped in tape.
St. Francis coach Julie Duffing was watching from across the field and did not realize what had happened.
“I actually thought she got spiked, and then she kept trying to go,” Duffing said. “Coach finally yelled at her to stop, and that’s when she went down. We were expected to win that race, and we were ahead.”
It could have had devastating consequences, but the Gladiators regrouped.
Freshman Holly Bullough came through with victories in the 800 (2:16.53) and the 1,600 (5:07.37), while senior Lauren Buckel defended her Finals championship in the 400 in 59.54 seconds and was runner-up in the 200, which she won last year as well.
“We had one of our top runners tear her Achilles in the 800,” Buckel said. “I think it broke everyone’s heart.
“She’s a senior. It really kind of dampened the mood because we were hoping to come away with a state title in the beginning, then it kind of gave us a ‘let’s do this for Kaitlyn’ mentality.”
Buckel and Hegewald had a special bond that went beyond teammates.
“Lauren and Kaitlyn have done handoffs together since the seventh grade,” Duffing said.
Buckel’s title in the 400 was especially gratifying as that event has caused her both grief and happiness during her career. In fact, she calls the 400 “my beast.”
“That race has kind of been my beast, kind of something that I’ve struggled with,” she said. “It’s been a challenge for me. I’ve ran it now for nine years, ever since the fourth grade.
“It’s always been such a hard race.”
Duffing has seen first-hand how Buckel has struggled with the event.
“Last year she didn’t want to run it, so we did the whole ‘you’re not running it, and you don’t have to run it,’ thing until she asked me to run it,” Duffing said. “And when she asked, it was hers.
“She’s a beast, and the beast conquered the beast.”
Meanwhile, Bullough broke through in her first MHSAA Final in amazing fashion. She won the 800 by more than 5 seconds and took the 1,600 by more than 10 seconds. She also was runner-up in the 3,200 and anchored the 3,200 relay team that finished second.
“In the mile I was seeded first, and I won that, so it was very exciting,” Bullough said. “It wasn’t as close as I thought it would be, but they still pushed me as hard as I could go. In the 800, I was seeded second by like milliseconds, and that one was very hard – harder than I expected. But in the end I had extra power to pull through, and that’s what I did.”
And Bullough spoke of how the injury to Hegewald affected her during the meet.
“That was heartbreaking,” she said. “She’s a senior and everything, and that just made us so sad. But it also made us want to win more for her.”
Runner-up Reading, which finished second to Traverse City St. Francis by 14 points, won three events, including the 400 and 1,600 relays. Junior Michelle Davis won the 300 hurdles in 44.92 seconds, breaking the LP Division 4 record of 44.98 set in 2010 by Megan Heffner of Kinde-North Huron. Davis also ran on both winning relays, as did sophomore Jennifer Davis and freshman Sam Pfeiffer.
The other double winner was Miranda Johnson of Ottawa Lake Whiteford, which placed sixth. Johnson, a junior, repeated as champion in the long jump and also won the 200. Johnson broke the LP Division 4 meet record with a leap of 18 feet , 2 ½ inches, topping the previous record of 17-11¾ set by Amanda Weber of Portland St. Patrick in 2004.
Other repeat champions were senior Elizabeth Herriman of Sand Creek in the shot put, junior Addie Schumacher of Beal City in the high jump, senior Chantel Davenport of Athens in the 100 hurdles and junior Kirsten Olling of Breckenridge in the 3,200.
The other champions were junior Jade Madison of New Buffalo in the discus, junior Amanda MacDonald of Coleman in the pole vault and junior Ashley White of Detroit Edison Academy in the 100.
Royal Oak Shrine won the 800 relay, and Hillsdale Academy took the 3,200 relay.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sprinters approach the finish line during a 100-meter dash preliminary Saturday. (Middle) Ottawa Lake Whiteford's Miranda Johnson (middle) finished first in the long jump and 200 and second in the 100. (Photo by Carter Sherline. Click to see more photo coverage from RunMichigan.com.)