Norris Center Offers Track Athletes 'Perfect' Early-Season Indoor Opportunity
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 13, 2022
SAULT STE. MARIE — Weather conditions in early April can sometimes be frightful in the Upper Peninsula.
On a day with snow showers falling outside, eight schools took advantage of an opportunity to compete in Friday’s indoor track & field meet at Lake Superior State University’s Norris Center.
“The first meet of the season is very important to me,” said Alpena senior Madi Szymanski, who plans to run cross country and track at Northern Michigan University. “This gives me a starting base and a better idea of where I’m at. I prefer to run outdoors, but I’m very grateful to be indoors today. Conditions are always perfect inside.”
Szymanski was a triple-winner in the LSSU Large School Yooper Invitational, taking the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 28.26 seconds, the 1,600 (5:27.83) and helping the Wildcats take the 1,600 relay (4:44.39).
“I’ve been doing indoor meets during the winter,” she said. “I go to Saginaw Valley a lot and have been to Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, but this is my favorite 200-meter track. I always look forward to coming here. It’s real exciting and my adrenalin is very high. It’s always great to do well in the first races.”
This marked the first of just three indoor meets in the U.P. this season. Many U.P. schools were scheduled to compete in the Michigan Tech Keweenaw Classic on Tuesday in Houghton with another indoor event taking place April 21 at LSSU.
Both Alpena teams were crowned champions, and the two Manistique teams placed fourth.
Manistique junior Grant Mason won the boys 400 in a personal-best 56.88 seconds, and the girls opened with a victory in the 3,200 relay (11:34.36).
“I expected it to be a little harder on a 200 track, but ended up with my best time,” said Mason. “I had a pretty good start. It’s real important to get this meet in. It’s a lot warmer in here. Early-season meets aren’t very easy to find up here. We had some good competition up here today. The downstate schools are ahead of us because they get an opportunity to see some real good competition.”
The Emeralds finished three seconds ahead of the field in the girls 3,200 relay.
“We’re pretty happy with our time,” said sophomore Emma Jones, who led off that relay. “We still have snow on our track. We’ve been working on our handoffs inside which is not the same, especially on a 200-meter track. It feels like you’re going faster. It’s pretty important for us to get this meet in because we haven’t been outside. This is the first time many of us have been in our events this year. It was good to see different competition today. This is definitely pushing us to our new potential.”
Junior Kelsey Muth, who took the baton from Jones, had similar thoughts.
“It was an awesome feeling to win it,” she said. “We went into it not knowing what to expect. That was a real good starting point for us. Emma and I had a real good handoff, but overall we were a little shaky. Our athletic director (Nate Zaremba) has been scheduling meets (we) need to reach the next level. We’re excited about going downstate for the first time. We’re hoping for nice weather down there.”
Jones placed second in the 400 (1:10.14) and Muth was fourth (1:11.64) for the Emeralds, who resume in Friday’s Ram Scram at Harbor Springs.
“I think today was a good first showing,” said Emeralds’ coach Amy Nixon. “In the first meet of the year, you never know what to expect and we had some girls step up. Some of the new girls stepped into events which others couldn’t. We’re proud of them for being willing to do that. Now we know what the girls are capable of doing. It’s fun to compete again.”
The Manistique boys secured fourth place by taking third in the 1,600 relay (4:03.25).
“Overall, the meet went well,” said Emeralds boys coach Cody Kangas. “Some guys did some real good things, and Grant did a great job in the 400.”
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 Athletes took advantage of the opportunity to compete indoors at Friday’s Yooper Invitational at Lake Superior State University. (Photo by Robert Roos/Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.)
Hovey Leads Hart to Historic 3-Peat, Onsted's Ross Joins Prestigious 4-Win Group
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
KENT CITY – Addison Hovey was a dual threat Saturday for the Hart girls track & field team.
The junior standout used blazing speed, combined with remarkable leaping ability, to help spark the Pirates to a third-straight title at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals, held at Kent City High School.
Hovey captured wins in the 100 and 200, while also winning the high jump for a second straight year.
“Winning high jump was my main priority, and then top eight in the 100 and 200,” Hovey said. “But I’m honestly so surprised because I knew there were really good girls in those two events.
“I’m just really proud of how much work I’ve put in this season, and it showed today and paid off.”
Hart became the first Division 3 girls team to win three consecutive championships. The Pirates finished with 53 points, while Onsted (40) was runner-up and Olivet (38) took third.
“It means the world to me and my team,” Hovey said. “No team in Division 3 had won three years in a row, so that’s huge. We lost one of our really good athletes, and she was a big part for us, so we knew there was going to be some pressure coming into this. I’m really proud of my teammates. The girls stepped up and helped me.”
Last season’s 3,200 winner, Jessica Jazwinski, was unable to compete for most of this season.
“I really didn't expect this part way through the season,” Hart coach Calvin Ackley said. “Especially because a couple distance runners, one went out, and one was coming back from injury. Traditionally, we’ve been distance, distance at Hart. I never thought I’d see the day we would be dominating in sprints. That’s been exciting, and my coaches are fantastic.”
Hovey out-jumped Kalamazoo Christian’s Ellie VanDusen by eclipsing 5-foot-6 to tie the LPD3 Finals record. Hovey also recorded a personal-best time of 12.27 in the 100 and ended her day with an impressive 25.60 in the 200.
“I was so tired, but I just gave it my all,” Hovey said. “It was the last event of my last meet. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow.”
Ackley said Hovey’s improvement over the past few years has been remarkable.
“Absolutely amazing day,” he said. “She’s come a long way from a freshman kind of unsure of herself to an absolute beast.
“She’s an amazing athlete and has a great attitude. She doesn't worry about the little things that don't matter. She just focuses on what she needs to do, and she carried the team today. She just keeps progressing, and she’s a great basketball player, but a fantastic track athlete.”
Junior Emmry Ross also shined, winning all four of her events to single-handedly place Onsted second as a team. She racked up repeat victories in the 400 and 800, while also claiming titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 – becoming just the seventh girl all-time (and third in the Lower Peninsula) to win four events at an MHSAA Finals.
“Honestly, I went into today pretty nervous,” Ross said. “I was more nervous last night than I was today because today I just went in with the mindset of, ‘Do my best. You got here. You deserve this.’ I worked really hard this season, and I just went in and had confidence. It turned out to be a really good day, and it was fun because I got to run in the rain.”
Ross said running four events wasn’t grueling because of her preparation.
“I train for it,” she said. “I ran those four (events) at Regionals and two other meets before that, so I was used to it. It wasn’t a challenge because I’ve done it before.”
While those two combined to win the majority of Saturday’s individual running events, Kalamazoo Christian freshman Elli VanDusen (110 hurdles) and Olivet sophomore Emily Peters (300 hurdles) claimed titles as well. Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central (400), Olivet (800) and Jackson Lumen Christi (1,600 and 3,200) won the relays. Montrose freshman Addyson Stiverson (shot put) and Grayling senior Rylan Finstrom (discus) were first in the throws, Wyoming Potter’s House Christian junior Sohanny Gonzalez-Castillo won the long jump and Homer junior Emma Wildt won the pole vault.
PHOTOS (Top) Hart celebrates its third-straight Division 3 championship Saturday at Kent City. (Middle) Onsted’s Emmry Ross crosses the finish line for one of her four individual victories. (Click for more from Jamie McNinch/RunMichigan.com.)