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.)
Fowler Boys Clinch 1st Team Title since 1988, Buford Leaps Into Record Book
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2024
HUDSONVILLE — In 2023, Anthony Buford of Detroit Frederick Douglass would have won the long jump at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Track & Field Finals if not for a historic effort.
Buford nearly was first, but had to settle for second after Peck’s Alex Affer jumped a meet-record distance of 23-feet, 1.5-inches.
Affer graduated last year, but he still was providing Buford plenty of motivation when he started the long jump event at this year’s event.
“My main motivator all year has been my main guy Alex Affer, the former record holder at 23-1,” Buford said. “He was really anticipating me breaking his record this year.”
Buford made good on Affer’s proclamation by setting a new Division 4 Finals record, jumping a recorded distance of 23 feet, 2 inches, into a headwind to best what Affer achieved a year ago.
“I was really surprised I broke it with that headwind I was jumping into,” Buford said. “But honestly, I just had to make it happen.”
Oh, but Buford wasn’t done during his busy and successful day.
Buford then won the 400 dash, finishing first in a time of 49.91 in a headwind and with rain coming down.
“I’ve been fighting to beat 49 (seconds) all season,” said Buford, who decided to focus on the 400 meters and long jump this year after primarily competing in the 100 and 200-meter dashes last year. “Just to come out here and beat my time while it was raining and a headwind coming into my face, that really shows how much more mentally tough I’ve gotten over time.”
Buford was also second to teammate Adrian Smith in the 200 and ran in the 1,600 relay to help Douglass finish second on the day.
Buford’s performance wasn’t quite enough to lift his team past Fowler, which captured the team title with 56.5 points, four more than Douglass. It was Fowler’s first Finals team championship since 1988.
Brady Feldpausch led Fowler’s point scoring by finishing first in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.57, running as part of the winning team in the 800 relay, taking second in the 300 hurdles and then being a part of the winning 1,600 relay that clinched the title.
“It feels amazing,” Feldpausch said. “I don’t know what to say. We just all have the same mindset. We come to practice and work hard. We knew if we all ran like we knew how to, we’d have a shot.”
Fowler entered the last event, the 1,600 relay, knowing that in order to clinch the team win it had to win the race and have Douglass finish fifth or lower.
A strong event all year for the Eagles, they delivered again, winning in a time of 3:26.43. Pair that with a ninth-place finish by Douglass, and Fowler had what it needed.
Fowler head coach Brett Schafer credited unsung heroes with stepping up for his team and fulfilling a goal talked about all year.
“We scored in field events where we didn’t expect to,” he said. “Our first meeting with them at the start of the year, our whole goal was to hang a banner in the gym. We did that today.”
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep took third with 44 points after winning the last two LPD4 team titles.
PHOTOS (Top) Fowler’s Brady Feldpausch, left, edges Reading’s Tayshawn Bester to win the 110 hurdles Saturday at Baldwin Middle School. (Middle) Detroit Douglass’ Anthony Buford finishes his win in the 400. (Click for more from Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)