Saints Surge to 3rd Straight Finals Win
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2019
KINGSFORD – The St. Ignace girls achieved a three-peat in convincing fashion here Saturday, taking their third consecutive Upper Peninsula Division 2 track title with 130 points.
They were followed by Ishpeming with 61 and Bark River-Harris at 54.
St. Ignace grabbed seven firsts, including a trio by Libby Becker.
The senior distance ace captured the 800-meter run in two minutes, 23.1 seconds; 1,600 (5:20.63) and 3,200 (12:13.88).
"It was really hot," said Becker, who plans to run track and cross country at Michigan State in 2019-20. "The heat kind of got to me. My main goal was just to win the 3,200. I was pretty happy with my 800 and 1,600. Madeleine (Peramaki) really helped me with those."
Peramaki, a senior from Munising and Cedarville (Ohio) University recruit, was runner-up in the 800 (2:27.32) and 1,600 (5:40.86).
St. Ignace freshman Ally Schultz captured the 200 (27.05) and 400 (1:02.24) and placed second in the 100 (13;18).
"I usually run a negative (200) split in the 400, but today I got a positive split," said Schultz. "Often you're feeling good, then you get to the last 100 and your legs start to tighten up. You just have to push through it."
Junior Heather Lamb, who was battling hip problems, provided the Saints with a first in long jump at 15 feet, 10½ inches, and freshman Brooke Brandstrom won high jump (5-1).
"Libby is amazing in all her events," said Saints' coach Trudy Olsen. "Ally also had an amazing day. Heather did well for having hip problems, and Sarah Lamb had a real good day."
Although this wasn't Heather's longest jump, she was happy with the victory.
"My PR (personal record) is 16-5¾," she said. "My sister helped me count my steps. I tried to get as far as I could on my first jump and make adjustments when needed. I hope to break the school record (17-7½), but I have a ways to go. I have to practice in the offseason."
Gwinn senior Emily Curtice took the 100 (12.95) and anchored the Modeltowners to a U.P. Finals record in the 400 relay at 52.34, shaving two hundredths of a second off the previous best by Manistique run in 2010.
Junior teammate Marissa Delmont added a first in shot put (37-0).
Sophomore Rebekah Loman provided Ishpeming with its lone first, in discus (104-7).
BR-H senior Hailee Demers won the 300 hurdles (47.66) and anchored the winning 800 relay (1:54.82).
"We practiced a lot on handoffs," she said. "This was a perfect time to have good handoffs. This was one of our better times."
Manistique senior Ashley McDonald retained her pole vault title (7-6) and helped the Emeralds establish a school record in the 1,600 relay (4:25.67) and take the 3,200 relay (10:52.86).
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace’s Libby Becker checks the clock as she approaches the finish line in the 800 on Saturday. (Middle) The Saints’ Ally Schultz, far left, wins the 200. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Reigning Champions Rule UPD2 Again with Repeat and 3-Peat Performances
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KINGSFORD – Ishpeming’s Lola Korpi hadn’t lost in the 800, 1,600 or 3,200 at the last two Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals. The same was true for West Iron County’s Danica Shamion in the 100, 200 and 400.
With that kind of track record, the expectations were through the roof Saturday.
“There’s so much pressure,” the Ishpeming junior said. “People do expect a champion out of me; it gets really hard mentally, there's a lot of pressure on me all the time. But I love to do this. I just love running so much. So I just go out there and do what I can, just do the best I can do.”
Her best continues to be really good.
Korpi won all three of the distance events again, plus she was a member of the first-place 3,200 relay team, which gave her 11 career championships. Shamion, meanwhile, won all of the dashes again as well.
“It’s been a good day, just really hot out,” Shamion said.
Korpi defeated some talented young runners. Pickford freshman Talya Schreiber took second in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Manistique sophomore Leah Goudreau was runner-up in the 800.
“I was challenged on all of them,” Korpi said. “It’s my 200 kick at the end that gets it. Now that I’m a junior I have a lot of experience against all the fast freshmen this year. So I just let them take the lead for a little bit while I coast behind them and then kick it in at the end. Or depending on how I feel, maybe I’ll just go out there right away.”
Her 3,200 relay team, also including Tiana Bosworth, Brittanie Piotrowski and Kadie Kaukola, was down by 200 meters with Hancock in front of them.
“I got the baton and I was just feeling great. I went out and beat her,” Korpi said. “That started the whole team out with a good chunk of points.”
Shamion now has nine individual titles.
She said the 400 dash was her best event of the day. She broke her own Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals record with a time of 57.18 seconds; she had set the record at 58.77 last year.
“I PR’d by a second, which I really wanted to, so I’m glad,” Shamion said.
Her goal was to finish that race in 56 seconds.
“I was so close,” she said. “But I’m happy I took my own record that I had.”
Shamion also set a UPD2 Finals record in the 200 with a time of 26.34 seconds. Norway’s Dani Gagne had the previous record (26.42).
Shamion almost won four events. Teammate Calli Pellizzer won the high jump in a tiebreaker as both cleared 4 feet, 10 inches.
“Someone from my team won, good for my team,” Shamion said.
The Wykons finished in fourth place with 73 points.
Bark River-Harris repeated as team champ after winning for the first time in school history last year. The Broncos had 100 points, 13 better than runner-up Ishpeming and 24 ahead of third-place Manistique.
Gwinn’s Lena Pleaugh placed first in both of the hurdles events; she was the 100 champion for the second year in a row.
Pickford’s Kadence Potoczak won discus in Division 2 after earning the UPD3 title last year, Manistique’s Danielle Lund won the shot put, Ishpeming’s Mya Hemmer the long jump and St. Ignace’s Avery Visnaw the pole vault.
The Emeralds won the 400 relay (Emma Jones, Lund, Kelsey Muth and Leah Goudreau), and BR-H won the 800 relay (Mckenzie Hoffmeyer, Lauren Zawada, Julia Olson and Marissa Ives) and 1,600 (Juliian Koch, Julia Nault, Zawada and Olson).
PHOTOS (Top) Bark River-Harris's Lauren Zawada hands off to the fourth leg of their 1,600 relay, Julia Olson, on Saturday. (Middle) West Iron County's Danica Shamion starts her winning 400. (Below) Manistique's Leah Goudreau, left, and Ishpeming's Lola Korpi run the first lap of the 800. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)