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Saints Win Close to Finish Drive for 5

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

June 1, 2014

KINGSFORD — Returning to Division 2 didn’t hinder the St. Ignace girls Saturday as they were crowned Upper Peninsula track and field champions for the fifth straight year.

The Saints, who won in D-3 a year ago, edged defending champion West Iron County 116-107 for the D-2 title this time. Third-place Newberry scored 75 points.

St. Ignace senior Rachel Hetherington was a triple-winner, taking the 100-meter dash in 13.08 seconds, 200 (26.86), anchoring the winning 800 relay and placing second in the 400 (1:02.15).

“It took me a long time to get in shape for the 400,” said Hetherington. “I tend to struggle with the strategy for that race, but it definitely helps me for the sprints. West Iron County is definitely major competition. The relay victory was exciting. It was huge for us to beat them in that relay because it meant more points for our team.

“I definitely came out strong out of the blocks and kept focused. I was really excited when I looked at the seedings and saw I had a chance.”

The Saints scored 36 points in the weight events. Senior Kelley Wright won discus at 107 feet, 2 inches and placed second in shot put (34-11¼). Junior Sarah Smith took shot (35-0¼) and fourth in discus (90-9).

Junior Autumn Orm added a first in long jump (15-3 1/2) for the Saints, who outscored West Iron 47½-20 in the field events.

“On paper, it didn’t look like we were supposed to win,” said St. Ignace coach Trudy Olsen. “We told the girls not to worry about places, but go for time, height and distance. Rachel came up big for us and our field events were huge. We didn’t have a lot of girls, but they worked hard.”

West Iron’s Emmy Kinner won the 400 (1:00.98), helped the winning 1,600 relay and took second in the 200 (27.42). Cassilyn Pellizzer also ran in that relay and won the 300 hurdles (48.19) and placed second in high jump (4-10).

Newberry sophomore Natalie Beaulieu captured the 3,200 (12:21.37) and helped the winning 3,200 relay and placed second in the 800 (2:31.55) and 1,600 (5:28.71).

Manistique sophomore Holly Blowers won the tightly-contested 800 (2:31.29), with Newberry sophomore Bridget Stoetzer third (2:31.62) and Westwood sophomore Katie Etelamaki fourth (2:35.56). Stoetzer also ran in the 3,200 relay.

Blowers also took the 1,600 in a school-record 5:26.3 and placed third in the 400 in a personal-best 1:02.4.

“I’ve been chasing the 1,600 record for three years,” said Blowers, who will be moving to Marquette with her family this summer. “Natalie, Bridget and Katie really pushed me in the 800. This is my last day as an Emerald. I’m going to miss running with them a lot. They’re great runners and quality people. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without the support of my family. I’m just happy to make my parents, brother and sister proud.”

The Emeralds scored 19½ of their 63 points in pole vault, with senior Elisa MacGregor leading the way in second at 8 feet. 

Click for full results.

PHOTO: St. Ignace's Rachel Hetherington (center) crosses the finish line first in the 100 meters at the U.P. Division 2 Final on Saturday at Kingsford. (Click to see more from RunMichigan.com.)

High 5s: 6/5/12

June 5, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to athletes and a team based on their accomplishments the previous week or throughout the season.

A four-time track champion and a longtime state tennis power once again at the top make up this week's list of high achievers.

Sami Michell
Reed City senior
Girls Track and Field

Michell became the first Lower Peninsula four-time champion at an MHSAA Girls Track and Field Final since 1979 when she won the long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles and 200 on Saturday at the Division 3 meet at Comstock Park. Her time of 42.4 in the 300 hurdles broke the all-Finals record that had stood since 1984, and she also set Division 3 Final records in the long jump (18-6.5) and 100 hurdles (13.84) – breaking the record she previously held in the latter. Total, Michell has won eight MHSAA championships during her three-year high school career. She’s also a setter on the volleyball team and the top-ranked student in her class with a 4.0 grade-point average. Her mother Vikki is the coach of Reed City’s girls track and field team, and her father Brent coaches the boys team.

Fantastic 4: “I wanted to win four; I thought about it, but it was kinda crazy when I actually did it. Really, after I crossed the finish line in the 200, I was pretty happy then. Definitely 200 (was the hardest). It was the last one, and I wasn’t seeded first in that one.”

I learned the most about running from: “Both my parents. They both help me in different ways. It’s pretty cool, but it’s hard sometimes. Sometimes listening to them is harder because I think they don’t know what they’re talking about when they do. But just because they’re my parents it’s harder to listen.”

Up next: All I really know is I’m running track someplace. I have no idea where I want to go. A couple of schools down south really seem interested (including Clemson, plus Michigan State closer to home). Stanford seems interested.”

Fun with numbers: “I’m thinking (I’ll study) accounting. I’m kind of a perfectionist. I like the math part of it.”

Air Michell: Despite standing only 5-foot-8, Michell has a vertical jump of nearly 30 inches and just misses being able to touch the basketball rim. “But I can touch the part connected to the backboard. That would be pretty sweet.”

Click to read more.

Birmingham Seaholm tennis

Birmingham Seaholm won only one individual flight, but also had three runners-up in edging Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 27-25 at the top of the Division 2 Final standings Saturday. The Maples won their first MHSAA team championship since 2004, and ended FHN's six-season streak of shared or outright titles. Seaholm had finished runner-up to the Huskies in 2011.

Jackie Meier and Rachel Wilson won what ended up being the deciding match by downing the pair from Forest Hills Northern in the final at No. 3 doubles. Seaholm also gained valuable points by placing seven flights in at least the semifinals.

This spring's previous honorees