Through the Years: Girls Track & Field 1973-2015

June 30, 2016

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Athletes from all over Michigan converge on either the Grand Rapids area or Kingsford each spring to celebrate the end of girls track & field season at one of seven MHSAA Finals in the sport. 

Ann Arbor Pioneer and Marquette are among the first to come to mind when it comes to champions. But few if any sports award as many individuals from such a variety of hometowns each year. 

Check out below our recent feature on the tournament's history from our spring issue of benchmarks, built and written by Rob Kaminski, and scroll to the bottom of the page for a link to our first installments. We'll look at more MHSAA postseason events every Tuesday and Friday throughout this summer. 



Previous installments 

July 1: Baseball - Read
June 28:
 Softball - 
Read

Sault Ste. Marie Girls End 23-Year Championship Wait with UPD1 Win

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

June 2, 2024

KINGSFORD — The Sault Ste. Marie girls made a statement here Saturday while earning their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals title since 2001.

Sault scored 117 points, followed by Negaunee with 94 and Gladstone at 65.

The Blue Devils placed 1-2 in discus, won by senior Katie Anderson at 115 feet, 3 inches, with junior Annabelle Fazzari uncorking a runner-up toss of 101. Freshman Ahnaka Oshelski added a first in the 300 hurdles in 48.29 seconds, followed by Negaunee freshman Sadie Rogers (48.30) and Marquette freshman Chloe Jackson (49.56).

Oshelski also helped the Blue Devils take the 800 relay (1:49.55).

“Our handoffs were a little rough, but I just ran as fast as I could (in the 800),” freshman Grace Mayer said. “It feels great to come away as U.P. champions.”

Mayer was also part of the winning 1,600 relay, clocked at 4:17.4.

Fazzari provided the Blue Devils with a second place in the 100 hurdles (17.07) and a third in shot put (34-0).

Rogers won the 100 hurdles in 16.65 seconds, and Negaunee classmate Keira Waterman placed first in the 400 (59.23) and 800 (2:28.2).

“I didn’t really know what to expect here today,” Rogers said. “I had a good start and just pushed myself real hard. I could hear the crowd. It was very important for me to win this one. I also thought my chances in the 300 were pretty good. I knew I had to push it.”

Houghton's Tessa Rautiola (2) leads the 1,600 with Marquette's Ella Fure (1) and Monet Argeropoulos (4) following close behind. Fure won the race, with Rautiola taking second. Gladstone set a UPD1 Finals record in the 400 relay at 50.78, shaving basically ⅓ of a second off the previous record (51.11) run by Marquette three years ago.

The Braves were led by junior Jacie Tuljus, who anchored that relay, won the 100 (12.75) and 200 (26.85) and was runner-up to Waterman in the 400 at 1:02.54.

“My starts were slow, but what we did in the 400 relay was good for today” Tuljus said. “Everybody was pretty hyped. We’re happy with it. Overall, I’m happy with the way everything went.”

Marquette sophomore Ella Fure took the 1,600 (5:31.33), followed by Houghton sophomore Tessa Rautiola (12:13.39) and Marquette junior Monet Argeropoulos (5:37.27).

Rautiola then captured the 3,200 (12:13.39), followed by Fure (12:13.46) and Argeropoulos (12:23.91)

“I just wanted to have fun and asked God to pull me through,” Fure said. “I knew if I just trusted God, He would get me through. My mom is pretty sick and couldn’t be here. I just wanted to do this for her.”

Rautiola also helped the Gremlins win the 3,200 relay in a season-best 10:10.38.

“Our school record is 10:08,” she said. “We didn’t get the record this year, although we’re absolutely happy we won. There was miscommunication in the exchange zone which created some confusion. We weren’t in the proper place for one of our handoffs. Otherwise, I think we would have had it.”

Ishpeming Westwood junior Faith Spiroff became a double winner, taking high jump (5-0) and long jump (16-4½).

Other winners were Manistique senior Danielle Lund in shot put (38-7¾) and Calumet senior Caitlyn Strom in pole vault (10-0), where she edged Westwood junior Lexi Olson on a tie-breaker. Houghton freshman Amy Sziber won the adaptive shot put, 100 and 200 events.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Sault Ste. Marie's Ahnaka Oshelski, left, edges Negaunee's Sadie Rogers by one hundredth of a second to capture the 300 hurdles title Saturday. (Middle) Houghton's Tessa Rautiola (2) leads the 1,600 with Marquette's Ella Fure (1) and Monet Argeropoulos (4) following close behind. Fure won the race, with Rautiola taking second. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)