Calumet Invite Produces Northern Stars
September 18, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The Calumet Invitational dates back roughly 30 years as an annual staple of the cross country schedule for schools at the northernmost tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
A creative move by the Copper Kings last year added some statewide prestige to the event.
Last week, for the second season, Calumet ran the series of races at Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, a resort near Copper Harbor and the northern bank of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Calumet is the northernmost high school in Michigan. And moving this race another 35 miles northeast more or less guaranteed it's the northernmost event run in the state.
"We figured it was pretty safe. We're the northernmost school in the state, and you can only go four more miles and you're in Lake Superior," Calumet athletic director Sean Jacques said. "Nobody else is going to do anything more north than that."
A total of 10 schools were represented this fall in the races for boys and girls varsity, junior varsity and middle schoolers.
Jacques said the event formerly was run at a golf course in Calumet. But a few years ago, Calumet graduate and former Copper Kings cross country runner Dan Harri moved home from Florida to become general manager at the Mountain Lodge (he's also a renowned chef and has owned restaurants in Miami with Hall of Fame Dolphins coach Don Shula).
Harri had asked a few times about bringing a cross country or golf event to the lodge. Jacques told him last year they'd give it a try, so Harri set up a course that includes golf course, a couple of bridges, trails and finishes with a climb on the No. 1 fairway. It also provides various points for fans to watch runners go by, not always available on other courses.
"We were looking for a little bit of a change, and it's a beautiful course," Jacques said. "We thought if people were willing to make the extra drive, it would be really nice."
Calumet won the boys race this season, just ahead of runner-up Houghton. Houghton's girls were victorious, followed by the host Copper Kings.
Click to read more about this year's event from the Houghton Mining Gazette.
Michigan's claim to an NFL evolution
As part of its NFL preview this month, Sports Illustrated reported on one of the most significant developments for offenses over the last few decades – the silent snap count, which is used regularly by visiting teams because offensive linemen can’t hear the quarterback calling for the ball over the clamor of the home crowd.
And the article explained that the silent snap count might’ve gotten its start at one of Michigan’s smallest high schools – Flint’s Michigan School for the Deaf.
Offensive linemen during the 1980s were feasted on by pass rushers like Lawrence Taylor and Bruce Smith, who built record sack totals by blasting past blockers who seemed a step slow. Turns out, that was true. Defensive players were getting an edge by attacking as soon as they saw the ball move. But blockers (especially offensive tackles), focused instead on the defensive ends and linebackers lined up across from them, and didn’t have the luxury of watching the ball – and since they also couldn’t hear the snap count, started each play a step behind.
Enter the silent count. The quarterback signals to the center that he is ready to receive the ball (with a pat on the back, by raising a foot, etc.). The center then raises his head, and after a predetermined count of at least one second snaps the ball without a sound. This means an offensive tackle doesn’t have to listen for a snap count – he just counts after seeing the center get set.
The SI report recognized longtime offensive line coach Howard Mudd as the guru of the silent snap count. But Mudd recalled a conversation he’d had while working for the Seattle Seahawks with another coach, the late Andy MacDonald, who also had coached early in his career at a school for the deaf in Michigan.
The article doesn’t mention Michigan School for the Deaf by name. But it seems to make sense that the Tartars were the first to use the now-revolutionary count. MacDonald – who played at Central Michigan University and went on to coach at Michigan State and four other colleges and also for the Buffalo Bills – grew up in Flint and attended Flint Northern before playing for the Chippewas from 1950-53. The historical web site Michigan-football.com has results for Flint’s Michigan School for the Deaf dating to 1950, making it a decent assumption that MacDonald might’ve gotten in a little early coaching experience at the school down the road from his home.
Click for the SI story and go to page 4 for the mention of Michigan’s school.
Michigan mourns trooper, running standout
The law enforcement community is mourning the death of Michigan State Police trooper Paul Butterfield, who was shot Sept. 9 during a traffic stop in Mason County. He also was a well-known distance runner during the 1980s and the MHSAA Class A cross country champion running for Bridgeport in 1987.
According to a Ludington Daily News report, Butterfield continued running after high school at the University of Tennessee, and also competed at the 1989 Pan American Junior Games in Argentina.
Butterfield was stationed in Hart after previously serving in Manistee, and lived in Mason County. He also had served in the U.S. Army. Click to read more from the Ludington Daily News.
PHOTO: Calumet's Chelsea Jacques (right) won this season's Calumet Invitational with a time of 21:08.06, just ahead of Ironwood's Jessica Gering at 21:46.16. (Photo courtesy of Calumet athletic department.)
Preview: Historic Collection of Contenders Setting Bar High for UP Girls Finals
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 31, 2024
Lineups filled with past champions and emerging stars in all three divisions could make Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Girls Track & Field Finals an event we recall for years to come.
Headlining the day, Lake Linden-Hubbell junior Emily Jokela will attempt to win four individual events for the second straight season and bring her career Finals title total to 11, while fans will watch one last time as nine-time individual event winners Danica Shamion from West Iron County and Lola Korpi from Ishpeming complete their careers.
All three divisions will again be contested at Kingsford High School, with preliminaries leading off the day at 9 a.m. local (Central) time. Tickets cost $11 and are available digitally only via GoFan.
MHSAA.tv will live-stream the meets beginning at 9 a.m. (CDT)/10 a.m. (EDT), viewable with subscription. Check out the Girls Track & Field page for meet information and lists of all qualifiers. Those described as "seeded" below have received those seeds based on Regional performances.
Following is a glance at team contenders and individuals to watch in all three divisions:
Division 1
Team forecast: After Marquette dominated most of the last decade, the Sentinels and Negaunee have taken turns winning Division 1 and finishing runner-up most of the last six seasons. Marquette was first last year by 34 points ahead of the Miners. But Gladstone and Sault Ste. Marie have several high seeds heading into Saturday – and a team title won by either would be the first not claimed by Marquette or Negaunee since Escanaba shared the 2007 championship.
Ella Fure, Marquette sophomore: She made her Finals debut last season by winning the 3,200 and finishing third in the 800, and she’ll run those two races and also is seeded first in the 1,600 (5:37.84).
Danielle Lund, Manistique senior: She’s seeded first in both discus (101-11) and shot put (35-8) and will run on two relays after winning shot put and finishing third in discus, and running on the winning 400 relay and runner-up 1,600 relay in Division 2 a year ago. She also won Division 2 shot put as a sophomore.
Lexi Olson, Ishpeming Westwood junior: The reigning champion in the pole vault will again compete in that event and the high jump, and also run on the 800 relay.
Madison Pekrul, Negaunee junior: After winning the 100 hurdles and finishing second in the 300 as a freshman, she flipped those results with a 300 title and 100 hurdles runner-up finish last spring. She’s seeded second in the 300 (49.43), third in the 100 hurdles (17:37) and will run on the 1,600 relay.
Tessa Rautiola, Houghton sophomore: Her Finals debut in 2023 included championships in the 1,600 and 3,200 relay and a third place in the 3,200 run, and she’s slated to run all three events again with the top seed in the 3,200 (12:28.02) and second in the 1,600 (5:38.85).
Faith Spiroff, Ishpeming Westwood junior: She’s won the high jump the last two seasons and also won long jump and finished fifth in the 100 as a sophomore. She’s top-seeded in the long jump (17-1¾) and high jump (5-4) and will also run the 100 and 800 relay.
Jacie Tuljus, Gladstone junior: She’s seeded first in the 100 (12.73), 200 (27.06) and 400 (1:02.33) and as part of the 400 relay (51.50) after finishing third in the 100 and 200 as a sophomore.
Division 2
Team forecast: Bark River-Harris has won the last two championships, last year 13 points ahead of runner-up Ishpeming. The Broncos will again turn to a pair of standouts this weekend among several others. But the Hematites again feature a big points scorer in the distance races in Lola Korpi, and West Iron County boasts the same potential in the sprints with Danica Shamion – which could make for another tight race at the top.
Mya Hemmer, Ishpeming sophomore: Her Finals debut last season included a championship in the long jump and runner-up finish in the shot put, and she’ll compete in those two plus long jump and also run on the 800 relay.
Mckenzie Hoffmeyer, Bark River-Harris senior: After winning long jump as a freshman and sophomore, she finished second to Hemmer in that event last spring but was also third in the 100, second in the 200 and added a second relay championship to her career total. She’s seeded first this weekend in the 100 (13.19), 200 (26.83) and long jump (13.19) and will run on the top-seeded 800 relay (1:52.43).
Lola Korpi, Ishpeming senior: Regardless of what happens Saturday, she’ll graduate as one of the most accomplished distance runners in U.P. Finals history after already winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 her first three years and running on winning relays two of those seasons. She enters this time as the second seed in the 800 (2:33.18), top seed in the 1,600 (5:40.23) and 3,200 (12:28.98) and running on the top-seeded 3,200 relay (11:24.83).
Danica Shamion, West Iron County senior: Shamion is to sprints what Korpi is to distance, having won the 100, 200 and 400 all of her first three seasons and setting the UPD2 Finals records in the 200 and 400. She enters Saturday seeded fourth in the 100, fifth in the 200, but first in the 400 (59.95) and also fifth in the high jump after finishing runner-up in that field event a year ago.
Lauren Zawada, Bark River-Harris senior: Another major scorer for the reigning team champ, Zawada has been on winning relays the last two years – including two in 2023 when she also was second in the 300 hurdles and fifth in the high jump. She’s top-seeded in the high jump (4-10), 100 hurdles (17.61), 300 hurdles (50.76) and will run on the top-seeded 1,600 relay (4:25.07).
Division 3
Team forecast: Lake Linden-Hubbell and Stephenson shared the championship last season, breaking Ontonagon’s two-year hold on the title. Four-event winner Emily Jokela is back for Lake Linden-Hubbell after scoring 40 of her team’s 72 points a year ago, but the standings also could see some shifting with St. Ignace moving in from Division 2 and Newberry showing several high-seeded qualifiers across the meet.
Kaylen Clark, Newberry senior: After running to the 1,600 and 3,200 championships last season, and as part of second and fourth-place relays, she’s top-seeded in the 3,200 (12:53.95) and as part of the 3,200 relay (10:23.81), third-seeded in the 800 and fourth-seeded in the 1,600.
Abi Codere, Lake Linden-Hubbell senior: She won the 100 hurdles for the third time last season, and also was part of the winning 400 relay and runner-up in pole vault. She’ll run on 400 and 800 relays Saturday and is top-seeded in the pole vault (9-8).
Emily Jokela, Lake Linden-Hubbell junior: After winning the 100, 200, 400 and 300 hurdles last season – and the 200, 400 and 300 hurdles as a freshman in 2022 – Jokela is top-seeded in the 100 (13.35), 400 (1:00.75) and 300 hurdles (48.81) and third-seeded in the 200 (27.29).
Nora Keranen, Dollar Bay junior: Last year’s long jump champion will compete in that event plus high jump, pole vault and as part of the 400 relay.
Mariska Laurila, Carney-Nadeau junior: She won discus, was second in shot put and seventh in long jump as a sophomore, and returns as the top seed in the shot put (33-7) and competing in the shot put, long jump and this time as part of the 400 relay as well.
Avery Visnaw, St. Ignace sophomore: She made her Finals debut last season with the pole vault championship, a runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles, fifth place in the 300 and as part of the runner-up 400 relay in Division 2. This weekend she’s third-seeded in pole vault, fourth-seeded in 300 hurdles and fifth-seeded in 100 hurdles, and running on the top-seeded 400 relay (54.56).
PHOTO Ishpeming Westwood's Faith Spiroff competes on the way to winning the high jump at the Mid-Peninsula Conference championship meet May 22. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)