Junior Leads Marquette Back to Top of UPD1
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2015
KINGSFORD — Many coaches believe you win with seniors. But junior Lance Rambo has stepped up to the plate for the Marquette boys track team all season.
Rambo won two individual events Saturday while helping the Redmen earn their first Upper Peninsula Division 1 title in three years with 131 points at the MHSAA Finals.
Defending champ Kingsford settled for runner-up honors this time at 98. Third-place Houghton had 72.
Rambo set a U.P. record in the 3,200-meter run in nine minutes, 50.03 seconds, topping the previous record (9:53.14) set by Mickey Sanders of Marquette four years ago. He also took the 1,600 (4:28.84).
In the 3,200, which combined the Division 1 and 2 runners, Rambo was followed by Ironwood senior Jared Joki (the D-2 champ) in 9:58.02.
“I was extremely surprised by my time,” said Rambo. “Jared kept me on my toes the whole race. He’s an excellent runner, and we helped push each other for a long time. That felt great. I wanted to win it for our team.”
Marquette senior Andrew Banitt added firsts in the 400 (51.59) and 800 (2:00.82) and Payton Muljo won shot put at 43 feet, 6½ inches, edging Sault Ste. Marie’s Tim Eiola on his final throw.
“Payton did a great job,” said Rambo. “When we heard that he won, we were even more pumped up for this meet. I’m just happy with how we ran as a team.”
Marquette also won all four relays.
“This was a great effort by our guys, and Muljo got us started today,” said Marquette coach Kyle Detmer. “This is a deep team with great senior leadership. Lance and Andrew did a great job for us and (seniors) Matt Millano and Kyle Dickison were excellent leaders.
“The kids in the U.P. across the board are the greatest on the planet. This is a top-notch meet. This was just another fantastic job by the people here in Kingsford.”
Kingsford’s Trevor Roberts was a double-winner, edging Negaunee’s Connor Hetrick on a lean for the 100 title (11.39) and taking long jump (20-10½). Brandon Kowalkowski provided Kingsford with a first in high jump (6-0), with Marquette’s Jedidiah Weber second (5-11).
Dan Harrington and Mike Jamar placed second and third for Kingsford in long jump at 19-9 and 19-8, respectively.
Hetrick bounced back to win the 200 (23.24) and Negaunee’s Jason Bell repeated by winning the 110 hurdles (15.77) and 300 (41.31) for the second straight season.
Houghton gained firsts from Jack Budd in pole vault (11-0) and Brad Ohtonen in discus (129-6). Ohtonen added a third place in shot put (42-2½).
PHOTO: Marquette's Brett Place pushes past the finish line first, just in front of Kingsford's anchor, to give the Redmen a victory in the 400 relay. (Photo courtesy of Cara Kamps.)
Lake Linden-Hubbell Boys End Title Wait with 1st Finals Championship
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2026
KINGSFORD — They say there’s a first time for everything.
The Lake Linden-Hubbell boys proved that beyond any shadow of a doubt here Saturday, earning their first Upper Peninsula Division 3 track & field championship with 64 points.
Rapid River was runner-up with 55 and St. Ignace placed third at 46.
“We’ve been waiting for this for four months,” LL-H coach Brett Gervais said. “Back in March we started asking a lot of the boys. I couldn’t be happier for the kids. I’m super happy for the boys. Having coach (Gary Guisfredi) here really helps. He has coached the girls team for many years. I’ve watched the way they did things and learned a lot from that.”
The Lakes won just two individual events, but had enough depth to carry them through.
Junior Lukas Axford won the 400-meter dash in a personal-best 53.48 seconds and sophomore Tobin Baril took pole vault at 11 feet on this sunny and warm day at Flivver Field.
“I was almost in disbelief with all the work the boys had done,” Gervais said. “The weather sometimes made it tough to prepare. There’s roughly 30 teams in our division. They’re working just as hard as we are. There’s a high level of competition in our region, which helps us so much. Dollar Bay and Baraga pushed us all year. It’s such a great feeling to be part of this.”
Baraga senior Matt Rinkinen won the 100-meter dash in 11.66 seconds, just 0.2 of a second ahead of LL-H junior Josh Daavettila.
Superior Central junior Will Spranger took the 200 (23.31), followed by Rinkinen (23.71) and Dollar Bay junior Baron Colbert (23.96).
“I thought my start was a little weak, but I was able to accelerate,” Spranger said. “I need to work on my blocks in the offseason. Our 4x2 (800 relay) went well. Our handoffs were good.”
Cedarville/DeTour junior Ethan Snyder set the meet record in the 1,600 (4:25.8), shaving 0.11 of a second off the previous best by Dollar Bay’s Nik Thomas from four years ago, then added firsts in the 800 (2:02.18) and 3,200 (10:24.21).
St. Ignace senior Kollin Bird captured both throws with a personal-best heave of 45-6 in shot and a toss of 138-11 in disc. L’Anse junior Taven Lewis placed second in shot (41-9) and disc (137-9).
In the hurdles, it was Brimley junior Brady Leblanc winning the 110 event (16.43) and 300 (41.66), both with personal-best times. Connor Kemppainen, also a junior from L’Anse, was runner-up in both races at 16.54 and a person-best 42.68, respectively.
Also winning individual events were Rock Mid Peninsula sophomore Lewis Holmes with a personal-best leap of 6-3 in high jump and Bessemer junior Henry Jenkins taking long jump (19-2), also with a personal best.
PHOTOS (Top) Lake Linden-Hubbell's Lukas Axford, center, crosses the finish line first in the 400 meters Saturday. (Middle) Brimley's Brady Leblanc, second from left, and L'Anse's Connor Kemppainen, just to his right, jump over the last hurdle in the 100 hurdles. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)