Monroe St. Mary's Boys Finish Meteoric Rise with 1st Finals Team Title
By
Todd VanSickle
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
KENT CITY – This was a season of first for the Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central boys track & field program.
And for the first time in school history Saturday, the Falcons won a Finals championship, scoring 39 points to claim the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 title.
Elk Rapids (32) took second and Reed City (31) was third.
“What an amazing day,” said SMCC coach Roman Smith. “This is very exciting. This is the first year our boys have even won a league meet. We went from being winless to state champions. It is pretty special. We have special group of kids.”
Monroe St. Mary’s 400 relay team earned a first place (42.20). The team included Cole Reinhardt, Gavin Swartout, Vince Harris and Brady Reinhardt.
“We had a plan going in to it,” Smith said. “As a coach you look at what your kids can do and seed times, and you hope that they live up to that.”
Monroe St. Mary’s first-year coach felt comfortable with how his relay teams were expected to perform, but knew it would take more to pull off a team championship.
“We knew we had to have some special things happen with our individual medalists, and those things happened,” Smith said. “When you have a kid seeded 23rd and he ends up with a third-place finish in the 100 meters, it really helps when it comes to points.”
Smith was referring to Gavin Swartout, who ran 10.82 seconds in the 100 meters for third place. Wyatt Dehring, of Clinton, won the sprint (10.75).
“I just told my kids to run your marks; go run the times you know you can run and let the chips fall,” Smith said. “It was a battle towards the end. When people were saying we won mathematically, I didn’t believe it. I didn’t want to talk about it.”
Elk Rapids slid into second place late in the meet.
“We are a young group and worked hard to get here,” said Elk Rapids’ coach Cameron Ward. “This means everything. It is still a surprise. It was a great team effort, and hopefully there is more to come.”
The Elks’ were led by freshman Garett Godden, who took second in the 100 meters (10.79) and 200 meters (21.80), the latter after he ran a personal best in the prelims (21.66). All told, he competed in four events.
“With all this running, your legs get so tired,” Godden said, who was making his first Finals appearance. “(This meet) is definitely bigger and a lot more people. It gives me adrenaline.”
The Elks also won the 1,600 relay (3:23.58) with Noah Liggett, Miles Prabhaker, Gavin Hamilton, and Godden. The same team took second in the 800 relay (1:30.07) behind Adrian Madison’s Wade Garza, Bryson Ballantyne, Derrell Tillman and De’Lante Garrison (1:30.01).
Jonesville’s 3,200 relay team (8:01.99) rounded out the relay winners with a team of Nicholas Fowler, Collin Fucile, Ashton Potwin and Caleb Blonde.
In the field events, Montague’s Isaac French won the shot put (54-1), and Bronson’s Brayden Fritz threw the discus 164-2 to claim the title. The top high jumper was Tayeden Redding, of Warren Michigan, with a clearance of 6-6, and Tucker Wiginton, of Springport, pole vaulted a winning height of 15 feet. Reed City senior Jack Deitsch repeated in the long jump (23-5¼).
Charlevoix’s Hunter Eaton ran a personal best to win the 1,600 meters (4:16.08).
“At the 600-meter mark, I was like let’s hammer down and see what happens,” Eaton said. “I was going into today fearing nobody. Try to win. That was the goal.”
It was his third individual Finals title. Last year, he also won the 1,600, and he was the Division 3 cross country champion in the fall.
Eaton also finished fourth in the 3,200 (9:34.53). Logan Youngman, of Hillsdale, won with a personal best performance (9.26.08). Monroe St. Mary’s Christian Craanen took second with a personal best (9:29.35).
Lansing Catholic’s Leland VanAlstine won both the 300 hurdles (14.19) and 110 hurdles (14.42). Detroit Edison senior Dennis Jackson repeated as the 400 champ with a season-best time (48.11) and finished second in the 200 meters (21.80) after finishing fourth last year. Landon Rogers, of Red Arrow (Three Oaks River Valley/New Buffalo), won the 800 meters (1:56.15). Central Montcalm's Zade Kooistra finished first in the adaptive 100 and shot put.
PHOTOS (Top) SMCC's Brady Reinhart, center, runs the final leg for his team's winning 400 relay Saturday. (Middle) Elk Rapids' Garett Godden sets the pace for the winning 1,600 relay. (Click for more from Mary Wilson and John Willoughby/RunMichigan.com.)
Pickford Wins Matchup of Reigning Champions to Run Title Streak to 3
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2024
KINGSFORD — The Pickford boys extended their championship reign here Saturday, retaining top honors at the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Track & Field Finals with 137 points.
They were followed by Munising with 106 and Ishpeming with 79. The team championship was the Panthers’ third straight, as they also won Division 3 in 2022.
Sophomore Gunner Bennin was a double-winner for Pickford, taking the 200-meter dash in 23.85 seconds and 400 at 53.36.
“It feels great to come here and win a couple events as a sophomore,” he said. “We knew Iron Mountain had some good sprinters, and Munising is tough. We needed the points. I started faster than I usually do, especially in the 400.
Senior Hayden Hagen provided the Panthers with a first in the 800 (2:05.03), and sophomore John Anderson won high jump at 5 feet, 8 inches.
Panthers junior Tom Storey was runner-up in pole vault (10-6) and high jump (5-7). Hagen was runner-up to Munising junior Dan Goss in the 1,600 (4:39.84) and 3,200 (10:30.81).
Goss ran a personal-best 4:33.98 in the 1,600 and was clocked at 10:23.9 in the 3,200, and anchored the winning 3,200 relay (8:50.22).
“I like the weather today,” he said. “It was a little humid during the 3,200. Otherwise, it was a good day for running. That was a 10-second PR (personal record) in the 1,600. I’m real happy with that. I’ve been training my tail off the last two weeks.
“The field events hurt us, but overall I’m happy with how our team did. I had a PR in every event including a split of 2 minutes flat in the 3,200 relay.”
Munising – the Division 3 champion in 2023 – also took the 800 relay (1:36.19), and Pickford was runner-up (1:38.18). The Panthers claimed the 1,600 relay (3:43.36) and placed second in the 3,200 (8:52.74).
Munising senior Joe Kelley added firsts in the 110 hurdles (16.46) and the 300s (42.12) and helped the Mustangs take second in the 400 relay (46.19) and 1,600 (3:48.86). Mustangs’ senior Trevor Nolan added a third in the 1,600 (4:43.41), followed by Bark River-Harris freshman Ben Knauf in a personal-best 4:48.04.
Ishpeming got a first on senior Brayden Martin’s throw of 123-9¼ in discus, and Hancock senior Myles Lewis took shot put (42-11½).
The Hematites got seconds from senior Tramon Gauthier in long jump (18-7¾), 110 hurdles (16.47) and 300s (43.62), and freshman Kemper Gearhart was third in the 3,200 (10:41.5).
Ironwood sophomore Talon Hughes placed second in the 100 (11.51) and 200 (23.98) and third in the 110 hurdles (16.55).
Iron Mountain senior Matt Colavecchi had a hand in three firsts, taking the 100 (11.44), long jump (19-8¼) and anchoring the winning 400 relay (45.92).
Rudyard got a first on junior Jaydon Niemi-Alcorn’s leap of 11-6 in pole vault. Taking runner-up for the Bulldogs were senior teammate Kaeden Sistrunk in shot put (40-8) and junior Ethan Hoolsema in discus (120-0).
PHOTOS (Top) Pickford's Jacob Mitchell hands off the baton to Eli MacDonald for the last leg of the 3,200 relay Saturday at Kingsford. (Middle) During a rainy 1,600, Munising's Dan Goss (1) leads the race with Pickford's Hayden Hagen (2) and Munising's Trevor Nolan (3) right behind him. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)