Pickford Boys Dominance not to be Denied as Panthers Extend Title Streak to 5

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

May 31, 2026

KINGSFORD — The Pickford boys continued their winning ways here Saturday, taking home an Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals championship trophy for the fifth-straight year.

Their current streak started in 2022 when they were still competing in Division 3. Since moving up to D-2, the Panthers have gone 4-for-4.

This time the Panthers scored 139 points, followed by Rudyard with 104 and Bark River-Harris at 77.

Pickford senior John Anderson became a triple-winner, taking the 300-meter hurdles in a personal-best 42.01 seconds, high jump with a leap of 6-6 and long jump at 20-2½. Classmate Gunner Bennin added a first in the 400 in a season-best 52.54 and helped the Panthers take the 400 relay. He also was runner-up in the 100 (11.57) and 200 (23.25).

Rudyard's Steven Kirschner celebrates winning the 1,600 relay. Rudyard senior Steve Kirschner also won three individual events including the 800 in a personal-best 2:04.6, the 1,600 (4:38.99) and 3,200 with a season-best 10:51.37 and helped the Bulldogs capture the 1,600 relay.

In the 3,200, Kirschner was followed by classmate Seth Templeton (11:08.33) and freshman teammate Jack LaLone (11:15.02).

Freshman Jett Sawyer provided the Bulldogs with an additional first with a leap of 11-0 in pole vault.

BR-H junior Gionni McDonough retained his title in the 110 hurdles with a 15.61, followed by Anderson in a personal-best 15.87 and Ironwood senior Talon Hughes (15.92). McDonough then placed second in the 300 hurdles in a season-best 43.81, and long jump with personal-best leap of 20-½. His classmate, Ben Knauf, was runner-up in the 800 (2:09.74) and 1,600 in a personal-best 4:43.

Norway senior Josh Schiltz won discus (127-2) and was part of the winning 800 relay, and Hughes became a double-winner by taking the 100 (11.36) and 200 (23.07).

Munising senior Avery Murk took shot put with a personal-best toss of 42-4 and classmate Dylan Adkins, who will attend classes at Michigan Tech this fall, was runner-up in the 400 (53.52) and third in the 100 (11.8).

“There were some fast people here today,” Adkins said. “I didn’t PR in anything, but I think the breeze had some effect in the backstretch. Overall, the day went okay. My starts were good. I haven’t had too many issues. I think my high school career went pretty good overall.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) In the 400 relay, Pickford's Gunner Bennin wins with Norway (4) and Rudyard (5) taking second and third respectively. Other members of the winning team included Joseph Lane, Josh Lovin, and Ethan Caldwell. (Middle) Rudyard's Steven Kirschner celebrates winning the 1,600 relay. Other members of the winning team were Ty LaLone, Eli Folkersma, and Jett Sawyer. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)

'Field & Track' Earns Falcons' Latest Title

By Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com

June 2, 2018

EAST KENTWOOD – Dave Emeott is making some changes to his East Kentwood boys track & field team this summer.

After the Falcons’ field events put on a dominant display Saturday to lead the team to a second straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, Emeott feels it’s time for a new name.

“Officially now, for at least one year, we’re going to be East Kentwood Field & Track from now on,” Emeott said. “Everything changes, the Twitter page, the Facebook page, T-shirts will be made. The field events guys took a lot of pride, and it was fun because those were the first events of the morning. We came out of the morning with 40 points, or whatever they ended up scoring.”

East Kentwood finished with 61 points, well ahead of second-place Ann Arbor Pioneer, which had 39. Saline and Grand Blanc tied for third with 37 points, while Rockford was fifth with 35.

Logan Brown (shot put), Trevor Stephenson (pole vault) and Job Mayhue (110-meter hurdles) won individual titles for the Falcons, who have won seven of the last 10 team championships in the division. By the time Mayhue won the hurdles, the third running final of the day, his team already had 46 points, which would prove enough to clinch the title.

“When you look at where we won, it wasn’t just that we were overwhelmingly more talented than everybody; where the points were scored was in the technical events – shot put, long jump, pole vault – those three events alone we scored with seven guys in those events,” Emeott said. “Then the hurdles and the relays, that was really our day. It’s cool to do it in a different way.”

Stephenson’s pole vault title came after a head-to-head battle with Saline’s Eric Harris that featured multiple MHSAA Finals records. Stephenson won with a height of 16 feet, 9½ inches, a new all-division meet record. Harris took second at 16-6½, which also broke the previous record.

“I was surprised that I cleared that,” Stephenson said. “I was coming in thinking 16 feet might be the winning height, then Eric Harris from Saline just kept pushing the bar up and I just kept going with him. Eventually it got to 16-9½, and I just didn’t feel like it was there, and I got over and it was an amazing feeling.”

Mayhue won the hurdles with a time of 13.99 seconds, while Brown won the shot put with a throw of 57-1½.

Rockford’s Cole Johnson pulled off an impressive double in the 800 and 1,600, winning both with strong finishes. In the 800, he ran past a tight pack in the final 50 meters to win in 1:53.11, edging out Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Netunji Paige who finished in 1:53.41.

In the 1,600, Johnson took an early lead, then had to surge over the final lap to overtake a strong field and win in 4:08.47, less than two tenths of a second ahead of Pioneer’s Nick Foster who was second in 4:08.64.

“My race plan in the beginning (of the 1,600) was to try and push the pace to try and beat our school record held by Dathan Ritzenhein, a 4:05.9,” Johnson said. “The first lap, I knew I was going to go out fast, and I just tried to keep pushing it the second and third lap, but I fell off a little bit. Then the race plan was just kind of holding form a little bit that last lap to try and get the win. I found a lot of energy from all the people supporting me and all the fans; it is packed here today. Winning the mile in Michigan is very prestigious, so that’s kind of what kept me going as I got passed on that last lap.”

Oak Park’s Donnie James pulled off a double of his own, and was four hundredths of a second away from pulling off a triple. James ran 47.14 to hold off a strong field in the 400 meters, and 21.2 to squeak out a win in the 200. He finished second in the 100 with a time of 10.7, just edged by Eric Labonte of Traverse City West, who won in 10.66 seconds.

In the 400, James won from an outside lane, holding off charges from Saginaw Heritage’s Marcus Montgomery (47.65) and Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Matthew Moorer (47.79), who were chasing him from the inside.

“I had that mentality that I know I had to run at full speed because I had Matthew Moorer and Montgomery (behind me),” James said. “It was a lot of competition during that time, so I had to get my head geeked because I knew I had to run this to get first place for our team. My coach said catch the dude off the turn and to just run it like you did indoors.”

Lansing Waverly’s Keshaun Harris won the 300 hurdles in 37.81 seconds. Pioneer’s Foster won the 3,200 in 9:07.93. Grand Blanc’s Aidan Martini won the discus with a throw of 167-2. Traverse City Central’s Cassidy Henshaw won the high jump with a height of 6-9. West Bloomfield’s AJ Abbott won the long jump with a distance of 23-7¼.

Ann Arbor Pioneer (Foster, Paige, Aldo Pando-Girard and John Florence) won the 3,200 relay in 7:45.64. Detroit Martin Luther King (Jaeveyon Morton, Dylan Brown, Dequan Finn and Jalen McGaughy) won the 800 relay in 1:26.74. Farmington Hills Harrison (Moet Andrews, Alfred Hollie, Joe Stevens and Ben Williams) won the 400 relay out of the second heat with a time of 42.39. Grand Blanc (Austin Rippee, Victor Zarour, Jo Coleman and Jeronn Body) won the 1,600 relay in 3:20.48.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) East Kentwood’s Job Mayhue, middle, hurdles to the lead on the way to winning the 110 race. (Middle) Oak Park’s Donnie James, right, holds off Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Matthew Moorer in the 200. (Click for more from RunMichigan.com.)