Team of the Month: Berrien Springs Boys Track & Field
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 29, 2022
With two elite standouts comparable to the best pairs on any team statewide, and a deep group of sprinters capable of scoring major points, Berrien Springs track & field coach Johnathan Rodriguez had a feeling this could be a special spring for his boys team.
He scheduled tougher for that possibility, and planned everything pointing toward the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final on June 4.
But Rodriguez didn’t breathe easily until that morning at Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
“I think the whole month, I think I was on pins and needles thinking of everything that could go wrong or wondering if we were ill-prepared or if we didn’t run them enough,” Rodriguez said. “And then we got to the meet that day, and they were just fresh and jumping around and happy, and we’re loose. They did very well.”
Berrien Springs – the MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” for June – capped its season that day with its first MHSAA Finals boys track & field championship.
The title also was the first for the school in any sport since 2006, when the Shamrocks’ baseball team won the Division 3 title.
“We weren’t big on trying to win every meet. We were just thinking, all right, let’s try to be healthy for that state meet. So we were kind of smart in how we handled things and just scheduled things out so we can peek at the right moment,” Rodriquez said. “And I think it’s kind of a gamble that made us all uneasy, but they were just on fire that day.”
The boys track & field team had finished LP Division 3 runner-up in 2018, its highest Finals finish since coming in second in 1953. But with enrollment lines driving downward the last many years, Berrien Springs found itself it a much different spot beginning in 2021. The Shamrocks went from one of the largest schools in Division 3 to one of the smallest – the 11th-smallest of 155 teams this season – in Division 2.
Still, Berrien Springs received a strong indication it could compete with anybody this season when it ran at an invitational April 29 in Warsaw, Ind., against a number of larger Indiana schools include state power Carmel. Senior Jamal Hailey won the 100 and 200 meters, the 400 relay finished second, and senior James York was third in high jump as the Shamrocks hung with competition similar to the best they’d see in Michigan this spring.
Berrien Springs also possessed the right strengths to succeed in a championship format. The Shamrocks won their Regional by 37.5 points May 20 in part because the sprint group took nine top-eight places in the 100, 200 and 400 and won the 400 and 800 relays. The same formula worked as they won the Berrien-Cass-St. Joseph Conference championship meet the next week.
At the Finals at Forest Hills Eastern, Hailey won the 100 (10.77) and 200 (22.11) and York won the long jump (22-10). The 400 relay of senior Junyoung Chung, York, sophomore Jake Machiniak and Bailey won the 400 relay (42-44), and senior CJ Porter, Young, freshman Zander White and York placed eighth in the 800 relay (1:31.11). Freshman Noah Jarvis just missed scoring with a ninth place in the 400 (50.99).
With points spread out across several contenders, Berrien Springs’ 41 won the meet by eight.
Hailey finished the season undefeated in the 200 and with only one non-win in the 100, a runner-up finish at an early-season invitational. The 400 relay also was undefeated except for that second place in Indiana. York was undefeated in long jump except for finishing second in the Regional and league before coming back to win at the Finals. The 400 relay won every time he was a part.
Berrien Springs has had some recent success in other sports, particularly with Hailey leading a football team that went 10-1 last fall. This spring’s championship could be a catalyst for more Finals-level success in the near future across other sports.
“I hope so. I think that every kid that we had qualify (for the Finals) was a multi-sport athlete kid, and I think our 4x1(00) team, everybody on there was a three-sport athlete guy,” Rodriguez said. “Our athletic department works well, like our football guys lift with football two days a week and then come after track practice, so we have that nice working partnership with all the athletes.
“Now that we’ve shown that we can get there, I think it’s (shown) the kids at our school that hey, we can beat the bigger schools. We can hang. Track did it. Maybe we can do it next.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2021-22
May: Houghton boys golf - Read
April: Plainwell girls soccer - Read
March: West Bloomfield girls basketball - Read
February: Cadillac girls skiing - Read
January: Hartland hockey - Read
December: Midland Dow girls basketball - Read
November: Reese girls volleyball - Read
October: Birmingham Groves boys tennis - Read
Preview: Past Multi-Race Champs Highlight Impressive Field Returning to Kingsford
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
May 30, 2025
Plenty of candidates appear prepared to step into the spotlight at this weekend’s Upper Peninsula Boys Track & Field Finals.
Several returning champions return across the three divisions to be hosted Saturday at Kingsford High School, including distance standouts Luke Hill of Houghton, Dan Goss of Munising and Kalvin Kytta of Chassell after all three won multiple Finals titles a year ago. Pickford’s Gunner Bennin also is back after winning multiple races in 2024, and Menominee’s Darrent Butler joins Kytta as past champs looking to win for the third-straight year.
Preliminaries will begin 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 Boys Track & Field page for meet information and lists of all qualifiers. Those described as "seeded" below have received those seeds based on Regional performances or early qualification during the regular season.
Following is a glance at team contenders and individuals to watch in all three divisions:
Division 1
Team forecast: Marquette has won the last four Division 1 championships and all but one since 2015. Kingsford has finished runner-up the last three seasons, but Houghton and Negaunee might have the most opportunities to make a push this weekend although the Sentinels’ immense talent and depth again will make them difficult to catch.
Lucas Ballard, Marquette sophomore: He’s expected to take a much larger scoring role after finishing fourth in the 400 and running on a winning relay as a freshman. He’s seeded first in the 800 (1:59.87) and 1,600 (4:36.82) and slated to run on the top-seeded 1,600 relay (3:30.41).
Darrent Butler, Menominee junior: The two-time reigning high jump champion won by four inches last season and is seeded first at that same height (6-2) while also seeded sixth in long jump and set to run on the third-seeded 1,600 relay.
Mathew Frantti, Calumet senior: He’s looking at a potential big finish to his high school career as the top seed in both the shot put (46-3½) and discus (143-9) after finishing third in the shot last season.
Luke Hill, Houghton senior: He won the 800, 1,600, finished third in the 3,200 and ran on the champion 3,200 relay last season. He returns seeded second in the 1,600 (4:38.08) and fifth in the 800 and 3,200, and running on the top-seeded 3,200 relay (8:46.55).
Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie junior: One of the most highly-regarded distance runners statewide, Litzner won the 3,200 and finished second in the 1,600 last season. He’s seeded second in the 3,200 (9:34.88) and third in the 1,600 (4:40.44) this weekend.
Jacob MacPhee, Marquette junior: He’s back after winning the 400, finishing second in the 200 and running on two championship relays in 2024. He’s seeded first in the 200 (22.53), 400 (51.17) and will run on the top-seeded 800 (1:33.23) and 1,600 relays.
Kyler Sager, Marquette senior: He’s the reigning long jump champ and ran on a winning relay as well last spring. He’s seeded first in long jump (19-11¾), third in the 100 dash (11.32) and will run on the second-seeded 400 relay (45.14).
Division 2
Team forecast: Pickford has won the last two Division 2 titles, with Munising last season’s runner-up and those two also finishing first and second, respectively, at their Regional earlier this month. West Iron County won the other Division 2 Regional and could make a nice jump from ninth at last year’s Final.
John Anderson, Pickford junior: Last season’s high jump champion is seeded first (6-0) with a jump four inches higher than his winner a year ago. Anderson also finished fourth in the 110 hurdles, seventh in the 300 and ran on a runner-up relay in 2024, and he returns top-seeded in the 110 (16.86) and third-seeded in the 300 (46.63).
Gunner Bennin, Pickford junior: He’s looking to add to his 200 and 400 titles and fourth place in long jump from last season, seeded second in the 100 (12.01) and first in the 200 (24.37) and 400 (54.71) and running on the top-seeded 800 relay (1:37.91).
Dan Goss, Munising senior: The reigning champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 is seeded second in the 3,200 (10:57.73), fourth in the 1,600 and 800, and also third in the 400 (55.61).
Jayden Niemi-Alcorn, Rudyard senior: He won the pole vault last season by 1½ feet and has the top seed in that event by six inches this weekend.
Division 3
Team forecast: Newberry rose from runner-up in 2023 to champion last year, but won its Regional this month by only two points ahead of Brimley. Engadine also was a Regional champ by two points, while Lake Linden-Hubbell and Crystal Falls Forest Park won theirs by larger margins. Engadine and Lake Linden-Hubbell are seeking first Finals team titles, and Forest Park is seeking its first since 2010.
Vic Giuliani, Crystal Falls Forest Park sophomore: He debuted last season with a high jump championship and also finished fifth in both the long jump and 100 dash. He’s seeded fourth in the high jump this time and also will run the 200 and 400.
Kalvin Kytta, Chassell senior: He’s won the 3,200 the last two seasons and added 800 and 1,600 championships last year. He enters Saturday seeded second in the 800 (2:09.37) and 1,600 (4:47.27) and third in the 3,200 (11:16.88).
Matthew Rahilly, Newberry senior: After finishing second in the long jump, third in the high jump and running on two top-three relays a year ago, Rahilly is seeded first in the 200 (24.06) and long jump (20-1) and tied for second in the high jump (5-10). He won the long jump and ran on a winning relay as a sophomore.
Michael Rexford, Escanaba Holy Name junior: The reigning long jump champion is seeded second in that event (19-8), tied for the fourth seed in the high jump and expected to run on the second-seeded 3,200 relay (9:11.29).
Ethan Snyder, Cedarville sophomore: He finished second in the 1,600 as a freshman and returns top-seeded in that race (4:44.45), the 800 (2:08.14) and second-seeded in the 3,200 (11:01.70).
PHOTO Marquette's Ford Richardson hands off the baton to Evan Balko in the 1,600 relay on May 9 at the Negaunee Lions Invitational. The Sentinels broke the meet record in the race they had set the previous season. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)