#TBT: Pioneer Mourns Champion Coach
July 9, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Ann Arbor Pioneer this week mourned longtime girls track & field and cross country coach Bryan Westfield, who died Sunday at the age of 72 and led Pioneers teams to a combined 19 MHSAA team championships over a career spanning more than three decades.
The Pioneers won their first girls track & field title under Westfield in 1985, edging Detroit Cass Tech 56-50 in Lower Peninsula Class A at Flint’s Houston Stadium. Pioneer went on to win the next six LP Class A titles, then strung together four more straight wins from 1996-99. His track & field teams won five more titles during the first decade of the 2000s, most recently in 2008, and the program holds the record for Lower Peninsula Finals championships with 16, six more than Detroit Renaissance.
Westfield’s girls cross country teams won back-to-back LP Class A titles in 1987 and 1988, and then won again in 1997.
Westfield graduated from Ann Arbor High School – the predecessor to Pioneer – in 1960 having lettered in football and track & field. He competed in both at Cornell University and eventually returned to Pioneer as a teacher. He also had a brief stint with the New York Giants’ developmental squad and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1964.
He began coaching Pioneer’s girls track & field and cross country teams in 1978 and coached both during the 2014-15 school year. He was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Michigan High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2014, among a number of accolades earned over the years.
A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School. The school’s track was dedicated in 2012 to Westfield and former boys track & field coach Don Sleeman.
Click for Westfield’s obituary and coverage of his passing from AnnArbor.com.
PHOTO: Coach Bryan Westfield stands with his 1990 team after it won the Lower Peninsula Class A track & field championship.
Taylor Sisters, Nwose Key Newberry's Title Run, Jokela Caps Famed Career
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2025
KINGSFORD — The Taylor sisters have been a mainstay for the Newberry girls track & field team throughout this season.
They provided more than half of their team’s scoring here Saturday, helping Newberry gain its first Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals championship in a decade with 84 points.
Runner-up Lake Linden-Hubbell scored 76 points, and third-place Stephenson had 52.
“This is also the first time our boys and girls won together, which is very exciting,” said Newberry coach Cori Canfield. “We’re going to lose some good seniors, but we’ll have some good freshmen coming in. I’m optimistic about the next 2-3 years. You prepare the kids for this all year, then it’s up to them to execute the plan.”
Junior Samantha Taylor set a U.P. Finals record in the 1,600-meter run in 5:08.47, shaving nearly 6½ seconds off last year’s record time (5:14.9).
Earlier, she established a school record in the 3,200 (11:42), and sophomore Abby Taylor took the 800 (2:26.71).
“I really wanted to try my hardest in the mile, which is my strongest event, and work hard in the other races, and it paid off,” Samantha Taylor said. “This makes me feel more confident in my training and gives me a little momentum going into the cross country season. Being supported by my teammates and coaches is definitely a highlight. Going into my senior year gives me more motivation because it’s my last year.”
She anchored Newberry to a runner-up finish in the 1,600 relay (4:29.54) and Abby Taylor was runner-up in the open 1,600 (5:30.82) and 3,200 (12:35.24). In the 3,200 relay, Abby anchored the third-place finisher (10:38.89).
Senior teammate Adanne Nwose won the 100 (12.91), and Lake Linden-Hubbell senior Emily Jokela edged Big Bay de Noc freshman Destiny Bleau on a lean for second place (12.95).
“I worked on my starts this week,” Nwose said. “I was really nervous coming in here. I wasn’t supposed to win the 100, which made for added pressure. It was very nerve-wracking. I didn’t think I had won. There were two people to my right. It was crazy close. I’ve been getting under 13 seconds in the past few meets. I would have been very disappointed if I hadn’t gone under 13 today.”
Bleau won the 200 in a meet and school-record 26.02, followed by Rapid River senior Emma Sundling (26.86) and Nwose (26.93).
“I feel pretty good about it,” Bleau said. “It’s a good way to end the season. There were a lot of schools here I hadn’t seen before. I’d say I had good starts. I think this is something I can learn from.”
Her meet record in the 200, topped the previous best (26.36) by Jamie Dompier of Chassell from 2013.
Jokela, a Grand Valley State recruit, became a triple-winner by taking the 100 hurdles (15.98), 300s (46.46) and 400 (59.84).
“I think the competition draws the best out of me,” she said. “They (Newberry) are a bigger school. We’re happy with where we finished. My starts were pretty good. I think this will give me more motivation to work hard for next year.”
Dollar Bay junior Kiera Isaacson won high jump with a school-record leap of 5-4, and sophomore teammate Laila Bell claimed long jump (15-7) and placed third in pole vault (8-0).
Stephenson junior Faith Cappaert took second in the 800 (2:28.6) and third in the 400 (1:02.35) and 1,600 (5:48.01), and anchored the winning 3,200 relay (10:24.35).
Brimley junior Tallulah Slabosheski captured shot put (33-6½) and discus (109-9).
PHOTOS (Top) Newberry's Adanne Nwose (center) wins the 100 dash by four hundredths of a second over Lake Linden Hubbell's Emily Jokela (far left). (Middle) Lake Linden-Hubbell's Ella Schneiderhan hands off the baton to Payton Goldsworthy and St. Ignace's Jillian Fraser hands off to Gwen Kellan in the 800 relay Saturday. St. Ignace went on to win the race with Chloe Bigger and Tayah Shepard also running legs. (Click for more from Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)