Frazee Set to Finish Long Race to Return to Track After 2-Year Health Fight
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
April 17, 2026
When Brooklynn Frazee next competes for Buckley girls track & field team, tears are going to flow.
And that very well may be today.
“To be honest, I'm not looking for anything — I just want to see the joy on her face again,” said sixth-year Buckley coach Jolie King. “It gives me goosebumps. If you saw this kid run, and then to know what she's been through … the minute she gets on the track and completes the race, I'm going to cry. Yeah, I'm going to bawl on the track.”
Frazee, now a senior, is expected to run the sprints and long jump today when the Bears travel to Benzie Central for the 8-team Garland Invite. She hasn’t competed for the Bears since her sophomore year. As a freshman, she won the 100-meter dash with a personal-best 12.47 seconds and took second in the 200 as Buckley won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship, its first team Finals title in the sport.
There had been lots of preseason excitement the following spring, and thoughts of repeating for the Bears, who had Frazee and Aiden Harrand back – Harrand who won the 1,600 for the third time and the 800 and 3,200 as well during the 2023 team championship run.
But long before Harrand eventually became the LPD4 champion again in the 400 and 1,600 to close 2024, Frazee began to face constant illness and a major injury.
“I was competing well and felt ready for another strong season,” Frazee said of her early sophomore competitions. “But deep down, I knew something was wrong. I was battling non-stop illnesses like strep throat, pneumonia, low iron, aches and pains and fatigue. Even with all of that, I kept competing. I loved my sport, and I did not want to let my team down.”
Frazee wound up missing weeks of her sophomore season but kept her eye on qualifying for the Finals in hopes of repeating in the 100.
“The constant illnesses and stress on my body finally caught up with me,” she said. “I suffered level 3 out of 4 tears from my hips to my knees. Suddenly, I went from competing to being sidelined.”
Following brief breaks for recovery purposes, Frazee did manage to qualify for the 2024 Finals in the long jump, 100, 200 and 400-meter runs.
“After another week of rest, I made it to the state finals meet,” she recalled. “I fought through the pain and made the finals in the 100-meter dash and long jump. I missed qualifying for the 200-meter finals by just one spot. By then, my body was fading fast. I was unable to sprint in the 100 finals and just crossed the finish line. I was not able to run the 400 meter.”
That was the last time Frazee competed for Buckley.
She’s coming back after nearly two years of treatments that kept her out of track and basketball. She endured the two years while staying involved in Buckley sports as a team manager for cross country, track and basketball and while strengthening her already-strong faith.
“After the 2024 season, doctors thought it might be multiple sclerosis. I was also diagnosed with mono but when that didn't go away eventually, I received the diagnosis that changed my life,” Frazee said. “I don't really want to go into much detail about the diagnosis specifically, but it definitely changed my life. As treatments became harder, I was no longer able to help during the basketball and track seasons. I made it to a few track meets to cheer on my team, but many times I had to leave early because of the pain and fatigue.”
Buckley hoped to have Frazee back for its season-opening invitational last week. She ran indoor track races over the winter but returned from spring break sick. She’s missed the Bears’ first two outdoor meets but returned to school Wednesday.
“Friday is a go,” said Todd Frazee, Buckley’s athletic director and Brooklynn’s father. “The poor girl was so excited for her season to start, and then this virus hit. I can really feel for her.”
But now that Frazee is nearly back, King believes the Bears will be seeing an even faster senior on the track.
“Part of me is, like, holy cow this kid's faster now, stronger, and smarter and when we can get her on the track, she's going to blow people's minds,” King predicted. “But then the other part of me is, I don't want to do this to her. I'm not putting any of my hopes and dreams on this kid at all. I'm celebrating.”
The senior speedster, who is also a member of the Buckley school record-holding 3,200 relay team, offers another perspective.
“I've gone from helping lead my school to its first state final championship as a freshman, to nearly losing sports completely,” Frazee acknowledged. “I'm fighting back to come back just as strong. My faith grew stronger and through everything I've faced, I believe that God was leading me toward a bigger purpose.”
Without Frazee, the Bears finished fourth in the team scoring at the 2024 Finals. Last year, after Harrand’s graduation the previous spring as well, Buckley qualified for just three events.
As sophomores last spring, Mikayla Kulawiak qualified in the high jump and finished fifth, and Maddie Snider qualified for the 100 hurdles. Kulawiak set the school high jump record at 5-foot-2 as this spring season opened up. The Bears also have seniors Addison Harrand and Kinsey Peer and sophomore Ariana Paris back from last year’s Finals-qualifying 3,200 relay.
Also, the top two finishers from Buckley’s third-place team effort at last fall’s LPD4 Cross Country Final – Brooklyn Griffin and Mirthe Breuker, an exchange student from the Netherlands – are running track and have the Bears excited for what lies ahead.
Griffin, just a freshman, is already bolstering the Bears in the 100, 200 and 400-meter races, along with the long jump and pole vault. She won the 400 at Wednesday’s Northwest Conference meet.
With Frazee likely returning, the Bears now have their eyes on the Regional hosted by conference rival Frankfort and ultimately the May 30 Finals at Hudsonville Baldwin.
“We're just taking one day at a time,” said King, who noted it’s been devastating to watch Frazee’s struggle. “Brooklyn’s is a tremendous athlete and a tremendous person, and my heart just breaks for her. She’s very focused and telling herself May 30th. We have to take it day by day. Actually, we take it minute by minute.”
Frazee echoed her coach.
“We have a small but mighty team this year, and our goal is not to win the small meets, but focus in on what really matters, as well as each of us have individual goals that we are excited to cheer each other on in achieving.” she said. “I'm excited for this season and this team as I know it'll be one to remember. My goal is May 30th, the state finals, and just to enjoy being back and able to compete.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Buckley’s Brooklyn Frazee, middle, competes in a race during her sophomore season in 2024. (Middle) Frazee, right, celebrates with a teammate. (Below) The Bears’ Brooklyn Griffin, right, hands off the baton to Mirthe Breuker during a relay this spring. (Frazee photos courtesy of Todd Frazee. Relay photo courtesy of Jolie King.)
Gladstone's Karl Siblings Talented In Taking to Air in High Jump, Pole Vault
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2025
ESCANABA — Three members of the Karl family have shown over the last few years a major interest in taking flight – at least from a track & field sense.
Gladstone sophomore Andrew Karl and his sister, freshman Maggie Karl, have found success in high jump, following older sister Kristy Karl – the girls school record holder in the event.
The younger two siblings also have shined in pole vault, Maggie tying the school record and Andrew just an inch away from doing the same on the boys side.
Kristy Karl, who has cleared 5 feet in high jump several times this season, owns the school record in that event at 5-foot-1 set a year ago. She will try to surpass that at Saturday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals at Kingsford.
“I need to put everything together,” she said. “Every time before I jump, I go over what I need to do. I started jumping in middle school. I figured out three-stepping this year and got the whole thing down.”
Kristy, who will attend classes at Bay College this fall, won high jump at 4-10 in the Regional on May 16 in Escanaba, and Maggie shared third place with Sault Ste. Marie freshman Isabelle McCord, both also at 4-10. Kristy also helped Gladstone win the 400-meter relay (52.56) and was runner-up in the 100 hurdles (16.97) on a lean by Escanaba junior Ava Stahlboerger.
Maggie Karl matched the school pole vault record with a winning leap of 9 feet as did senior teammate Chelsey Demeuse, who was edged on a tie-breaker as the Regional concluded Wednesday.
Boys’ pole vault started 12 days earlier, but was suspended after an Escanaba vaulter received injuries in a mishap during the Regional.
“It feels good to get this in,” Maggie said. “It’s so close to the Finals, although I think this is pretty helpful. I just wanted to qualify. How high you go depends on how you run (during the approach). I don’t remember exactly how I got started, but started jumping in seventh grade and I think it sparked an interest.”
Andrew Karl has soared as high as 14-3 in the pole vault this season, just an inch shy of the school record set by Josh Syverson in 2009.
He cleared 13 feet, good enough for third place as the Regional concluded.
“Changing the routine was the most challenging part,” he said. “You schedule your practices in advance. Consistency is key in any event. It’s a matter of deciding when to go hard and when to back off. I had plenty of height, but didn’t have the consistency with my pole.”
Maggie said she and Josh practice each Thursday during the summer at the Gladstone track.
“I think it helps,” she added. “Josh gives me pointers. Kristy doesn’t come down to the track quite as often, but she comes as much as she can and helps me with high jump.”
Josh, who started vaulting in middle school, is about to finish his third year of jumping.
“I like a good challenge, mentally and physically,” he said. “The biggest thing is to not think of it at all while you’re jumping because it becomes second nature. It’s a real balancing act. You’ve got to stick with it. It’s about consistency and never giving up. You just keep going.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTO Gladstone’s Andrew Karl clears the bar during the pole vault competition at this season’s Negaunee Lions Invitational. (Photo by Cara Kamps.)