Lyons Shows Way to All-Around Success
June 20, 2018
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
ESCANABA – There have been a ton of awards and accomplishments recognizing the high school career of Laura Lyons, but the recent Lake Linden-Hubbell graduate remains extremely well grounded.
"I have to prioritize," she said in a recent telephone conversation from Fortune Lake, near Crystal Falls, where she is working at a summer camp that attracts youngsters, campers with disabilities and families.
"You have to focus on things you want to do," she said, listing school work, sports, family and faith among her priorities. "They have to stay out top."
It is easy to see Lyons has her priorities in place when considering the kind of person she has become.
Lyons was a four-sport standout for the Lakes and just as successful off the field. She was one of 32 students statewide to receive an MHSAA/Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Award this winter and one of four Upper Peninsula students to receive a four-year college scholarship from the U.P. Sports Hall of Fame. She was also valedictorian of her graduating class.
"She is one of the best athletes I have coached in my (nearly) 40 years," said LL-H track coach Gary Guisfredi. "She is just an all-around great person. She is not just a great athlete, she is a top-notch kid."
Lyons earlier this month helped her track & field team repeat as U.P. Division 3 champion, winning long jump (16-feet-0.5), placing second in the 200-meter dash (in a personal-best 27.34) and taking third in the 100 (13.4) and 400 (1:01.77). Guisfredi said she probably could have placed in pole vault and excelled in other events if meet rules didn’t limit athletes to only four.
"She is a very versatile athlete," said Guisfredi. "There are a lot of different attributes (for athletic success), and she has them all. And she also works with our younger athletes. Other kids look up to her."
Lyons missed the final week of track practice because she was already working at Fortune Lake, but she followed a training regimen provided by Guisfredi before she began her daily camp duties. "She probably did more than I told her to do," he said with a laugh.
In addition to running four track events this spring, Lyons was also a conference all-star shortstop and pitcher in softball as one of eight teammates who doubled up in both sports. She was all-conference in basketball at guard and was an MVP setter in volleyball for the three-time conference and District champions.
Handling all the sports was not a challenge because, she said, "It is cross-training for all the rest. Everything you do in one sport can be applied to the others."
She’s never had problems being ready for the different track & field events, although she recalled at the 2017 U.P. Finals being midway through her 400 race when her name was called to compete at long jump.
She enjoys track more than the other sports because of the team camaraderie, on the field and off. "It is really a social sport," she said of teammates, members of the boys team and opponents having fun in the infield during other races. She said even the LL-H boys and girls who did not qualify for the Finals still attended and were very supportive.
"We are like one big family," she said of her track teammates. "I don't hang out with a lot of the kids outside of school (she does have to study, after all) but we do spend a lot of time together at our daily routines. Somehow it all works out."
She also enjoys talking to athletes from other schools prior to her track events so "I don't get as nervous. I warm up a lot before the races."
Lyons and her teammates also serve as role models for the younger athletes. "A lot of us help coach other sports. And it makes me thankful for having the support of the community. We are a mirror athletically in the community," she said, indicating her accomplishments are a direct result "of my upbringing, the way I was raised."
Definitely not a me-first person, Lyons also expressed happiness over how women at church collect newspaper clippings of her deeds and pass them on to her. "I realize how they are a part of what I am doing," she said.
Asked what she is most proud of accomplishing, she hesitated for several seconds, then answered, "That is a tough one. I am most proud of the fact I have been so motivated in so many different things and (of) showing younger kids they can do the same things if they set their mind to it."
Lyons anticipates joining the track team when she attends nearby Michigan Tech University. She plans to follow an academic path of biomedical engineering with a focus on pre-med.
"She's got the whole package," Guisfredi said. "This kid is always smiling. She is a very special young lady."
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and again from 1984-2012. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Laura Lyons is embraced by Ontonagon’s Fahren Kolpack and holds a hand of Felch North Dickinson’s Masyn Alexa after they took the top three places in the 400 at the UP Division 3 Finals, all within half a second of each other. (Middle) Lyons, third from left, stands with honorees on the Breslin Center floor during the Scholar-Athlete Awards ceremony in March. (Top photo by Cara Kamps.)
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.)