Many Do Their Parts to Drive Lakes 3-Peat
June 1, 2019
By Adam Niemi
Special for Second Half
KINGSFORD – Lake Linden-Hubbell cruised to its third straight MHSAA Division 3 UP Finals championship Saturday.
The Lakes scored 112 points, well ahead of runner-up Felch North Dickinson's 62.
"It's just unbelievable. We knew where we were on paper; we had the most points from our seeding. We know that that never works out," Lake Linden-Hubbell head coach Gary Guisfredi said. "We talked to the girls about how important it was to work for our personal bests, which we got a lot of those today. We also talked about how important it is to, if we're seeded fifth, to get to fourth and bump up. We had that today. We had multiple girls who were not seeded one through six, came out of other heats and actually placed. It really was just an amazing day."
Rock Mid-Peninsula was third (56), followed by Brimley (45) and Stephenson (42) to round out the top five.
The Lakes' third straight title came on the strength of gritty determination and hard work, embodied by Sienna Anderson's comeback from an ACL injury a year ago. She took second in the 100 hurdles behind Brimley's Hayley Gamberdella.
The Lakes took five firsts including wins in the 400 meter and 1,600-meter relays. Mariah Willmer won the 800 run. Jamie Hendrickson won the high jump, and Camaryn Crouch won the pole vault.
Lake Linden-Hubbell's biggest calling card was getting multiple girls piling points in the same event. Three Lakes took the top three places and 24 points in the pole vault, led by Crouch. It was around then that the Lakes padded the lead.
"All of a sudden we went from close, to not so close anymore," Guisfredi said. "I'm just really, really blessed with this group. I'm so happy for them because they've just worked so hard. All the kids work hard, but this has been a fun group."
Masyn Alexa's big day helped North Dickinson's small team to a runner-up finish.
The Nordics sent just six girls to the UP Finals. Lake Linden-Hubbell had 16.
"We really competed well today. Hats off to Lake Linden. They had a great day," North Dickinson head coach Mike Roell said. "We got beat by a really good track team today, but we beat a lot of good track teams to come in second here today. We're really proud of our kids. All year we've been working hard, and it paid off today. I can't say enough. Masyn Alexa broke two school records in the 200 and 400 dashes. She kind of carried us through this thing. We had a lot of young girls that worked their tails off and scraped up enough points to get runner-up. We're really proud of that."
Alexa, a junior, won and set a school record in the 400 with a time of 1:00.86. She held the previous record from last year.
"I've been working to get that record for a long time,” she said. “I ran high 1:01 three different times last year and once again this year. In practice two days ago I was three hundredths of a second away from getting it. I was hoping today I could get it, and I ended up getting it. My coach was at the 200 mark, marking my time as I came across. Then I knew what I was at so I could finish strong.
"I wasn't sure if I had it or not. I knew I was close. I heard all the cheers as I went across. I didn't know whether I had it or not. When I looked, my mom was nodding so I knew I had it."
Alexa also set a new record in the 200, improved by 13 hundredths of a second.
Alexa barely edged Stephenson's Amanda Starzynski to win the 200, by nine hundredths of a second. She was also the fourth leg of the 400 relay that took second behind Lake Linden-Hubbell.
The Nordics also took second in the 800 and 1,600 relays. Hannah Clark placed fourth in the pole vault. Briana Smith was third in the long jump. Skye Ledzian was third in shot put and fifth in discus.
Starzynski leaned forward while crossing the finish line to edge Alexa in the 100 dash by a hundredth of a second. She also anchored the Eagles' 400 relay team that took fifth, and won the long jump.
Baraga's Jaylyn Lindemann won the shot put at 31 feet, 3.5 inches.
PHOTOS: (Top) Rock Mid-Peninsula's Camryn Croadsell, left, and Lake Linden-Hubbell's Joslyn Perala charge toward the finish in the 400 relay. (Middle) North Dickinson's Sophie Mattson runs the 3,200. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Slattery's High-Scoring Day Helps Hackett Catholic Prep Prevail by Slimmest of Margins
By
Brian Freiberger
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
HUDSONVILLE – Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep junior Clara Slattery made sure her name will remain known after Saturday.
The junior took home Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals championships in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, along with a blazing fast 200-meter time of 25.26 to win her third event of the day.
All of those helped the Fighting Irish claim the team championship with 44 points – just one more than Hudson. The title was the program's first in this sport.
“It means a lot since last year I struggled in the 200 and 300, and it was good for me to get back. It helps show me that my training is paying off,” Slattery said. “I will take with me most from this season being around my friends and teammates, especially those seniors that are graduating. They really help when they're screaming at me, pushing me to go even harder.”
Frankfort finished a close third in the team standings, with Fowler fourth and Whitmore Lake and Gobles tied for fifth.
Alcona senior Addi Beatty broke LPD4 Finals record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.22. She also had quality performances in the high jump and long jump, finishing fifth and fourth, respectively.
“I have been working for this for years,” Beatty said. “Last year I got state runner-up (in the 100), and I was a little sad about it, so it's good to come here this year and win it all.”
Concord sophomore Annie Saenz placed her name into history as well after breaking the 25-year-old girls high jump record with a leap of 5 feet, 8 inches. To go along with the meet record, Saenz now holds the school record as well.
“It feels great. I've been working hard to get the records … that’s been my goal all season. I hope to just keep working hard, keep reaching higher heights, and, like, be happy about this, but focus on the next thing,” Saenz said.
Mancelona junior Leili Frollo took home the top honor in pole vault with a height of 11 feet to win her first Finals championship. Despite attempts being hours in-between, Frollo remained focused.
“It was kind of slow because people were checking out for an event, so I waited hours between my jumps, which is really different for me,” Frollo said. “I was just really glad that I had my coaches and family supporting me. I am super excited. I've been wanting this for a while, and I worked so hard, so I feel so proud of myself that I was finally able to accomplish that.”
Gobles 3,200 champion Libby Smith blazed her way to the title with a time of 11:16 in a highly-contested race.
“I just went out racing. I was worried about time. I didn't even start my watch. I can't even look at this,” Smith said.
Around the 900-meter mark, Smith hit the turbo boost, and luckily she had enough in the tank to finish the race because 1,600 champion Kaylie Livingston of Whitmore Lake was at her heels.
Gobles’ 3,200 relay team of Smith, Lauren Shaffer, Ava DeYoung and Madison Cooley also earned a championship.
“I’m not giving up by myself when it gets hard; I just keep pushing through,” Smith said.
Lilly Szappan from St. Charles won the adaptive shot put with a throw of 18 feet, 8.7 inches.
“It just proves to me that I can do more than I think I'm capable of at times,” she said. “A lot of people say that just because I am different, that I can't do as much or can't do as well. But this just proves everybody wrong. And it proves to myself that I can do good things.”
Other champions included Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central’s Claire Long in the 400, Kingston’s Norah Kiley in the 800, St. Louis’ Tess Farkas in the shot put, Unionville-Sebewaing’s Ryleigh Ewald in the discus and Buckley’s Brooklynn Frazee in the long jump. Frankfort’s 400 relay, Portland St. Patrick’s 800 relay and Kingston’s 1,600 relay also were winners.
PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep's Clara Slattery, second from left, charges over a hurdle on the way to winning the 100 hurdles championship Saturday. (Middle) Alcona's Addi Beatty, middle, runs to the 100-meter dash title. (Click for more from Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)