Norris Center Offers Track Athletes 'Perfect' Early-Season Indoor Opportunity
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
April 13, 2022
SAULT STE. MARIE — Weather conditions in early April can sometimes be frightful in the Upper Peninsula.
On a day with snow showers falling outside, eight schools took advantage of an opportunity to compete in Friday’s indoor track & field meet at Lake Superior State University’s Norris Center.
“The first meet of the season is very important to me,” said Alpena senior Madi Szymanski, who plans to run cross country and track at Northern Michigan University. “This gives me a starting base and a better idea of where I’m at. I prefer to run outdoors, but I’m very grateful to be indoors today. Conditions are always perfect inside.”
Szymanski was a triple-winner in the LSSU Large School Yooper Invitational, taking the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 28.26 seconds, the 1,600 (5:27.83) and helping the Wildcats take the 1,600 relay (4:44.39).
“I’ve been doing indoor meets during the winter,” she said. “I go to Saginaw Valley a lot and have been to Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, but this is my favorite 200-meter track. I always look forward to coming here. It’s real exciting and my adrenalin is very high. It’s always great to do well in the first races.”
This marked the first of just three indoor meets in the U.P. this season. Many U.P. schools were scheduled to compete in the Michigan Tech Keweenaw Classic on Tuesday in Houghton with another indoor event taking place April 21 at LSSU.
Both Alpena teams were crowned champions, and the two Manistique teams placed fourth.
Manistique junior Grant Mason won the boys 400 in a personal-best 56.88 seconds, and the girls opened with a victory in the 3,200 relay (11:34.36).
“I expected it to be a little harder on a 200 track, but ended up with my best time,” said Mason. “I had a pretty good start. It’s real important to get this meet in. It’s a lot warmer in here. Early-season meets aren’t very easy to find up here. We had some good competition up here today. The downstate schools are ahead of us because they get an opportunity to see some real good competition.”
The Emeralds finished three seconds ahead of the field in the girls 3,200 relay.
“We’re pretty happy with our time,” said sophomore Emma Jones, who led off that relay. “We still have snow on our track. We’ve been working on our handoffs inside which is not the same, especially on a 200-meter track. It feels like you’re going faster. It’s pretty important for us to get this meet in because we haven’t been outside. This is the first time many of us have been in our events this year. It was good to see different competition today. This is definitely pushing us to our new potential.”
Junior Kelsey Muth, who took the baton from Jones, had similar thoughts.
“It was an awesome feeling to win it,” she said. “We went into it not knowing what to expect. That was a real good starting point for us. Emma and I had a real good handoff, but overall we were a little shaky. Our athletic director (Nate Zaremba) has been scheduling meets (we) need to reach the next level. We’re excited about going downstate for the first time. We’re hoping for nice weather down there.”
Jones placed second in the 400 (1:10.14) and Muth was fourth (1:11.64) for the Emeralds, who resume in Friday’s Ram Scram at Harbor Springs.
“I think today was a good first showing,” said Emeralds’ coach Amy Nixon. “In the first meet of the year, you never know what to expect and we had some girls step up. Some of the new girls stepped into events which others couldn’t. We’re proud of them for being willing to do that. Now we know what the girls are capable of doing. It’s fun to compete again.”
The Manistique boys secured fourth place by taking third in the 1,600 relay (4:03.25).
“Overall, the meet went well,” said Emeralds boys coach Cody Kangas. “Some guys did some real good things, and Grant did a great job in the 400.”
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 Athletes took advantage of the opportunity to compete indoors at Friday’s Yooper Invitational at Lake Superior State University. (Photo by Robert Roos/Sault Ste. Marie Evening News.)
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.)