Olivet Girls Continue Reign as Peters Closes Championship-Filled Career
By
Todd VanSickle
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
KENT CITY – After winning its first Finals championship in girls track & field a year ago by just five points, Olivet extended its title reign with another close finish Saturday at Kent City.
The Eagles scored 82 points at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship meet to outpace Lansing Catholic (76), with Pewamo-Westphalia (61.5) third.
“I am an alumni of the school, so to come back and do this is, is awesome,” Olivet head coach Brian Lincoln said. “We knew going in that it is was going to be a battle with Lansing Catholic. Our girls stepped up, like they have all season and for the past four seasons.”
Olivet senior Emily Peters claimed her fourth 300-meter hurdles title in 44 seconds. She qualified for this meet in seven events.
“It is pretty crazy,” said Peters said, who plans to run track for Northwood University next season. “Going into my freshman year, I knew I was pretty fast, but I never expected to have this kind of success.
“This is a perfect ending. It is the culmination of all my hard work. I am so grateful for this.”
Peters also took second in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 14.83 seconds as the Eagles had success in several events.
Celina Sinclair won the 200 meters with a personal best of 24.91 seconds after finishing second in the prelims. The Eagles’ 400 relay team of Bailey Powell, Lola Miars, Peters and Sinclair took first place (49.51) over Kingsley (49.53) and Traverse City St. Francis (49.77). Olivet’s 800 relay team (Peters, Sinclair, Miars and Kendall Eggerstedt) also found the top spot on the podium (1:44.67).
Pewamo-Westphalia won the 3,200 relay (9:40.94) with Julia Paxton, Katherine Schafer, Adelyn Thelen and Calista George. Lansing Catholic was second and Saugatuck finished third.
Montrose’s Addyson Stiverson won the shot put with an all-Finals record of 55 feet, 6½ inches. The previous record (50-9½) was set in 2021 by Bryon’s Sarah Marvin.
Second place went to Pewamo-Westphalia’s Jenna Spitzley with a toss of 38-1¾. “If you would have asked me a week ago, I didn’t think I would have been in the 38 range,” Spitzley said.
The Pirates senior also won the discus with a throw of 136-7. She credited her family for her success.
“I had my brother there,” Spitzley said. “He has been coaching me a lot and helping me.”
She will attend Hillsdale College in the fall and plans to throw the shot put, discus and the hammer at the collegiate level.
Olivia Beaudrie, of Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central, won the high jump with a leap of 5-4. Julia Sergeant, of Houghton Lake, took first place in the pole vault clearing 11 feet after finishing sixth in the event last spring.
“I am really happy with my progress this year,” Sergeant said.
Despite being the top seed, she was a little nervous coming into meet.
“There were a few girls I was a little intimidated by,” Sergeant said. “There were two girls I have never seen vault before, but I knew what I was capable of and I did it.”
Novella DeGraff, of Saugatuck, had a personal best of 10-9 in the pole vault to finish second. She also finished third in the long jump with a personal best of 17-2. Smantha Hopkins, of Harrison, was first with a leap of 17-4¾.
Both of DeGraff’s marks in the field events set school records. It was the second year DeGraff had competed at the Finals, although she missed last season’s meet due to a torn knee ligament. She also ran a personal best in the 100-meter hurdles for third place (14.83).
“Today has been pretty chaotic,” DeGraff said. “I planned to try my best, but I didn’t expect I would do as good as I am. My mentality was to have a good time.”
Lansing Catholic’s Grace Wonch (4:58.84) and Josie Bishop (4:58.89) took first and second, respectively, with personal bests in the 1,600 meters. Bishop won the 800 meters (2:16.07), while Wonch took the bronze. Wonch also claimed the 3,200 meters (10:53.12) and Tiya Feldpausch, of Olivet, was second. (10:58.84).
The reigning 100 hurdles champion Julia Hughes repeated with a run of 14.55 seconds. She took third in the 300 hurdles.
Erie Mason senior Giuliana Nastale repeated as the 100 champion in 12.11 seconds. Sinclair, of Olivet, was second. Ella Clause, of Clinton, ran a personal best (57.99) to claim the 400. Centreville's Diannah Schwartz finished first in the 100, 200, 400 and shot put adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) Olivet's Emily Peters, center, clears a hurdle on the way to a runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles race Saturday. (Middle) Montrose's Addyson Stiverson launches the shot; she set the all-Finals record in the event. (Click for more from Mary Wilson and John Willoughby/RunMichigan.com.)
Ironwood's Smith Sisters, Bessemer's Stone Set Fast Pace in Western UP
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 9, 2022
IRONWOOD — There are at least three shining stars on the western horizon in Upper Peninsula girls track as Ironwood junior Lilley Smith, her freshman sister Aubrey and Bessemer junior Natalie Stone are setting the pace among distance runners on the Gogebic Range.
Aubrey Smith won the 1600-meter run at 6 minutes, 0.5 seconds in last Monday’s Jack Kraemer Invitational on a cloudy and chilly day at Longyear Field.
Stone, who had been dealing with leg issues, was runner-up at 6:11.47, and Lilley Smith took fourth (6:14.03), just 34 hundredths of a second behind senior Olivia Soltero of Washburn-Port Wing South Shore (Wis.).
Lilley then dominated the 3,200 at 13:34.16, nearly two minutes ahead of the field.
“In distance running we’re competitive, yet everybody is friendly,” said Lilley Smith. “You gain respect for yourself and others.
“Aubrey has an amazing kick. We started real early. I started in seventh grade and fell in love with it.”
Aubrey Smith was in sixth grade when she began her running career.
“Our mom ran marathons and told us great stories about running,” she said. “When you’re done with a race, you look back at what you did and you’re proud of what you accomplished.”
Stone also ran in the 1,600 relay in which the Speedgirls took fifth.
“Everything is very tight,” she said. “I felt good today, but I’m still a little sore. I’m just so happy to be able to run because I love it so much. Running is a lifetime sport, and I want to do it all my life. I had missed six weeks. This is only my second day back, and my lungs aren’t quite there yet.”
Last fall, Aubrey Smith was runner-up and Lilley placed sixth at the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Cross Country Final at Marquette. Smith was third in the 1,600 and second in the 3,200 at last spring’s UPD2 Track & Field Finals.
“Aubrey is very talented and hard working,” said Ironwood cross country coach Ben Schmandt. “It’s challenging for a freshman to compete at the highest level. Lilley is also one of the hardest workers on the team. She exemplifies perseverance. She fell down at Hancock and was the first one to finish (fourth overall in cross country) with bleeding feet. That’s dedication in the truest form. She’s one of the most coachable kids we’ve had.”
Stone placed third at the UPD2 Cross Country Final and in the 1,600 in UPD3 last spring at Kingsford behind Mid Peninsula’s Landry Koski and Rudyard’s Tristan Smith.
“Lilley and Aubrey push me, and I push them,” said Stone. “It’s so much fun to run with them. Hopefully, the U.P. Track Finals will go better for me this year. Landry is a very good runner. She just came from behind and won it. She has a real strong kick.”
Bessemer coach Tracy Rowe refers to Stone as one of the team’s leaders.
“Natalie is a great runner,” she said. “You feel so bad for kids when they get hurt. I’m just glad she can run and feels better.”
At Friday’s Ontonagon Invitational, Aubrey Smith placed fourth (6:10.8) and Lilley was fifth (6:11.2) in the 1,600. Lilley then took second in the 3,200 (13:10.3).
“We enjoy running with each other,” Aubrey said after the meet in Ironwood “We give each other the thumbs up when we pass each other in a race.”
“I love Natalie,” Smith added. “I’ve been running against her since middle school.”
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.
PHOTOS: Bessemer’s Natalie Stone leads a race during last season’s UPD3 Finals at Kingsford. (Middle) Ironwood’s Lilley Smith is among those pacing the pack during last season’s UPD2 Final in the 1,600. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)