Perfection: Negaunee Girls Finish Undefeated Record-Setting Season as Repeat Champs
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 17, 2026
NEGAUNEE — This was a highly-successful track & field season for the Negaunee girls, to say the least.
The Miners finished first in every meet they ran, completing a perfect spring by retaining their Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals title May 30 at Kingsford.
The team set eight school records during the season, including a pair by junior Keira Waterman. Her record in the 800 (2:19.78) took place at the U.P. Finals, and she broke the 400 with the top performance (58.5) at the Negaunee Lions Invitational on May 8.
“We had lots of fun,” she said. “I think the season just went by so fast. I was pretty confident we would do well. It feels great to get the school records, which is sometimes unexpected. We were so supportive of each other. This was a fun group to be with.”
Junior Sadie Rogers set a U.P. Finals and school record in the 300-meter hurdles in 45.04 seconds and established an additional school record in the 200 (26.21). Rogers also holds the school record in the 100 hurdles (15.75), which she set a year ago.
She is now a three-time U.P. champion in the 100 hurdles and a repeat winner in the 300.
“You just think about the next hurdle and go on,” she said. “I try not to stutter-step, and get into a rhythm. The 100 is such a fast race. There’s no margin for error. I had a good finish in the Finals, which I think set the tone.”
In the 200, Rogers was runner-up to Marquette freshman Jordyn Anthony who was clocked in a personal-best 26.11 seconds.
The Miners set a school and league scoring record in the Mid-Peninsula Conference meet at Gwinn with a whopping 317 points. Manistique was runner-up at 85.
“We scratched three of our top runners because we were going after the (school) 400 record,” junior Izzy Francisco said. “We got that by six seconds and were surprised by that, but I’d say our biggest highlight was the Lions meet because we didn’t know if we were ready to go. Winning that meet made us realize we were right where we wanted to be.”
Rogers, Waterman, Riley Conklin and Brynn Wieciech combined to set the school record in the 1,600 relay (4:02.64) while putting the finishing touches on their 16th consecutive M-PC title.
“One of our goals is to get under four minutes next year,” Rogers said. “I think it’s cool that our team is so deep.”
Beside winning the M-PC, the Miners were crowned Western Peninsula Athletic Conference champions for the fifth-straight time.
“These girls are very competitive,” coach Vickie Paupore said. “I never saw so much depth among the hurdlers. We were down by 10 points early in the U.P. Finals. We really got pushed by Marquette. Kiera ran the perfect race in the 800. I never had a girl go under 2:20 (through 30 years of coaching).”
Francisco joined Rogers, Waterman and sophomore Elvira Coyne in the 400 relay which set the school record at 50.47 in the Marquette County Meet on May 26.
“It felt good to do that,” Coyne said. “We weren’t really going for the record. It just happened to work out. We always supported and pushed each other and went into the U.P. Finals with a positive mindset. Marquette was our biggest challenge, especially in the distances. Our hard work paid off. It was a lot of fun receiving the (championship) trophy.”
Coyne also set a school record while placing second in the 100 (12.61) at the Finals, topping last year’s record run by Macyn DellAngelo by one tenth of a second.
Junior Priya Morey earned her first U.P. title with a throw of 110 feet, 5 inches in discus.
“I think last year’s experience helped me a lot,” she said. “I had a lot better idea of what to expect. Having my teammates there also helped a lot. Last year I was there to have fun. This time there was a little more pressure.”
Morey says winning the Ram Scram at Harbor Springs on April 24 was a major motivator for the team.
“That was a confidence builder,” she added. “Our coaches just put in so much work to make a happy environment. When we went downstate, our coach came over and watched us because the timing of everything allowed her to do that. She’s such a motivator and great leader. We had such a great time this season. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to throw.”
Rogers was the team’s leading scorer this season with 229¼ points. Waterman collected 213¼, followed by Coyne 195¼, senior Nori Korsman 177¼ and senior Josie Mechling 132. Korsman also is the owner of the school’s pole vault record at 10 feet and finished her career with more than 500 points.
Waterman recently competed at the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association Champions of Champions meet at Davison, where she placed fourth in her 800 race.
“That was quite a learning experience,” she said.
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 (Top) Negaunee's Keira Waterman reacts to breaking the school record in the 1,600 relay (with Sadie Rogers, Riley Conklin, and Brynn Wieciech) as she crosses the finish line during the Mid-Peninsula Conference finals May 18 at Gwinn. (Middle) Negaunee's Sadie Rogers leads and eventually wins the 100 hurdles April 21 at Marquette. (Below) The Miners pose for a team photo after winning the UP Division 1 Finals championship May 30 at Kingsford. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)
Just Halfway Done, Tatum Well on Way to Rewriting West Bloomfield Record Book
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
April 18, 2025
WEST BLOOMFIELD – Batting .500 is impressive in baseball or softball, but it’s even more so these days when talking about the track & field program at West Bloomfield.
When gazing at the school record book for the girls program, junior Kamryn Tatum has her name listed at the top for six of the 12 running events.
She owns the school records in the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes and is a part of three relay teams (400, 800, 1,600) that own school records.
All of those have been established over the last two years. And if all that wasn’t enough evidence that it’s been quite a start to her high school career, Tatum already also owns three individual MHSAA Finals championships.
Two years ago as a freshman, Tatum won the 200 (24.20) and 400 (55.74) dashes at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 state meet, and followed those up by winning the 200 (24.63) at last year’s MHSAA finale at East Kentwood.
So, what’s the expected encore this spring? Well, more championships and really fast times, of course.
“She’s always a student of the sport, but she’s always driven to beat her previous times,” West Bloomfield head coach Nick Stration said. “She’s always trying to get better. You don’t have to coach her much because she always wants to get better.
“Her will to win is what stands out. She is one of the fiercest competitors I’ve been around.”
Tatum is the younger sister of two past West Bloomfield standouts – current assistant coach Raven Tatum, who ran at Wayne State and Indiana Tech; and current Michigan State football player Dillon Tatum.
Kamryn said she has never actually raced Dillon, but good-naturedly said she’d have a good shot if they did now.
“I believe I would win, especially since Dillon is all about football now,” Kamryn said. “He’s much stronger and bigger, so that makes a difference on how fast or slow he can run. However, back in high school he would have beaten me for sure.”
Kamryn said she started running track at age 7, but didn’t really enjoy it at first, only doing it because her siblings were racing.
But the love of the sport eventually developed.
“When I got to middle school, that’s when I started having fun,” she said. “I was breaking school records, winning, and getting lots of exposure. Overall, I am somewhat searching for my purpose and enhancing my passion in running.”
It certainly didn’t take long for Tatum to make her mark on the rest of the state with those two Finals titles as a freshman, and the thought of her still having two more seasons at West Bloomfield to go faster has to make other runners cringe.
As a junior, Tatum’s college recruitment is peaking. At the moment, she said she has not received any scholarship offers, but she has been communicating with both in-state and out-of-state coaches.
“My biggest goal right now is to work on my self-confidence,” she said. “From my perspective, it’s been a little tough so far, but I will continue to put in the work and believe in the plan God has for me. I would love to beat my freshman personal records and break more school records and hopefully earn a medal (or two) at the state meet and nationals.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Kamryn Tatum (5) runs the final leg of the 400 relay at last season’s LPD1 Finals. (Middle) Tatum, left, leads the 200 last spring at East Kentwood. (Photos by John Brabbs/RunMichigan.com.)