Records Fall as Marquette Rises Again
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2015
KINGSFORD — Marquette junior Lindsey Rudden had a hand in three record-setting performances Saturday, helping the Redettes earn their fifth consecutive Upper Peninsula Division 1 track title with 154 points.
Second-place Calumet scored 71, and third-place Sault Ste. Marie had 67.
Rudden set a U.P. and school record in the 800-meter run at two minutes, 13.94 seconds and helped the Redettes establish U.P. records in the 1,600 relay (4:00.15) and 3,200 relay (9:30.25). She also won the open 1,600 (4:56.31) on this partly sunny, breezy and cool day.
“The wind made it hard on the backstretch,” she said. “It was hard physically, but most of it’s mental. I just wanted to get under five minutes in the 1600. I was trying to pace myself for the entire meet.”
These were the third straight 800 and 1,600 titles for Rudden.
Junior Holly Blowers, who transferred from Manistique last summer, led off both record-setting relays.
“It’s such a special feeling to be part of the U.P. Finals,” said Blowers, who captured the 800 and 1,600 titles in Division 2 a year ago. “This really opened my eyes after not being able to run cross country last fall. The atmosphere is so powerful. We’re all best friends. Being able to achieve this together makes it so special. You can never take high school sports for granted.”
Also part of those relays were the Huebner sisters. Shayla, a senior, won the 400 (58.71) and took third in the 200 (26.64). Amber, a sophomore, won the 3,200 (11:42.71) and placed third in the 400 (1:00.5).
Blowers added a second in the 800 (2:22.54) and third in the 1,600 (5:23.74).
“We scored points all the way across the board,” said Marquette coach John Peterson. “In the U.P. Finals, you never know what’s going to happen. We had a lot of good efforts by a lot of kids. The girls have worked real hard all year. This is probably the most balanced team I’ve had.”
Sophomore Hannah Detmers also provided a first in the 300 hurdles for the Redettes, who gained at least a share of the U.P. title eight of the past nine years. She was clocked at 47.57, edging Escanaba junior Sunny Martineau on a lean.
“I just went out real hard,” said Detmers, who was nearly overcome with emotion after her victory. “I’ve been working real hard and tried to mentally prepare myself. Sunny has done an amazing job all year. We’ve gone back and forth both years and she had beaten me all of this year. She has been my number one competition both years. This is an amazing boost for me. This was definitely my best race.”
Martineau won 100 hurdles (16.19) and helped the Eskymos win the 800 relay.
“My whole family is here to cheer me on, and the weather’s nice,” said Martineau. “My start wasn’t real good, but I caught up in the middle of the race. It took a lot of determination and faith, but I also had a lot of supporters.
“Our handoffs went real well in the 800 relay. Marquette usually takes first, but today they took fifth. We were really surprised by that. We were very pumped up for that relay.”
Calumet senior Chelsea Jacques had a hand in four firsts, taking long jump with a personal-best leap of 16-6, retaining her titles in the 100 (12.69) and 200 (26.23) and anchoring the winning 400 relay, which nipped Marquette at the wire.
“This is bittersweet now that track is over,” Jacques said. “A few people have been helping me in long jump, and I decided to take a more aggressive approach. This being my first year in long jump, I’m finally getting the hang of it, and today I hit the board well.
“I thought my start in the 100 was better than it had been and I probably had one of my best ones in the 200. This feels great. I was kind of worried that maybe it wouldn’t go well.”
Marquette’s Izzie Peterson was runner-up in the 100 (13.0) and 200 (26.62).
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette's Hannah Detmers (left) edge' Escanaba's Sunny Martineau during the U.P. Division 1 300 hurdles final. (Middle) Calumet's Chelsea Jacques leads the field toward the finish during one of her two championship sprints. (Photos courtesy of Cara Kamps.)
Oak Park Sprints to 4th-Straight Team Title Win, Zielinski Rebounds for Winning Finish
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2026
ROCKFORD – It would have been the perfect time for Lorelai Zielinski to toss her cards on the table and walk away.
After suffering a crushing disqualification Saturday in the discus, a disastrous development that ensured she wouldn't repeat her dream of defending her Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals title in that event as well as the shot put, Zielinski could have called it a season.
Instead, the Traverse City Central junior mentally gathered herself by taking several slow walks around the shot put area, listening to some music and generally clearing her head.
"Just tried to keep calm in the moment," she said. "I didn't dwell on what was done."
So instead of falling off a mental cliff, Zielinski went out and captured the shot put with a toss of 48-6¼, two feet farther than the rest of the field.
"I had worked so hard to get better," she said. "But it was a mental battle. I just had to compose myself and get ready for the shot."
While Zielinski had to overcome her mental roadblocks, the Oak Park girls had to overcome their own adversity as well – but employed the same formula they used to win the last three Division 1 titles and claim their 10th over the last 12 years: power in the sprints.
Oak Park finished with 61 points to 48 for runner-up Detroit Cass Tech and 28.5 for third-place East Kentwood. West Bloomfield was fourth with 28. The Knights took firsts in the 1,600 and 800 relays, seconds in the 400 relay, open 100 and 400, a third in the 300 hurdles and a fourth in the 200.
Put it all together and it was business as usual for the team, coach Brandon Jiles said.
"Today was a little tough because we had battles with Cass Tech and East Kentwood," he said. "We had a few tough breaks, but when bad things happen you pick yourself up. The result is you deal with adversity."
Because the team has only two seniors, Jiles said Oak Park had to rely on a handful of younger athletes who were mainstays on the 2025 championship team, including junior Nevaeh Burns, who while not winning the 400 for a third straight time did post one of team's highest individual finishes with a second in the race. Teammate Aubrey Douglas was second in the 100.
"We had to spread things out," Jiles said. "Even though we were the favorite, we knew it would be tough. We do have a lot of experience from last year, but it's always tough to see what a young team will do. Twice we've gone for four in a row and didn't do it. This year we did."
Senior Kamryn Tatum of West Bloomfield won the 100 (11.74) while finishing second behind Malise Brown of Detroit Cass Tech in the 200 (23.13). Brown's time was an all-Finals record and sixth-best in the country this spring.
Tatum said she actually prefers running the longer 200-meter dash over the 100. She entered Saturday as a three-time Finals champ in the 200 while also winning the 100 a year ago.
"I hate the 100," Tatum said. "You have to get out strong to win the 100 because it's shorter. But I do what I do, and it's nice to win. My sophomore year was hard because I was injured, but now I was pretty much healthy."
East Lansing freshman Cayla Hawkins pulled one of the biggest upsets at the meet when she edged Oak Park's Burns in the 400. Hawkins had a 52.89 to creep past Burns' mark of 53.63.
"I know her from AAU," Hawkins said of Burns. "I was kind of shocked with myself, but I really pushed for this. I've had my days this year, kind of in and out. We call it "deep water," which means we save some of the hardest workouts for leading up to the state meet so we know what our bodies are capable of."
Richland Gull Lake junior Lane Isom won the 800 (2:11.06) after finishing just ninth a year ago. She was the best of a strong field which featured seven runners separated by less than three seconds. Isom had run a 2:09 a week ago.
"I knew I could run a fast time," she said. "It just depended on what would happen. I just went out and tried to do my best."
Grand Ledge's Katie Blue was a two-time champion in events with little in common. The Comet senior won the pole vault (14-0) as well as the 300 hurdles (43.14). The pole vault was an all-Finals record after her previous best was a 13-10 two weeks ago.
"My main goal was to go 14-feet," said Blue, who missed on her first attempt at three heights. "It just depends on the person. If you're mentally strong, you can bounce back from that. You can't let it get in your head because that just makes the next two or three attempts harder."
Other individual champs were Natasza Dudek in the 3,200 (10:15.25), Elliana Neuer of Hartland in the 1,600 (4:51.73), Kyleigh Peacock of Troy in the long jump (19-1), Olivia Latunski of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (138-2) in the discus, Detroit Cass Tech's Laila Hawkins in the 100 hurdles (14.15) and Alannah Love of Lansing Waverly in the high jump (5-0).
West Bloomfield won the 400 relay (46.88) and Ann Arbor Skyline took the 3,200 (9:05.75). Clarkston’s Allison Thurman (100, 400) and Fenton’s Molly Katic (200) finished first in adaptive events.
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park's Nevaeh Burns bursts forward after taking a handoff during for her team's winning 1,600 relay Saturday. (Middle) Detroit Cass Tech's Malise Brown, middle, crosses the finish line in record time in the 100. (Click for more from John Brabbs, Carter Sherline and Jamie McNinch/RunMichigan.com.)