Saints Make It 4 Straight Championships
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2013
KINGSFORD — The St. Ignace girls didn't let anything stand in their way in winning the Upper Peninsula Division 3 track championship Saturday with 121 points.
Two-time defending champion Brimley settled for runner-up honors this time with 57, and third-place Crystal Falls Forest Park scored 47.
St. Ignace senior Sarah Cullip was a triple winner, taking the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 29.38 seconds, the 1,600 (5:36.43) and 3,200 (12:30.12).
Sophomore teammate Lilly Calcaterra was runner-up in the 800 (2:33.79), third in the 1,600 (5:42.57) and 3,200 (12:55.55) and helped the winning 1,600 relay.
"This wasn't my best time (in the 1,600), but I'm glad to win it as a senior," said Cullip, who plans to run at Grand Valley State University next season. "But I thought Lilly ran well today. She works hard in the summer. I think she's going to be pretty special."
St. Ignace, which captured the D-2 title the past three seasons, scored just two points in the first three events this time. The Saints, however, got on track with a victory in the 400 relay.
Junior Rachel Hetherington, who had a false start in the 100, bounced back to help the winning 800 relay, place third in the 400 (1:04.24) and second in the 200 (27.47).
"We had a few things go wrong early in the meet," said St. Ignace coach Trudy Olsen. "But when Rachel came across (in the 800 relay), I knew we'd be okay. Sarah and Lilly took care of things in the distances. Between the two of them, they scored 50 points which is huge. The girls were supporting each other, and that's what it takes. They were there to pick each other up."
The Saints' 800 relay was clocked at a U.P meet-record 1:51.48, topping the previous best (1:52.31) by Forest Park three years ago.
St. Ignace senior Hailee Brown added a first in the 300 hurdles (49.41) and helped the winning 800 and 1,600 relays.
Brimley freshman Kerri Chartrand was runner-up in the 300 hurdles (49.53). Engadine freshman Aspen Hood, the pre-meet favorite in the hurdles races, didn't run in those due to a knee injury.
"I usually have Aspen there to push me, and the Brimley girl and I are usually neck-and-neck," said Brown, who will attend Lansing Community College this fall. "She beat me in the Regional. I didn't have a good 100 hurdles today. I got ahead of everybody and felt I needed to stay there. I got a little too anxious."
Bark River-Harris senior Sydni Petrie set the U.P. Final discus record (116-1), topping the previous standard (115-7 ¾) by Bark River-Harris’ Kerrie Meyers set in 2009.
Chassell senior Jamie Dompiere won the 400 in a school-record 1:00.62. She also took the 100 (12.83) and 200 (26.38).
"Three-for-three, that's awesome," Dompiere said. "As crazy as this season was, I had a great season. When we finally had our first outdoor meet (at Lake Linden-Hubbell on May 10), it felt like a season opener all over again because we hadn't had a meet since the one at the Superior Dome (in Marquette on April 18). We just had to fight through all the bad weather.
“I ran a good 100 time today. Only, I didn't do as well as in the Copper Country Conference meet (12.38). We had the false start in our heat, and everybody became more cautious. We didn't want to risk it."
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace's Sarah Cullip, here in the 1,600, won that race and both the 800 and 3,200 on Saturday. (Photo by Paul Gerard. Click to see more photo coverage from RunMichigan.com.) (Middle) The St. Ignace girls track and field team poses with its fourth-straight MHSAA championship trophy. (Photo courtesy of St. Ignace High School.)
Heartbreak Pushes St. Francis to Finish Strong
June 1, 2013
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
HUDSONVILLE – After finishing as runner-up last year, the Traverse City St. Francis girls track and field team did not need any emotional motivation Saturday at the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Baldwin Street Middle School in Hudsonville.
St. Francis got it, anyway. But it came in a painful way.
Senior Kaitlyn Hegewald tore her Achilles tendon in her left foot as she began the third leg of the 800 relay and could not return to action. With Hegewald sidelined, the Gladiators posted three victories and captured their first MHSAA championship in track and field.
“I got the hand-off and took a few steps, and I just couldn’t step on my foot anymore,” Hegewald said while sitting in a golf cart with her left foot wrapped in tape.
St. Francis coach Julie Duffing was watching from across the field and did not realize what had happened.
“I actually thought she got spiked, and then she kept trying to go,” Duffing said. “Coach finally yelled at her to stop, and that’s when she went down. We were expected to win that race, and we were ahead.”
It could have had devastating consequences, but the Gladiators regrouped.
Freshman Holly Bullough came through with victories in the 800 (2:16.53) and the 1,600 (5:07.37), while senior Lauren Buckel defended her Finals championship in the 400 in 59.54 seconds and was runner-up in the 200, which she won last year as well.
“We had one of our top runners tear her Achilles in the 800,” Buckel said. “I think it broke everyone’s heart.
“She’s a senior. It really kind of dampened the mood because we were hoping to come away with a state title in the beginning, then it kind of gave us a ‘let’s do this for Kaitlyn’ mentality.”
Buckel and Hegewald had a special bond that went beyond teammates.
“Lauren and Kaitlyn have done handoffs together since the seventh grade,” Duffing said.
Buckel’s title in the 400 was especially gratifying as that event has caused her both grief and happiness during her career. In fact, she calls the 400 “my beast.”
“That race has kind of been my beast, kind of something that I’ve struggled with,” she said. “It’s been a challenge for me. I’ve ran it now for nine years, ever since the fourth grade.
“It’s always been such a hard race.”
Duffing has seen first-hand how Buckel has struggled with the event.
“Last year she didn’t want to run it, so we did the whole ‘you’re not running it, and you don’t have to run it,’ thing until she asked me to run it,” Duffing said. “And when she asked, it was hers.
“She’s a beast, and the beast conquered the beast.”
Meanwhile, Bullough broke through in her first MHSAA Final in amazing fashion. She won the 800 by more than 5 seconds and took the 1,600 by more than 10 seconds. She also was runner-up in the 3,200 and anchored the 3,200 relay team that finished second.
“In the mile I was seeded first, and I won that, so it was very exciting,” Bullough said. “It wasn’t as close as I thought it would be, but they still pushed me as hard as I could go. In the 800, I was seeded second by like milliseconds, and that one was very hard – harder than I expected. But in the end I had extra power to pull through, and that’s what I did.”
And Bullough spoke of how the injury to Hegewald affected her during the meet.
“That was heartbreaking,” she said. “She’s a senior and everything, and that just made us so sad. But it also made us want to win more for her.”
Runner-up Reading, which finished second to Traverse City St. Francis by 14 points, won three events, including the 400 and 1,600 relays. Junior Michelle Davis won the 300 hurdles in 44.92 seconds, breaking the LP Division 4 record of 44.98 set in 2010 by Megan Heffner of Kinde-North Huron. Davis also ran on both winning relays, as did sophomore Jennifer Davis and freshman Sam Pfeiffer.
The other double winner was Miranda Johnson of Ottawa Lake Whiteford, which placed sixth. Johnson, a junior, repeated as champion in the long jump and also won the 200. Johnson broke the LP Division 4 meet record with a leap of 18 feet , 2 ½ inches, topping the previous record of 17-11¾ set by Amanda Weber of Portland St. Patrick in 2004.
Other repeat champions were senior Elizabeth Herriman of Sand Creek in the shot put, junior Addie Schumacher of Beal City in the high jump, senior Chantel Davenport of Athens in the 100 hurdles and junior Kirsten Olling of Breckenridge in the 3,200.
The other champions were junior Jade Madison of New Buffalo in the discus, junior Amanda MacDonald of Coleman in the pole vault and junior Ashley White of Detroit Edison Academy in the 100.
Royal Oak Shrine won the 800 relay, and Hillsdale Academy took the 3,200 relay.
PHOTOS: (Top) Sprinters approach the finish line during a 100-meter dash preliminary Saturday. (Middle) Ottawa Lake Whiteford's Miranda Johnson (middle) finished first in the long jump and 200 and second in the 100. (Photo by Carter Sherline. Click to see more photo coverage from RunMichigan.com.)