Speedy Sprint-Distance Tandem Carries Buckley to 1st Championship
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2023
HUDSONVILLE – Buckley capitalized on the balance of junior distance star Aiden Harrand and freshman standout sprinter Brooklyn Fraeze to rack up the points needed to win the Lower Peninsula Division 4 track & field championship with 52 points Saturday at Hudsonville.
The team title was Buckley’s first in girls track & field.
Harrand won the 1,600 for the third-consecutive year and added titles in the 800 and the 3,200, leading her team to the championship. Those three wins followed her cross country Finals championship from the fall.
“I think it’s kind of fun,” she said about racking up the titles. “My team motivates me, I mean we’re in it as a group and my points matter, so I do it for them.
“It was a cool experience to have, winning those two,” she said about the two longest races, the 1,600 and 3,200, which were the hardest of the overall meet due to the low 90s/high 80s heat and searing sun all day. Race officials allowed the unique opportunity for coaches to spray the runners with water and give them water bottles.
“The water on the backstretch was so nice, and I’m really glad it was there,” Harrand said about the unusual experience. “My coaches were spraying me, and that was so nice to have.
“And our girls took first overall, so we’re really excited for that. Me and Brooklynn (Fraeze) had lots of points, and our 4 x 400 (eighth place) got us the last points we needed. It was amazing, and this is why we do it.”
Fraeze, a freshman, won 100 dash with a personal best of 12.47. She added a runner-up finish in the 200.
“I was like, oh my gosh I’m doing it, the finish line is right there,” she said about the last 10 meters of the 100, as she finished just ahead of Molly Brown of Addison (12.57).
Brown later won the 100 hurdles.
“The girl who got second place, I felt her at like the halfway point and I was telling myself ‘I’ve got to go,’” Brown said of the hurdles win. “And after I finished the race, I was thinking about it and I heard my family yelling for me. I saw my dad and I started crying; there’s just a lot of emotions.”
Her team finished sixth.
Portland St. Patrick was the team runner-up, just three points back at 49. Indian River Inland Lakes took third, Fowler was fourth and Hillsdale Academy took fifth.
Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart senior Anna Plum successfully defended her 300 hurdles title.
“I think I was actually seeded third, but I had high expectations since I won last year and I really wanted that again,” Plum said. “It’s kind of like validation.
“We put in great practices, and God, honestly,” she credited as factors for her win and the team’s focus. “We are Sacred Heart and believe in God and put a lot of trust in that.
“My feet are pretty hot right now,” Plum added about the weather conditions. “I bet I’ve got some pretty big blisters. I don’t even know how the 3,200 runners do it. It was insane today.”
Rylee Scheurer led St. Patrick by winning the 200 (25.82), and Natalie Wandrie keyed Inland Lakes’ pursuit with wins in the shot put (39-8) and discus (128-11). Frankfort in the 400 (50.68), Fowler in the 800 (1:47.17) and Hillsdale Academy in the 1,600 (4:08.08) and 3,200 (9:57.73) were relay champions, and Beal City’s Kaylee Locke won the 400 (58.55).
Marlette’s Olivia Findlay won the high jump (5-4) and Wyoming Potter’s House Christian’s Sohanny Gonzalez-Castillo won the long jump (17-4). Deckerville’s Rebecca Moeller was first in the pole vault (10-6).
PHOTOS (Top) Buckley's Aiden Harrand sets the pace in the 1,600 on Saturday. (Middle) Addison's Molly Brown celebrates her win in the 100 hurdles. (Below) Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart's Anna Plum clears a hurdle during the 300. (Photos by Ken Swart/RunMichigan.com.)
Eastern Upper Peninsula Power Reigns in Girls Distance Races
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 8, 2025
PICKFORD — Girls distance runners don’t have to look far to find competition in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.
That’s especially true in Division 3, where Pickford junior Talya Schreiber is setting the pace.
Last fall, Eastern U.P. runners grabbed the top four places at the U.P. Division 3 Cross Country Final at Munising. Schreiber won that race for the first time in 2023, followed by Newberry’s Samantha and Abby Taylor, then retained her title in October.
Abby Taylor was runner-up, with Samantha placing third and Engadine eighth-grader Molly NcNamara taking fourth in that most recent championship race.
“I started at a younger age,” Schreiber said after the Web Morrison Invite at Pickford on April 26. “I ran my first cross country meet in sixth grade. That was definitely a learning curve, but I got hooked on that feeling. The first meet went well.
“Once I got into seventh grade, I knew I wanted to make a future of it. In my freshman year, we moved from Cedarville to Pickford. It was quite an adjustment with new coaches and athletic program and being a bigger school.”
Schreiber won three individual events April 12 at the Yooper Indoor Invitational at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie. She was clocked at 2:30.64 in the 800-meter run and took the 1,600 (5:15.55) and 3,200 (11:16.96), well ahead of her nearest competitor, Escanaba senior and Northern Michigan University recruit Alisha Mabie.
“That was a good experience,” Schreiber said. “Alisha is doing real well.
“After cross country, I started my track and field training. Every week I worked out at the LSSU track. I’m hoping to break five minutes in the 1,600 and go under 11 in the 3,200.”
At Pickford, Schreiber again posted winning times in the 800 (2:30.32), 1,600 (5:21.49) and 3,200 (11:27.79).
Abby Taylor was runner-up in the 400 (1:09.6) and 800 (2:41.01) and Samantha took second in the 1,600 (5:31.77) and 3,200 (11:52.25).
“Abby and Sam are good athletes,” Schreiber said. “They push me and it results in better times, and Molly is going to be something special. Sam ran a nice 3,200 on our track, and Abby had some nice races.”
The Taylor sisters dominated last Thursday’s Rapid River Invitational, placing 1-2 in the 3,200. Samantha won in 12:12.59, and Abby was runner-up (12:29.35) in a steady cold rain.
Sam also won the 1,600 (5:28.44) and Abby finished first in the 800 (2:26.45). Both were also part of the winning 3,200 relay (10:39.42).
“It’s a family tradition,” Abby Taylor said. “I became interested in eighth grade. I knew it was something I wanted to do. There’s a lot more competition in our area. Although anywhere you go, you have competition.”
She said she trains about 30-40 miles a week.
“Running with these girls in cross country was good preparation for track,” she added. “Running with Talya helps a lot. She makes you better, and Molly draws the best out of you. Molly has a good future.”
They also train together quite often.
“We push each other in practice,” Samantha said. “I try to give Abby advice. She sometimes has a problem with that, but I see the potential in her. I want to see her do well.
“Talya is also a very good runner. We look up to her, and Molly is really good. We enjoy the competition.”
How did the Taylors overcome the elements at Rapid River?
“We went inside the school to do some stretching and stay warm between races,” Abby said. “Our team did really well. … The distances are a big part of our team.”
McNamara, who’s still doing middle school track, could compete with the varsity at the Regional at Rapid River on May 14. Engadine is headed to St. Ignace for an invitational tonight.
Newberry travels to Munising for Friday’s ‘Under the Lights’ Invitational.
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 Pickford's Talya Schreiber leads Ishpeming's Lola Korpi on the way to winning the 1,600 during last season’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals. (Middle) Newberry's Samantha Taylor leads sister Abby Taylor during last season’s 1,600 championship race in Division 3. (Photos by Cara Kamps.)