Upper Peninsula Teams Find Successful Footing at Hancock Invitational
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 7, 2026
HANCOCK — Whatever happened to the days of smaller track & field meets?
Are they gone?
Answer: No.
The Hancock Bulldogs held their invitational this past Saturday in the Copper Country.
“This is the first time we’ve held this meet on a Saturday,” Hancock coach Jennifer Smith said. “This is also the first time we’ve held the varsity and middle school meets on the same day. We had a beautiful day and had a lot of PRs (personal records).”
The Bulldogs, showing superior numbers, swept both girls and boys titles in their lone home meet this season.
“It’s nice to have a home invitational, but it’s kinda scary having the only relay team in the race,” Bulldogs’ junior Olivia Kangas said after anchoring their 800 relay. “All the eyes are on you. The downside of that is you don’t have any competition, but it’s still a motivator and counts as a win.”
The Hancock girls scored 174 points, followed by Dollar Bay with 82 and Ontonagon at 60.
Sophomore Alena Pietila provided the Bulldogs with firsts in the 800 (2:41.48), 1,600 (6:03.68) and 3,200 (13:28.19).
“This was a phenomenal day for Alena, and our captain Rebekah Barrette and Olivia Kangas had solid days,” Smith added. “The rest of the kids are younger.”
The Hancock boys collected 145 points. They were followed by Dollar Bay with 70 and Calumet Copper Island Academy with 51.
“The smaller numbers make for a more relaxed atmosphere,” Hancock sophomore Robert Comstock said. “It was fun and it’s motivation to run against the seniors. It’s better on your home track. I’m looking forward to next year’s meet.”
Hancock sophomore Sawyer Martens, who anchored three winning relays, placed second in the boys 200-meter dash in 26.42 seconds on the asphalt surface.
“I really pushed myself and ran hard in every race,” he said. “This is a good meet, and it’s really fun. This is way better than practice. We fought real hard. Running against older people builds confidence.”
Although the meet drew six relatively small schools, some of the events were quite competitive.
The girls 400-meter dash was an example of that as Ontonagon senior Violet Amos pulled away in the home stretch to win in 1:07.2. Her opponent, Dollar Bay sophomore Emma Myllyoja, was clocked at 1:10.88 on a sunny and mild day.
“I could have run better,” Amos said. “Although, she’s a decent runner. It’s a good meet. There’s not many teams here, but it’s fun. We’ve lost a couple meets due to the weather. It’s nice to be able to fill a gap in our schedule.”
Amos, who will attend classes at Bay College this fall, also won the 100 (13.5) and 200 (28.31).
“We didn’t have everybody here, but some of the kids came out on a Saturday which shows they like what they’re doing,” Ontonagon coach Brian Amos said. “We didn’t make any changes. We kind of let them do their thing. We just want to see some progress.”
Dollar Bay junior Laila Bell won long jump (15-7½) and pole vault (7-6) and placed second in the 100 (14.08) and 800 (3:00.81).
“This is definitely not what I was expecting (in the 800),” she said. “I need to work on pacing. In the last meet, I was not very good in long jump. I just needed to fix some things and got a PR in the 100, which I’m happy about.”
Chassell sophomore Jordan Holombo took the 100 hurdles (17.69) and 300s (49.31).
“It’s awesome having another opportunity to compete,” Chassell coach Casana Ryynanen said. “We had a girl run the 100 hurdles for the first time and had another doing the 1,600 for the first time. The kids are doing an awesome job.”
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.
PHOTO Hancock athletes bite down on their medals won at their home invitational.
LP Division 3 Champs Take Winning Steps
June 4, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – In track and field, the difference between an MHSAA Finals championship and not being atop the medal stand may be the difference of a step or two.
Marlette's Andrew Storm proved that Saturday at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals at Comstock Park High School.
Two tweaks to his technique paid huge dividends, as Storm won both the 110- and 300-meter hurdles with times of 14.82 and 39.14 seconds, respectively.
"I eliminated a step from my block and found a lot of new drills that helped me win the 110," said Storm, who will take his talents to Oakland University next year. "Then in the 300, I eliminated two steps from that race, which really helped me."
Both were personal-best times, and they could not have come at a better time.
"All year I have been tweaking my runs, and I progressively got better," Storm said. "I didn't hit the first hurdle today in the 110, because I planted the first hurdle at Regionals, and that's why I was not seeded first today in that event. It really comes down to that."
The Sanford-Meridian 400 relay of Monte Petre, Andre Smith, Miles Leviere and Christian Petre set a meet record with a great time of 43.14. That group effort helped the team win its second MHSAA title in three years with 39 points, five more than runner-up Hillsdale.
"This was a group effort," Christian Petre said. "Everyone has put in the work, and we ran a smooth relay. We were peaking at the right time."
"We knew the 4X100 was going to be our strength coming in, and they set a goal of breaking a state record earlier this year and they accomplished that," Sanford-Meridian coach Mike Bilina added. "The kids work really hard, they buy into the weight room and really enjoy improving."
The Sanford-Meridian 800 relay team of Monte Petre, Matt Hoffman, Leviere and Christian Petre also won with a time of 1:29.21, while Christian Petre took second in the 100 and 200 and Monte Petre took sixth in the 100.
The Mustangs’ finish was not a huge surprise. But another thing great about sports is that anybody can have the day of his or her life and make a name just like that.
That's what happened to Wyoming Lee sophomore Thomas Robinson, as he won both the 100 and 200 with times of 11.09 and 22.2 seconds, respectively.
What makes Robinson's story so special is that he did not even play a sport his freshman year, but decided to go out for football this year and played both wide receiver and cornerback.
And after a little nudging from former Lee football coach Carlton Brewster, Robinson decided to go out for track as well.
"Coach said this would help me out for football, and I think it will," Robinson said. "I did expect to win the 200, but never thought I could win the 100, because I was seeded sixth coming in."
An athlete used to the spotlight was Grand Rapids West Catholic senior thrower Carl Myers.
Myers came into Saturday's Finals as the reigning champion in the shot put, looking to break the meet record that Allendale's Zack Hill earned with an impressive toss of 63 feet, 9.5 inches in 2009.
Myers came up short of that, but won his second shot put title with a personal-best throw of 62-9.75. He also won the discus title with a throw of 172-1.
"Of course my goal was to break the record, but I'm happy to get the wins," said Myers, who will be going to the University of Michigan next year to play football and throw the shot put. "My whole team worked hard this year, and it paid off."
PHOTO: Marlette's Andrew Storm (right) clears a hurdle on the way to one of his two individual titles Saturday at Comstock Park. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)