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.
Stockford Reigns, Ithaca Earns 1st Title
June 4, 2016
By Jeff Chaney
Special for Second Half
COMSTOCK PARK – Last year Hailey Stockford came out of nowhere to win a pair of sprinting championships at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track & Field Finals at Comstock Park High School.
This year, all eyes were on her.
As the reigning champion in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, the Sanford Meridian senior knew everyone at this year's Finals on Saturday, again at Comstock Park, wanted to dethrone here.
That was wishful thinking, as Stockford easily repeated in both events, winning the 100 in 12.27 seconds and the 200 in 25.29.
"It is a little harder to defend, because last year was my first year in track and no one knew who I was," said Stockford, who will be continuing her career at Saginaw Valley State University on a full scholarship. "This year I had the target on my back, and I don't know if I liked that. But I knew I was capable of dealing with it."
Those might have been the last of a long list of defenses for Stockford, but she started running track only last year as she also was a star on her school's softball team.
But her speed could not be ignored.
"In gym class, I ran the 40-yard dash and had a good time, and my coach, Mike Bilina, said I should really go out for track," Stockford said. "I played softball, but decided it was a good idea, and went out. Glad I did; it paid off."
Stockford's were two of many great performances on a perfect day for track and field. But collectively as a group, the day belonged to Ithaca, which won its first MHSAA team title in the sport with a score of 57.5 points, 3.5 more than runner-up Adrian Madison.
"Our goal coming in was to win," Ithaca coach Gene Lebron said "We scored 38 points last year and finished in fourth, and we didn't lose anybody. I am so proud of these girls, and so proud of the work they put in."
Ithaca was led to its title by senior Erica Sheahan, who repeated in the long jump with a leap of 17-10.25.
When talking about the Bullough family of Traverse City, a word that comes to mind is toughness.
That was never so true than Saturday, as St. Francis' Holly Bullough, younger sister of Max, Byron and Riley Bullough – who all played, or are now playing, football for Michigan State University – ran with a stress fracture in her left foot.
With a foot that requires a walking boot when she is not competing, Bullough won the 1,600 with a meet record time of 4 minutes, 52.63 seconds.
She also won the 800 in a time of 2:12.22 and was a member of the Gladiators' 1,600-meter relay team that took second with a time of 4:03.07.
"When I run, it's not as bad, but it really hurts after," said Bullough, who will be joining Byron and Riley at MSU this fall. "I felt good today. I haven't had a meet in a week and a half, so I have just been cross training. Today I just needed to get back into a rhythm."
Clare's Kasey Staley had a busy 10 minutes in her Finals events, as she ran for her team's 800-meter relay team that set a new school record of 1:46.91 and took third, and then came back to win the pole vault with a vault of 12 feet, 4 inches – a new meet record.
"The adrenaline was pumping," said Staley, a junior. "I did feel nervous because I just ran in the relay and came back to the pit. I made 11-8, and then went for 12-4 and when I made it on my second jump, it was the greatest feeling in the world."
PHOTOS: (Top) Sanford Meridian's Hailey Stockford (far left) is announced as the 100 meter champion Saturday at Comstock Park. (Middle) Ithaca's Emily Foster competes in the 300 hurdles; she finished fifth. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)