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.
Wirth Shows Worth Again for D3 Power
June 2, 2016
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
WESTPHALIA – This past March, fewer than 2 minutes remained in Pewamo-Westphalia's Class C Regional Semifinal basketball loss to Ypsilanti Arbor Prep when junior Brenna Wirth heard a pop in her right ankle.
She fell to the floor in pain, unaware if her upcoming track and field season would be in jeopardy.
“That was one of my main concerns when it happened because I didn’t know how bad it was at first,” Wirth said. “It hurt a lot, and I heard a pop when it happened. I think I came down on a girl’s ankle and I was pretty worried.”
Wirth’s anxiety was eased by the good news that awaited her after the game. It turned out to be only a badly sprained ankle. Nothing worse.
“I got lucky I guess,” Wirth said. “But it has motivated me to push myself a little harder to get back to where I want to be.”
Wirth, one of the elite sprinters in Lower Peninsula Division 3, has fully recovered from the injury and is expected to compete in Saturday’s MHSAA Track & Field Finals at Comstock Park High School.
The Pirates have won two MHSAA girls track and field championships over the past three years and will look to go back-to-back Saturday.
Wirth will be an important component in their quest.
“We have a lot of depth, and she is part of that,” P-W track and field coach Scott Werner said. “One of the first pieces we look at is where we can utilize Brenna, and then we build around her to maximize our team points.”
She is thankful the ankle injury didn’t set her back longer than a few weeks.
“It healed a lot faster than I thought it would,” Wirth said. “I slowly began walking on it again, and I went from there. I’m excited for this weekend, and I think our team has a good shot this year again.”
Werner said Wirth has made the necessary strides to make a speedy comeback.
“I consider her healthy now,” he said. “She has been building up and feeling as good as she has the whole year. Things are starting to come together, and we hope we can peak this Saturday and finish things off right.”
Wirth will take part in the 200 and 400, as well as join her teammates as a member of the top-ranked 400 and 800 relay teams.
She won both individual events at last week’s Regional and is considered among the favorites to take home an individual title Saturday.
Wirth has plenty of motivation, especially in the 400, which is her signature event. She placed runner-up at the Finals as a freshman and sophomore.
“I’ve gotten so close in the 400 these past few years, so I’m hoping this is the year,” Wirth said. “I just want to give it my best effort. I’ve worked hard all season to get to this point, so I’m just hoping to run fast for the team. My team is the end goal, everything for them.”
Wirth’s work ethic separates her from other athletes, and it has helped propel her to success on the track and in other sports.
She also competes on the cross country team and delivered a new personal record at the Finals last fall.
“She is just a real athletic kid, and every sport that she is part of she is very good at,” Werner said. “She is such a hard worker, and where she excels at the most the past few years is the 400. That’s a type of race that you have to grind through, and she’s really strong mentally. She can go in and fight through and do her thing.”
Wirth will run Saturday without her older sister, Marissa, by her side. The two shared the track and past two seasons before Marissa graduated.
They drove each other to compete at the highest level.
“We ran on the same relays, and at times I had to run against her,” Wirth said. “It’s a lot different this year, and I really do miss her. She really pushed me, and I think I helped push her a lot. We kept each other going.”
Wirth made her presence known early on in her high school career, emerging as one of the top sprinters on a team chock-full of talented runners.
“She immediately came in and was among our best sprinters of what I would consider a pretty strong sprint program the past few years,” Werner said. “She was an instant-impact-type kid. She has a real positive attitude and sets a really great tone. She’s a good leader, and she’s a part of the strong culture that we have here.”
PHOTO: Pewamo-Westphalia's Brenna Wirth (left) crosses just before Hart's Jennie Gottardo to finish second in the 400 at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Photo by Jamie Geysbeek/RunMichigan.com.)