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.
Oak Park, Returning Individual Champs Lead Chase Again at Star-Filled Finals
By
Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2024
EAST KENTWOOD — Abby Russell has no problem throwing as the favorite with everyone else hoping to catch her.
In fact, the Allen Park senior embraces summoning up her best efforts in both the discus and shot put every time she lines up to throw. Russell said she's never equated success with the pressure of being a state champion.
"To be honest, no," said Russell, who closed out a stellar career by winning those two events at Saturday's Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals at East Kentwood. "I just focus on myself. Going to see a sports psychologist has helped me a lot with that. We talk about the work you have to put in, and (success) being a consistency thing."
Whether it's pure talent or seeking professional guidance or the ability to deal with pressure, Russell finished off an outstanding career in winning the discus (156-6) and the shot (46-10) on Saturday. The two titles are added to a first as a sophomore and third as a junior in the shot. She's now a three-time champ in the discus.
The wins at East Kentwood were also personally rewarding to Russell, who didn't place in the shot as a freshman at Falcon Stadium. It's one of the few places where the University of Michigan-bound Russell figures she could have done better.
"I was real bad as a freshman, so I was happy to get back here again," she said. "I had a great time back then. I just didn't do what I wanted."
While Russell was among those dominating the individual meet Saturday, Oak Park was sweeping its way to a team title. The Knights finished with 88 points to easily outdistance runner-up Ann Arbor Pioneer's 42. Detroit Renaissance was third with 35 points, East Kentwood was fourth with 34 and Saginaw Heritage had 30.
Oak Park coach Brandon Jiles, whose team collected its eighth Finals title under his leadership, said he wasn't sure what type of showing a young team would make Saturday. Of the 35 athletes on the roster, just three are seniors.
Still, Jiles thought the team would be in the hunt along with Pioneer, Renaissance and Detroit Cass Tech. At least part of the success was winning the 800 (1:38.10), 400 (47.53) and 1,600 (3:47.99) relays. The other firsts were by senior Morgan Roundtree in the 300 hurdles (41.31), freshman Nevaeh Burns in the 400 (55.02) and senior Kylee King (2:10.53) in the 800.
"We thought we had a shot. We just take it one event at a time and do what we have to do. We only have three seniors, but they're really good kids. We'll have some good girls back next year, and they know they'll have to step up and score," Jiles said.
"I'm a very competitive person when I see other teams that are good. I think the girls are like that too. We're ready when it comes to championship time."
Roundtree said her two chief goals at the meet were accomplished. She wanted to join a long list of successful Oak Park sprinters while also leading a young team to a championship.
"I want to motivate my teammates, and I think I was able to do that," said Roundtree, whose 300 time is ninth best in the country. "We've had some good sprinters here, and I really wanted to become one of them."
Among the other champions was Lena Cleveland of Rochester, who went from finishing fourth in the long jump a year ago to winning (18-2) that event Saturday. Cleveland is a former sprinter who traded the 100 and 200 for the long jump a couple of years ago.
"I wanted to try the long jump, and it's worked out," she said. "I put in a lot of hard work over the summer and in indoor. I also worked hard in strength training in the gym. I didn't used to have access to a (long jump) pit, but I was able to put in the work."
Rachel Forsyth of Ann Arbor Pioneer won the 1,600 (4:38.28) and 3,200 (10:15.57) to cap an outstanding four-year career. A two-time cross country Finals champ, Forsyth overcame illness to win the 1,600 a year ago. She was coming off a trip to the Trial of Miles meet in New York a couple of weeks ago, but said the Finals featured virtually no mental letdown.
"Maybe a little, but you can't control it," she said. "You can only control what you're doing that day. And I think I ran well. It was great because my sister was in the same three events I was in in 2017."
The other champions Saturday were Kamryn Tatum of West Bloomfield in the 200 (24.63), Brooke Bowers of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in the pole vault (12-9), Madison Morson of Salem in the high jump (5-10), Maya Rollins of Ann Arbor Pioneer (13.86) in the 100 hurdles, Willow Mason of Saginaw Heritage in the 200 (24.66) and Keyanna O'Tey of Sturgis in the 100 (12.08). West Ottawa won the 3,200 relay (9:00.27), and Fenton sophomore Molly Katic (100), Clarkston freshman Allison Thurman (200) and Sturgis freshman Vivian Massey (shot put) were the adaptive event champions.
PHOTOS (Top) Oak Park celebrates its latest LP Division 1 team championship Saturday at East Kentwood. (Middle) Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Rachel Forsyth leads the pack in the 1,600. (Click for more from John Brabbs/RunMichigan.com.)