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West Iron County Claims 1st MHSAA Crown

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

June 2, 2013

 

KINGSFORD — It was a historical day for the West Iron County girls at Saturday's Upper Peninsula Track Finals as they were crowned champions for the first time.

The Wykons topped the Division 2 standings with 144 points. Manistique brought home its first runner-up trophy with 99 and Newberry placed third at 84.

 

 

"We were down by 12 points at one point during the meet, but I knew we could make up the points," said West Iron coach Kristi Berutti. "The girls were so awesome. They literally did better than they were ranked. This (U.P. title) was our goal from the beginning. We had only two seniors, but they were great leaders. We'll be strong again next year."

West Iron junior Cassilyn Pellizzer won the 300-meter hurdles in a school-record 48.7 seconds, was runner-up in the 100 hurdles (17.41), took third in high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches and helped the winning 1,600 relay.

 

 

"I usually get tired on the home stretch and hit the last two hurdles," said Pellizzer, who appeared smooth going over the final two hurdles this time. "I was so nervous before and kind of transferred that energy to the race. The U.P. title was icing on the cake."

The Wykons, who won three relays, also got firsts from Carli Johnson in the 200 (28.3), Alexis Golfis in long jump (14-3¾) and Megan Miatech in shot put (34-10).
Freshman Holly Blowers took the 800 (2:29.56) for Manistique, which also won the 400 relay.

 

 

"We're very happy with being runners-up," said Manistique coach Chris Marana. "This is a big accomplishment for us. Hopefully, this will jumpstart us next year. We're losing some good seniors who will be hard to replace. But we have some good kids coming back. We knew we had to be at our A-plus game to beat West Iron. Our girls definitely competed hard, but West Iron was on top of its game today.”

Newberry freshman Natalie Beaulieu won the 1,600 in a personal-best 5:34.37 and also the 3,200 (12:12.55).

 

 

"I'm pretty happy with that," Beaulieu said. "I wanted to try to keep a steady pace. But with this being the U.P. Finals, I found that I went out a little harder. Although, this wasn't anything unexpected. I felt good in the 3,200 relay and 1,600 and was able to get into a rhythm.”

 

Iron Mountain senior Hailey LaFleur was a double winner, taking the 100 (13.49) and 400 (1:03.02).

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) West Iron County's Cassilyn Pellizzer clears a hurdle en route to winning the 300 race and setting a school record of 48.7 seconds. (Middle) Iron Mountain senior Hailey LaFleur won two championships Saturday. (Photo by Paul Gerard. Click to see more photo coverage from RunMichigan.com.)  

High 5s - 5/1/12

May 1, 2012

Each week, Second Half gives "High 5s" to multiple athletes and a team that have performed exceptionally on the field or made a notable impact off of it.

Please offer your suggestions by e-mail to editor Geoff Kimmerly at [email protected]. Below are this week's honorees:

Sarita Dotson

Battle Creek Lakeview junior

Girls Track and Field

For the second straight season, Dotson was named the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Eldon Draime/Al Geisler Memorial All-City Meet held at Battle Creek Harper Creek (she shared the award in 2011). Dotson won the 100-meter dash (12.5 seconds), the 200 (25.5) and the long jump (16 feet, 3.5 inches) and was on the winning 800 relay (1:48.11) as Lakeview scored 250 points as a team to win the meet by 102.83. Dotson qualified for the MHSAA Division 1 Final last spring as a sophomore, but just missed making the championship races in the 100 and 200. She focuses solely on track, but was a cheerleader as both a freshman and a sophomore.

100 is my No. 1: "It's just so much fun. It's really exciting. You've got it or you don't. After a while, everyone is at the same level. Whoever is on her game that day, prepared the hardest, it's going to show in the 100 meters."

I learned the most about track from: Dotson said a number of coaches, and that her first youth coaches -- including Larry Caper -- could tell right away what she should be running. "Immediately, the first day of practice, one of them said, 'She's a sprinter.' I didn't know what a sprinter was."

A few words to run by: "I always start off with a prayer, or at least try, to remember why I do this and to get my mind straight. My pastor was my coach when I started in third grade, and the first thing he taught us to do when we get on the track is pray."

Favorite formula: Dotson's favorite school subject is chemistry -- and she is considering a career in cosmetic science with a focus on the engineering and creation of make-up.

Cullen Prena

Walled Lake Central junior

Boys Track and Field

Prena has blasted onto the throwing scene this spring and especially the last few weeks after twice throwing the discus more than 180 feet -- and according to an Oakland Press report, broke both school and Oakland County records that had each stood for at least 29 seasons. He threw the discus 187 feet, seven inches, to win the event at Saturday's Oxford Invitational, and he also won the shot put with a toss of 52-1. Prena's best discus throw last season was 159 feet -- and his toss Saturday would've won every MHSAA Final dating back to 2003. Prena finished fifth in discus at last season's Division 1 championship meet. He's not the only thrower in his family -- older sisters Kari (University of Michigan) and Kelsey (Michigan State) throw in the Big Ten.

I learned the most about throwing from: "Definitely Coach (Nebojsa Stojkovic). And it helps to have my sisters now in college. They can give me advice all the time."

Be like Ryan (Crouser): The University of Texas freshman owns the national high school discus record of 237-6, and "is definitely a model (for me). That's quite a mark."

My dream scenario: "... after this would be college, then to train for the Olympics after that, and win gold in the Olympics. Realistically, I don't know if that's out there or not. But it's a great place to aim."

Major decision: Prena hasn't picked his college or what he'll study some day, but "I'm thinking some kind of marketing or business, or something in the communications field. I do like working with people, and I also like talking. Potentially a sports broadcaster or a marketing engineer."

Muskegon Mona Shores boys golf

Mona Shores didn't finish first during either round of this weekend's Traverse City Central Invitational. But the Sailors, ranked No. 2 in the Division 1 state poll, finished second both at Spruce Run (309) and the Wolverine (297) for a combined score of 606 -- good for a one-stroke win over top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and two strokes ahead of then No. 5 Traverse City West. Three more teams from that field have since joined the Division 1 top 10.

Reed Hrynewich shot a 69 to finish second at the Wolverine and a 75 to finish fifth at Spruce Run, while teammate Andrew Van Aels finished eight overall at both courses. Those two, Joel Maire and Eric Kastelic also were among the team's top five when it finished fifth at last season's MHSAA Division 1 Final.

This spring's previous honorees