Did you see that? (10/15-10/21)
October 22, 2012
Three MHSAA fall sports came to an end over the weekend, and the tournament for a fourth has begun. Those finishes highlight the non-football best from the week that was Oct. 15-21.
Golf
Rankings play out: The Lower Peninsula girls season came to a close with all four top-ranked teams claiming championships. Plymouth won its first MHSAA title in any sport in Division 1, while Mona Shores became the first Lower Peninsula girls golf team to win four straight by doing so in Division 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern made it two titles in three seasons by winning Division 3, and Lansing Catholic won its third straight in Division 4. Second Half covered them all. (Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Tennis
Dynasties continue: Three of four top-ranked teams also won MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals over the weekend, with the other champion hardly unfamiliar with first place. Ann Arbor Huron was ranked only No. 3 before winning Division 1 for the third time in five seasons. Midland Dow won its fourth straight Division 2 title and Ann Arbor Greenhills won its fifth straight in Division 4. But the biggest headline goes to Detroit Country Day, which tied Ann Arbor Pioneers’ dominance in 2002 with 39 points in claiming the Division 3 title. Second Half also covered all four of these Finals.(Division 1) (Division 2) (Division 3) (Division 4)
Cross country
One streak ends, another begins: The Upper Peninsula season came to an end with its Finals for three divisions. Calumet’s Tara Kiilunen led her team to the Division 1 girls title by winning the individual championship for the fourth consecutive season. On the boys side, Sault Ste. Marie won its first title in 11 years thanks to the individual Division 1 championship of freshman Parker Scott, who finished this season undefeated. Second Half covered all the races. (Girls Finals) (Boys Finals)
Soccer
Powers emerge in Division 1: Lower Peninsula Districts whittled the number of teams still alive down to 64 – 16 in each of four divisions. And the two toughest Districts to navigate were arguably in Division 1. Top-ranked East Kentwood beat Caledonia 6-0 to win that District, but only after the Falcons knocked out No. 2 Rockford in a semifinal and the Rams did the same to No. 7 Okemos in an opener. Rochester Stoney Creek, ranked No. 4, emerged from a district at Rochester that included No. 9 Utica Eisenhower and honorable mention Troy Athens by beating Rochester Adams 2-1 in the title game – after Adams upset Eisenhower in a semi. (Grand Rapids Press) (Oakland Press)
Marquette Boys Conquer UP Division 1 Again in Potentially Record Fashion
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2025
KINGSFORD — Was there really ever a doubt the Marquette boys would capture the Upper Peninsula Division 1 track & field title Saturday?
The Sentinels left no doubt as they ran away with their fifth-consecutive championship, scoring a possible state-record 200 points.
Marquette, which won for the ninth time in 10 years, was followed by Sault Ste. Marie (65) and Kingsford (53).
“They’re a real hard-working group,” Sentinels coach Derek Marr said. “We talk about effort and attitude. We give the guys challenging goals and support them with continuous positive reinforcement.”
Marquette senior Michael Cattoor set the U.P. all-Finals pole vault record at 14-7, shattering the previous all-time best (14-0 in Class A-B) by Wade Hodge of Menominee in 1992 and the former D-1 record (13-8) set by Dayton Miron of Escanaba six years ago.
He also topped the previous school record which he shared with classmate Drew Bradley at 14-6 since Wednesday.
Bradley was runner-up this time at 14-0. Ishpeming Westwood junior Louis Salmi placed third (13-6), and Gladstone sophomore Andrew Karl was fourth (12-6).
“I had the guy from Gladstone and Drew here to push me,” Cattoor said. “Drew and I have been pushing each other back and forth. It’s good to have that competition in practice. We’ve been putting in extra time. We stayed about an hour extra each day.”
Marquette grabbed the top three places in the 200-meter dash, led by senior Jacob MacPhee in 22.72 seconds. He was followed by juniors Pierce Pittsley (22.87) and Ford Richardson (22.95).
MacPhee added a first in the 400 relay (50.69), helped the Sentinels set the U.P. Finals record in the 800 relay (1:36.30) that surpassed the 15-year-old record by Kingsford (1:36.73), and anchored the winning 1,600 relay (3:34.44).
Sophomore Lucas Ballard added a first in the 800 (1:58.09). He was followed by Houghton junior Luke Hill (1:59.72) and Marquette junior Beepsee Teeple (2:00.88).
“I’m excited about it,” Ballard said. “We had a good day. It was great running with our seniors for the last time. I’ll probably take a week off and get back in training.”
Sentinels’ senior James Barch earned his first 1,600 title in a personal-best 4:19.52, followed by Sault junior Gabe Litzner (4:20.16) and Ballard (4:21.40).
“I was hoping to sneak under 4:20 in the last meet of the year,” Barch said. “This is pretty satisfying. I ran 4:22 twice. Last year I had a 4:35 here. I decided if anybody took the lead, I’d go with them. If they slowed down, I’d take it. We have a team that’s deep, which makes it fun. It’s nice to have guys to run with. It makes you want to get out and run more. Cross country definitely gave us momentum for track. With all of us around 15 minutes, it makes it exciting.”
Litzner improved on last year’s U.P. D-1 record time by more than four minutes in the 3,200. He ran a 9:31.20 on this sunny and mild afternoon compared to 9:35.63 at the end of last season.
“I didn’t really have much of a strategy,” he said. “I wanted to take the lead at different times to spice things up a little. I’m happy about it. I actually went out a little slow, then picked up the pace in the last 600 meters. I really pushed myself in the end.
“This is a big confidence builder. Things didn’t go quite the way I planned this year. This will motivate me to do some hard training during the summer.”
Litzner will be among several U.P. distance runners in pursuit of the all-time two-mile record (9:22 in Class C) set by Fred Teddy of L’Anse in 1972.
Sault junior Javonte Bellamy captured the 100 title (10.97), missing the U.P. Finals record by just two hundredths of a second, and Negaunee senior Brady Mager broke the 40-second barrier in the 300 hurdles for the first time, winning in 39.88.
Marquette junior Jacob Norman won the 110 hurdles at 15.52, edging Mager by 13 hundredths of a second.
PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Kyler Sager crosses the finish line first in the 400 relay Saturday. Other members of Marquette's team included Drew Bradley, Pierce Pittsley, and James Goodwin. (Middle) Menominee's Darrent Butler wins the high jump with a jump of 6-4. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)