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High 5s: 11/7/12

November 7, 2012

This past Saturday saw eight teams and eight individuals crowned MHSAA champions, and this week we feature a few who will be listed among the best for all time. 

Erin Finn
West Bloomfield senior
Cross country

Finn won her second straight MHSAA individual Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, this time in 17:07.9. Her finish was the fastest from any of the four divisions that raced Saturday at Michigan International Speedway, and gave her the victory in hers by 27 seconds. Finn’s time was the fourth-best ever at an MHSAA Final. She has three of the top 15 times ever run at MIS, more than any other runner.

On track for more: Finn also won an MHSAA Track and Field championship last season, setting an all-division/class record in the 1,600 with a time of 10:17.86. That time was nearly five seconds better than the previous best.

Maize and Blue: Finn will run next season at the University of Michigan. The Wolverines cross country team is ranked No. 7 nationally heading into Friday's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. 

Scientifically speaking: Finn intends to study biomechanical engineering at U-M. "My junior year, I found out I love physics, and I already knew I loved bio and chemistry. So, what's better than to combine those?"

Runners to chase: “I looked up to Megan Goethals (of Rochester), number one, and Shannon Osika (of Waterford Mott). They’re people I competed with. I know that one day I can be like that. It’s more real to me.”

Click to read more.

Nick Raymond
Erie Mason senior
Cross country

After dashing to the lead last season and finishing fourth, Nick Raymond dominated the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at MIS with a time of 15:05.1 – the second-fastest time for a Division 3/Class C MHSAA Final to only Maverick Darling's 14:52.8 for Ovid-Elsie in 2007. Raymond is the first individual cross country champion from Erie Mason (not counting another who finished first among individuals before team and individual placers were combined for one race beginning in 1997) and also placed in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the spring's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Track and Field Final. 

A long drive: "I've been working hard, since the first time (I ran) in sixth grade. Working hard and training hard over the summer and during mandatory practices too." 

Brotherly influence: Raymond began running cross country in the footsteps of his older brother Andrew Raymond, a 2010 graduate. "He told me, 'If you just keep working hard, just look forward at your dream, your goal, you will achieve it.'"

Now the pool, then the track: Raymond swims during the winter, specializing in butterfly and breaststroke. Then it's on to track. Raymond finished fourth in the 1,600 (4:21.84) and seventh in the 3,200 (9:44.91) at last season's Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. 

Looking up to Pre: Like many in the running community, Raymond considers former Oregon and international star Steve Prefontaine a major influence. "I liked how he had a lot of faith in himself."

Click to read more. 

East Kentwood soccer

The top-ranked Falcons edged Grand Blanc 1-0 at Troy Athens to claim their fourth Division 1 championship in six seasons. They finished 22-1-4, their seventh with at least 20 wins in the last eight years. 

Click to read more. 

Previous 2012-13 honorees:

Marquette's Hailey Bolf starts the winning 400 relay Saturday.

Marquette Girls Reclaim Championship Leaning on Sprint Superiority

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

June 4, 2023

KINGSFORD – After finishing runner-up to Negaunee last year, Marquette’s girls took back the championship Saturday at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Track & Field Finals.

Marquette won with 130 points, Negaunee had 96, third-place Sault Ste. Marie 83 and fourth-place Houghton scored 69.

Negaunee's Madison Pekrul, left, edges Marquette’s Siena Lingle in the 300 hurdles.Marquette’s Julia Ott won the 100 and 200-meter dashes, defeating teammate Baux Truckey, the two-time reigning champion in both races. Truckey got the win in the 400.

Houghton’s Danica Ryynanen won the 100 hurdles, and Negaunee’s Madison Pekrul the 300 hurdles

Negaunee sophomore Aubrey Johnson repeated in the 800 run. Houghton’s Tessa Rautiola was first in the 1,600. And Marquette freshman Ella Fure became a U.P. champion in the 3,200.

“Today was the hottest weather I think I ever ran in,” Fure said. “It was brutal. They were splashing water on us and spraying us. It took a lot to keep going, but I’m glad I persevered.”

Temperatures were in the mid 80s with persistent sun until storms moved in and delayed the event briefly.

Negaunee senior Eliana Juchemich went from fourth last year in the discus to a title Saturday. But she didn’t win the shot put like in 2022; that honor went to Sault Ste. Marie’s Hannah Maurer. 

Negaunne's Olivia Lunseth hands off to Ellie Sundberg in the 800 relay.Westwood sophomore Faith Spiroff repeated as high jump champion and also won the Long jump this time, tying a U.P. Division 1 Finals record with a leap of 17 feet, 3½ inches. She now shares the mark with Houghton’s Adeline Grier-Welch.

Marquette also won two relays – the 400 (Hailey Bolf, Sophie Skytta, Bella Coleman and Ott) and the 800 (Meghan MacPhee, Seina Lingle, Skytta and Truckey).  

Escanaba took the 1,600 relay (Mari Bink, Ashley Foust, Annabelle Neumeier and Ava Getzloff) and Houghton won the 3,200 (Lily Ross, Tessa Rautiola, Claire Filpus and Ayla Miller). Lexi Olson of Westwood won the pole vault.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Marquette's Hailey Bolf starts the winning 400 relay Saturday. (Middle) Negaunee's Madison Pekrul, left, edges Marquette’s Siena Lingle in the 300 hurdles. (Below) Negaunne's Olivia Lunseth hands off to Ellie Sundberg in the 800 relay. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)