MI Army National Guard Presents MHSAA Events
February 24, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Sharing in the values of leadership, sportsmanship and ethics emphasized by the Michigan High School Athletic Association, the Michigan Army National Guard is serving as the official military branch supporting MHSAA events and digital initiatives through the 2015-16 school year.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer, and soldiers are eligible for educational benefits including state and federal tuition assistance programs, the G.I. Bill and grants at Michigan colleges and universities that combined usually exceed the total cost of tuition, books and fees at most Michigan post-secondary institutions.
The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Monthly and annual summer training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom, or protecting lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
“The National Guard provides opportunities for young men and women to mature into productive citizens,” MHSAA Executive Director John E. “Jack” Roberts said. “The emphasis the Guard puts on physical fitness, leadership and doing things the right way parallels what we strive to teach in school sports.”
The Guard has served as presenter of the MHSAA Cross Country Regionals and Finals and Football Playoffs during the fall, and this winter of the MHSAA Wrestling Tournament, which will conclude with the Team Wrestling Finals hosted Feb. 26-27 at Central Michigan University’s McGuirk Arena and the Individual Wrestling Finals scheduled for March 3-5 at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Guard recruiters also have been on-site attending numerous District, Regional and additional Finals events during the first half of the 2015-16 school year.
The Guard also is featured prevalently as part of the MHSAA’s online presence on both MHSAA.com and the MHSAA mobile app, and supports the “Michigan National Guard Performance of the Week” honoring a successful student-athlete on the MHSAA’s Second Half website.
“The Michigan Army National Guard is proud to support the MHSAA and student-athletes across Michigan,” said Lt. Col. Scott L. Meyers, who serves as recruiting and retention battalion commander for the Guard. “The Guard not only plays a key role in our national defense; we have a responsibility to serve our communities during times of state emergencies. As individuals, we are stewards in our communities and have an inherent responsibility to support our community in that role. One way to do this is to encourage student-athletes to live up to the ethics, values, and positive life choices common to the MHSAA and the Michigan Army National Guard.
“The National Guard is actively seeking these student-athletes to join our team. Their dedication combined with our education benefits and leadership training will provide the tools needed for them to become future leaders of Michigan’s communities.”
Click for additional information on the Michigan Army National Guard.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,400 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.
Peramaki Adds to Past Finals Fame by Leading Munising to Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
June 4, 2023
KINGSFORD – Munising’s Micaiah Peramaki couldn’t really top last year’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Finals. He became the eighth male all-time to win four events at an MHSAA track & field championship meet.
“I proved myself last year, so it’s a little more of a fun meet this year,” Peramaki said. “But it’s still important for me just to do good.”
And he was excellent again.
He led the Mustangs to the team title with individual wins in the 100, 200 and 400. He was also a part of the winning 1,600 relay team.
“The 100, I was right next to my brother, Josiah; he ended up getting third. That was really fun actually. We both did really good in that,” Peramaki said. “The 400, I had Aa’Keem (Jackson) from Newberry to watch out for. He pushed it hard in the corner over here, I was prepared for it and I just ran hard from there.”
Josiah Peramaki repeated with a win in the pole vault. Other members of the 1,600 relay were Kane Nebel, Zack Lindquist and Josiah Peramaki.
Munising won the team title with 103.5 points. Newberry was second with 81, Bessemer third with 52 and Rapid River fourth with 44.
Bessemer won the 400 relay (Tommy Trudgeon, Landon Peterson, Daniel Lis and Vinnie Triggiano). Bessemer also finished fifth in the 800 relay – despite being seeded first – and Trudgeon said he had to make a comeback in the 400 relay, which also was seeded first.
He was behind after a shaky handoff, though. But the 100 meters is probably his best race anyway. He finished runner-up to Peramaki, one-tenth of a second behind him.
“I guess I just had to close like a train,” he said of his leg of the relay. “It feels great, glad to win.”
Newberry won the 800 relay (Marco Juarez, Jackson, Matthew Rahilly and Kennedy Depew) and Dollar Bay the 3,200 relay (Joshua Gaunt, Josh Luukkonen, Caleb Kentala and Amos Norland).
Crystal Falls Forest Park’s Samuel McKissack won the 110 hurdles, and Newberry’s Chris Hopson was champion in the 300 hurdles.
In the distance races, Dollar Bay’s Norland won the 800, Forest Park’s Gaven Rintala the 1,600 and Chassell’s Kalvin Kytta the 3,200.
The latter race with Norland was so close – Kytta won by seven hundredths of a second – that Kytta wasn’t sure if he was in fact champion or not.
“I got passed by the leader. I tried to stick on him through the rest of the race,” he said. “He got a little gap on me the last 100 meters. I just felt that juice. I think I passed him.”
It turns out he did.
Whitefish Township, which has just 22 students in the high school, went home with a champion for the first time in school history – Seth Mills in the discus. Newberry’s Rahilly won the long jump, North Central’s Dylan Plunger won the high jump and Rapid River’s Kody Goldi took the shot put.
PHOTOS (Top) Munising's Micaiah Peramaki, center, wins the 400 on Saturday. (Middle) Bessemer's Vinnie Triggiano (4) is able to hold off Lake Linden-Hubbell's Matthew Jokela and Newberry's Kennedy Depew to win the 400 relay. (Below) Chassell's Kalvin Kytta, left, and Dollar Bay's Amos Norland run together until the end of the 3,200. (Photos by Cara Kamps/RunMichigan.com.)