Seven teams from the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Michigan competed at the LSSU Second Annual Yooper Invite 2023 on Friday afternoon. The first meet of the season gave athletes from Sault Ste. Marie, Boyne City, Charlevoix, Indian River Inland Lakes, Kalkaska, Manistique and Rogers City an opportunity to test their skills on the indoor track at the Norris Center. At the abbreviated meet, the teams were able to compete in the select field and running events.
Under the direction of head coach Scott Menard, Sault High’s girls took a close second place to Indian River Inland Lakes.
“I thought we competed very well," he said.
Sophomore Bella Smith took first in the 200 m (29.22) and senior Mackenzie Bell took third (29.70), and senior Claire Erickson came in seventh place (30.16). Smith also placed third in the 55 m (8.26) dash. In the 400 m run, junior Isabella DeWildt placed fourth (1:08.84), junior Dayna Szabo placed fifth (1:09.17), and sophomore Ava Mayer came in eighth (1:14.05). Junior Abby Walther took fourth in the 80 m run (2:45.29). Sophomore Annabelle Fazzari had a second-place finish in the 55 m hurdles (10.36). The Sault did well in their distance races, with junior Calla Armstrong taking sixth in the 1600 m (6:41) and senior Cassandra Gallagher taking second in the 3,200 m (13:19.52). The girls’ relay teams had a strong showing at the event. Bell, Mayer, DeWildt and Erickson won the mile relay with a time of 4:37.81. Armstrong, freshman Elise Proulx, Walther and Gallagher finished the two-mile relay in 11:38.98, earning third place for their team. In the field events, the Sault placed second, fourth and sixth in the shot put. Senior Hannah Maurer threw 35-11, senior Ava Donmyer threw 32-03, and junior Katie Anderson threw 31-01. In the high jump, freshman Gracie Akridge jumped 4-02 to earn a seventh-place finish.
The boys' team, with head coach Jim Martin, had some top Blue Devil finishers at the meet as well. Senior Alex Jacek took seventh in the 55 m dash (7.23), junior Ryver Ryckeghem placed third in the 200 m (25.23), and senior River Perez placed eighth in the 200 m (26.10). Senior Carter Oshelski finished second in the 400 m (56.73), and senior Logan Haskins took third in the 800 m (2:21.47). The boys also had strong finishes in the distance races, with senior Cody Aldridge taking second in the 1,600 m (4:43.92) and freshman Gabe Litzner outran his opponents in the 3,200m run (10:07.89) taking first place. Freshman Adam Brandt came in seventh in the 3,200 m (13:25.34).
Freshman Isaac Niebuhr placed fifth in the 55 m hurdles (10.10), and sophomore Owen Rice was not far behind him, placing eighth (10.23). The boys’ relay teams also fared well, with sophomore Isaac Brindley, junior Talon Thomas-Holm, sophomore Donnivan Dykgraaf and Aldridge placing seventh in the mile relay with a time of 4:19.64. In the two-mile relay, freshman Shea Armstrong, junior Devin Goetz, sophomore Evan Huyck, and senior Joseph Kasprzak also came in seventh place with a time of 10:38.24. In the field events, the Sault placed sixth, seventh and eighth in the shot put, with freshman Brady Ditmyer throwing 37-02, junior James Smith throwing 37-01, and junior Evan Arbic throwing 35-07. In the high jump, Junior Nathan Koepp came in seventh with a 5-04 jump.
Menard and Martin are assisted by Brad Boven, Becky Arbic, Tony McLain, and Michael Rand. Rand is an LSSU student helping out the team this year. Coach Boven was pleased with the teams’ efforts at their first meet.
“Being in the U.P., we are inside for quite a while for the first part of our track season. So, being able to get to a meet is our first opportunity to run in lanes as well as really practice our field events with the right equipment," Boven said.
The Yooper Invite was really a great opportunity for our returnees to shake the rust off and for our new faces to get their feet wet. I want to thank the LSSU volunteers/workers for having a smoothly run first meet. Go, Blue Devils!”
The team will travel to Alpena on Tuesday for their first outdoor meet of the season.
