St. Ignace Girls Win Div. II Track Regionals
By David Latva

St. Ignace Saints girls track and field team won the Division 2 championships in Munising Friday, May 18. Team members include (front, from left) Kalli Jo Marshall, Erica Ahlich, Dani Ford, Stacee Schnicke, Kayla Gustin, Paige Paul, Stacy Goldthorpe, Samantha Radecki, Kelsey Cryderman; (back) Coach Diane Huskey, Christi Therrian, Kristen Olsen, Chelsey Swope, Chelsea Bosley, Jodie Langstaff, Jaimee Bloxsom, Caysey Brown, Sara Tafelski, Chelsey Montgomery, and Savannah Barker. Photograph by Rosemary Gustin.

Team concept was key for the St. Ignace girls track and field team in capturing the Division II championships in Munising Friday, May 18.

The Saints scored 40 points to edge out the host Mustangs with 37.5 points, Manistique 35.5, and Newberry 32, followed by Stephenson with 26, and Rudyard 16.

"It was a total team effort," said Saints Coach Diane Huskey. "We had different people step up for key points."

The first four individual places and relay teams qualify for the Upper Peninsula State Finals in Kingsford Saturday, June 2.

Above, Jesse Becker (from a previous meet) placed 3rd in the 100 meter dash and was part of two statequalifying relay teams.

Senior Kelsey Cryderman led the Saints with victories in the 200-meter dash with a time of 28.23 seconds, and in the 400- meter dash, with a time of 1:02.61. She also was part of the 800-meter relay team that took first (1:54.77), along with Caysey Brown, Samantha Radecki, and Dani Ford. The same foursome took second in the 400 relay.

The trio of Jaimee Bloxsom, Kelli Jo Marshall, and Erica Ahlich finished first, second, and third in the pole vault.

Bloxsom's jump of 8'6" was good for first, Marshall finished second, and Ahlich took third. Kayla Gustin finished second in the high hurdles, the 3200-meter relay team of Chelsey Swope, Dani Ford, Kristen Olsen, and Erica Ahlich placed second, and Christi Therrian took fourth in the shot put.

Saints Boys Finish

Third at Regionals

Stephenson won the regionals with 62 points, followed by Munising with 37, St. Ignace 32.5, Manistique 32, Newberry 18, and Rudyard 5.5.

At left, Kayla Gustin finished 2nd in the high hurdles to qualify for the U.P. Finals Saturday, June 2, in Kingsford.

Derrick Clark finished second in the pole vault, high hurdles, and 200-meter dash to lead the Saints. Mario Calcaterra took second in the long jump and placed third in the 200 and 400. Jake Weiss took second in the high jump; Shane Spring placed third in the high hurdles and fourth in the low hurdles; Jesse Becker took third in the 100, and Kyle Smock finished fourth in the 100-meter dash.

The Saints 800-meter relay team of Anthony Lester, Derrick Clark, Jesse Becker, and Kyle Smock finished second.

The 400-meter relay foursome of Steffan Saffian, Anthony Lester, Kyle Smock, and Jesse Becker placed third, while the 3200-meter relay team of Evan Everson, Gerrit Mortensen, Nick Montie, and Kaiden Shiemke took third, and the 1600 group of Anthony Lester, Nick Montie, Gerrit Mortensen, and Kyle Smock placed fourth.

Rudyard Results

Five Rudyard athletes qualified for the finals.

Allyson Markstrom won the high hurdles (17.93) and took second in the high jump. Brittany Hoolsema placed fourth in the 800 and 1600 events, while Tony Falbo finished second in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. Brady Burby took fourth in the shot put, and Isiah Otten placed fourth in the 1600-meter run.

Saints Win Division

at Petoskey Relays

The St. Ignace girls and boys teams combined to win Division III of the Petoskey Relays Tuesday, May 15.

The Saints scored 56 points, followed by Engadine with 39, Brimley 29, and Pellston 16.

St. Ignace reached first place six times between the boys and girls team, including in the long jump relay event, which included the team of Caysey Brown, Samantha Radecki, Evan Everson, and Mario Calcaterra (58'6").

Other first place finishes for the Saints included the mixed 1600- meter relay team of Kelsey Cryderman, Dani Ford, Gerrit Mortensen, and Mario Calcaterra (4:05.8); the 1200-meter relay team of Dani Ford, Kelsey Cryderman, Derrick Clark, and Mario Calcaterra (2:52.00); the girls 800-meter relay team of Ford, Cryderman, Radecki, and Brown (1:55.00); the girls 400-meter relay team of Stacee Schnicke, Ford, Radecki, and Brown (56.0); and the boys 400-meter relay team of Steffan Saffian, Anthony Lester, Kyle Smock, and Derrick Clark (47.04).

The discus relay team of Chelsea Bosley, Christi Therrian, Jake Weiss, and Frank Beaudoin took second. The boys 800-meter relay team of Evan Everson, Anthony Lester, Kyle Smock, and Derrick Clark placed second; the 3200-meter mixed relay of Chelsey Swope, Kristen Olsen, Nick Montie, and Evan Everson finished third, and Derrick Clark took third in the high hurdles.

Straits Area

Conference Meet

The Straits Area Conference Meet will be held Thursday, May 24, at Cheboygan High School. The meet will start at 3:30 p.m.

Participating teams will include St. Ignace, Cheboygan, Rogers City, Rudyard, Sault Ste. Marie, and Newberry.