The St. Ignace girls 800 relay handoff from Taylor Becker (right) to Autumn Huskey. The St. Ignace Saint’s girls and boys captured the Division 2 Upper Peninsula State Finals track and field championships at Flivver Field in Kingsford Saturday, June 5.

This was the first crown for the LaSalle girls in three years. The last title for the Saints boys came in 1998 as a Class D school and 1993 in Class C.

Two Records Fall During Finals

Two individual records were set by the Saints. Kali Jo Marshall won the pole vault, clearing 9'1" for a new Upper Peninsula record that was tied at 9’0” by the trio of Kate Ruegg of St. Ignace in 2001, Robin Vitton in 2002, and Stephanie Mishica of Hancock in 2003. Gerrit Mortensen shattered a 24-year-old LaSalle High School shot put record with a toss of 49'1". The previous mark, 48’1”, was set by Lou Grondin in 1974.

The Saints’ Kali Jo Marshall set a new Upper Peninsula pole vault record with a height of 9'1". Girls Team Results: The Saints tallied 131 points, followed by West Iron County with 78, Munising with 70, Norway with 64.5, Manistique with 42, Ishpeming with 38.5, L'Anse with 35, Rudyard with 23, Ironwood with 22.5, Bark River-Harris with 12.5, Stephenson with 9, and Chassell/Painesdale Jeffers with 1.

"We have worked and focused all season on team rather than individual results," said Saints coach Trudy Olsen. "The seniors are a strong group of athletes that have received a good foundation from coach Diane Huskey during the three previous seasons, and the effort was the difference."

Boys Team Results: St. Ignace tallied 106 points followed by Rudyard with 81, Stephenson with 73, Ironwood with 71, West Iron County with 62, Munising with 35, Ishpeming with 30, Manistique with 22, Newberry and Bark River- Harris with 18, Norway with 7, and L'Anse with 4.

Evan Everson won the 400 and 200 meter dashes for the Saints. "The team felt we had a good shot at first or second," said Saints coach Emily Fullerton. "We are not a team with strong depth, but have worked hard to reach this level."

St. Ignace Girls: Kali Jo Marshall, first in pole vault with a height of 9'1"; Nicole Elmblad, second in low hurdles, fourth in pole vault; Sarah Cullip, second in 3200, fifth in 1600; Heather Beaudoin, second in high hurdles, fourth in low hurdles; Christi Therrian, second in shot put; Haillee Brown, third in high and low hurdles; Alexa Thibault, third in 400, fourth in 200; Kristen Olsen, third in high jump, fifth in discus; Anna St. Andrew, third in long jump, fifth in 800, sixth in 100; Grace Wheeler, fourth in high jump, fifth in long jump; Brooklyn Chambers, fourth in 800. The Saints 800 relay team of Taylor Becker, Autumn Huskey, Alexa Thibault, and Kali Jo Marshall finished first in 1:51.68, the 400 relay took second, and 1600 and 3200 relay foursomes placed third.

Gerrit Mortensen shattered the 26-year-old LaSalle High School shot put record with a toss of 49'1". Rudyard Girls: Hunter Perry, second in discus; Leah Jarvie, third in 1600; Emily Markstrom, sixth in 400. The Bulldogs 800 relay placed fourth, 3200 relay finished fifth.

St. Ignace Boys: Evan Everson, first in 200 in 22.94, first in 400 in 51.31, second in 100; Caleb Litzner, first in low hurdles in 41.08, third in high hurdles; Gerrit Mortensen, first in shot put with a toss of 49'1"; Grant Simmons, first in discus with a throw of 117'2"; Austin St. Louis, first in high jump with a height of 5'9", fourth in long jump; Luke Thurston, fourth in shot put; Parker Simmons, fifth in high jump. The Saints 400 and 1600 relays finished second, 800 relay placed third.

The Rudyard Bulldogs relay team, (from left) Ron Coffey, Jared Clark, Ben Gable, and Caleb Salo. Rudyard Boys: Drew Otten, second in 400 and 800; Ben Gable, second in shot put; Ron Coffey, third in 200, fourth in 100; David Jarvie, fourth in 800 and 1600; Jared Clark, fourth in 200; Arik Hesselink, fourth in high jump; Mike Dempsey, sixth in discus. The Bulldogs 400 relay team of Caleb Salo, Ben Gable, Jared Clark, and Ron Coffey posted their personal best time of 45.66 for first place, the 3200 relay team of David Jarvie, Jacob McDonoff, Tyler Rice, and Drew Otten placed first with personal best time of 8:32.66, and the 800 relay team of Drew Otten, Arik Hesselink, Ron Coffey, and Jared Clark won in 1:34.74.
Sarah Cullip of St. Ignace finished second in the 3,200 meter run.
At left: St. Ignace girls 3,200 relay team (from left) Nicole Elmblad, Chelsea Swope, Kristen Olsen, and Brooklyn Chambers.
Bottom left: Saints throwers Christi Therrian and Grant Simmons.
Bottom right: Area high jumpers (from left) Parker Simmons and Austin St. Louis, both of St. Ignace.