Track and field: Knights boys defend title at Norway Invitational
North Central boys take second place
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NORWAY -- Things may not have always gone perfect, but the North Central boys' track team found a way to place second in Monday's Norway Invitational.
The host Knights retained their title with 139 1/2 points, followed by North Central 92 and Northwood Storm (Florence-Niagara co-op) 63.
"This is a great boost for our team," said fourth-year Norway coach Al Trudeau. "We have some numbers (25) to work with this year. This is the most kids we've had since I've been here."
West Iron County's girls also repeated as champions with 105 points. Northwood Storm edged North Dickinson 89-87 1/2 for runner-up honors.
The Norway boys collected nine first-place finishes, including three by Mitchell Legrave.
Legrave won the 100-meter dash in 11.71 seconds, 200 (24.09) and helped the winning 400 relay (48.24) on this seasonably warm day at Ronberg Field.
Teammate Inocencio Stankevich set a meet record in the 110 hurdles (15.15), shaving .07 second off the previous best by Pete Leeman of North Dickinson in 2008. He also took the 300s (42.8) and Connor Ortman copped long jump at 19 feet, five inches, 400 (53.38) and helped the winning 800 relay (1:39).
"Mitchell runs hard all the time," said Trudeau. “He had a big day and Inocencio had a great day. Connor also had a nice day and Josh (Boulden) did a nice job getting first in high jump (5-6)."
North Central was forced to revamp its lineup after sophomore Cole Timlen came down with the flu following the 3200 relay and Leo Gorzinski strained a muscle in his quadricep.
"Leo's quad was bothering him Friday (at Stephenson), but he said it was fine," said Jets' coach Cherie Granquist. "He would have liked to continue to run. Only, we don't want to risk losing him for the (Division 3) regional. He's one of our go-to guys in the relays. He's a fast sprinter and a good middle distance runner. He seems to be able to do whatever we ask him to."
North Central senior Connor Robinson won the 800 in a personal-best 2:08.92, 1600 (5:11.66) and helped the winning 3200 relay (9:09.5).
Carney-Nadeau sophomore Brett LaFord placed second in the 800 (2:11.02) and Northwood Storm's Austin Tripp was third (2:11.5)
"The 800 was tough," said Robinson, a Bay College cross country recruit. "I was fourth most of the way. The Florence-Niagara guy took off so fast. A 60-second (400) split, that's fast. I didn't think I'd catch him, but then I noticed he was heavy-footing it (before the final turn). Then, I thought I could catch him. Austin is one of my friends. He's a very good runner and Brett has a real good kick. On any given day, Brett could be right with me. I was trying to conserve as much energy as I could in the 1600."
North Central junior Griffin Johnson copped the 3200 (11:21.72) and helped the 3200 relay.
"I'm definitely happy to win the 3200," said Johnson. "Running in Norway is always a great atmosphere. We also have a great team atmosphere and Cherie (coach Granquist) always has us well prepared."
West Iron's Bryant Schram set a meet record in shot put (48-2 1/2), topping his own record (45-4 1/2) from a year ago.
In the girls' meet, West Iron senior Rachael Tefft won shot put (31-11) and discus (105-0).
"I didn't warm up properly for shot," she said. "The sun was hot, but my arm wasn't warm enough. I felt I wasn't completely balanced when I was throwing, I was a little wobbly. My goal is to be more consistent."
Jordan Shamion added firsts in the 100 hurdles (17.61) and 300s (53.03) for the Wykons.
Bark River-Harris senior Jaelin Lockwood was a triple-winner, taking the 100 (13.05), long jump (15-10) and helping the winning 800 relay (1:56.22).
North Dickinson sophomore Brianna Smith won the 800 (2:38.03), 1600 (6:00.32) and 3200 (13:48.53), all personal-bests.
"I thought I was going to pass out a few times, although I feel good now" said Smith. "The heat was definitely a factor. I just wanted to take first and went out way too fast. This is a big confidence boost for me. I always feel like I'm going to do bad and end up doing decent."
Northwood Storm's Alyssa Cretton took high jump (4-10) and helped the winning 400 relay (55.04).
Carney finished the day with a victory in the 1600 relay (4:40.9).