HOUGHTON — Track and field season got underway in the Copper Country Thursday as a majority of the area high schools participated in the Michigan Tech Indoor Invitational.

Coming from outside of the area were West Iron County, Iron Mountain, Munising and the Negaunee (boys only).

“I think it’s really important that we got this meet in,” said Houghton boys’ coach Dan Juntilla. “It’s nice that Tech does this for us. We got a chance to see what the kids can do and the coaches get a chance to get times on kids. With the weather being the way it is, you never know what you might get this time of year.”

This served as the season debut for every school entered except Munising, which opened at Eagle River, Wis. Northland Pines March 23.

Iron Mountain’s Aaron Bolo won the 60 hurdles (8.8) and long jump (19-3 1/2), shared first with teammate Jake Tucker and Ontonagon’s Jaden Weisinger in high jump at 5-10.

Iron Mountain also took the 800 relay with a time of 1:43.53. The Mountaineers also took second in the 1600 relay behind Houghton.

Nick Callahan took eighth place for the Mountaineers with a 9-foot, 6-inch pole vault.

Olivia Berutti took second place for the Mountaineers in the 60 hurdles with a time of 10.53.

Munising senior Michaela Peramaki won pole vault Thursday with a school-record leap of 11 feet, 5 inches better than her previous school-best jump at Eagle River.

“It’s a relief to finally get that under my belt,” she said. “The guy running the vault gave me a few pointers and I think my plant was a big part of my vault.”

West Iron senior Emmy Kinner won four events, taking the 60-meter dash in 8 seconds, 200 (28.44) and 400 (1:05.31) and long jump at 14 feet, 11 inches.

“The 60 is definitely difficult for me,” Kinner said. “I don’t get out of the blocks as fast as I need to. We just started practice on Monday, which makes it harder because you’re not in competitive mode. We couldn’t push it too hard in practice this week. It’s different on a short track (200 meters) because it’s harder to pace yourself. I definitely ran more conservative (than on a 400 track). Although, we were glad to get this meet in because we have a lot of new girls on our team.”

Iron Mountain’s Ceci Berutti took third place in the 200 dash. Teammates Jordan Weslin and Megan Pope finished 13th and 14th, respectively.

Houghton’s Kendra Monette took shot put (36-7 3/4) and Cara Monette copped high jump (4-10), which used the gym floor as a runway.

“I thought it went pretty good,” said Cara. “I had my first practice with high jump on Wednesday. I had to cram everything into one day. Although, I’ve been doing high jump since I started track. It’s different jumping from the gym floor. You get all the room you need which gives you all the space to do what you want to do.”

Chassell won the 3200 relay (10:37.12) and Lela Rautiola copped the 1600 run (6:10.34), followed by teammate Jenna Pietila (6:12.66).

“I thought it was great for us to get on a track,” said Chassell coach Marco Guidotti. “We saw a lot of encouraging performances. Our girls in the 4×800 looked real strong. We have some depth coming up. Karsten Kytta taking first in the boys’ 400 (58.35) was also a real bright spot. It was nice to see some of our kids come through in the sprints and middle distances.”

The Houghton boys showed their strength in the distances, winning the 3200 relay (8:45.76) Senior Nick Wilson took the 800 (2:13.25) and teammate P.J. Donnelly was runner-up (2:17.59). Teammate Clayton Sayen added a first in the 1600 (5:06.12), edging Seth Helman by .01 second.

“We feel good about today,” Wilson said. “Our distances did well. Everybody ran well. This meet helps us a lot. This gets us in better shape for the Dome meet (Marquette Invitational on April 18).

Iron Mountain competes in the Division 1 indoor track meet at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Tuesday, April 18.

Boys

60 hurdles — 1, Bolo, IM, 8.8; 2, Gerhard, IM; 3, Lentowich, Hou.

60 dash — 1, Middleton, LL-H, 7.13; 2, Stachowiak, Hou; 3, DuShane, Neg.

3200 relay — 1, Houghton, 8:45.76; 2, Iron Mountain; 3, Dollar Bay.

400 — 1, Kytta, Chas, 58.35; 2, Carey, IM; 3, Dumais, IM.

1600 — 1, Sayen, Hou, 5:06.12; 2, Helman, Hou; 3, LeClaire, DB.

800 relay — 1, Iron Mountain (Tucker, Barraza, Myles, Vincenzi), 1:43.53; 2, Negaunee; 3, Lake  Linden-Hubbell.

800 — 1, Wilson, Hou, 2:13.25; 2, Donnelly, Hou; 3, Wing, Mun.

200 — 1, Haanpaa, L, 24.22; 2, Vargas, WIC; 3, Jurva, Hou.

1600 relay — 1, Houghton (Helman, Donnelly, Wilson, Sayen), 3:51.9; 2, Iron Mountain; 3, Chassell.

High jump — 1, Bolo and Tucker, IM and Weisinger, O, 5-10 (tie).

Long jump — 1, Bolo, IM, 19-3 1/2; 2, Behning, Mun; 3, Healy, IM.

Pole vault — 1, Ryynanen, Hou, 11-0; 2, Simpkin, Hou; 3, Revord, Mun.

Shot put — 1, Schram, WIC, 47-9 3/4; 2, Pizzola, Neg; 3, Scroggs, L.

Girls

60 hurdles — 1, Anderson, LL-H, 10.25; 2, O. Berutti, IM; 3, Allen, Chas.

60 dash — 1, Kinner, WIC, 8.00; 2, K. Monette, Hou; 3, Peramaki, Mun.

3200 relay — 1, Chassell, 10:37.12; 2, Houghton; 3, Lake Linden-Hubbell.

400 — 1, Kinner, WIC, 1:05.31; 2, Lyons, LL-H; 3, Zenner, Hou.

1600 — 1, Rautiola, Chas, 6:10.34; 2, Pietila, Chas; 3, Webber, Mun.

800 relay — 1, Houghton (Zenner, Ronis, C. Monette, K. Monette), 2:00.65; 2, Lake Linden-Hubbell; 3, Chassell.

800 — 1, Madeleine Peramaki, Mun, 2:33.5; 2, Daavettila, DB; 3, Ryynanen, Hou.

200 — 1, Kinner, WIC, 28.44; 2, Lyons, LL-H; 3, C. Berutti, IM.

1600 relay — 1, Lake Linden-Hubbell (Seppala, Hendrickson, Wilmer, Lyons), 4:46.91; 2, Chassell; 3, Houghton.

High jump — 1, C. Monette, Hou, 4-10; 2, Zenner, Hou and Hendrickson, LL-H (tie).

Long jump — 1, Kinner, WIC, 14-11; 2, Lyons, LL-H; 3, Dupont, Hou.

Pole vault — 1, Michaela Peramaki, Mun, 11-0 (school record); 2, LePage, LL-H; 3, Stone, Hou.

Shot put — 1, K. Monette, Hou, 36-7 3/4; 2, Tefft, WIC; 3, Grifka, WIC.