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Track and field: Bessemer boys, Lake Linden girls dominate at Division 3 Dome meet

North Central boys take third

MARQUETTE — Area track teams had a hard time keeping up with the leaders in Thursday’s Superior Central Invitational as the Bessemer boys and Lake Linden-Hubbell girls won by wide margins in Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome.

The Bessemer boys placed first in eight events and retained their title with 154 points. They were followed by Rapid River 71, North Central 54 and Mid Peninsula 44.

“It looks like Bessemer is loaded,” said Rapid River coach Steve Ostrenga. “We’re doing okay. I thought our relay teams did a nice job. Our younger guys are learning what it takes.”

The Lake Linden girls grabbed the top three spots in pole vault and added firsts in five other events, scoring 129 1/2 points. They were followed by Stephenson 66, Ontonagon 46 and Mid Pen 40.

“Today’s meet went very well for us,” said Lake Linden coach Gary Guisfredi. “Our pole vault was strong again. We won all four field events which is a key for us.”

Mid Pen senior Terry Brower won boys’ high jump at six feet and long jump (18-11 1/2).

Carney-Nadeau sophomore Jacob Blahnik placed second in high jump with a personal-best leap of 5-10.

Rapid River senior Logan Hardwick took shot put (42-6), edging Bessemer’s Tyler Busch by three inches. The Rockets also won the 800-meter relay in one minute, 42.42 seconds and Dome medley relay at 5:27.92.

“We had one bad handoff in the 800 relay,” said Rockets’ senior Luke Gustafson. “I took off too soon. It looks like we’re going to have our work cut out with Bessemer. It took me a while to get going in pole vault. I hadn’t jumped since the U.P. (Division 3) Finals last year.”

Bessemer’s Zach Baross, North Central junior Dean Bellmore and Gustafson cleared 10 feet, six inches with the vaulters finishing in that order based on fewer misses.

North Central senior Trent Holle won the 100 (11.78), followed by Bessemer’s Breyden Tomes (11.82) and Rapid River senior Lucas Sundling (11.85).

“It felt real good to be back out there,” said Holle, who missed the final three weeks of last season due to an ACL injury. “I was kind of nervous because didn’t know how I’d react to it. The air quality is not the greatest. It’s dry in here. I got up early and drank some water at home and had Powerade on the bus ride here. I basically did a lot of block work and it worked well today.”

Coach Cherie Granquist said she was happy with the Jets’ effort.

“I’m super happy for Trent, coming off that injury and winning the 100,” she added. “We placed in a few events. Overall, we did okay.”

Besides his runner-up finish in the 100, Tomes provided Bessemer with firsts in the 200 (24.11) and 400 (54.12) and helped the winning 1600 relay (3:48.97) and Isaiah Aili copped the 800 (2:13.51) and 1600 (4:47.34) and helped the winning 3200 relay (9:03.64).

“We had a wonderful day,” said Bessemer coach Mark Mazzon. “Brayden did real well in the 100 and Isaiah came through in the distances. Our senior and junior leadership is awesome. This is a good start to the season and it looks like it’s going to be a short season. The exciting part is we got so many contributions from so many kids.”

The Mid Pen girls won the Dome medley relay (6:35.63) and were runners-up in the 800 (2:00.77), 3200 (11:09.69) and 3600 medley relays (13:51.4).

Stephenson’s Amanda Starzynski won the 100 (13.13) and 200 (28.42). BR-H senior Jaelin Lockwood was runner-up in the 100 (13.53) and junior teammate Hailee Demers was second in the 200 (29.44).

Munising junior Madeleine Peramaki copped the 800 (2:30.26) and 1600 (5:43.2) and helped the Mustangs place fourth in the 1600 relay (4:59.94).

Superior Central sophomore Danika Walters placed second in the 1600 (5:50.9), overtaking Chassell’s Lela Rautiola and Jenna Pietila in the home stretch.

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