ScuttleBu(r)t …

Kingsford speedster Olivia Allen and Flivver assistant Becky (Drake) Cecconi go through a pre-race routine that obviously works.

Allen won the Division 1 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes along with the 1600 relay in Saturday’s UP Track and Field Finals at Flivver Field.

Allen calls the mental exercises “confidence-boosters.”

“Coach is a real big supporter and she works with me a lot,” Allen said. “They help keep my muscle flow and get me excited to run.”

Cecconi, a UP Hall of Famer, scorched the track during her high school days. In the 1977 UP Class AB meet, she set records in the 100-yard dash (11.3) and long jump (18-3) …

Houghton senior Clayton Sayen will retire his socks after becoming the first boy to win the 100 (11.47), 200 (23.19), 400 (51.25) and 800-meter (1:59.31) dashes in the same UP meet.

Sayen has worn the same socks all season, and has not washed them. Now what happens to the socks?

“Framing them,” said Sayen, who will break in a new pair at Michigan Tech …

Negaunee’s Emily Paupore was one of the fastest and nicest runners at Saturday’s UP Track and Field Finals at Flivver Field.

After Emily erased the Division 1 3200-meter run record with a time of 11:25.52, she noticed a weary Marquette runner in distress and asked for water.

The sophomore daughter of Niagara’s Vickie (Leathers) and Kingsford’s Mark Paupore also won the 800 and 1600 and helped the Miners’ 3200 relay to first place.

During this fall’s cross country meet at City Park, I overheard Emily tell her grandfather, Bill Paupore, that she was nervous.

“I get nervous no matter what,” Emily said Saturday after her fourth gold. “That’s probably good because I have a little bit of adrenaline. I try to keep it cool inside.

“I’m definitely nervous every race. I think that definitely helps. If you’re not nervous, you don’t care.”

She’ll be on the go this summer.

“I’ll take a week off to just let my body recover,” Paupore said. “After that running and soccer. I’ll definitely get my mileage up going into cross country season.”

Emily’s also part of an enduro program through NMU. If that’s not enough, there’s weight training for injury prevention …

Coaches were given a survey sheet to fill out on what they want in a UP track meet site. Marquette hopes to return one day as the UP site host.

I was there for seven hours and Al Unger’s gang of dedicated volunteers did a marvelous job for an 18th straight year.

Many were impressed to find retired North Dickinson administrator Carl F. Lemin on hand to answer any and all questions. He deserves a Dilly ice cream bar for his efforts …

Former Wisconsin state champion Jaclynn (Kriegl) Kreider raked the boys long jump pit Saturday. Jaclynn, who shares the Wisconsin state record for most career firsts with 10, was very meticulous about her duties.

One of my greatest thrills was seeing Jaclynn on the state meet medal podium in La Crosse and holding her shoes above her head, signifying “this girl is going into track retirement.” …

Emmy Kinner, a 2017 West Iron County grad who holds four school track records, watched part of Saturday’s meet with Wykons coach Kristi Berutti.

After last year’s meet, Emmy acknowledged Kristi’s guidance and a better diet (no french fries for 10 months) for her success.

We couldn’t resist asking Emmy if she has given in to french fries since last June.

“Sadly, I have,” she said with a smile …

Chalk up another Lower Peninsula title for Rockford’s Ericka VanderLende.

The daughter of Forest Park grad Ingrid (Peterson) and Greg VanderLende won the MHSAA Division 1 1600-meter run with a personal best time of 4:45.17 at East Kentwood. She was runner-up in the 3200 (10:12.26).

MHSAA Second Half said VanderLende dominated the 1600-meter portion of both races.

“I didn’t really want to pay attention to what other people around me were doing,” VanderLende said. “I just wanted to stick to the race plan I knew I was capable of. I normally even split or negative split, so I wasn’t really too surprised that if I took it out hard I could hold it.”

VanderLende captured the Lower Peninsula Division 1 cross country title in the fall. We’ve put the word out to Ericka’s family that there’s always room for another runner in Crystal Falls’ annual Bass Run …