HOUGHTON — Weather conditions may have been less than perfect in the Copper Country, but that did not stop many of the area’s student-athletes from opening their track season indoors Wednesday.

The Houghton girls collected five firsts in the Michigan Tech Keweenaw Classic Invitational, including one on senior Anabel Needham’s leap of 14 feet, 10 inches in long jump.

Lake Linden-Hubbell won the 800 relay (2:02.1) and junior Jamie Henderson copped high jump (5-2), two inches higher than Ontonagon’s Nicole Lukkari.

“We just wanted to come out this meet healthy,” said Lakes coach Gary Guisfredi. “We can deal with tired and sore muscles. We just don’t want any pulls or tears.”

Westwood junior Katelyn Anttila won pole vault with a school-record jump of 8-7.

“Our coach (Dan Carlson) pushes us pretty hard,” Anttila said. “I’ve already cleared that height in practice, but this is the first time I’ve done it in a meet. I was really pumped today. There are a lot of girls who are really good. It depends on who has the best day. It always feels great to win. It’s important to get a good start to the season. This also lets me know what I need to work on.”

Stephenson senior Amanda Starzynski become a double-winner, taking the 60-meter dash (8.06) and 200 (28.58).

“This track has a different texture,” said Starzynski, who ran a 7.98 in the 100 preliminaries. “We can’t use spikes which I think slowed my starts a little, although this is a good starting point. Everybody has different levels where they’re at.

“This is an earlier start than we’re used to. We usually start at Menominee or in the (Superior Dome). We’re glad to get this in for an extra practice.”

Senior Madeleine Peramaki represented Munising by winning the 400 (1:07.13) and 800 (2:37) and taking second in the 200 (29.6).

In boys pole vault, Westwood placed three with junior Rocco Carlson winning at 12-6.

“I’ve been vaulting forever,” said Carlson, a state qualifier in wrestling at 160 pounds. “My dad (Dan) has been coaching pole vault since I was a little kid and I’ve been around it forever. Wrestling and pole vault go hand-in-hand. It’s all about the strength and agility you get from wrestling. I tried for the school record (13-4) and got a little close, although I’ve been a little closer in practice. I’m happy with my jumps today. I think this could set the tone for the rest of the season.”

The Patriots took first in four running events and Houghton had firsts in two running events and shot put.

“We have 50-plus kids out and we’re trying to get a lot of kids in different events,” said Houghton coach Dan Juntilla. “We’ll tweak things a little before the Dome meet (April 23 in Marquette). We had a lot of kids gone on spring break, although we took first and second in the 3200 relay which is good. We thought more schools would be here, but we’re glad to have Stephenson and Westwood here. It looks like Westwood is going to have a strong team this year. This is a good starting point for us. We’re going to have to do more with our depth this year.”