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LL-H girls stay unbeaten after winning Division 3 regional championship

The Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes celebrate with the Division 3 regional trophy after winning a regional title Thursday in Baraga. (Jason Juno/Daily Globe (Ironwood))

BARAGA — Long after all the other teams had departed on their buses, the Lake Linden-Hubbell girls and Bessemer boys track and field teams milled around the front stretch at Baraga in the frigid cold, passing the time as they waited for their coaches to emerge from the press box. The Lakes sang their school song, and eventually, both squads locked arms and formed a large circle before rallying together for a cheer that was a mix between rhythmic clapping and screaming. 

They did anything to take their minds off the sporadic rains and wind that made for an uncomfortable afternoon. But the wait could be forgiven, because when you win 25 of 34 of the events, it takes a while to sort through the medals.

Bessemer captured 13 victories while LL-H won 12 as both teams captured Division 3 regional track and field titles on Thursday.

For the Lakes, it’s their fourth consecutive regional title during a season that is going down as one of the best in recent history. The defending U.P. Finals champions have yet to lose a meet this year and have done so in dominant fashion similar to Thursday.

“It’s been a very special year,” LL-H coach Gary Guisfredi said. “When we first met in March, winning regionals was definitely one of the checkmarks that we wanted to win. The conference meet next week is another, and of course, U.P. Finals we hope to go back and make some noise.”

While LL-H has been motivated with a returning core set on defending its U.P. championship, Bessemer has been fueled by revenge. The Speedboys came up four points shy at last year’s U.P Finals, and that second-place finish has served as the sparking point for this season’s group.

“Our big goal is U.P. Finals,” Bessemer coach Mark Mazzon said. “The kids, you tell them what to do and they do it themselves. You don’t have to push them. They

don’t go and hide and skip workouts. They know what they have, and they just work.”

Bessemer was led by its senior core of Brayden Tomes, Uriah Aili and Tim Rowe. Tomes captured four firsts, winning the 100 (12.00), 300 hurdles (44.34), 200 (24.74) and was a member of the 1600 relay team (3:47.64). Aili was a member of the winning 3200 relay team (9:06.73) and also took firsts in the 1600 (4:51.07), 800 (2:09.43) and pole vault (11-6). Tim Rowe captured the 400 title (55.93) in addition to being part of the 3200 and 400 relay teams. 

“Between Tomes, Aili and Rowe, those are three big seniors who we got from last year that have been leading the way,” Mazzon said. “Our relay teams have been doing well, and our distance runners (Adam Mazurek and Devon Byers) I can’t say enough about. They don’t get the credit, and they’re the ones who work day in and day out to come 1-2-3 and 1-2-4 in meets.

“It’s such a team effort. We got three places in vaulting, and went 2-3 in shot put. Just a special group of guys.”

The LL-H girls are also a conglomerate of the finest athletes in the area, and this was highlighted during the 100. As the heats went off and only the fast heat remained, there were four LL-H girls taking their marks. 

“We have amazing depth in the sprints,” Guisfredi said. “And then we have kids who are fast and couldn’t qualify (for U.P. Finals) because we have four other kids who could qualify.”

Lyons would win the race 13.90 before capping her day with victories in the 400 (1:04.48), 200 (28.69) and long jump (15-0). On a gusty day when runners were forced to battle a wall of wind when they made the turn towards the front stretch, Lyons cut through the resistance and built on her lead.

“She has spent so much time working in the weight room to make herself strong,” Guisfredi said. “It’s not an accident that she can beat a stiff wind. I think what you see, she fights through the wind when maybe a runner who isn’t quite as strong is slowed down by the wind. She just slices right through it.”

LL-H’s sprinting depth was challenged when Sienna Anderson was able to go in the 400 relay after suffering an injury during her winning of the 100 hurdles (17.78). So Gusifredi subbed in Mackenzie LePage to join Lily Kumpula, Kaitlyn Baccus and Joslynn Perala, and the Lakes continued to roll, winning in 56.04. LL-H also won the 800 relay, with Erin Seppala, Jamie Hendrickson, Mariah Willmer and Perala finishing in 1:58.15.

“Mackenzie has always been kind of a sub for our 4×100,” Guisfredi said. “She’s run the first leg, the fourth leg and now the second leg. We’re still running 55s with her as a sub, and she doesn’t run the 100. That just kind of goes to show how deep the depth goes.”

On the boys side, the only other multiple individual winner was Ewen-Trout Creek’s Jake Witt, who won the shot put (45-11) and discus (143-9). Witt’s discus mark is a new school record, beating his previous length of 143-2 that he set on Tuesday. The previous discus record was from 1984. 

Witt’s length in the shot put was a personal best for him, and he sits eight inches away from the school record in the event. He credits his improvement to his renewed focus on his speed in the circle and being more explosive. 

“Beginning of the year, I was getting the form back,” Witt said. “I’ve tweaked a few things, then got my spin a little more precise and it’s really improved my distances every meet.

“In shot put, I’ve tried to use as much of the circle as I can, getting as close to the toe bar  to get all that I can out of my throw. It’s all about my speed, and I can work on that bit to get a little more (out of my throws).”

– – – 

Top four individuals advance to U.P. Finals; top two relays earn Finals berth

Boys

1. Bessemer 80.25; 2. Ontonagon 21; 3. Lake Linden-Hubbell 16.5; 4. Ewen-Trout Creek 14; 5. Baraga 12; 6. Wakefield-Marenisco 8; 7. Chassell 7.25; 8. Dollar Bay 5; 9. Jeffers 1. 

3200 relay — 1. Bessemer (Tim Rowe, Mazzon, Tad Rowe, Aili) 9:06.73; 2. Dollar Bay 9:10.35; 3. W-M 9:15.60; 4. LL-H 9:20.08.

110 hurdles — 1. Jett, Bessemer, 17.91; 2. Gregoire, LL-H, 19.06; 3. Wilson, LL-H, 19.32; 4. Codere, LL-H, 20.46.

100 — 1. Tomes, Bessemer, 12.00; 2. C. Lindemann, Baraga, 12.26; 3. Suzik, W-M, 12.43; 4. Hainault, LL-H, 12.45.

800 relay — 1. Bessemer (Rowe, Aspinwall, Janczak, Jett) 1:38.91; 2. LL-H 1:39.88; 3. Baraga 1:42.01; 4. Dollar Bay 2:04.64.

1600 — 1. Aili, Bessemer, 4:51.07; 2. Mazurek, Bessemer, 4:51.86; 3. Lukkari, Ontonagon, 4:53.46; 4. Byers, Bessemer, 4:58.08.

400 relay — 1. Bessemer (Janczak, Aspinwall, Hatfield, Broemer) 47.65; 2. LL-H 48.07; 3. Baraga 49.52; 4. E-TC 49.98; 5. Dollar Bay 52.90; 6. Chassell 1:00.17.

400 — 1. Rowe, Bessemer, 55.93; 2. Dupie, Ontonagon, 56.60; 3. C. LeClaire, Dollar Bay, 57.26; 4. Hill, Jeffers, 57.33.

300 hurdles — 1. Tomes, Bessemer, 44.34; 2. Jett, Bessemer, 46.24; 3. Cole Gregoire, LL-H, 48.08; 4. Caleb Gregoire, LL-H, 49.91.

800 — 1. Aili, Bessemer, 2:09.43; 2. Lukkari, Ontonagon, 2:08.77; 3. Mazzon, Bessemer, 2:15.27; 4. Holmes, Chassell, 2:17.36.

200 — 1. Tomes, Bessemer, 24.74; 2. Tim Rowe, Bessemer, 25.33; 3. Barnes, Chassell, 25.72; 4. Suzik, W-M, 25.79.

3200 — 1. Aili, Bessemer, 10:33.80; 2. Byers, Bessemer, 10:50.93; 3. Mazurek, Bessemer, 10:51.68; 4. Hill, Dollar Bay, 10:57.38.

1600 relay — 1. Bessemer (Rowe, Mazzon, Aili, Tomes) 3:47.64; 2. Ontonagon 3:52.95; 3. W-M 4:00.94; 4. Dollar Bay 4:12.01. 

High jump — 1. Weisinger, Ontonagon, 5-6.25; 2. Borseth, E-TC, 5-6; 3. Suzik, W-M, 5-6; 4. Butkonen, LL-H, 5-4.25; 4. Holmes, Chassell, 5-4.25; 4. Hollenbeck, Bessemer, 5-4.25; Cole Gregoire, LL-H, 5-4.25.

Pole vault — 1. Aili, Bessemer, 11-6; 2. Touvila, LL-H, 11-6; 3. Hollenbeck, Bessemer, 11-0; 4. Baross, Bessemer, 10-6.

Long jump — 1. C. Lindemann, Baraga, 18-1.50; 2. Weisinger, Ontonagon, 17-10.50; 3. Caleb Gregoire, LL-H, 17-9.25; 4. Cole Gregoire, LL-H, 17-0. 

Shot put — 1. Witt, E-TC, 45-11; 2. Busch, Bessemer, 45-2.50; 3. Broemer, Bessemer, 38-1.50; 4. Sorenson, W-M, 37.5.50.

Discus — 1. Witt, E-TC, 143-9; 2. Wilson, Chassell, 116-6; 3. Blake, Ontonagon, 105-9; 4. Kinnunen, Chassell, 104-1. 

Girls

1. Lake Linden-Hubbell 94; 2. Chassell 30; 3. Ontonagon 24; 4. Bessemer 14; 4. Dollar Bay 14; 6. Ewen-Trout Creek 4; 6. Baraga 5; 8. Wakefield-Marenisco.

3200 relay — 1. Chassell (Pietila, Kangas, Sleeman, Rautiola) 11:02.03; 2. Bessemer 11:27.21; 3. E-TC 11:27.94; 4. LL-H 12:20.11.

100 hurdles — 1. Anderson, LL-H, 17.78; 2. Allen, Chassell, 18.31; 3. Kumpula, LL-H, 18.61; 4. Beaudoin, LL-H, 18.69. 

100 — 1. Lyons, LL-H, 13.90; 2. Perala, LL-H, 14.24; 3. Baccus, LL-H, 14.27; 4. Anderson, W-M, 14.37.

800 relay — 1. LL-H (Seppala, Hendrickson, Willmer, Perala) 1:58.15; 2. Ontonagon 2:02.54; 3. Dollar Bay 2:08.67; 4. Bessemer 2:11.64.

1600 — 1. Pietila, Chassell, 6:08.22; 2. Kangas, Chassell, 6:09.74; 3. Miller, Dollar Bay, 6:31.61; 4. Destrampe, LL-H, 6:44.75.

400 relay — 1. LL-H (Kumpula, LePage, Baccus Perala) 56.04; 2. Ontonagon 56.53; 3. Chassell 56.69; 4. Dollar Bay 58.12. 

400 — 1. Lyons, LL-H, 1:04.48; 2. Kolpack, Ontonagon, 1:06.35; 3. Hendrickson, LL-H, 1:09.20; 4. Rautiola, Chassell, 1:09.83. 

300 hurdles — 1. Labyak, Ontonagon, 55.02; 2. Lynch, Bessemer, 55.28; 3. Seppala, LL-H, 55.83; 4. Lukkari, Ontonagon, 55.92. 

800 — 1. Willmer, LL-H, 2:32.99; 2. Wagner, LL-H, 2:39.37; 3. Besonen, 2:42.88; 4. Haapala, Ontonagon, 2:46.73.

200 — 1. Lyons, LL-H, 28.69; 2. Perala, LL-H, 29.21; 3. Kolpack, Ontonagon, 29.29; 4. Hokenson, Chassell, 30.12.

3200 — 1. Kangas, Chassell, 13:13.55; 2. Destrampe, LL-H, 14:09.79; 3. Miller, Dollar Bay, 14:18.26; 4. Wanink, W-M, 14:22.88.

1600 relay — 1. LL-H (Hendrickson, Wagner, Seppala, Willmer) 4:35.90; 2. Bessemer 4:40.94; 3. Ontonagon 4:46.32; 4. Dollar Bay 5:22.01.

High jump — 1. Hendrickson, LL-H, 5-0; 2. Warren, Chassell, 4-8; 3. Hokenson, Chassell, 4-6; 4. Lukkari, Ontonagon, 4-6.

Pole vault — 1. LePage, LL-H, 8-0; 2. Corrigan, LL-H, 7-6; 3. Kumpula, LL-H, 7-0.

Long jump — 1. Lyons, LL-H, 15-0.75; 2. Willmer, LL-H, 12-9; 3. Baccus, LL-H, 12-7; 4. LePage, LL-H, 12-0. 

Shot put — 1. Codere, LL-H, 29-9.50; 2. Rand, Bessemer, 25-8.50; 3. Lindemann, Baraga, 24-11; 4. Caskey, Dollar Bay, 23-6.50.

Discus — 1. Caskey, Dollar Bay, 96-6; 2. Wardynski, Ontonagon, 90-7; 3. Lanala-Tervo, Baraga, 87-7; 4. Rand, Bessemer, 83-2.

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