Chassell edged Newberry 52-54 for its first title in four years and third-place Stephenson scored 58 points.

“The girls are really excited,” Chassell coach Marco Guidotti said. “I’m so happy for them. Stephenson beat us at Munising (Sept. 26) and kept an eye on the times Newberry was running. We knew it’d be tough. I’m so proud of the girls for believing in themselves. When you see a team running times like that, every place counts. The girls really started to find their groove late in the season.

Guidotti believes winning the Copper Mountain Conference set the tone for Saturday’s race.

“That really motivated us and Ironwood put on a great meet over there,” he said. “We have a real strong community that supports the school and runners. It was nice to have to see some of our graduates come here and cheer on the girls. Their hard work really paid off.”

The 2023 Houghton girls cross country team pose for a photo with its U.P. Division 1 Cross Country state runner-up trophy on Saturday at Farmhouse B&B in Gladstone. (Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

PIckford sophomore Talya Schreiber set the U.P. record by covering the 3.1-mile course in 18 minutes, 49.9 seconds.”That’s nine seconds off my PR (personal record),” she said. “I wanted to go out hard because it gave me a cushion to work with. This has definitely been a real good learning experience. I dealt with some illness last summer (2022). I needed lot of rest and had to get back into running very slowly. It’s disappointing I didn’t get to do anything in my freshman year, but I’m definitely happy to be back.”

She was followed by Newberry sophomore Samantha Taylor (19:28.6), freshmab Abby Taylor (19:48.6) and senior Kaylen Clark in a season-best 20:19.1 and Dollar Bay senior Taryn Maki (21:06.3) on this partly sunny, cool and breezy morning.

“Taryn ran a strong race,” Dollar Bay coach Matt Zimmer said. “She had a great season. We’re proud to have her as a Blue Bolt.”

Junior Lily Etlamaki was Chassell’s leader in sixth at 22:04.9, followed by Ewen-Trout Creek eighth-grader Bree Besonen (22:07.5).

“We put in lot of hard work during the week,” Etlamaki said. “We were definitely on a mission. Our area teams did real well. There’s a lot of trophies going back home. We were kind of in shock when we found out we won. We thought we’d be runner-up. We tried to run in a pack and I think our depth helped us.”

The 2023 Chassell girls cross country team pose for a photo with its U.P. Division 3 Cross Country state championship trophy on Saturday at Farmhouse B&B in Gladstone. (Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

Hancock was crowned D-2 champion for the third straight time with 38 points, followed by Munising 71 and Ironwood 93.

Ishpeming senior Lola Korpi earned her third consecutive title in a personal-best 19:04.8 for the fifth best time in U.P. Finals history.

“I ran about 20:18 here last year and was trying to beat that,” she said. “That was amazing. It feels like I’m on top of the world right now. I’m also proud of my sister. Laynie ran real well. I was thinking to myself ‘leave it all here.’ I’m not as sad as others because I know I’ll be running in college. Plus, I still have track to look forward to next spring.”

She was followed by Hancock juniors Ella Keranen in a personal-best 20:56.9 and Rayna Towles (21:06.3).

“I never broke 21 minutes before,” Keranen said. “It’s hard to run against the clock at the FInals. I can be a little nerve-wracking, but I was excited when a saw my time. Rayna and i ran together. It’s good to have someone to run with. We definitely ran as hard as we could. We wanted to win it the third time for our senior Jolene Larson.”

The 2023 Jeffers boys cross country team pose for a photo with its U.P. Division 2 Cross Country state championship trophy on Saturday at Farmhouse B&B in Gladstone. (Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

Baraga freshman Sophie Derochers placed sixth (22:06,7) and Hancock sophomore Jill Berg took eighth (22:26,7).

The Marquette girls retained their D-1 title by tying the state scoring record with 23 points. They were followed by Houghton 53 and Sault Ste. Marie 92.

Marquette sophomore won in 19:24.6, followed by junior teammate Monet Argeropoulos (19:30.2), Houghton junior Roman Peterlin (19:55.3) and Tessa Rautiola (19:55.5).

“I’m definitely happy I was faster than in the GNC (Great Northern Conference) meet,” Fure said. “I was a little nervous about my time. I was running with Monet and she told me to take off with a quarter-mile to go. I was about 17 seconds off my PR. The weather was nice. It was about the perfect temperature (near 50).”

U.P. Cross Country Finals

At Flat Rock

Boys

Division 1

Marquette 22, Sault Ste. Marie 64, Houghton 74, Gladstone 122, Negaunee 168, Powers North Central 172, Ishpeming Westwood 179, Kingsford 190, Menominee 198, Escanaba NTS.

Top 15 — 1, Gabe Litzner, Sault Ste. Marie, 15:56.6; 2, Seppi Camilli, Marquette, 16:29.1; 3, Evan Balko, Marquette, 16:33.5; 4, Lucas Ballard, Marquette, 16:37.6; 5, Shea Armstrong, Sault Ste. Marie, 16:41.8; 6, Peter Argeropoulos, Marquette, 16:53.2; 7, Chase Thomsen, Marquette, 16:55.9; 8, James Barch, Marquette, 16:57.5; 9, Tanner Howes, Gladstone, 17:18.7; 10, Cullen Papin, Marquette, 17:26.9; 11, Birk Seagren, Houghton, 17:30.7; 12, Eli Hills, Sault Ste. Marie, 17:38.3; 13, Simon Jaklin, Negaunee, 17:45; 14, Isaiah Lawson, Houghton, 17:50.3; 15, Ben Hemmer, Houghton, 18:02.6.

Division 2

Painesdale Jeffers 48, Rudyard 66, Munising 105, Ironwood 111, Ishpeming 117, Gwinn 138, Hancock 139, Manistique 178. Gogebic and West iron County NTS.

Top 15 — 1, Landon Larson, Painesdale Jeffers, 17:10.3; 2, Kemper Gearhart, Ishpeming, 17:20.8; 3, Cameron Anderson, Painesdale Jeffers, 17:28.1; 4, Dan Goss, Munising, 18:03.5; 5, Noah Verbos, Gogebic, 18:12.4; 6, Ben Gilroy, Manistique, 18:23; 7, Levi Nicholls, Ishpeming, 18:30.5; 8, Joey Lauzon, Ironwood, 18:38.4; 9, Zach Smith, Ironwood, 18:43.2; 10, Steven Kirschner, Rudyard, 18:43.2; 11, Trayton Helminen, Painesdale Jeffers, 18:50.6; 12, Eli Folkersma, Rudyard, 18:58.7; 13, Seth Templeton, Rudyard, 19:06.7; 14, Nolan Dolaskie, Munising, 19:08.9; 15, Kasen Helminen, Painesdale Jeffers, 19:16.7.

Division 3

Dollar Bay 54, Superior Central 78, Stephenson 104, Engadine 106, Chassell 113, Brimley 130, Rapid River 141, St. Ignace 156. Pickford, Republic-Michigamme, Rock-Mid Peninsula, Carney-Nadeau, Escanaba Holy Name, Newberry, Norway, Cedarville-DeTour, Ewen-Trout Creek, Crystal Falls Forest Park, Kinross Maplewood Baptist and Watersmeet NTS.

Top 15 — Kalvin Kytta, Chassell, 16:49.9; 2, Hayden Hagen, Pickford, 17:18.8; 3, Quinn Socia, Pickford, 18:29.1; 4, Joshua Guant, Dollar Bay, 18:32.6; 5, Duane Krenek, Engadine, 18:36.9; 6, John Wheeler, Republic-Michigamme, 18:38.8; 7, Ethan Lawrence, Republic-Michigamme 18:57.8; 8, Canon Kuntze, Stephenson, 19:00.9; 9, Trevor Verba, Stephenson, 19:01.4; 10, Darren Johnson, Brimley, 19:02.4; 11, Dakota Taylor, Engadine, 19:06.8; 12, Thomas Caron, Watersmeet, 19:12.7; 13, Will Spranger, Superior Central, 19:17.5; 14, Wasaya LeBlanc, Brimley, 19:17.6; 15, Caleb Kentala, Dollar Bay, 19:21.2.

Girls

Division 1

Marquette 23, Houghton 53, Sault Ste. Marie 92, Negaunee 102, Ishpeming Westwood 135, Gladstone 167, Escanaba 168. Kingsford, Powers North Central and Menominee NTS.

Top 15 — 1, Ella Fure, Marquette, 19:24.6; 2, Monet Argeropoulos, Marquette, 19:30.2; 3, Roman Peterlin. Houghton, 19:55.3; 4, Tessa Rautiola, Houghton, 19:55.5; 5, Abby Harma, Marquette, 19:58.5; 6, Marlee Plaxco, Negaunee, 20:51.4; 7, Cora Wernholm, Marquette, 20:58.9; 8, Tessa Bruns, Marquette, 21:12.5; 9, Alisha Mabie, Escanaba, 21:19.5; 10, Abigail Walther, Sault Ste. Marie, 21:23.1; 11, Eryn Veverka, Marquette, 21:27.1; 12, Lily Ross, Houghton, 21:37.9; 13, Riley Conklin, Negaunee, 21:47.2; 14, Hope Varoni, Powers North Central, 21:47.7; 15, Katie Sarau, Houghton, 21:52.4.

Division 2

Hancock 38, Munising 71, Ironwood 93, Rudyard 101, Gogebic 108, Manistique 123, West Iron County 148. Baraga and Ishpeming NTS.

Top 15 — 1, Lola Korpi, Ishpeming, 19:04.8; 2, Ella Keranen, Hancock, 20:56.9; 3, Rayna Towles, Hancock, 21:06.3; 4, Maya Carlson, Manistique, 21:26.4; 5, Alexandra Goss, Munising, 22:02.5; 6, Sophie Desrochers, Baraga, 22:06.7; 7, Aubrey Smith, Ironwood, 22:19.1; 8, Jill Berg, Hancock, 22:26.7; 9, Laynie Korpi, Ishpeming, 22:37.3; 10, Olivia Cotey, Munising, 23:11.6; 11, Emma Mitchell, Rudyard, 23:24.2; 12, Kate Mattson, Munising, 23:38; 13, Aubrey Balduc, Ironwood, 23:54; 14, Calista Watchorn, Manistique, 23:59.5; 15, Alyssa Shirkey, Gogebic, 24:02.3.

Division 3

Chassell 52, Newberry 54, Stephenson 58, Engadine and Pickford 91, Rapid River 125. Brimley, Dollar Bay, Norway, Republic-Michigamme, Ewen-Trout Creek, Crystal Falls Forest Park, St. Ignace, Watersmeet, Superior Central and Rock-Mid Peninsula NTS.

Top 15 — 1, Talya Schreiber, Pickford, 18:49.9 (record); 2, Samantha Taylor, Newberry, 19:28.6; 3, Abby Taylor, Newberry, 19:48.6; 4, Kaylen Clark, Newberry, 20:19.1; 5, Taryn Maki, Dollar Bay, 21:06.3; 6, Lily Etlamaki, Chassell, 22:04.9; 7, Bree Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 22:07.5; 8, Jada Kuntze, Stephenson, 22:21.8; 9, Tatum Clark, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 22:28.6; 10, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 22:33.9; 11, Ally Loebach, Engadine, 22:43.4; 13, Gala Benvenuti, Chassell, 22:43.5; 14, Sylvia Aho, Chassell, 22:53.5; 15, Kaylee Baldwin, Norway, 23:18.5.