Dollar Bay-Tamarack City's Kiera Isaacson set a new school record in this high jump Thursday at Houghton's Copper Country Invite at Houghton High School. (Eddie O’Neil/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — The area’s high school track and field world descended upon Houghton High School on Thursday for the Copper Country Invite. A sunny afternoon made up for the chilly temps and brisk breeze at Alumni Field. The consensus among coaches was that it was a long winter and anything beats another day of practice in the gym.

Cold weather did not deter some stand-out performances. Among them was Michael Solena, of Houghton. He set a new school record in the shot put with a 16.66-meter throw.

“That is also a new meet record,” stated his coach Erik Johnson.

Johnson was also pleased to report that teammate Sam Roth set a new school record in the 100-meter dash. Roth’s time of 10.93 seconds broke a long-time record held by former Gremlin Clayton Sayen.

“We have a lot of talent all across the track and field,” Johnson added. “Today was a good day, despite the fact that we have had very few days outside.”

On the girls’ side, Kiera Isaacson set a new record in the high jump. The Dollar Bay-Tamarack City senior leaped to a 1.57-meter height – a new school best.

Veteran Lake Linden-Hubbell girls’ coach, Gary Guisfredi summed up the 2026 spring track and field season the best.

“It was a long winter,” he stated. “And it still feels like winter. It has been really tough to train in the gym. It is what it is. The kids are working hard, and that is all you can ask.”

Don Hill, coach of the Calumet Copper Kings squad, echoed a similar sentiment.

“I like that we are getting outside and dealing with real distances,” he stated. “However, every time we get to a meet it is like a practice, because we haven’t been able to get outside on our track to practice.”

Boys

4x800mR: Houghton, 9:37.70, Livesay, A. Limkemann, X. Hutchinson, L. Vendlinski; Calumet 9:43.34, Pennala, L. Nagel, A. Schneiderhan, L. Bory; Lake Linden-Hubbell, 10:35.40, B. Beaudette, C. Beaudette, B. Fortin, C. Hainault.

110mH: Jack Ruonavaara, Copper Island Academy, 18.25; Joshua You, Houghton, 18.69; Will Beaudoin, Dollar Bay, 19.26.

100m: Samuel Roth, Houghton, 10.93;, Brayden Goudge, Houghton, 11.44; Izaak Englund, Calumet, 12.00.

4x200mR: Lake Linden-Hubbell, 1:43.77, A. Milkey, A. Sullivan, B. Bykkonen, B. Davis; Houghton, 1:46.35, D. Lounibos, L. Matteson, S. Cai, G. Aho; Calumet, 1:46.48, J. Carlson, R. Gronlund, L. Lypsinmaa, O. Loukus.

1600m: Lukas Axford, Lake Linden-Hubbell 5:15.5; Lewis Vendlinski, Houghton, 5:19.17; Niko Reed; Dollar Bay, 5:21.42.

4x100mR: Houghton, 45.55, D. Xie, B. Goudge, C. Kocour, S. Roth; Calumet, 47.82 I. Englund, B. Anderson, K. Koivisto, P. Krumm; Lake Linden-Hubbell, 47.85, B. Bykkonen, B. Axford, A. Sullivan, J. Daavettila.

400m: Tyler Axford, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 55.64; Arobindo Ghosh, Houghton, 57.24; Lewis Vendlinski, Houghton, 59.06.

300mH: Brady Axford, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 43.78; Eli Hongisto, Houghton, 45.08; Will Beaudoin, Dollar Bay, 48.09.

800m: Lukas Axford, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 2:10.66; Brendan Loukus, Calumet, 2:25.54; Jack Ruonavaara, Copper Island Academy, 2:26.61.

200m: Benjamin Hemmer, Houghton, 24.79; Brady Axford, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 24.95; Eli Garnell, Houghton, 24.96.

3200m: Axl Schneiderhan, Calumet, 11:46.55; Niko Reed, Dollar Bay, 11:48.02; Lewis Nagel, Calumet, 11:50.79.

4x400mR: Lake Linden-Hubbel, 3:53.50,B. Lebo, B. Axford, L. Axford, T. Axford; Houghton, 4:09.74, G. Aho, T. Evans, K. Williams, L. Vendlinski; Hancock, 4:10.98, C. Archambeau, L. Carlson, R. Comstock, S. Martens.

Shot Put: Michael Solena, Houghton, 16.66m; Josh Daavettila, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 11.92m; Forrest LaCourt, Hancock, 11.50m.

High Jump: Jack Cooke, Houghton, 1.72m; Terrence Nolan, Houghton, 1.67m; Josh Daavettila, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 1.62m.

Pole Vault: Tobin Baril, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 10-06.00; Keith Koivisto, Calumet, 10-00.00; Noah Tourtillott, Dollar Bay, 8-06.00.

Long Jump: Jace Samuelson, Houghton, 19-01.00; Bradley Woodruff, Houghton, 17-07.00; Rogan Gronlund, Calumet, 17-04.00.

Discus: Michael Solena, Houghton, 45.36m; Travis Holbrook, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 31.11m; Daniel Suh, Houghton, 29.54m.

Girls

4x800mR: Houghton,11:09.33, Lawson, A. Bastian, B. Hoppe, S. Lawson; Calumet,11:18.89, B. Strom, L. Moyryla, R. Eskola, B. McParlan; Dollar Bay, 12:20.89, E. Myllyoja, L. Halkola, N. Baccus, K. Maki.

100mH: Jordan Holombo, Chassell, 17.58; Chloe Perala, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 17.82; Lissa Johnson, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 18.68.

100m: Alexa Hoffman, Calumet, 13.11; Addeline Schmitt, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 13.43; Ava Rauvala, Calumet,13.44.

100m Wheelchair: Amy Sziber, Houghton, 28.43.

4x200mR: Calumet,1:56.06, B. Strom, A. Rauvala, K. Strom, A. Hoffman; Lake Linden-Hubbell, 1:58.42, Steves, E. Schneiderhan, P. Goldsworthy, I. Tampas; Dollar Bay, 2:04.81, S. Kentala, A. Nye, E. Myllyoja, A. Karppinen.

1600m Tessa Rautiola, Houghton, 5:47.42; Alena Pietila, Hancock, 5:58.18; Bethany McParlan, Calumet, 6:23.98.

4x100mR: Lake Linden-Hubbell, 54.37, C. Perala, E. Schneiderhan, P. Goldsworthy, A. Schmitt; Dollar Bay, 54.64, S. Kentala, A. Nye, L. Bell, K. Isaacson; Calumet, 59.44, T. Meneguzzo, A. Jurmu, B. Tatman, M. Pomroy.

400m: Kyla Strom, Calumet, 1:04.94; Isabella Tampas, Linden-Hubbell,1:06.89; Lydia Williams, Houghton, 1:08.99.

300mH: Jordan Holombo, Chassell, 51.29; Aubrey Karppinen; Dollar Bay,54.52; Chloe Perala, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 57.23.

800m:Alena Pietila, Hancock,2:36.82; Tessa Rautiola, Houghton, 2:41.70; Remi Coponen, Painesdale-Jeffers,2:46.76.

200m: Alexa Hoffman, Calumet, 27.76; Jordan Holombo, Chassell, 28.23; Addeline Schmitt, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 28.26.

3200m: Holly Cooke, Houghton, 12:42.27; Tessa Rautiola, Houghton, 12:58.22; Alena Pietila, Hancock, 14:06.21.

4x400mR: Calumet, 4:31.44, B. Strom, K. Strom, B. McParlan, A. Hoffman; Lake Linden-Hubbell, 4:42.73, A. Steves, A. Schmitt, E. Schneiderhan, I. Tampas; Houghton, 4:44.14, N. Klein, L. Williams, A. Rossitto, N. Woodruff.

Shot Put: Tatum Sporalski, Hancock, 10.14m; Maddy Dudenas, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 9.74m; Payton Goldsworthy, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 9.09m.

Wheelchair Shot Put: Amy Sziber, Houghton, 5.39m.

High Jump: Kiera Isaacson, Dollar Bay, 1.57m; Annika Stafford, Calumet, 1.42m; Ava Nye, Dollar Bay, 1.37m.

Pole Vault: Ashlyn Steves, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 8-00.00; Lissa Johnson, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 8-00.00; Lydia Williams, Houghton, 7-06.00.

Long Jump: Laila Bell, Dollar Bay, 16-09.00; Brielle Anderson, Jeffers14-06.00; Kyla Strom, Calumet, 14-05.00.

Discus: Maddy Dudenas, Lake Linden-Hubbell, 27.38m; Bailey Strom, Calumet, 25.28m; Tatum Sporalski, Hancock, 24.42m.

Copper Island Academy’s Jack Rounavaara (10) leads the pack in the 800-meter run around the Houghton High School track Thursday. Behind him are Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Tyler Axford (5) and Houghton’s Terrance Nolan (11). (Eddie O’Neil/For the Gazette)