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Ems field young teams

Track preview

MANISTIQUE — With two track meets already under their belts, the Manistique Emeralds are looking forward to hosting their invitational which takes place today at 3:45.

The Manistique girls placed sixth among nine teams with 41 1/3 points, just seven behind third-place Newberry, in the Ishpeming Invitational April 19 at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome.

Manistique features a young team with just five upperclassmen on its roster of 18. Eight of them are freshmen.

“We have a lot of potential,” said Manistique coach Rob Schwartz.

“We also have a lot of unknowns. We’re still experimenting with our lineup. We have a light roster due to scheduling conflicts.”

Captains are seniors Marissa Chase in the sprints and relays and Kelsey DeHanke, who won high jump in the Dome at four feet, 10 inches and is in some of the team’s relays.

Sophomore Ashley McDonald returns in the 400-meter dash and relays, with freshmen Emilee McDaniel and Megan Espinoza showing promise in the distance events and relay events for the Emeralds.

‘We’re pretty balanced among the sprinters, distance runners and field events,” said Schwartz. “We’re working well together. The girls are giving a good effort and have a good attitude so far.”

The boys, with 12 on their roster, also have a young team for competition.

“More than half the guys are freshmen,” said first-year coach Ashlee Eisinger.

“We’re excited and enthusiastic about how the season will go. The team is very coachable and the kids have shown a great effort so far. They’ve done everything we’ve asked of them. Some improved from last week.”

For example, freshman Alex Misniakiewicz covered the 3200-meter run in 12:47 in the Dome, then dropped his time to 12:09 in Tuesday’s quadrangular meet at Iron Mountain. He also helped the Emeralds place third in the 3200 relay and sixth in the 1600 relay in Marquette.

Jerry Jack was part of both relays. Joining them were Patrick McNamara and Mitch Green in the 3200 and captains Logan Pawley and Schyler Anderson in the 1600.

Pawley placed third in pole vault at the Dome with a leap of 10 feet. He and Anderson are also entered in the sprints, with Anderson also doing weight events.

“We are fairly balanced as far as events go (sprints, field events and distance),” said Eisinger. “We are very fortunate this year to have coaches work with specialty events such as the throws and high jump, and our upperclassmen are going to be a huge asset to our team this year in sprints, throws and pole vault.”

The remaining schedule:

April 28 — Manistique Kiwanis Invitational.

May 2 — at Munising; May 4 — at Westwood; May 5 — at St. Ignace; May 9 — Manistique Invitational; May 12 — at Munising; May 19 — D-2 regional at St. Ignace; May 25 — M-PC meet at Iron Mountain.

June 3 — U.P. Finals at Kingsford.

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