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Braves boys’ dominate

Esky track teams take 2nd, Braves’ girls get 3rd

Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Gladstone’s Calvin Thibault (left) and Jamie McKnight (right) compete in the 110-meter hurdles at Tuesday’s triangular at Escanaba. Thibault finished first in 15.4 seconds and McKnight was second in 15.45.

ESCANABA — The Gladstone boys made their season debut a successful one here Tuesday, winning a triangular track meet with 91 points. Escanaba scored 53 and Menominee had 31.

“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” said Braves’ coach Gary Whitmer. “These are teams we go up against in the (Division 1) regional. We’re pretty excited. The kids were pretty pumped up.”

The Menominee girls won with 73 points, followed by Esky with 64 and Gladstone with 37.

“We have a tough girls’ team,” said Menominee assistant coach Tyler Crossman, a Rapid River graduate. “We had some girls step up in the 400. It was good for us to run against Escanaba and Gladstone. Ciara Ostrenga had a better day this time (for Esky) and our girls needed that competition.”

The Gladstone boys swept the four places in the 110-meter hurdles. Sophomore Calvin Thibault won in 15.4 seconds, edging senior Jamie McKnight by .05 second on this sunny, cool and windy day.

Thibault also captured the 300s (44.26), 100 dash (11.4) and 200 (24.96).

“The wind made it tough in the home stretch, although everybody had to push through it,” said Thibault. “I was so nervous coming into this meet, but it turned out to be a great first meet. I decided to try the 100 for the first time. It was a little challenging, yet it was fun.”

The Braves, who won the 800 and 3200 relays, finished with eight firsts.

“We just threw together a team for the 1600 relay and got some points in the field events,” said Whitmer. “Nick Dawson cleared the opening height in pole vault for the first time and got us a third. We did a little better than we expected in the field events.”

Esky sophomore Derek Douglas won the 800 (2:17.59), 1600 (5:17) and helped the winning 1600 relay. Senior Kyle Gendron added firsts in high jump at six feet and long jump (18-8). Junior Dayton Miron copped pole vault (11-6) and helped the 1600 relay.

Menominee’s victories came on Dylan Ordeans’ toss of 41-11 in shot put and its 400 relay.

Makenzie Wellner provided the Menominee girls with firsts in the 100 hurdles (16.13) and 300s (50.4) and helped the Maroons take the 800 relay, and Katie Anderla took the 1600 (6:04), 3200 (12:43) and helped the winning 3200 relay.

Sophomore Anna Smith and Ostrenga helped Esky capture the 1600 relay, with Smith winning high jump (4-8) and Ostrenga taking the 800 (2:51).

“We knew this meet would be tight,” said Esky coach Dan DeLong. “We won the 3200 relay down there (Menominee), but this time we changed our lineup and it backfired. Our 1600 relay looked good, Anna did well in high jump and Meghan Farrell did good for us. It was nice to get three places in the 200.”

Sophomore Ahna Larson was Gladstone’s leader, winning the 100 (13.27) and long jump (14-8), and taking a close second to Wellner in the 300 hurdles (51.0).

“Ahna had a very good day,” said Braves’ coach Jim Murtha. “It was nice to see her win the 100 and her victory in long jump was a nice surprise. She’s happy. She had a nice time in the 300s in pretty brutal conditions. The wind made it tough coming into the home stretch.

“Emily Siebert winning pole vault (8-6) was our best event of the day. She was excited and coach (Casey) Young was excited. For her to come in here and win that in her first meet was pretty exciting. That’s a good jump. I think our throwers also came through today and I thought our distance runners did pretty well for the first meet of the year.”

Esky hosts the Delta County Invitational Thursday at 3 p.m. Menominee hosts Kingsford in a dual meet Thursday.

Boys

3200 relay — Gladstone (Madden, Olsen, Strasler, Hughes), 9:37; 110 hurdles — C. Thibault, G, 15.4; 100 — C. Thibault, G, 11.4; 800 relay — Gladstone (L. VanBrocklin, Hughes, Servant, Berube), 1:43.5; 1600 — Douglas, E, 5:17; 400 relay — Menominee (Bigger, Boucher, Goldschmidt, Parrett), 48.5; 400 — St. John, G, 55.7; 300 hurdles — C. Thibault, G, 44.26; 800 — Douglas, E, 2:17.59; 200 — C. Thibault, G, 24.96; 3200 — Mathews, G, 11:53; 1600 relay — Escanaba (Douglas, Stevenson, Miron, Frazer), 3:56.53; High jump — Gendron, E, 6-0; Long jump — Gendron, E, 18-8; Pole vault — Miron, E, 11-6; Shot put — Odeans, M, 41-11; Discus — Smith, E, 119-11.

Girls

3200 relay — Menominee (Park, Buck, Lesperance, Anderla), 11:20.32; 100 hurdles — M. Wellner, M, 16.13; 100 — Larson, G, 13.27; 800 relay — Menominee (Nolde, Nordquist, M. Wellner, E. Wellner), 1:58.26; 1600 — Anderla, M, 6:04; 400 relay — Escanaba (Farrell, Lord, Brown, Anderson), 56.75; 400 — Buck, M, 1:06.7; 300 hurdles — M. Wellner, M, 50.4; 800 — Ostrenga, E, 2:51; 200 — E. Wellner, M, 30.87; 3200 — Anderla, M, 12:43; 1600 relay — Escanaba (Smith, Barron, Boyle, Ostrenga), 4:38; High jump — Smith, E, 4-8; Long jump — Larson, G, 14-8; Pole vault — Siebert, G, 8-6; Shot put — Olson, M, 32-8; Discus — Parish, G, 86-2.

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