Bark River-Harris freshman Emma Zawada competes in the high jump during the 2024 Delta County Invitational on April 25, 2024 at bark River-Harris High School.

HARRIS — After earning back-to-back Upper Peninsula Division 2 track and field titles, what can the Bark River-Harris girls do for an encore.

The Broncos, in pursuit of a three-peat, opened with a third-place finish behind Gaylord and Petoskey in the Yooper Invitational at Lake Superior State University April 5.

“That was quite a confidence boost,” senior McKenzie Hoffmeyer said. “We’re excited about our next meet. It’s pretty cool to be able to host the Delta County meet for the first time. Being the two-time defending U.P. champion is also pretty cool, although it definitely creates more pressure. We just have to make sure we do the work. Ishpeming and West Iron County will be challenging.”

BR-H, which has 23 on its team, is idle until April 25 when it hosts the Delta County Invitational.

“That just gives us more time to prepare,” coach Travis Depuydt said. “The weather has been favorable. It has been warmer than usual for this time of year. We’ve been able to build up a little more and the practices have been more intense. We’ve also been incorporating other drills. I think this will be a good opportunity to run on our turf and show what we’re made of.”

Gone from last year’s team through graduation are hurdler Hazel Conklin and Carley Varoni, who’s doing pole vault at St. Norbert College this spring.

The Broncos will also try to defend their U.P. titles in the 800 and 1600 relays.

Joining Hoffmeyer in the 800 are seniors Lauren Zawada and Julia Olson and junior Marissa Ives, with the 1600 comprised of Zawada, Olson, junior Jillian Koch and sophomore Julia Nault.

“We have five returning kids who won at the U.P. Finals last year,” Depuydt said. “Julia is very determined this year and wants to get under a minute in the 400. The sprints and middle distances are our strengths, and I think (junior) Hope Varoni will be a force. I think our 4×800 (3200) relay looks real good. I’d say our conditioning is what we probably need to work on the most and that will come as the season goes on. We’re in better shape than we were a week ago. Getting in the early meet helped us build more of a competitive edge.”

Also on the Broncos’ roster are promising freshman sprinter Emma Zawada and pole vaulter Mira Johnson, who cleared 8-6 in junior high track a year ago.

“We have a real good freshman group coming in and three seniors who are very instrumental in the way our program looks now,” Depuydt said. “They’ve worked very hard to bring our program to this point. I think the kids know what it takes and they’re willing to put in the work. We’re very competitive from top to bottom and the girls push each other to get better. It’s a great feeling to be part of this. The kids care about each other and cheer for each other. We have a young group in the weight events that works very hard.”

Although the Broncos are optimistic going forward, Depuydt knows they’ll be tested by last year’s runner-up Ishpeming and third and fourth-place finishers Manistique and West Iron.

“Ishpeming has a lot of talented athletes,” he said. “Manistique has a good team and West Iron has (senior) Danica Shamion who gives your sprinters the kind of competition they want. She’s very good. Competing against her brings out your best.”

The remaining schedule:

April 30 — North Dickinson Invitational.

May 2 — Rapid River Invitational; May 3 — Escanaba Invitational; May 7 — Stephenson Lions Invitational; May 10 — Munising Lions Invitational; May 13 — BR-H Invitational; May 18 — Division 2 regional at Munising; May 21 — Skyline Central Conference at Stephenson.

June 1 — U.P. Finals at Kingsford.