Gladstone junior Libby Sprietzer hurls the discus during the 2024 Delta County Invite on April 25, 2024 at Bark River-Harris High School. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

HARRIS — The Gladstone girls won for the second time in three track and field meets here Thursday, edging host Bark River-Harris 161-153.5 for the Delta County Invitational title. Third-place Escanaba finished with 121.5.

“That was a hard fought win,” Braves’ coach Jim Murtha said. “I’m proud of the girls. They gave a great effort. This is the first time we’ve won the county meet since 2005. I heard somebody say Escanaba won it 18 years in a row. This just shows you need to have a complete team. I can’t say enough about our distance runners. They stepped up for the team and came through. Our sprinters are continuing to improve.”

Junior Jacie Tuljus again provided the Braves with four firsts, taking the 100-meter dash in 12.82 seconds, 200 in a personal-best 26.22 and anchoring both sprint relays on this sunny and seasonably cool day.

“This is the first time I ran in the 26s this year,” she said. “This is so much nicer weather than we had for our first two meets. The sun makes it easier to run. It makes you feel better about the meet. My start in the 100 was kind of bad, but I caught up with the rest of the kids. This is the first meet which I thought some of the kids would be kind of close.

The Braves travel to Marquette Tuesday.

BR-H senior McKenzie Hoffmeyer was runner-up in the 100 (13.28) and 200 in a personal-best 27.19.

Escanaba senior Sophia Wagner captured pole vault with a school-record leap of 10 feet, four inches, an inch higher than the previous record by Kristen Pearson in 2001. Gladstone juniors Lucy DeGroot and Chelsey Demeuse tied for second (8-0).

Wagner cleared 10 feet on her third jump, then elected to go after the record.

“I was a little surprised by that,” she said. “I didn’t think I’d get it today. Last year my highest was 9-6. To get over 10 was huge. It built my confidence to go that high this early in the season. It was exciting.”

Coach Dan DeLong was naturally happy with Wagner’s effort.

“Sophia is a three-sport athlete,” he said. “She works hard. We’ve got to give coach (Joe) Royer credit. Sophia and Valerie (Royer) are best of friends. They work together always. You can’t put a price on our assistant coaches for what they do. They make my job easier.”

Senior Zoey Gillis provided Gladstone with a first in shot put (28-3). Junior Kristy Karl captured high jump (5-0). Sophomore Payton Takkunen took the 800 (2:40.96), placed second in the 1600 (6:17.9) and helped the Braves win the 3200 relay.

“What Sophia did today is very impressive,” Murtha said. “We have four vaulters who are getting better everyday and Jacie is so strong. The meet at Marquette will be a good measuring stick and Negaunee is the team to beat. Between now and the regional (May 15) we’ll be figuring out what’s going to work best. We’re excited about what’s ahead.”

BR-H junior Hope Varoni copped the 1600 (6:09.87) and 3200 in a personal-best 14:12.35.

“I was trying to get under 6:15,” she said. “I’m pretty happy with that. I just wanted to go out strong, run a steady pace and pick it up in the end. It was nice to win the 3200 as well. I usually don’t do that race, but I think I’m going to start doing it. I’ve run 13:49 in practice. This is a good start to the outdoor season.”

Senior Lauren Zawada provided the Broncos with a first in the 300 hurdles (52.53) and helped them win the 1600 relay and Hoffmeyer added a victory in long jump (16-3).

“We knew Gladstone was going to be tough and Escanaba had some good athletes,” BR-H coach Jason Lockwood said. “We felt it could come down to a few points and Gladstone was a little better today. Every girl gave it 100 percent. This group is trying to win the U.P. Finals three times in a row, but we’re in a different situation this year. Everybody knows who we are and wants to knock us off. I’ve been coaching this program for four years and our work ethic is stronger than I’ve ever seen. It’s really special to be part of this. I think the girls are working real hard to be in position to win it.”

Rock Mid Peninsula sophomore Hope Brunngraeber captured discus at 91-9.

Results

Gladstone 161, Bark River-Harris 153.5, Escanaba 121.5, Rapid River 29, Big Bay de Noc 23, Rock Mid Peninsula 22, Escanaba Holy Name 9, Hannahville 0.

3200 relay — 1, Gladstone (Mills, Farnes, Hanson, Takkunen), 11:39.71; 2, Escanaba; 3, Bark River-Harris; 4, Rapid River.

100 hurdles — 1, Stalboerger, E, 18.25; 2, Karl, G; 3, Liss, E; 4, Zawada, BR-H; 5, Derkos, HN; 6, Taylor, RR.

100 — 1, Tuljus, G, 12.82; 2, Hoffmeyer, BR-H; 3, Ives, BR-H; 4, Sundquist, G; 5, Bleau, BB; 6, DeGroot, G.

800 relay — 1, Gladstone (Sundquist, DeGroot, Pankonien, Tuljus), 1:50.02; 2, Bark River-Harris; 3, Escanaba; 4, Rapid River; 5, Holy Name.

1600 — 1, Varoni, BR-H, 6:09.87; 2, Takkunen, G; 3, VanWormer, BB; 4, Neumeier, E; 5, Mills, G; 6, Johnson, BR-H.

400 relay — 1, Gladstone (Sundquist, Tryan, Pankonien, Tuljus), 53.65; 2, Bark River-Harris; 3, Rapid River; 4, Escanaba; 5, Holy Name.

400 — 1, Olson, BR-H, 1:02.98; 2, Ives, BR-H; 3, Sundling, RR; 4, Pankonien, G; 5, Getzloff, E; 6, Nault, RR.

300 hurdles — 1, L. Zawada, BR-H, 52.53; 2, Stalboerger, E; 3, E. Zawada, BR-H; 4, VanWormer, BB; 5, Karl, G; 6, Derkos, HN.

800 — 1, Takkunen, G, 2:40.96; 2, Varoni, BR-H; 3. Hanson, G; 4, Mills, G; 5, Koch, BR-H; 6, Flagstadt, BR-H.

200 — 1, Tuljus, G, 26.22; 2, Hoffmeyer, BR-H 3, Sundquist, G; 4, Bleau, BB; 5, Olson, BR-H; 6, Ives, BR-H.

3200 — 1, Varoni, BR-H, 14:12.35; 2, Takkunen, G; 3, Maki, E; 4, Farnes, G; 5, Weaver, E; 6, Aviles, G.

1600 relay — Bark River-Harris (Olson, L. Zawada, Nault, Koch), 4:30.37; 2, Escanaba; 3, Gladstone; 4, Rapid River.

High jump — 1, Karl, G, 5-0; 2, Adrianna Getzloff, E; 3, L. Zawada, BR-H; 4, Thill, BB; 5, Anderson, HN; 6. Hill, E and E. Zawada, BR-H (tie).

Pole vault — 1, Wagner, E, 10-4 (school record); 2, DeGroot and Demeuse, G (tie); 4, Johnson, BR-H and Royer, E (tie); 6, Menard, G.

Long jump — 1, Hoffmeyer, BR-H, 16-3; 2, Stahlboerger, E; 3, Martin, E; 4, Erickson, BR-H; 5, Royer, E; 6, Durrance, BB.

Shot put — 1, Gillis, G, 28-3; 2, Ava Getzloff, E; 3, Brunngraeber, MP; 4, Liss, E; 5, Durrance, BB; 6, Cortez, BR-H.