The 2024 Bark River-Harris girls’ track and field team celebrates with its during MHSAA U.P. Division 2 Region 44-2 track and field championship trophy on May 18, 2024 at R.W. Nebel Track at Mustang Stadium in Munising. With an 80-point performance, the Broncos not only beat second-place Pickford by 32 points, but earned their third-straight Regional Championship. ("The Big Dog" Mitch Vosburg/Daily Press)

MUNISING — The Bark River-Harris girls made a bit of a statement here Saturday as they captured the Division 2 regional track and field title for the third straight time.

BR-H, which scored 80 points, was followed by Pickford 48 and Munising 29.

The Pickford boys were crowned champions with 61.5 points, followed by Munising 47 and Iron Mountain 36 on this sunny, warm and breezy afternoon.

“The girls did great,” BR-H coach Katie Depuydt said. “A lot of good things happen. They were on a mission. They’re peaking at a good time. The boys also ran hard. Ben Knauf got a personal-best time in the 1600 (four minutes, 49.05 seconds). This was a tough regional.”

Freshman Mira Johnson got the Broncos started on a positive note by winning pole vault at seven feet, six inches

Johnson, the lone vaulter to record a qualifying height, later helped BR-H take the 400-meter relay in 53.8 seconds and the 1600 (4:25.07).

“I’m feeling very accomplished,” she said. “I want to get the school record someday and have two more meets this season plus three more years to do it. It felt a little strange to be the only one vaulting, although I expected only a couple more girls to be doing it. It’s very exciting to be going to the U.P. Finals as a regional champion.”

BR-H senior Lauren Zawada, also part of the 1600 relay, won the 100 hurdles (17.61) and 300s (50.76) and copped high jump (4-10).

“The hurdle races felt real good,” she said. “I’m happy with my time. The warmer weather helped us a lot. I’ve been working hard on those and the coaches have been helping me work on my starts. I’m trying to go to more of a three-step. Doing that helps take away the stutters. I think everything is going real well. I also think we’re where we want to be going into the Finals.”

Classmate McKenzie Hoffmeyer copped the 100 (13.19) and 200 in a personal-best 26.83 and long jump (16-3) and helped the Broncos take the 800 relay (1:52.43).

“I wanted to get under 27 for sure in the 200,” she said. “This gives me a lot of motivation going into the last couple meets. The wind helped cool us down, although you have to be prepared for anything.”

Junior teammate Marissa Ives placed second in the 100 (13.51) and fourth in the 200 (28.3) and senior teammate Julia Olson was runner-up in the 200 (28.2), 400 (1:00.98) and 800 (2:37.27).

“There’s a lot of competitiveness in this area,” Ives said. “Iron Mountain has a lot of strong runners. Overall, this was a good day to run. We didn’t have to worry about trying to stay warm. I think everybody brought some competition. Every team had something to offer.”

Ives was also part of the 800 relay and Olson helped the 1600.

Junior Hope Varoni added a second in the 1600 (6:11.73) and third in the 800 (2:37.54). Pickford sophomore Talya Schreiber won the 800 (2:32.82), 1600 (5:46.15) and 3200 (12:50.35) and placed third in the 400 (1:06.23) and senior Chloe May captured shot put (33-7) and discus (95-3.5).

Senior Sabyrna Smith provided Munising with a first in the 400 (1:00.94).

Iron Mountain senior Matt Colavecchi captured the boys’ 100 (11.51), 200 (23.87) and long jump (18-9.5) and helped the Mountaineers take (45.87).

“We had one of 100 guys go down with a hamstring injury,” Mountaineers’ coach Karen Ellis said. “With only 10 guys it made for a tough day after that. Pickford has 32, so even with our full team we knew it was going to be tough. Although, we still had a pretty good day overall. We qualified nearly everybody.”

Munising junior Dan Goss captured the 800 (2:08.24), 1600 (4:43.65) and 3200 (10:58.55) and senior Joe Kelley copped the 110 hurdles (16.25) and 300s (41.92) and helped the Mustangs win the 1600 relay (3:46.98).

Pickford, which relied on its depth, got firsts from sophomores Gunner Bennin in the 400 (53.59) and John Anderson in high jump (5-8).

BR-H got its highest finish in the 3200 relay, which took second (9:09.93).

The Broncos travel to Stephenson for Tuesday’s Skyline Central Conference meet.

Girls

Bark River-Harris 80, Pickford 48, Munising, 29, Iron Mountain 11, Gwinn 10, Rudyard 3.

3200 relay — 1, Pickford (Cottle, Firack, Jentoft, Storey), 11:59.35; 2, Bark River-Harris; 3, Munising; 4, Rudyard.

100 hurdles — 1, L. Zawada, BR-H, 17.61; 2, Behning, M; 3, Ketola, G; 4, Redlon, G.

100 — 1, Hoffmeyer, BR-H, 13.19; 2, Ives, BR-H; 3, Smith, M; 4, Pickett, IM.

800 relay — 1, Bark River-Harris (Hoffmeyer, Nault, Ives, Erickson), 1:52.43; 2, Munising; 3, Gwinn; 4, Pickford.

1600 — 1, Schreiber, P, 5:46.15; 2, Varoni, BR-H; 3, Cotey, M; 4, Mitchell, R.

400 relay — 1, Bark River-Harris (Erickson, M. Johnson, E. Zawada, Nault), 53.8; 2, Iron Mountain; 3, Gwinn; 4, Pickford.

400 — 1, Smith, M, 1:00.94; 2, Olson, BR-H; 3, Schreiber, P; 4, Nault, BR-H.

300 hurdles — 1, L. Zawada, BR-H, 50.76; 2, Behning, M; 3, E. Zawada, BR-H; 4, Wicks, IM.

800 — 1, Schreiber, P, 2:32.82; 2, Olson, BR-H; 3, Varoni, BR-H; 4, Cotey, M.

200 — 1, Hoffmeyer, BR-H, 26.83; 2, Olson, BR-H; 3, Smith, M; 4, Ives, BR-H.

3200 — 1, Schreiber, P, 12:50.35; 2, Firack, P; 3, I. Johnson, BR-H; 4, Mitchell, R.

1600 relay — 1, Bark River-Harris (M. Johnson, Nault, L. Zawada, Olson), 4:25.07; 2, Munising; 3, Pickford; 4, Iron Mountain.

High jump — 1, L. Zawada, BR-H, 4-10; 2, Wicks, IM; 3, Collins,P, 4, Anderson, P.

Pole vault — M. Johnson, BR-H, 7-6.

Long jump — 1, Hoffmeyer, BR-H, 16-3, 2, Ives, BR-H; 3, Pickett, IM; 4, Erickson, BR-H.

Shot put — 1, May, P, 33-0; 2, Portice, P, 3, Wing, M; 4, Kharlan, G.

Discus — 1, May, P, 95-3.5; 2, Portice, P; 3, Kharlan, G; 4, Wing, M.

Boys

Pickford 61.5, Munising 47, Iron Mountain 36, Rudyard 21, Bark River-Harris 14, Gwinn 7.5.

3200 relay — 1, Pickford (Warner, Andrzejak, Mitchell, Socia), 9:01.8; 2, Bark River-Harris; 3, Munising; 4, Gwinn.

110 hurdles — 1, Kelley, M, 41.92; 2, Storey, P; 3, Anderson, P; 4, Brzuchalski, P.

100 — 1, Colacecchi, IM, 11.51; 2, Benin, P; 3, Cotey, M; 4, Bergquist, BR-H.

800 relay — 1, Munising (Cotey, Adkinson, Lindquist, Dusseault), 1:36.92; 2, Iron Mountain; 3, Pickford; 4, Bark River-Harris.

1600 — 1, Goss, M, 4:43.65; 2, Hagen, P; 3,Nolan, M; 4, B. Knauf, BR-H.

400 relay — 1, Iron Mountain (Wolfe, Jayne, Ellis, Colavecchi), 45.87; 2, Munising; 3, Bark River-Harris; 4, Pickford.

400 — 1, Bennin, P, 53.59; 2, Davis, IM; 3, Hagen, P; 4, Warner, P.

300 hurdles — 1, Kelley, M, 41.92; 2, Storey, P; 3, Anderson, P; 4, Brzuchalski, P.

800 — 1, Goss, M, 2:08.24; 2, Hagen, P; 3, Nolan, M; 4, Sprague, R.

200 — 1, Colavecchi, IM, 23.87; 2, Bennin, P; 3, Jayne, IM; 4, Ives, BR-H.

3200 — 1, Goss, M, 10:58.55; 2, Kirschner, R; 3, Mitchell, R; 4, Hagen, P.

1600 relay — 1, Munising (Lindquist, Smith, Kelley, Dusseault), 3:46.98; 2, Pickford; 3, Bark River-Harris; 4, Rudyard.

High jump — 1, Anderson, P, 5-8; 2, Storey, P; 3, Ellis, IM; 4, Steele, BR-H.

Pole vault — 1, Niemi-Alcorn, R, 11-0; 2, Jones, G; 3, Storey; P; 4, Schmitt, BR-H.

Long jump — 1, Colavecchi, IM, 18-9½; 2, Day, P; 3, Bennin, P; 4, Lindquist, M.

Shot put — 1, Davis, IM, 40-1; 2, Sistrunk, R; 3, Beauchamp, G; 4, Wolfe, IM.

Discus — 1, Hoolesema, R, 117-5; 2, Cifelli, R; 3, Beauchamp, G; 4, Brace, P.