Escanaba's Andrew Hamlin competes in the high jump at the U.P. Finals on May 31, 2025 in Kingsford. File Photo

GLADSTONE — Sophomore Maggie Karl scaled new heights while helping the Gladstone girls retain their Delta County track and field title here Tuesday.

Karl won the pole vault with a school-record leap of 10-2, an inch higher than the previous record by Emily Siebert four years ago.

“This is quite a confidence boost,” she said. “I cleared that on my last attempt. I moved up on the pole and started focusing on technique. I definitely did better than last week, although there’s always something you can work on.”

Gladstone collected its third straight county title with 165 points, followed by Escanaba 100 and Bark River-Harris 87.

The Gladstone boys were also crowned champions with 149. They were followed by Rapid River and last year’s champ Esky 109.

Two school records were also established among the boys. Esky sophomore Andrew Hamlin copped high jump (6-6), topping the previous best (6-5) by Keenan Failing in 1978, and Hannahville sophomore Devin Arteaga did likewise — breaking the Hannahville high jump record — while placing fourth in the 400 (55.3).

Hamlin added first in the 400 (52.98), long jump (19-7) and anchored the winning 1600 relay.

“I knew I was struggling early in high jump and felt a little nervous,” he said. “I figured out what I needed to do and it worked out in the end. I worked a lot on technique and find that I’m getting more comfortable going from running to jumping. Everything just came together today. I really like running the anchor leg in the relay. I like the pressure of having the opportunity to control the race.”

Karl also won the girls’ high jump at 5-1 and the 100-meter hurdles in 18.99 seconds.

Classmate Ella Bracket took the 400-meter dash in a personal-best 1:00.08 and was runner-up in the 100 (13.47) and 200 (27.19).

Big Bay de Noc sophomore Destiny Thill captured the 100 (13.19) and 200 (26.72).

“She’s really good,” Bracket said. “I thought I had gotten it (sub-60) in the 400, although I’m happy with my time. My leg bothered me a little and I scratched from long jump, but I didn’t feel it in the races. Our coach (Jim Murtha) told me I needed to work on my form. You can always get better.”

Big Bay senior Caragan Thill took the 300 hurdles (52.08) and sophomore Victoria Durrance added a first in shot put (31-2½).

Rock Mid Peninsula senior Hope Brunngraeber won discus with a personal-best throw of 98-7 and took second in shot (29-1½).

“That’s not what I wanted in shot,” she said. “I’ve really been working on my speed and it felt like it came together in the last two practices in disc. Getting that PR gives me a good feeling going into the rest of the season. Although, I definitely have things I need to improve.”

Esky freshman Avah Akerly took the 1600 (5:45.67) and classmates Carsyn LaBonte and Rayne Martin went 1-2 in long jump (15-3 and 14-11, respectively).

Gladstone senior Lexi Gilbert won the 3200 at 13:52.26 and Payton Takkunen took the 800 (2:41.24).

Braves’ junior Joselyn Mills took second in the 3200 (13:58.38) and Akerly was runner-up in the 400 and 800.

“Our 3200 relay really improved and Ella and Maggie did real well,” Murtha said. “Our freshmen are just running so good and our throwers did well. The girls are giving a great effort. All of them are contributing, having fun and getting better every week.”

Gladstone junior Andrew Karl won pole vault at 14 feet and was runner-up to senior teammate Vince DeAgostino in close races in the 100 and 200.

DeAgostino was clocked at 11.89 in the 100 and 23.93 in the 200 and classmate Carter Farnes prevailed in discus (125-11).

“Our 4×400 relay cut 20 seconds off its time and Chuck Cameron got a PR by 18 seconds in the 1600,” Braves’ coach Gary Whitmer said. “Our 4×800 relay got better. Our 4×200 cut some time off and 4×100 ran an excellent time (44.19). We scored 19 points in the 200 and had just two points last week and taking two places in the 300 hurdles really helped.”

Junior Zach Anderson provided a first in shot (42-4) for Esky which also won the 800 relay.

“We had some good things happen and some not so good things happen,” Esky coach Scott Dykema said. “We had some kids place today who didn’t place last week and some kids placed Thursday and didn’t place today. Landon (Carrao) was a nice surprise for us in long jump and we’re happy about Andrew getting the school record in high jump. Andrew is a very good athlete.”

BR-H junior Gionni McDonough captured the 100 hurdles (16.41) and 300s (45.01) and classmate Ben Knauf copped the 1600 (5:01.46) with Cameron runner-up (5:03.63)

Rapid River junior Jon Denkins took the 3200 (11:26.54) and freshman Joey Goudreau won the 800 (2:16.13), with both helping the Rockets take the 3200 relay.

Delta County Invitational

At Gladstone

Boys

Gladstone 149, Rapid River 126, Escanaba 109, Bark River-Harris 73, Rock Mid Peninsula 45, Big Bay de Noc 10, Hannahville 4, Escanaba Holy Name 0.

3200 relay — 1, Rapid River (Goudreau, Poma, Boston-Marsh, J. Denkins), 9:19.41; 2, Gladstone; 3, Rock Mid Peninsula; 4, Escanaba; 5, Bark River-Harris.

110 hurdles — 1, McDonough, BR-H, 16.41; 2, Taylor, RR; 3, Casey, G; 4, Denis, E; 5, Kee, RR; 6, Carrao, E.

100 — 1, DeAgostino, G, 11.89; 2, Karl, G; 3, McDonough, BR-H; 4, C. Brunngraeber, MP; 5, M. Sierpien, G; 6, Ison, E.

800 relay — 1, Escanaba (Englund, Rouse, Ison, Lambert), 1:38.31; 2, Rapid River; 3, Gladstone; 4, Big Bay de Noc; 5, Rock Mid Peninsula.

1600 — 1, Knauf, BR-H, 5:01.46; 2, Cameron, G; 3, Gerow, MP; 4, Denkins, RR; 5, Stiglitz, MP; 6, Schroeder, E.

400 relay — 1, Gladstone (Karl, DeAgostino, M. Sierpien, Peltin), 44.19; 2, Escanaba; 3, Rapid River; 4, Rock Mid Peninsula.

400 — 1, Hamlin, E, 52.98; 2, Boston-Marsh, RR; 3, Green, RR; 4, Arteaga, H, 55.3 (school record); 5, Varoni, BR-H; 6, Erickson, E.

300 hurdles — 1, McDonough, BR-H, 45.01; 2, Kee, RR; 3, Denis, E; 4, Casey, G; 5, Carrao, E; 6, Farnes, G.

800 — 1, Goudreau, RR, 2:16.13; 2, Knauf, BR-H; 3, Gerow, MP; 4, Schroeder, E; 5, Poma, RR; 6, Blair, G.

200 — 1, DeAgostino, G, 23.93; 2, Karl, G; 3, Ison, E; 4, Englund, E; 5, Huskey, RR; 6, M. Sierpien, G.

3200 — 1, J. Denkins, RR, 11:26.54; 2, Stiglitz, MP; 3, Cameron, G; 4, B. Denkins, RR; 5, Truitt, RR; 6, Gallagher, E.

1600 relay — 1, Escanaba (Hamlin, Schroeder, Rouse, Englund), 3:49.32; 2, Rapid River; 3, Gladstone; 4, Bark River-Harris.

High jump — 1, Hamlin, E, 6-6 (school record); 2, Peltin, G; 3, Holmes, MP; 4, Farnes, G; 5, Smith, RR; 6, Inghram, G.

Pole vault — 1, Karl, G, 14-0; 2, Chmurynski, G; 3, Olson, RR; 4, Varoni, BR-H.

Long jump — 1, Hamlin, E, 19-7; 2, Peltin, G; 3, Carrao, E; 4, Closs, RR; 5, Taylor, RR; 6, Holmes, MP.

Shot put — 1, Anderson, E, 42-4; 2, Martin, BR-H; 3, Jasmin, BB; 4, Shiverdecker, RR; 5, Wilson, G; 6, Hughes, G.

Discus — 1, Farnes, G, 125-11; 2, Martin, BR-H; 3, Shiverdecker, RR: 4, Olson, RR; 5, Wilson, G; 6, Brunette, BR-H.

Girls

Gladstone 165, Escanaba 100, Bark River-Harris 87, Rapid River 68, Big Bay de Noc 64, Rock Mid Peninsula 25, Escanaba Holy Name 1, Hannahville 0.

3200 relay — 1, Gladstone (Gilbert, Takkunen, M. Mills, J. Mills), 11:22.96; 2, Rapid River; 3, Escanaba; 4, Bark River-Harris.

100 hurdles — 1, Karl, G, 18.99; 2, Thill, BB; 3, Coppock, RR; 4, Sagataw, BR-H; 5, Riley, BR-H; 6, Trombley, E.

100 — 1, Bleau, BB, 13.19; 2, Bracket, G; 3, Nault, BR-H; 4, Erickson, BR-H; 5, Warner, E; 6, Hughes, G.

800 relay — 1, Escanaba (Dubord, Benetti, Martin, Warner), 2:03.38; 2, Rapid River; 3, Gladstone.

1600 — 1, Akerly, E, 5:45.67; 2, J. Mills, G; 3, Poma, RR; 4, Gilbert, G; 5, Norkoli, BR-H; 6, Taavola, G.

400 relay — 1, Bark River-Harris (Olson, Zawada, Erickson, Nault), 54.03; 2, Rapid River; 3, Gladstone; 4, Rock Mid Peninsula.

400 — 1, Bracket, G, 1:00.08; 2, Akerly, E; 3, Johnson, BR-H; 4, Branstrom, G; 5, Tourangeau, MP; 6, Bevins, E.

300 hurdles — 1, Thill, BB, 52.08; 2, Zawada, BR-H; 3, M. Mills, G; 4, Coppock, RR; 5, Trombley, E; 6, Sagataw, BR-H.

800 — 1, Takkunen, G, 2:41.24; 2, Akerly, E; 3, Norkoli, BR-H; 4, Taavola, G; 5, Poma, RR; 6, Tourangeau, MP.

200 — 1, Bleau, BB, 26.72; 2, Bracket, G; 3, Nault, BR-H; 4, Karl, G; 5, LaBonte, E; 6, Erickson, BR-H.

3200 — 1, Gilbert, G, 13:52.26; 2, J. Mills, G; 3, Poma, RR; 4, Gustafson, RR; 5, Knauf, BR-H; 6, Tilot-Buchmiller, HN.

1600 relay — 1, Escanaba (LaBonte, Bevins, Dubord, Akerly), 4:37.63; 2, Gladstone; 3, Bark River-Harris; 4, Rapid River.

High jump — 1, Karl, G, 5-1; 2, Bleau, BB; 3, Thill, BB; 4, Martin; 5, Paquette, RR; 6, Cameron, G.

Pole vault — 1, Karl, G, 10-2 (school record); 2, Martin, E; 3, Johnson, BR-H; 4, Benetti, E; 5, Hill, E.

Long jump — 1, LaBonte, E, 15-3; 2, Martin, E; 3, Erickson, BR-H; 4, Benetti, E; 5, Frappier, RR; 6, Miller, BB.

Shot put — 1, Durrance, BB, 31-2½; 2, Brunngraeber, MP; 3, Ostlund, G; 4, Cortez, BR-H; 5, Ranthum, G; 6, Miller, BB.

Discus — 1, Brunngraeber, MP, 98-7; 2, Olson, RR; 3, Ostlund, G; 4, Thill, G; 5, Olson, BR-H; 6, Cortez, BR-H.