Rapid River freshmen Coen Smith competes in the high jump on May 1, 2026 at Rapid River High School. (Victoria Coppock)

RAPID RIVER — Weather conditions may have been less than perfect, but school track and field records dropped like flies in the Rapid River Invitational here Friday.

Seven school-best performances were recorded, including five by the girls on this chilly and windy day in which the athletes sometimes dealt with snow showers.

The Manistique girls were crowned champions with 90 points. They were followed by Newberry 69 and Stephenson and Felch North Dickinson with 56 apiece.

“We brought 26 girls and everyone played a part,” Manistique coach Erik Mason said. “We got some surprises. We took the top three places in long jump and 4-5 in the 200 and Leah Joslin had a phenomenal day. The team’s rolling. Every point matters.”

Rapid River captured the boys’ title with 119½ points and Stephenson edged Norway 64-63 for runner-up honors.

Big Bay de Noc sophomore Destiny Bleau collected four firsts which included three school records.

She established school-best times in the 100-meter dash in 12.8 seconds, 200 (26.2) and 400 (59.2) and added a first in long jump at four feet, 10 inches.

Senior teammate Caraghan Thill won the 300 hurdles in a school-record 50.8 and placed third in high jump (4-8).

“Destiny obviously had a great day and Caraghan had nice performances,” Big Bay coach Angie LaLonde said. “Destiny absolutely had a great day in the 400.”

Rock Mid Peninsula senior Hope Brunngraeber took discus with a school-record throw of 108-10 and was runner-up in shot put (31-1).

“That was definitely my goal,” she said. “The disc really felt good leaving my hand. Everything just came together. The feeling is so surreal. I’ve been working for this since eighth grade. All the long nights after softball really paid off.”

Superior Central junior Will Spranger won the boys’ 100 at 11.5 and placed second in the 200 in a school-record 23.6, just .1 second behind Munising senior Dylan Adkinson.

“It was a great effort day for us,” Cougars’ coach Kim Spranger said. “We’re still trying to figure some things out, but it’s really fun. Marlene Johnson had a three-second PR (personal record) in the 400 which was a great effort on her part.”

Hannahville sophomore Devin Arteaga was also runner-up by .1 second to Adkinson in the 400 in a school-record 53.2, slightly more than two seconds better than his previous record in the Delta County Invitational at Gladstone April 21.

Rapid River junior Jon Denkins copped the 3200 (11:13) and Mid Pen freshman Ashynn Gerow took the 1600 (5:06.5).

The Rockets also got firsts from junior Lane Olson in pole vault (10-6) and Evan Closs in long jump with a personal-best leap of 18-9½.

“That was a personal-best by 14 inches by Evan,” Rockets’ coach Steve Ostrenga said. “Our sprint relays did well. We went from 49.7 to 47.6 in the 400. Corey (Boson-Marsh) did a nice job taking second in high jump. Lewis (Holmes) is a very good jumper. In the distances, Jon and Owen (Truitt) really ran well and our hurdlers did well. We had a lot of PRs today.”

Holmes cleared 6-2 in high jump and Boston-Marsh got 6-0.

Manistique junior Sam Moose won shot (42-4), an inch further than Norway senior Josh Schiltz.

Schiltz, however, took disc (146-8) with Moose second with (129-7) and Superior junior Connor Blomgren taking third (120-7), all personal-bests.

“I’ve been focusing on my consistency,” Blomgren said. “I need it to be out there. I still need to work on my form and technique. That I’ll work on in practice.”

Manistique senior Kyra Carlson won girls’ pole vault (9-0) and Gwen Brewster added a first in shot (31-11) and fifth in disc with a season-best toss of 85-10.

Sophomore Alexandria Scheffer took long jump (13-9) and helped the Emeralds sweep the sprint relays.

Junior Aaliya Sears, who anchored the 400 relay, added a fourth in the 200 (28.2).

“Our handoffs were real good,” she said. “We’ve been practicing on those a lot. This was a really big confidence boost. There was good competition here. Newberry has been doing real well, especially in the distances.”

The Indians, led by senior Samantha Taylor, grabbed the top three places in the 1600. She was clocked at 5:19.7 in the 1600 and won the 3200 with a season-best 11:32.5.

Stephenson senior Faith Cappaert copped the 800 in a season-best 2:27.7 and anchored the winning 1600 relay (4:47.3).

Rapid River Invitational

Boys

Rapid River 119½, Stephenson 64, Norway 63, Rock Mid Peninsula 59, Newberry 54, Crystal Falls Forest Park 40, Munising 39, Manistique 33, Superior Central 30, Engadine and Hannahville 8, Felch North Dickinson 4½, Powers North Central 3, Republic-Michigamme 0.

3200 relay — 1, Newberry (Garrett and Grant Lewicki, Suriano, Guichard), 9:17.2; 2, Rapid River; 3, Crystal Falls Forest Park; 4, Rock Mid Peninsula; 5, Munising; 6, Stephenson.

110 hurdles — 1, Labs, S, 16.8; 2, Taylor, RR; 3, Rasner, FP; 4, Closs, RR; 5, Casey, MP; 6, Kee.

100 — 1, Spranger, SC, 11.5; 2, Holmes, MP; 3, Adkinson, Mun; 4, Clauss, Mstq; 5, LaBonte, NC; 6, Lapine, Nor.

800 relay — 1, Norway (Schilz, Burcar, Lapine, Pineda), 1:39.3; 2, Newberry; 3, Stephenson; 4, Rapid River; 5, Superior Central; 6, Manistique.

1600 — 1, Gerow, MP, 5:06.5; 2, J. Denkins, RR; 3, Truitt, RR; 4, Hauswirth, Nor; 5, Rasner, FP; 6, Menor, S.

400 relay — 1, Manistique (Mason, Benish, DeKeyser, Clauss), 47.1; 2, Norway; 3, Rapid River; 4, Rock Mid Peninsula; 5, Stephenson; 6, Newberry.

400 — 1, Adkinson, Mun, 52.1; 2, Arteaga, H, 53.2 (school record); 3, Kuntze, S; 4, Boston-Marsh, RR; 5, Green, RR; 6, Ruleau, S.

300 hurdles — 1, Rasner, FP, 43.4; 2, Labs, S; 3, Martin, Nor; 4, Kitzman, New; 5, Kee, RR; 6, Remer, ND.

800 — 1, Garrett Lewicki, New, 2:14.4; 2, Stielstra, E; 3, Kuntze, S; 4, Grant Lewicki, New; 5, Goudreau, RR; 6, Poma, RR.

200 — 1, Adkinson, Mun, 23.5; 2, Spranger, SC, 23.6 (school record); 3, Pineda, Nor; 4, Huskey, RR; 5, Thiele, New; 6, Anderson, S.

3200 — 1, J. Denkins, RR, 11:13; 2, Stiglitz, MP; 3, Kuntze, S; 4, B. Denkins, RR; 5, Truitt, RR; 6, Menor, S.

1600 relay — 1, Rapid River (Green, Thorbahn, Boston-Marsh, Huskey), 3:50.6; 2, Stephenson; 3, Crystal Falls Forest Park; 4, Munisng; 5, Felch North Dickinson.

High jump — 1, L. Holmes, MP, 6-2; 2, Boston-Marsh, RR; 3, Smith, RR and Pineda, Nor (tie); 5, Thiele, New.

Pole vault — 1, Olson, RR, 10-6; 2, Rasner, FP; 3, Bliss, New; 4, Pivatto, S; 5, Smith, FP; 6, Koeberi, ND.

Long jump — 1, Closs, RR, 18-9½; 2, L. Holmes, MP; 3, S. Holmes, MP; 4, Lapine, Nor; 5, Martin, Nor; 6, Labs, S.

Shot put — 1, Moose, Mstq, 42-4; 2, Schiltz, Nor; 3, Murk, Mun; 4, Blomgren, SC; 5, Berg, S; 6, Nehring, NC.

Discus — 1, Schiltz, Nor, 146-8; 2, Moose, Mstq; 3, Blomgren, SC; 4, Whalen, New; 5, Maki, New; 6, Shiverdecker, RR.

Girls

Manistique 90, Newberry 69, Stephenson and Felch North Dickinson 56, Big Bay de Noc 50, Rapid River 43, Crystal Falls Forest Park 36, Superior Central 24, Rock Mid Peninsula and Munising 22, Engadine 14, Norway 11, Powers North Central 2, Hannahville and Republic-Michigamme 0.

3200 relay — 1, Newberry (Balogh, McNamara, S. Taylor, A. Taylor), 10:40.7; 2, Felch North Dickinson; 3, Manistique; 4, Rapid River; 5, Rock Mid Peninsula; 6, Stephenson.

100 hurdles — 1, Van Sickle, FP, 17.1; 2, Joslin, Mstq; 3, Coppock, RR; 4, Bowerman, Mun; 5, Steinbrecher, ND; 6, Applekamp, ND.

100 — 1, Bleau, BB, 12.8 (school record); 2, Cappaert, S; 3, Briggs, E; 4, Van Sickle, FP; 5, Adams, Nor; 6, Lustila, New.

800 relay — 1, Manistique (Flodin, M. Carlson, K. Carlson, Scheffer), 1:59.5; 2, Superior Central; 3, Rapid River; 4, Munising; 5, Felch North Dickinson; 6, Newberry.

1600 — 1, S. Taylor, New, 5:19.7; 2, A. Taylor, New; 3, McNamara, New; 4, Williams, FP; 5, Lindholm, ND; 6, LaCosse, RR.

400 relay — 1, Manistique (Andersen, Flodin, Scheffer, A. Sears), 53.5; 2, Engadine; 3, Superior Central; 4, Felch North Dickinson; 5, Stephenson; 6, Crystal Falls Forest Park.

400 — 1, Bleau, BB, 59.2 (school record); 2, Adams, Nor; 3, Johnson, SC; 4, Olson, RR; 5, Lustila, New; 6, Anderson, S.

300 hurdles — 1, Thill, BB, 50.8 (school record); 2, Bowerman, Mun; 3, Cole, S; 4, Joslin, Mstq and Applekamp, ND (tie); 6, Tiglas, Mstq.

800 — 1, Cappaert, S, 2:27.7; 2, A. Taylor, New; 3, McNamara, New; 4, Steinbrecher, ND; 5, Williams, FP; 6, Jones, Mstq.

200 — 1, Bleau, BB, 26.2 (school record); 2, Briggs, E; 3, Cappaert, S; 4, A. Sears, Mstq; 5, Scheffer, Mstq; 6, Kempker, SC.

3200 — 1, S. Taylor, 11:32.5; 2, Lindholm, ND; 3, LaCosse, RR; 4, Poma, RR; 5, M. Carlson, Mstq; 6, Carpenter, ND.

1600 relay — 1, Stephenson (Anderson, Hanchek, Parker, Cappeart), 4:47.3; 2, Crystal Falls Forest Park; 3, Felch North Dickinson, 4, Munising; 5, Rock Mid Peninsula; 6, Newberry.

High jump — 1, Bleau, BB, 4-10; 2, Applekamp, ND; 3, Thill, BB; 4, Paquette, RR; 5, Bowerman, Mun; 6, Starr, FP.

Pole vault — 1, K. Carlson, Mstq, 9-0; 2, Anderson, ND; 3, Buelteman, S; 4, Ketola, FP; 5, Hart, Mstq; 6, Starr, FP.

Long jump — 1, Scheffer, Mstq, 13-9; 2, M. Carlson, Mstq; 3, Andersen, Mstq; 4, Karvinen, SC; 5, Sarder, FP; 6, Adams, Nor.

Shot put — 1, Brewster, Mstq, 31-11; 2, Brunngraeber, MP; 3, Erickson, S; 4, Durrance, BB; 5, Willa, NC; 6, Whalen, New.

Discus — 1, Brunngraeber, MP, 108-10 (school record); 2, Olson, RR; 3, Whalen, RR; 4, Erickson, S; 5, Brewster, Mstq; 6, Buelteman, S.