Kingsford races way to 2nd

Jun 5, 2023

KINGSFORD — Led by their field athletes, the Kingsford Flivvers captured six events and finished runner-up to two-time defending champion Marquette in the Division 1 U.P. Track & Field Finals on Saturday at Flivver Field.

Flivver standouts Garrett Veale, Cardel Morton and Noah Johnson all won field events — Veale in the shot put, Morton in the long jump and Johnson in the discus, in which he tied the U.P. Division 1 record.

With those victories and wins by Michael Floriano in the 100 and the 800-relay team of Cole Myllyla, Jack Olson, Connor Quick and Floriano, the event champions scored 50 points of Kingsford's total of 114, 20 points behind the Redmen.

Sault Ste. Marie finished third with 90 points, Gladstone placed fourth with 51, Houghton took fifth with 40, Iron Mountain wound up sixth with 34, Negaunee placed seventh with 29, Menominee ended up eighth with 13, and Calumet and Escanaba tied for ninth with 11 points.

Johnson's performance in the discus led the way for the Flivvers. The junior tossed the discus 160 feet, 5¼ inches to tie the U.P. record set by Terry Martin of Manistique in 2009.

"Wish I had a quarter inch more, but I’ll take what I can get," Johnson said. "I have next year to get it."

Johnson's distance in 2023 was about 23 feet further than his personal record in 2022. He credited his improvement on time and technique.

"This year my throws have been real consistent because I’ve spent a lot of time working on form," said Johnson, who also ran a leg in the second-place 400 relay team. "Releasing the disc as flat as possible and going as fast as I can in the motion."

Floriano won the 100 in 11.08 seconds to defeat Carter Oshelski by .14 seconds. The two saw each other again in the 200, which Oshelski (22.89) won by .1 second.

The junior sprinter also ran the anchor leg of the winning 800 relay team, which posted a time of 1:33.78.

Morton edged teammate Myllyla for his event championship, jumping 19 feet, 9 inches to defeat Myllyla by one inch. Morton also placed third in the high jump (5-8) and was a member of the runner-up 1,600 relay team with Bruce Wenzel, Kaleb Fornetti and Michael Wolfenberg.

Veale also defeated a teammate for his championship, tossing the shot put 48-8.5 to defeat Johnson (46-5). Veale's distance was more than 3 feet further than his seed distance heading into the U.P. Finals.

David Williams also contributed eight points for Kingsford with his second-place finish in the high jump (5-10).

The top performer on the day for the Mountaineer boys was senior hurdler Will Fairchild, who won both the 110 highs and the 300 lows. Fairchild defeated Luke Bracket of Gladstone by .69 seconds in the 110 by finishing in 15 seconds. The two staged a remarkably close rematch in the 300 lows, with Fairchild winning again, but only by .008 seconds with a 41.871. The time was a personal record for the senior.

"He set a personal record, too," Fairchild said, "so you can't ask for a better race."

Fairchild was a late comer to the hurdles, having started last year as a junior.

"I was mediocre," he said of his performances a year ago. "I was running in the 18s in the 110, which is not very good. I did a lot of weightlifting in the off season, working on my fast twitch muscles. The first meet this year I was, ‘Wow, like this in kind of new.'"

Junior sprinter Matthew Colavecchi was Iron Mountain's other top three finisher, taking third in the 100 in a time of 11.43 seconds. Colavecchi and Fairchild helped the 400-relay team place fourth, along with Luke Wolfe and Michael Dove, in 46.31 seconds, while Bryce Davis finished fourth in the 400 in 53.02.

In the girls event, a pair of seniors led Iron Mountain and Kingsford in the Division 1 Girls U.P. Track & Field Finals. Anja Kleiman contributed to the Mountaineers’ second-place team (with Bella Pickett, Emma Ellis and Chloe Maycroft) in the 400 relay, tied for third in the high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches and placed fourth in the 200 in 26.63 seconds.

Kleiman wasn't thrilled with her individual performances in her final meet of her career.

"Overall, I didn't do anywhere near what I wanted to do," she said. "I had a terrible start in the 100 (she finished sixth) and it set me back the rest of my races."

Kleiman, a 6-footer, did get to show her long stride and finishing kick when she caught three runners in the anchor leg of the 400 relay to pull into second place for her team.

"I just really wanted to get past those girls," she said.

Malone posted a second-place finish in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet ½ inch to lead the Flivver girls. She teamed with Lexie Vross, Addie Rutter, Abby Przeslakowski to place fifth in the 800 relay in 1:53.39.

Marquette claimed the team girls title with 130 points, easily outdistancing defending champion Negaunee (96). Sault Ste. Marie finished third (83), Houghton took fourth (69), Escanaba wound up fifth (40), Westwood took sixth (34), Gladstone placed seventh (24), Calumet finished eighth (18), Iron Mountain ended up ninth (17), Kingsford finished 10th (12) and Menominee rounded out the filed in 11th with 4 points.

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