Bessemer Speediest for 1st Time since '51

By John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com

June 3, 2018

KINGSFORD — It had been a long time since a Bessemer track team was last crowned Upper Peninsula champion.

A very long time.

The Speedboys changed that in convincing fashion Saturday, scoring 151 points for their first title since 1951, when they were competing in Class C.

Two-time reigning champ Rapid River was runner-up this time with 84 points, and Pickford took third at 45 in the U.P. Division 3 Finals at Flivver Field.

“Last year we lost by four points after winning every meet before the Finals,” said Bessemer assistant coach Tracy Rowe. “We were pretty hopeful coming in here. Our depth helped us out.”

The Speedboys won the first four running events and finished with nine firsts.

They began their quest with a victory in the 3,200-meter relay, covering the eight-lap race in 8 minutes, 31.15 seconds.

“The 3,200 relay set the tone for the day,” said assistant coach David Rowe. “We emphasized concentrating on the present, and the guys weren’t intimidated. This is something everybody was a part of. Our cross country team (co-op Gogebic Miners) won the U.P. (Division 2) title last fall, and the distances are where we racked up the points.”

Senior Isaiah Aili set a U.P. meet record in the 800 at 2:01.08, topping the previous mark (2:01.45) by Munising’s Brett Hannah run three years ago.

“I knew it was a big race, and there was a lot of competition,” said Aili, who was runner-up in the 1,600 (4:45.66). “I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want to lose this race.’ This means a lot to our school, team and coaches who have been there for us all year.”

Aili also helped the Speedboys win the 1,600 relay (3:37.74), as did senior Brayden Tomes, who took the 100 (11.92), 200 (23.7) and 300 hurdles (41.94).

“I can’t think of a better way to end my career, especially with all my teammates,” said Tomes. “This has been our goal since last year. We wanted to come back here and take the title.”

Uriah Aili added a first in the 3,200 (10:25.29) and took second in pole vault (11-6), and sophomore Jamie Jett captured the 110 hurdles (16.97), took second in the 300 hurdles (44.11) and anchored the winning 800 relay (1:36.72), nipping Rapid River sophomore Tyler Sundling at the wire.

“One of the negative things is our handoffs weren’t as good as usual,” said Jett, who made up a 10-15 yard deficit in the anchor leg. “I like that distance (200 meters). I think 100 meters is a little too short, and I die a little in the end of a 400. I had a good start and used the three-step in the hurdles. I’ve been working on that, and I find it increases my speed (over the four-step).”

Junior Andy Aspinwall was also part of the 800 relay, and Tyler Busch added a first in shot put (46-6).

“We knew it would be real close with (Rapid River),” said Aspinwall. “I think they were our best competition. They’re a real good team.

“It’s awesome to go home with the U.P. title.”

Rapid River senior Logan Hardwick earned his third straight discus title (144-11), and junior teammate Gunnar Larson was runner-up (138-11).

Classmate Lucas Sundling won the 400 (53.06), followed by Tyler Sundling (54.0).

Cedarville sophomore Thomas Bohn set a U.P. meet record in the 1,600 (4:33.24), shaving 77 hundredths of a second off the previous best by Rapid River’s Tyler Crossman (4:34.01) in 2008.

“I knew I had to go out hard and tried to set the pace early,” said Bohn. “I knew there would be a lot of good runners. Bessemer especially had good runners. They have a good program.”

Bohn was runner-up in the 800 (2:02.8) and 3,200 (10:37.25).

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Bessemer’s Isaiah Aili outdistances the field in the 800. (Middle) The pack takes a turn during the 1,600. (Photos by Cara Kamps. Click for more at RunMichigan.com.)

Hackett on Track to Roll Again with Distance Ace Among Those Leading Charge

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

March 12, 2024

KALAMAZOO — After breaking one track record as a freshman, Marek Butkiewicz already has his eyes on two more.

Southwest CorridorNot bad for a runner who did not even plan to run track during his years at Hackett Catholic Prep, a surprise to co-coach Shelly Germinder.

“I had heard plenty about him from some of the ultras (marathons) and different other races he had done,” Germinder said. "His commitment to the sport came through before we ever laid eyes on who he was. We knew he was going to be an asset to us.”

The current sophomore was not so sure.

“At the end of cross country (freshman year), I didn’t even think I wanted to do track,” Butkiewicz said. “Then I did it and it was ‘This is kind of fun.’

“I was good at it. I honestly didn’t have any desire going into (track season), and then I ran a couple fast times and I thought, ‘I can actually do this.’”

Butkiewicz said his freshman cross country season in 2022 was the first time he really took running seriously, and his interest was boosted when he ran a 17:31 at the Kalamazoo Christian Invitational.

“I was super happy to get the freshman record there,” he said.

This past season, Butkiewicz shattered Hackett’s sophomore cross country record, running a personal best 16:12.2 at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final, demolishing the record set by Bryan Martin (16:56) in 2000.

That record also has special meaning to Germinder. Martin is her brother.

Hackett track coaches Charissa Dean, left, and Shelly Germinder hold up last season’s MHSAA Finals championship trophy.The Irish finished in third place at the Final last fall, one point behind Holland Calvary Christian.

With the start of the spring sports season this week, the Hackett boys are hoping to make it three Finals track & field titles in a row and five over six years.

Last year’s boys team made it a sweep, winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference, Regionals, MHSAA Finals and Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association (MITCA) Team State Finals.

The boys and girls teams also earned MITCA Division 4 academic awards, the girls with a cumulative 3.986 GPA and the boys with a 3.909 GPA.

This year’s team has grown from a combined 54 athletes last year to 64 with 38 boys and 26 girls.

“I think the students as a whole are seeing the successes of the team, but I also think it’s some of the flexibility we have in our sport,” Germinder said. “We know there are kids who want a dual sport and want to be involved in other things, and we want that for them, too.

“In a small school, we can’t be successful if we don’t have kids involved in multiple sports because there just aren’t enough bodies.”

Co-coach Charissa Dean said this year’s boys team will have a different look.

“We lost Liam (Mann), who was a really strong sprinter, and he left some big shoes to fill,” she said. “We have a nice nest egg of freshmen and sophomores.

“We had a junior (Gabe Oeurn) last year who is coming into his own, if you look at his track record from freshman to sophomore to junior. Last year, we had Sam Finley who was a freshman, and a sophomore (Jude Coffman) who was first time out.”

Lofty goals

Butkiewicz’s goal is to break his own school 3,200-meter record plus the 1,600-meter record, currently held by Jose Garza (4:27.4 set in 1976).

He’s pursuing a 9.25 in the 3,200 and 4.20 in the 1,600, while his long-term goal is breaking four minutes, hopefully running at a Division I university.

“His dedication, his commitment,” Germinder said. “You can’t teach that. That’s something he does on his own that comes from within. Snow, rain, whatever it is, he’s out there running, no matter what.”

The sophomore said he had no clue about records when he was a freshman, but after turning in a 10:37 in his first 3,200, then 10:05 followed by a 10 flat, he realized a record was in reach.

Butkiewicz credits his dedication for his success.

“I put in hundreds of miles a month, thousands a year, just into grinding and working toward goals,” he said. “I’ll shoot for 40-45 (miles) in-season. Offseason, when I’m building my aerobic base, I want 50 and upwards.”

As a freshman, he found a running buddy in then-junior Gavin Sehy.

“He was the fastest for the past two years and I was a little ahead of him, so we just stuck with each other and trained together,” Butkiewicz said. “Over the winter we started doing a couple miles together.”

Hackett track coaches Charissa Dean, left, and Shelly Germinder hold up last season’s MHSAA Finals championship trophy. Sehy, who is headed to Southwestern Michigan College in the fall, is shooting to break the school’s 800 record plus the 3,200 running with Nick Doerr, Alex Dumont and Butkiewicz.

Sehy was also a running buddy in cross country, finishing second on the team at 16:21.

“(Sehy) always had the potential, but it wasn’t until Marek came along that he started doing that training in the summer,” Dean said. “It has made a massive difference.”

Sehy and Butkiewicz competed in two ultramarathons (more than 26.2 miles) over the summer.

“I had never ran a marathon before, but somehow Marek convinced me to run 38 miles at Kettle Moraine State Forest (Wisconsin),” Sehy said. “And I did. Later in the summer, I ran 50 in Holly, Michigan.”

In the Wisconsin ultra, Butkiewicz was trying to finish the 100-mile run with Sehy pacing him for about 40 miles.

“I ended dropping at mile 75 because of some hip issues but he kept going and finished it,” Butkiewicz said. “The second one in Holly, I was doing 100 miles and he was doing 50, so we pretty much ran together for the first 50.”

Sehy said the two share the same mentality, which makes it easy to have a training buddy.

“We both really want it so bad, and we’re not afraid to do crazy things to get it,” he said. “Last year, during track, we needed to get some more miles in but just ran out of time during the week, so Sunday night we were out running 18 miles until after the sun went down out in the forest.”

Germinder said Sehy has noted he needs to have another runner to really push him.

“That’s one of the really beautiful things about the relationship they have,” she said. “It’s a healthy competition between them, but they want what’s best for each other, too.”

Butkiewicz lives near a land preserve where the two do much of their training, no matter what the weather, and they make it fun, jumping icy puddles and eating berries along the way.

“The coldest day of the year we ran with no shirts just because we could,” Sehy laughed.

When Sehy isn’t available to train, “I’ve been training a lot with Sean Siems; he’s a sophomore, a huge rising talent,” Butkiewicz said.

New year, new leaders

This year’s team will have a different look.

“We lost Liam and Bryce Brown and Nathan Buchmann (discus and only individual Finals champ),” Sehy said. “It’s tough to lose your best guys, but I think we have so much depth on this team, I think we’ll be all right.”

Just two weeks into the young season, Hackett will be on spring break, so many of the athletes pushed the coaches to schedule a meet before then.

The Hackett 3,200 relay, from left: Gavin Sehy, Alex Dumont, Nick Doerr and Butkiewicz.They found one in the Onsted Early Bird Meet on March 20.

“They want to see where they are going into spring break to know, is there extra work we need to do during spring break,” Germinder said. “Having a competition will tell them where they’re at.

“If you do nothing (over spring break), then you’re starting all over again. I think a lot of our athletes recognize that and know they have to work a little more.”

Besides Butkiewicz and Sehy, leaders on the team include pole vaulters/sprinters Jack Prom and Lauren Wild.

“Keegan Gallagher is our biggest cheerleader and keeps the team in good spirits,” Germinder added. “He brings something that isn’t just on the track.”

With such large numbers, “If they’re not competing, we like to take them with us on the bus anyway,” Dean said. “They can help support their teammates, they can run a stopwatch, they can take video of the relay handoffs so we can go back and look at it later.”

In spite of the success on the track or in the field, Germinder said she is most proud of the athletes as people.

“With that leadership comes responsibility of good sportsmanship, how they’re interacting with other teams on the line,” she said. “I love watching our boys praying together with other teams before they’re getting ready to run. Or shaking hands before or after, especially sprinting events. It says a lot about who we are.”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep’s Marek Butkiewicz rounds a curve during a race last season. (2) Butkiewicz shows the school record board, including his 3,200 entry earned last season. (3) Hackett track coaches Charissa Dean, left, and Shelly Germinder hold up last season’s MHSAA Finals championship trophy. (4) The Hackett 3,200 relay, from left: Gavin Sehy, Alex Dumont, Nick Doerr and Butkiewicz. (Action, coaches and relay photos courtesy of the Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep boys track & field program; record board photo by Pam Shebest.)