Gladstone, Escanaba Dominate U.P. Finals
KINGSFORD (6/4/05) -- Fans may find MHSAA Upper Peninsula Track & Field Finals performances June 4 in Kingsford pale in comparison to downstate results the same day.

However, the reality of the U.P.'s shorter spring season, which hampers serious training, amplifies highlights of this meet. Plus, the 2005 version of this meet was more competitive than most, with 22 records set in its three divisions.

In Division 1, Gladstone's boys and Escanaba's girls gave no quarter in winning the team titles. The Braves beat runner-up West Iron County by a 150-65 score, while the Eskymo girls handled second-place Iron Mountain 102-88. The meet was scored in the 10-8-6-4-2-1 format for all 17 events.

The D-2 boys meet saw a much closer battle, with Newberry nipping Norway 107-102.5. The Ishpeming Hematites earned the D-2 girls crown over Norway 94-77.

In Division 3, containing the smallest schools but most athletes (and perhaps the best set of nicknames), the North Central Jet boys outdistanced the Bessemer Speedboys 85-66. On the girls side, the Rapid River Rockets hammered the field, earning a 135-54 victory over the Bark River-Harris Broncos.

Track events got off on the right foot with a pair of come-from-behind 3200-meter relay races in D-1. The Iron Mountain girls ran a solid 9:46.95 to set a new division record. "That was our best by far," said senior anchor Kelly McClure of the effort shared by teammates Hilary Beauchamp, Danielle Mellon and Jessica Hartwig.

In the D-1 boys 3200 relay, Gladstone and Marquette ran neck-and- neck until Gladstone anchor Chris Davis made a tremendous move with about 250 meters left to seal the deal. The Braves team of Davis, Alvin Moore, Kyle Kelley and Tom Seronko clocked a time of 8:22.43.

"Last year they (Marquette) beat us at Finals," said Davis. "This year we got them. We were ranked number one last year and lost by three seconds. This year we wanted it bad."

Other notable performances also came in the boys D-1 meet. Justin Wiles of Escanaba ran a 48.91 in the open 400, setting an all-time, all- class U.P. record. The time was just off of his 48.72 PR from earlier in the season. Wiles, only a junior, looks forward to collegiate opportunities, with Michigan State a possibility.

Gladstone 800 specialist Moore followed up his approximately 2:00 relay split with his own division record in the open 800. Moore jumped from his previous best of 2:01 to run a gutsy 1:58.06. A senior, Moore hopes to walk on at MSU for next season.

Complete scoring and results are available online at www.mhsaa.com/ tournaments/ MR