Chips, Portagers, Lake City & Frankfort take to the track at Onekama

By MATT WENZEL Sports Editor
for Manistee News Advocate

ONEKAMA — Parker Johnson had already taken first place in the pole vault in each of the first two meets of the season, but went into Tuesday’s four-school meet at Onekama with a goal.

The Portager senior wanted to clear 13 feet.

He did it, but just didn’t know it at first.

Johnson had already set a personal record earlier in the day at 12-feet-8 and locked up first place when Onekama assistant coach Jerry Brown said he was moving the bar up to 12-feet-10.

He really bumped it up to 13-feet-1, and didn’t tell Johnson until he already cleared the bar.

“Coach told me we were going to go to 12-10 and he lied to me,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I wanted to get 13 today and I got 13-1. It’s all good. Coach knows what he’s doing.”

On the boys side, Lake City took first place with 99 points, Manistee, which co-ops with Manistee Catholic Central, was second with 94.5, Onekama, which co-ops with Bear Lake, was third with 65.5 and Frankfort finished fourth with 60.

“I was pleased with a lot of the performances today,” said Manistee coach Eric Thuemmel. “It’s just a few of the distance relays that we were a little off on. I was really happy with our sprint relays. They’re a bit ahead of where I thought they would be.”

It was the first time this season the Chippewas competed outside, and the second time for the Portagers.

“I’m pleased,” said Onekama boys coach Mickey Story. “We had decent weather and a good effort from the kids. We’re still trying to find events for the kids and just experimenting right now.”

On the girls’ side, the Portagers defended their home track by taking first place with 107 points, Frankfort was second with 75 while Manistee and Lake City tied for third with 68.

“I’m excited for the kids this year,” said Onekama girls coach Bonnie Brown. “I don’t have a whole lot of girls out this year, but I have some talented athletes.”

The top overall performer Tuesday was Manistee High School senior McKenzie Majchrzak, who claimed three individual first place finishes, and was part of a winning relay team.

Majchrzak took first in the high jump (5-2), long jump (14-6 1/4), 200-meter dash (29.0) and anchored the 800-meter relay along with Jennifer Alway, Allie Mallison and Noel Solis.

“McKenzie did her normal, fabulous thing,” Thuemmel said. “That was a nice performance from her.”

Onekama freshman Jaylee Brown took first in the pole vault (8-6), second in the 100-meter high hurdles (17.8) and 300-meter hurdles (54.4) and was part of the Portagers winning 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams.


Pole vault — 1, Jaylee Brown, OHS, 8-6; 3, Taylor Hagen, OHS, 7-6. High jump — 1, McKenzie Majchrzak, MHS, 5-2; 2, Ashley Rupert, OHS, 4-8; 3, Jennifer Alway, MHS, 4-8. Long jump — 1, Majchrzak, MHS, 14-6 1/4; 2, Nichole Slater, OHS, 14-0.; Kailani 11-3; Anna 12-3.5; Erin 9-5; Amber 8-4 100 — 2, Yumi Babinec, OHS, 13.9; 3(tie), Slater, OHS, 14.3; 3 (tie) Alway, MHS, 14.3; Amber 17-2	Girls' Results for Portagers & Chips 300 hurdles — 2, Brown, OHS, 54.4; 4, Ward, OHS, 56.4; 400 — 2, Hagen, OHS, 1:09. 400 relay — 1, OHS, Ward, Buckner, Babinec, Slater, 56.5. 800 — 1, Tobi Schoedel, OHS, 2:45; 4, Brenna Miller, OHS, 3:04. 800 relay — 1, MHS, Majchrzak, Alway, Allie Mallison, Noel Solis, 2:00.4; 2, OHS, Ward, Rupert, Hagen, Slater, 2:01. 1,600 — 2, Kelly Schubert, MHS, 6:10; 3, Tobi Schoedel, OHS, 6:18; 4, Elizabeth Schoedel, OHS, 6:44; 5, Miller, OHS, 6:53. 1,600 relay — 1, OHS, Brown, Babinec, Hagen, Tobi Schoedel, 4:36. 3,200 — 1, Schubert, MHS, 13:49; 2, Erin Crother, MHS, 16:05. 3,200 relay — 2, OHS, Anna Veverica, Tobi Schoedel, Shelby Sidor, Elizabeth Schoedel, 11:34.	100 hurdles — 2, Brown, OHS, 17.8; 3, Babinec, OHS, 18.3.; Olivia 19-7; Anna 21-6 200 — 1, Majchrzak, MHS, 29.0; 3, Danielle Ward, OHS, 30.0; 5, Kailani, OHS, 31.7.; Kailani 31-7; Amber 36-4 Discus — 2, Heather North, MHS, 77-4; 5, Rupert, OHS, 59-3. Shot put — 3, Jennica Mathieu, OHS, 27-6; 4, Rupert, OHS, 27-2; Olivia 19-7; Anna 21-6

Pole vault — 1, Parker Johnson, OHS, 13-1; 3, Tyler Fogarty, OHS, 10-0; 4, Danny Brown, OHS, 9-0. High jump — 1, Ryan Helminiak, MHS, 6-3; 2, Patrick Spalding, OHS, 5-6; 3, Joe Kosiboski, OHS, 5-3. Long jump — 1, Ethan Coppola, MHS, 17-1; 2, Dalton Zawacki, MHS, 17-0; 3, Michael Lindgren, MHS, 16-9	Boys' Results for Portagers & Chips 300 hurdles — 1, Jaskiw, 44.57; 4, Brown, OHS, 50.7. 400 relay — 1, MHS, Zack Miller, Coppola, Helminiak, Zawacki, 47.37; 2, OHS, Joerdon Daldos, Johnson, Rau, Spalding, 48.1. 800 — 2, Myles Amor, MHS, 2:13.0; 3, Jaron Llewellyn, OHS, 2:16; 5, Ryan Pienta, OHS, 2:21. 800 relay — 1, MHS, Coppola, Zawacki, Helminiak, Jaskiw, 1:36.26. 1,600 — 1, Llewellyn, OHS, 4:56.9; 3, Tyler Groenwald, OHS, 5:11; 4, Cody Graf, OHS, 5:18. 1,600 relay — 3, OHS, Daldos, Groenwald, Ian Smith, Pienta, 4:02. 3,200 — 1, Groenwald, OHS, 11:36; 3, A.J. Krusniak, MHS, 11:55.2. 3,200 relay — 2, OHS, John Evans, Llewellyn, Pienta, Groenwald, 9:02; 3, MHS, Wes Owens, Coppola, Krusniak, Amor, 9:19.2.	Shot put — 2, Zak Paine, MHS, 40-8 1/2. 100 — 1, Zawacki, MHS, 11:30; 3, Troy Rau, OHS, 12.04. 110 hurdles — 2, Carl Jaskiw, MHS, 17.06; 3, Kyle Bassett, 18.24; 5, Brown, OHS, 19.6. 200 — 2, Helminiak, MHS, 24.57; 5, Johnson, OHS, 25.5. 200 — 2, Helminiak, MHS, 24.57; 5, Johnson, OHS, 25.5.