22 Forest Park athletes qualify for U.P. track championships

Forest Park will bring an unusually deep 22-athlete contingent to the Upper Peninsula Championships, a small-school showing built on top-four regional finishes in just about every corner of the meet. For Iron County fans heading to Kingsford, the best local watch list runs from the hurdles and middle distance races to the relays, jumps and throws, where the Trojans have multiple chances to score.

The girls gave Forest Park its clearest statement at the regional meet, winning the team title and ending Stephenson’s run of five straight championships. Auburn Waara-Shamion qualified in the 200 meter dash, 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and long jump; Vienna Price in the 400 meter dash, 4x400 relay and 4x200 relay; Cecila Ketola in the 400 meter dash and 4x400 relay; Haven VanSickle in the 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 100 hurdles and 4x100 relay; Audrey Williams in the 800 meter run, 1600 meter run and 4x400 relay; Ava Fischer in the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, shot put and pole vault; Eden Starr in the 4x100, 4x200, pole vault and high jump; Monroe Rajala in the 4x100 relay; Lily Sarder in the 4x200 relay, 4x400 relay and long jump; Evie Anderson in discus; Elsie Williams in long jump; and Marleigh Ketola in pole vault. Fischer, Audrey Williams and Elsie Williams all backed up that depth with regional wins, along with Forest Park’s 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.

The boys matched that breadth with a third-place finish behind Stephenson and Ishpeming, then sent a long list of qualifiers to Kingsford. Joey Mainville qualified in the 800 meter run, 4x200, 4x400 and 4x800 relays; William Hoffman in the 1600 meter run, 4x400 relay and 4x800 relay; Dietrich Rasner in the 110 hurdles, pole vault and 4x400 relay; Hayden Smith in the 110 hurdles, pole vault and 4x800 relay; Brady Wagoner in the 4x200 relay; Reuben Rasner in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays; Devin Koga in high jump; Matthew Gasperich in discus and 4x200 relay; James Smith in the 4x200 relay; and Cooper Hill in discus. Mainville, Dietrich Rasner and Forest Park’s 3200 relay team of Rasner, Mainville, Will Hoffman and Hayden Smith all won regional titles, a strong sign the Trojans are not just qualifying, but arriving with front-end speed and finishing power.

The Finals were set for Saturday, May 30, at Flivver Field in Kingsford, on the school’s 8-lane metric polyurethane track. The meet used digital admission tickets, with entries posted the Tuesday after regionals and scratches open on Athletic.net until 11 a.m. on meet day. MHSAA scoring in every event was 10-8-6-4-2-1.

That depth matters in a championship environment that is already loaded. More than two-thirds of last season’s individual girls champions returned to form a star-studded field, and the boys side entered with added pressure in a decade that has seen only six schools win an Upper Peninsula Finals team championship. Forest Park’s range gives the Trojans a real lane to score in a meet where every point has to be earned.