West Iron County girls track team takes the field this spring

Why this roster matters

Kristi Berutti has a West Iron County girls track team that tells a bigger story than a single photo can hold. In a district that covers more than 560 square miles of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a spring roster is also a community record, showing which athletes are carrying the Wykons into another season and how the school’s athletic pipeline keeps moving.

That matters in Iron River and across Iron County because track is one of the clearest signs that spring has really arrived at West Iron County High School. The program offers a visible link between school pride, outdoor competition and the steady participation that keeps small-school sports healthy.

The roster at a glance

The 2026 West Iron County girls track team includes:

• Violet Allen, Hanna Skoglund, Ariah Lewis, Jamie Stapleton, Krissalynn Jines, Ella Swanson, Lucy Farley, Anastasiia Dudiak, Kendall McDonald, Genesis Robles, Ella House, Natalie Tape, Marlo Buness, Natalie Walsh, Dakota Autio, Addison Bortolameolli, Amelia Carpenter, Abbigail Webber, Cami Alexa, Lily DeSousa, Reese Ahola, Grace House, Ashlynn Nichols, Eriana Sucholl, Laurel Johnson, Kaylee Zimmerman, Jessi Makuck, Bristol Shamion, Lacey Shamion and Audra Oberlin.

That list gives local readers a current snapshot of the group representing West Iron County this spring. It is the kind of roster families save, classmates recognize and alumni use to follow the program’s continuity from year to year.

What the team can cover on the track

A roster this size usually means the Wykons can spread athletes across the full range of track and field work. That includes the fast-end events, relay lineups, distance races, jumps and throws, the areas where a team scores by filling more than one lane of the meet.

That depth also matters because track is not built around one star alone. A strong girls program needs enough athletes to keep relays moving, cover multiple distances and stay competitive in field events, and West Iron County’s roster suggests the school has enough participation to do that. For a district of this size, that level of involvement is also a sign that spring sports remain a meaningful part of student life.

Berutti, Taff and the spring sports pipeline

West Iron County Public Schools lists Kristi Berutti as the girls head coach and Jeff Taff as the boys head coach, placing both programs inside the same spring sports framework. That structure matters in a consolidated district made up of the former Bates Township School, Iron River Public Schools and Stambaugh Township Schools, because athletics often become one of the most visible ways the system connects its communities.

Track is part of that pipeline. The girls team gives underclass athletes a place to learn meet-day routines, while returning runners and field athletes help set the standard for what the program expects. That blend of experience and new participation is a big reason a roster story like this is more than ceremonial. It shows the school’s spring athletics engine is running, and it gives families a concrete sense of who is involved before the meets start stacking up.

The postseason clock is already ticking

The Michigan High School Athletic Association’s girls track and field calendar makes the season feel immediate. The Opt-Out Due Date is May 12, regional tournaments run May 14-16 and the MHSAA Finals are set for May 30. Those dates turn a simple team photo into a marker of where the Wykons stand at the start of the championship build-up.

For Iron County readers, that timeline matters because spring in the Upper Peninsula can move fast. Athletes are not just introducing themselves for a roster page, they are entering the stretch when every practice, relay exchange and field attempt starts to count toward postseason positioning.

A program with recent proof of strength

West Iron County girls track is not starting from zero. The team finished second in the Upper Peninsula Division 2 in 2025, a result that signals the Wykons already know how to turn participation into points. The season also included a strong showing at Nelson Field, where West Iron County scored 55 points and beat Ironwood, which finished with 47.5.

That recent success gives the current roster a clear benchmark. It shows the program has been competitive against familiar local opposition and has the depth to stay relevant in the Upper Peninsula Division 2 picture. In a region where school sports are closely followed, those results help explain why a new roster release is worth attention: it is the latest chapter in a program that has already shown it can contend.

Why this spring snapshot matters to Iron County

In a spread-out district like West Iron County Public Schools, athletic coverage does more than track wins and losses. It helps document participation, connect families to student activity and keep school sports visible across communities that do not always gather in one place at the same time.

This year’s girls track team does exactly that. It puts names to the athletes, identifies Berutti at the center of the program and shows a Wykons group with enough numbers to matter in the months ahead. With the postseason calendar already in motion and last season’s success still fresh, West Iron County enters spring with a team that has both continuity and expectation behind it.