West Iron, Forest Park battle at Bobcat Invitational track meet

Forest Park and West Iron County turned the Bobcat Invitational into an early read on two Iron County programs that already look capable of pushing each other all spring. At Florence High School in Florence, Wisconsin, Forest Park won both varsity team titles, but West Iron finished within striking distance in both meets, a sign that the rivalry is likely to shape the rest of the season.

The Trojans edged the boys field with 104.33 points, ahead of Norway’s 109 and just in front of Florence-Niagara’s 93.33 and West Iron County’s 92.33. On the girls side, Forest Park finished with 113 points, followed by Florence-Niagara at 110, North Dickinson County at 107.5 and West Iron County at 105.5. Those margins show how much every relay exchange, hurdle clearance and field-event mark mattered in the opener.

The most eye-catching local finish came in the 100-meter hurdles, where West Iron County’s Bristol Shamion and Forest Park’s Ava Fischer were separated by a tenth of a second. Shamion clocked 17.2, while Fischer finished in 17.3, a tight race that underscored how little room there is for error this early in the year. Fischer also remained one of Forest Park’s key names after entering the season as the 2024 Upper Peninsula state champion in the 100 hurdles.

West Iron also got a boost from Lacey Shamion, who led the Wykons’ 4x200 relay to a first-place finish, and from Seth Oberlin, who cleared 6 feet to win the boys high jump. Jessiah Smith was also pictured in the high jump, another reminder that West Iron’s strength was not limited to the track. In the boys hurdles, Forest Park’s Deitrich Rasner claimed a win in the 110s, helping the Trojans build their team score.

The photo recap also showed the depth behind the top finishes. Forest Park’s Eden Starr cleared the bar in the high jump, while West Iron’s Reese Ahola and Kendall McDonald connected on a clean handoff in the 4x100 relay. In the 4x400, Forest Park’s Ava Fischer handed off to Vienna Price, the kind of smooth exchange that can separate a contender from a pack runner later in the season.

The opener mattered because both teams arrived with expectations already attached. West Iron’s boys had scored 10 points at the 2024 Upper Peninsula Finals and 30 the year before, and coach Jeff Taff had pointed to steady improvement before the Upper Peninsula Finals on May 30. Forest Park, meanwhile, came in after its boys won the Upper Peninsula cross country championship in the fall and with a girls roster listed at 23 athletes and a boys roster of 16. In Florence, both programs looked deeper than a year ago, and that makes the rest of the spring in Iron County worth watching.