INDIAN RIVER – It came down to one race.
Down by a point heading into the final event of the meet, Inland Lakes track and field coach Sarah Furman went up to her 4X400 relay team – Kaylee Taglauer, Mackenzie Biesel, Addyson Price and Chloe Robinson – and gave them a quick message.
“I told them, ‘You girls have to decide if you want to win this meet or not,’ and I knew they could,” Furman said. “I had four girls in that race that I trusted to go win this meet.”
With a Ski Valley Conference championship on the line, those four Bulldogs went and did the job, collected enough points, and made history for the second time in five days.
Because of a second-place finish from I-L’s 4X400 relay (4:29.28), the Bulldogs (143 points) earned their first Ski Valley crown since 2023 by outlasting host Mancelona (136) on Wednesday, May 20.
“It takes a lot of mental toughness to go and just chip away at (Mancelona) at every single event,” Furman said. “There were a couple of races and events that didn’t go our way, and to just go and be onto the next event and kind of believe that we can get the job done. It’s hard to convince kids when they’re getting fourths and fifths and sixths and sevenths that that will do it in the long haul, and it’s that mental toughness of, ‘No, I’m just going to keep coming at them.’”
Grinding away was exactly what the Bulldogs did, as they offset many of Mancelona’s top finishes by securing points throughout the meet. In the end, it allowed Inland Lakes to follow up with a Ski Valley trophy after claiming its third MHSAA Division 4 regional trophy in four seasons last week.
“It was an absolute team effort,” Furman said, as proud of any team she’s ever coached. “We go into the 200 and the Mancelona girl wins, but we took third and fifth, and we’re hanging in there, and then the events that you don’t see, which are the discus and the shot put and some of that stuff where you don’t realize that the job’s getting done, so it’s them trusting their teammates and looking at each other and going, ‘Let’s go do our job.’ They kept doing it.”
Pacing the Bulldogs with an individual first place was Faith Lehre, who captured the Ski Valley crown in the 100 (13.61), while the 4X200 relay team of Lehre, Robinson, Taglauer and Biesel was first (1:54.44). After that, there were numerous second places and athletes doing their part to win the title.
“I’m so thrilled,” Furman said. “I just kept saying we’re taking three girls in every event. For some of them, I said, ‘Hey, I know you’re probably not going to score, but you’re going with your teammate for moral support so she doesn’t have to report by herself, and they were OK. They’re such a team-oriented group of athletes that I’m just lucky to be their coach.”
I-L boys first in six events; Pellston’s Grondin wins 200
It was also another strong day for the Inland Lakes boys, who finished second (129) behind Mancelona (171) thanks to first-place showings in six different events.
Winning two individual conference titles was Zander Robinson, who was first in the long jump (19-7) and pole vault (11-6), while Christian Copeland captured first in the high jump (6-0). I-L’s 4X100 (Jake Feagan, Christian Copeland, Tanner Howard, Pietro Giordan, 46.70), 4X200 (Jake Feagan, Jeremy Kettel, Elijah Elliott, Tanner Howard, 1:39.44) and 4X400 (Christian Copeland, Zander Robinson, Elijah Elliott, Jeremy Kettel, 3:47.74) relays all placed first.
Meanwhile, the Pellston boys were led by Josh Grondin, who won the Ski Valley crown in the 200 (24.57).
INLAND LAKES GIRLS
More Finishes: Josephine Furman (second, 1600, 6:05.67; fifth, 800, 2:46.42), Abygale Zinke (second, discus, 73-3.5), 4X100 relay (second, Faith Lehre, Mary Myshock, Josie Cooper, Piper Crawford, 54.23), 4X800 relay (second, Mackenzie Biesel, Addison Byrne, Miley O’Boyle, Josephine Furman, 12:06.04), Chloe Robinson (third, shot put, 28-7.5; third, high jump, 4-8), Faith Lehre (third, 200, 28.01), Kaylee Taglauer (third, 400, 1:04.50; fifth, 200, 28.54), Josie Cooper (third, 100 hurdles, 18.52; fourth, 300 hurdles, 55.51), Mary Myshock (third, 300 hurdles, 53.37; fourth, 100 hurdles, 18.55), Andrea Vigneau (third, discus, 72-10; seventh, 3200, 16:52.19), Margaret Newman (fourth, 3200, 14:17.55; seventh, 1600, 6:38.30), Addison Byrne (fifth, high jump, 4-4), Addyson Price (sixth, 800, 2:49.67), Piper Crawford (sixth, 300 hurdles, 56.26), Frankie Bunker (seventh, shot put, 25-5.5), Mackenzie Biesel (eighth, 400, 1:12.06)
INLAND LAKES BOYS
Notable Finishes: Logan Holden (second, 1600, 5:13.86; second, 3200, 11:28.88), Zander Robinson (second, high jump, 6-0), Tanner Howard (second, 100, 11.97), Jake Feagan (second, 400, 56.27), Elijah Elliott (second, 110 hurdles, 18.74), Pietro Giordan (fourth, shot put, 36-9), Christian Copeland (fifth, 800, 2:24.12)
ONAWAY BOYS
Notable Finishes: Benedict Suess (third, 100, 12.09), Phineas Benson (fifth, shot put, 34-11)
Team Finish: Eighth, 25.5 points
ONAWAY GIRLS
Notable Finishers: Lillyann Cooksey (fourth, 200, 28.51; fourth, long jump, 15-0), Alexis Haney (fifth, 300 hurdles, 56.16)
Team Finish: Sixth, 25 points
PELLSTON BOYS
Notable Finishes: Josh Grondin (second, 300 hurdles, 43.24), Brady Bonter (fourth, long jump, 17-8)
Team Finish: Sixth, 40.5 points
PELLSTON GIRLS
Notable Finishers: Clara Hutchinson (second, pole vault, 7-0), Adalynn Hendershot (fourth, 400, 1:06.77)
Team Finish: Ninth, 15 points
Contact sports editor Jared Greenleaf at jgreenleaf@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @sportsCDT
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Inland Lakes girls track wins Ski Valley title
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