The Michigan Indoor Track and Field Series (MITS) Championship took place March 8 and 9 at the Jack Skoog Complex at CMU. It wrapped up the indoor season for 2024-2025 and crowned several local athletes with all-state status.
Day 1
Senior Kierra Taube (Michigan Racers/Yale High School) won her first state title in the high jump, clearing 5’-6” on her first attempt. She was the only jumper to get above 5’-4” and made several attempts at 5’-8”. “Honestly, the win didn’t even process as much as clearing the height,” Taube stated. “I didn’t even realize I had won until ten minutes later because I was so ecstatic about clearing 5-6 again. It’s great to have all the hard work and dedication click at the perfect time!” Taube also competed as a leg in the sprint medley relay (11th; 4:30). Samantha Whitlam (MLN) helped 16 Ways place 12th in the girls’ sprint medley relay (SMR) in 4:31.
Kieran Whitlam (Inversion Vault Club/Macomb Lutheran North) and Chase Battani (Almont) competed in the boys’ pole vault. Battani had three misses in the first round at 12’-06”, while Whitlam was 12th in 13’-06”. In the shot put, Anchor Bay’s Cameron Gramzow was 25th with a PR of 45'-1.75".
Running events kicked off Saturday with the 60-meter dash prelims, where Malencia Price (Motor City Track/Port Huron High) just missed moving on to the semis, finishing 30th in 8.19. Price also placed 33rd in the 200 prelims in 26.98, while Cristina Semian of 16 Ways/Armada High School was 45th in 27.38. Semian joined teammate Allison Mansfield in the 4x200 relay to place 15th in 1:51.
The Blue Water Track Club ran the girls’ distance medley relay (DMR) in 14:19 to take 24th. Relay legs Haley Sharp, Isabella Nestle, Miley Caughel, and Samantha Langolf are teammates from Port Huron Northern High School. Emma Reimer from New Haven helped Breen Track Club place 19th in 13:33. On the boys’ side, Macomb Lutheran North’s Joshua Macri, Xavier Roman, Nicholas Milosavlevski, and Anchor Bay’s Aaron Osterman finished 19th for 16 Ways Track in 11:15.
Day 2
Keirra Taube continued her solid jumping on the second day of the field event competition, taking 11th in the long jump in 16’-0.5”. PHH/Motor City Track Club’s Malencia Price was 27th in 13’-6.5”. Cameron Gramzow (Anchor Bay/Kaizen Throws) threw the discus 148’-7” for seventh place in the boys’ division, his best by over a foot, which earned him a trip to the podium for an all-state medal.
The 16 Ways 4x800 relay team of Joshua Macri, Nicholas Milosavlevski, Xavier Roman, and Vasilios Kirchhoff were 18th with their season-best of 8:31 for 18th place.
Alannah Wessel raced to a 13th-place finish in the girls' mile with a personal best of 5:08. Price came back in the 400 with a 25th-place finish in 62.9, while Cristina Semian was 26th in 63.04. In the last event of the meet, the 16 Ways 4x400 relay featured Whitlam, Semian, and Mansfield and finished 12th in 4:17.29.
Congratulations to all local athletes on a fantastic season of indoor track and field!
Check out the Michitrack Newsletter for more in-depth coverage and information!
Photos courtesy of Anchor Bay Track, Michigan Racers, Josh Macri, Brandon Ziehmer, Paul Nevado, 16 Ways, and Samantha Whitlam, Instagram.
The official start of the outdoor track and field season begins Monday, March 10. If you missed any of our podcast episodes this year, be sure to check them out on the website at (www.bluewaterrunning.org), or by searching for The Blue Water Running Podcast on your favorite podcasting app. Don't forget to follow Blue Water Running on social media to stay up-to-date on all the latest news and updates from local track and field and cross country in the Blue Water Area on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and YouTube. If you’d like to partner with Blue Water Running to advertise your business and promote local runners, please reach out via the website or social media links!