OGEMAW HEIGHTS - May 21, 2008 - Ogemaw Heights' girls track and field team had a battle on its hands Wednesday in its bid for a second straight North East Michigan Conference title.

What looked going in to be a white-knuckler with Standish-Sterling and Tawas Area also going in with title aspirations, the Falcons merely took a 21 point victory while being upstaged in the drama department by the boys meet, which came down to the final seconds of the final event.

"The girls were not as dramatic as the boys," said Falcon coach Rick Frank.

The Falcons' 160 points gave them some breathing space over SSC (139) and Tawas (137). John Glenn took fourth (68), followed by Oscoda (53), Pinconning (51) and Whittemore-Prescott (26).

That would be because the Falcons used their depth in several events, particularly the ones that they didn't win, to build up a big lead while SSC and Tawas kept knocking each other down whenever one or the other could have made inroads into the Ogemaw lead.

There was plenty of balance at the top of the scoresheet as six of the seven schools won a league title in at least one event. The Falcons took five, while SSC took four, John Glenn claimed three, Oscoda and Pinny won two apiece and Tawas, despite finishing a couple points shy of the Panthers for second, had just one.

The Falcons especially helped themselves in the sprints, where Kalena Franklin won the 100 (12.95) and 200 (league record-tying 26.42) and had two more qualify for the 100 finals and one more in the 200 finals. Ogemaw also won both sprint relays as Maggie Edward, Kristian Franklin, Selina Tabayoyong and Brittney Stein won the 4x100 (54.88) and Brianne Price, Kristeen Soper, Tabayoyong and Kalena Franklin took the 4x200 (1:53.71).

Stein also won the pole vault with a leap of 8-10, and while SSC's Ashlyn Gulvas swept the shot put (meet record 43-1.5) and discus (120-9), Ogemaw actually gained ground in the throwing events. In the discus, Kayla Brindley (118-9), Kami Shields (103-0) and Lauren Steinhurst (97-10) swept the two-three-four spots, while Shields was fourth (31-7), Kelsi Rutherford with (31-1.5) and Brindley seventh (31-1) in the shot put.

Soper (3rd, 54.55) and Kristian Franklin (4th, 55.00) took third and fourth in the 300 hurdles as well.

In addition to Gulvas's throwing titles, SSC got wins from Ashley Pickvet, Christina Proulx, Alyssa Pruder and Ashley White in the 4x800 (11:08.58) and Gulvas, Katie Ouillette, Chelsea Szostak and Shaina Szostak in the 4x400 (4:25.02).

Gulvas (2nd, 1:03.71) and Ouillette (4th, 1:04.71) came up big for the Falcons in the 400, while other top finishers were Ashley White (2nd, 2:47.35), Christina Proulx (4th, 2:51.08) and Alyssa Pruder (5th, 2:52.82) in the 800; Pickvet (4th, 6:08.88) and Pruder (6th, 6:19.76) in the 1600; Pickvet in the 3200 (4th, 13:34.74); Chelsea Szostak in the 100 hurdles (2nd, 17.69) and 300 hurdles (2nd, 52.50); Chelsea Szostak, Shaina Szostak, Jessica Cousins and Ouillette in the 4x200 relay (2nd, 1:56.25); and Alli Collier in the pole vault (2nd, 8-0).

Tawas had only one event win -- Richelle Payea in the 800 (2:41.76) -- but racked up plenty of second and third-place finishes to stay in the hunt.

Leading the Braves were Dana Kolnitys in the 100 (3rd, 13.67) and 200 (3rd, 28.34); Emily Short (2nd, 5:57.27) and Chelsea Smith (3rd, 6:03.31) in the 1600; Smith (2nd, 13:25.86) and Short (3rd, 13:33.75) in the 3200; Rachel Faught (4th, 18.69) and Samantha Duvall (5th, 18.79) in the 100 hurdles; Amy Johnson, Chelsea Wojahn, Kolnitys and Duvall in the 4x100 (2nd, 56.08); Johnson, Kaitlin Challenger, Shelby Benoit and Wojahn in the 4x200 (3rd, 1:59.0); Brittany Combs, Olivia Bolen, Payea and Kolnitys in the 4x400 (2nd, 4:30.88); Combs, Bolen, Short and Smith in the 4x800 (2nd, 11:11.97); and Payea (2nd, 14-11.5) and Benoit (4th, 13-10.5) in the long jump.

John Glenn was led by Stephanie Hurley, who won the 400 (1:02.25) and long jump (15-2.5) while taking second in the 100 (13.02) and 200 (27.22), and Bri Kokaly, who won the 100 hurdles (17.68).

Oscoda leapfrogged Pinconning after falling to the Spartans in a regular-season dual. Ashley Schonfeld claimed the 300 hurdles title (50.17) and took sixth in the 200 (30.12); Megan Zarachowicz won the high jump (4-8); Mari Businski took third in the 100 hurdles (17.88); Becca Businski, Mari Businski, Ashley Schonfeld and Blake Sponaugle took third in the 4x100 relay (3rd, 56.78); and Jeri Carl finished third in the shot put (33-0).

Pinconning's Jessica Vidalez led the Spartans with victories in the 1600 (5:55.38) and 3200 (13:01.29); while Hannah Schmidt was second in the high jump (4-8), and Sadie McGillian in the pole vault (3rd, 7-9).

Whittemore-Prescott was led by Staci Ostrander in the 800 (3rd, 2:48.06); Jessica Dietzel in the 100 hurdles (6th, 27.29); Janette Gonzalez in the 300 hurdles (5th, 55.17); and Gonzalez, Heather Ostrander, Chelsea MacDonald and Staci Ostrander in the 4x800 (3rd, 11:44.78).

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