Cappaert collects another first-place finish for Lady Eagles

RAPID RIVER — Faith Cappaert continued to sizzle for the Stephenson girls track team, as the sophomore speedster dashed her way to another first place finish at the 2024 Rapid River Invitational on Thursday.

Cappaert breezed to the top spot in the girls’ 400-meter dash with a new personal-best time of 1:03.57, nearly two seconds ahead of runner-up Lauren Adams of Norway, who crossed the finish line in 1:05.04.

Thursday’s victory in the 400m was Cappaert’s seventh first-place finish in the eight individual races that she’s competed in so far.

Her lone non-first place finish came on Thursday in the 1,600-meter run, with Cappaert’s time of 5:43.33 good for second place behind Newberry’s Samantha Taylor, who won the event in 5:38.02.

Cappaert then teamed up with Joelle Beaudo, Kayela Putnam and Morgan Bergquist to take home second in the 3,200-meter relay in 11:20.12.

Cappaert’s showing was part of a strong showing for the Lady Eagles, who finished fourth in the team standings with 51 points. Manistique edged Bark River-Harris 106-95 to capture first place, with Newberry nestled in third with 66.

Putnam finished third in the pole vault after recording a vault of eight feet, six inches.

Caitlyn Johnson aided the Stephenson girls’ cause with a third-place showing the discus with a toss measuring 86’ 9.5”.

On the boys’ side, the Eagles finished in a deadlock with North Central for seventh place with 11 points.

Manistique handily won the boys’ competition with 122 points, more than 20 points ahead of second-place Newberry (96), and well ahead of Munising, who finished a distant third with 58 points.

Canon Kuntze authored the best individual performance for the Stephenson boys after placing third in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:33.94. He also participated in the 1,600m run, finishing fourth overall in 5:14.20.

Asher Priebe turned in a pair of top-10 finishes at Rapid River after finishing sixth in the 110m hurdles (19.53 seconds) and tenth in the 100m dash (13.10).

Priebe also anchored Stephenson’s 1,600m relay squad, which included Oren Marcoe, Dusty Gallop and Kuntze, to a seventh-place finish (4:12.73).

Gallop finished the 300m hurdles in 49.54, good for seventh place.

Rapid River Invitational

Team scores

Boys — Manistique 122, Newberry 96, Munising 58, Forest Park 57, Bark River-Harris 56, Rapid River 39, North Central 11, Stephenson 11, Eben Junction-Superior Central 9, Norway 8, Holy Name 8, North Dickinson 7, Republic-Michigamme 6, Rock Mid-Pen 5, Wilson-Hannahville-Nah Tah Wah 3

Girls — Manistique 106, Bark River-Harris 95, Newberry 66, Stephenson 51, Forest Park 41.5, Big Bay De Noc 36, North Dickinson 36, Munising 32, Norway 22.5, Rapid River 15, Rock Mid-Pen 15, Republic-Michigamme 10

Stephenson results

Boys

100m — 10. Priebe, 13.10; 14. D. Gallop, 13.48; 23. Marcoe, 14.06; 32. Cooper Gallop, 15.06

200m — 23. Ashton Grinsteiner, 28.92

1,600m — 4. Kuntze, 5:14.20

3,200m — 3. Kuntze, 11:33.94

110m hurdles — 6. Priebe, 19.53

300m hurdles — 7. D. Gallop, 49.54

1,600m relay — 7. Priebe/Marcoe/D. Gallop/Kuntze, 4:12.73

Shot put — 11. Dahlton Berg, 31’ 7”; 17. C. Gallop, 30’ 3”

Discus — 11. C. Gallop, 79’ 0.5”; 19. Berg, 69’ 2.5”

Girls

100m — 7. Adria Ruleau, 14.57; 12. Mattie Prestin, 14.86; 22. Tiffany Kurz, 15.94; 28. Addison Olson, 16.45

200m — 16. Prestin, 31.99; 17. Lilliana Revall, 32.62; 26. Kurz, 33.97; 9. Olson, 35.45

400m — 1. Cappaert, 1:03.57

800m — 7. Joelle Beaudo, 2:50.32; 12. Morgan Bergquist, 3:04.36

1,600m — 2. Cappaert, 5:43.33; 8. K. Putnam, 6:34.00; 11. Gabriella Putnam, 6:48.43; 18. Layla Engel, 7:14.26

3,200m — 4. K. Putnam, 14:05.76; 6. G. Putnam, 14:16.06; 8. Engel, 16:19.55

400m relay — 7. Prestin/Mattie Vista/Revall/Ruleau, 57.43

800m relay — 6. Prestin/Vista/Revall/Ruleau, 2:01.63

1,600m relay — 4. Vista/Ruleau/Kurz/Beaudo, 4:47.96

3,200m relay — 2. Beaudo/K. Putnam/Bergquist/Cappaert, 11:20.12

Shot put — 5. Johnson, 25’ 9”

Discus — 3. Johnson, 86’ 9.5”

High jump — 5. Vista, 4’ 4”; 8. Veronica Van, 4’ 4”

Pole Vault — 3. K. Putnam, 8’ 6”

Long jump — 7. Revall, 12’ 6”; 10. Kurz, 11’ 9”; 12. Olson, 11’ 6”