The same was true for West Iron County’s Danica Shamion in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes.

With that kind of track record, expectations for them were through the roof Saturday.

“There’s so much pressure,” the Ishpeming junior said. “People do expect a champion out of me; it gets really hard mentally, there’s a lot of pressure on me all the time.

“But I love to do this. I just love running so much. So I just go out there and do what I can, just do the best I can do.”

Gwinn’s Lena Pleaugh, center, clears the final obstacle while winning the 300-meter hurdles at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in Division 2 girls track and field on Saturday at Kingsford. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Her best continues to be really good.

Korpi won all three of the distance events again, plus she was a member of the Hematites’ first-place 3,200 relay team, which gave her 11 career championships.

Bark River-Harris repeated as team champion after winning for the first time in school history last year. The Broncos had 100 points, while runner-up Ishpeming had 87, third-place Manistique 76 and fourth-place West Iron County 73. Gwinn was eighth with 32.

Shamion, meanwhile, won all of the dashes again as well.

“It’s been a good day, just really hot out,” Shamion said.

Korpi defeated some talented young runners. Pickford freshman Talya Schreiber took second in the 1,600 and 3,200, and Manistique sophomore Leah Goudreau was runner-up in the 800.

“I was challenged on all of them,” Korpi said. “It’s my 200 kick at the end that gets it. Now that I’m a junior I have a lot of experience against all the fast freshmen this year.

“So I just let them take the lead for a little bit while I coast behind them and then kick it in at the end. Or depending on how I feel, maybe I’ll just go out there right away.”

Her 3,200 relay team, also including Tiana Bosworth, Brittanie Piotrowski and Kadie Kaukola, was down by 200 meters with Hancock in front of them.

“I got the baton and I was just feeling great. I went out and beat her,” Korpi said. “That started the whole team out with a good chunk of points.”

Shamion, who now has nine individual titles, said the 400 was her best event of the day. She broke her own D-2 finals record with 57.18 seconds; she had set the record of 58.77 last year.

“I PR’d (personal record) by a second, which I really wanted to, so I’m glad,” Shamion said.

Her goal was to finish that race in 56 seconds.

“I was so close,” she said. “But I’m happy I took my own record that I had.”

Shamion also set a D-2 finals record in the 200 with 26.34. Norway’s Dani Gagne had the previous record of 26.42.

Shamion almost won four events. Teammate Calli Pellizzer won the high jump in a tiebreaker as both cleared 4 feet, 10 inches.

“Someone from my team won, good for my team,” Shamion said.

The Hematites also won the long jump as Mya Hemmer leaped 16 feet, 3 3/4 inches for an eight-inch victory over Mckenzie Hoffmeyer of BR-H. Ishpeming’s Peyton Kakkuri was third by achieving 14-7.

Hemmer was second in the shot put with a heave of 32-3 1/2, teammate Payton Manninen was second in the pole vault by clearing 8-0 and the Hematites were also runners-up in the 800 relay in 1:56.87 with Hemmer, Laynie Korpi, Jenessa Eagle and Brittanie Piotrowski.

Ishpeming also picked up a third in the 400 relay with Eagle, Piotrowski, Kakkuri and Hemmer.

Gwinn got a majority of its points when Lena Pleaugh won both hurdles events by fairly comfortable margins, repeating as champion in the 100 in 16.72 and also winning the 300 in 49.79.

The Modeltowners also picked up fourth places from Pleaugh in the 100 and its 400 relay.

Manistique had a pair of victories. Danielle Lund won the shot put with a heave of 34-10 1/4, while the Emeralds’ 400 relay with Lund, Goudreau, Emma Jones and Kelsey Muth

Goudreau was second in the 800 in 2:35.12, while Manistique’s 1,600 relay was second in 4:24.81 and included Muth, Jones, Lund and Goudreau.

The Emeralds picked up multiple third-place finishes. Lund did that in the discus, Kyra Carlson in the 1,600 and 3,200, Linnea Way in the high jump, and the 3,200 relay with Maya Carlson, Clara Cunningham, Sarah McDaniel and Kyra Carlson.

Other meet winners included Bark River-Harris in the 800 and 1,600 relays, Pickford’s Kadence Potoczak in the discus after she won that event in Division 3 last year, and St. Ignace’s Avery Visnaw in the pole vault.

Jason Juno is the sports editor of the Daily Globe of Ironwood. He wrote this account of the U.P. finals for the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s website at www.mhsaa.com.