That proved true again Saturday as the Indians retained their MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals title in Division 3 with 73 points. They were followed by Lake Linden-Hubbell with 58 and Big Bay de Noc third with 50.

In a field where 29 teams were eligible to compete at the regionals and 20 did score at the finals, Forest Park was fourth with 49, followed by Brimley with 42, Stephenson 38, Dollar Bay 36, St. Ignace 30, Chassell 24, Ontonagon 22 and North Dickinson 21.

Baraga placed 10th with 20, L’Anse was right after with 17, Superior Central had 13, Ishpeming and Mid Peninsula each had 10, Rapid River 7, Carney-Nadeau and Cedarville 3 each, and North Central 1.

Newberry wasted no time setting the tone on this sunny and warm day with a U.P. Division 3 Finals record-setting performance in the 3,200-meter relay of 10 minutes, 15.39 seconds, topping Cedarville’s effort of 10:20.07 from 20 years ago.

Ishpeming’s Sophie Mahoski runs in the Division 3 girls 3,200-meter run at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in high school track and field held Saturday in Kingsford. Mahoski had the Hematites’ highest finish of the day in this event, third place. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“Our handoffs were pretty good,” said Newberry freshman Molly McNamara, who was joined by Lili Balogh, Samantha Taylor and Abby Taylor. “I thought it went pretty well. We’re pretty happy about getting the U.P. record.

“I also got a PR (personal record) by 20 seconds in the 1,600, which I’m pretty happy about. The warmer weather I think helped.”

Senior Samantha Taylor also provided the Indians with victories in the 1,600 in 5:12.89 and 3,200 in 11:32.57, then also ran with her school’s fourth-place 1,600 relay.

Junior Abby Taylor added a season-best while placing second in the 1,600 in 5:23.87, with McNamara taking third in 5:32.7. Abby Taylor also ran a season-best 12:31.69 in the 3,200 and covered the 800 in 2:24.61 while taking second in both, with McNamara third in the 800 in a personal-best 2:28.4.

Samantha Taylor, who plans to continue her running career at Central Michigan University, was pleased with how this day went.

“I think it went really good,” she said. “This was a nice finish to my high school career. I wanted to do my best and finish on this note.

“We’re happy with how everything went. Abby and Molly had a good day, too.”

Also from Newberry, Bobbirae Lustila, a member of the 1,600 relay, was fifth in the 400.

LL-H senior Maddy Dudenas won the shot put with a season-best heave of 32 feet, 11¼ inches, while sophomore Addeline Schmitt anchored the winning 400 relay that clocked a school-record 52.6 seconds.

“Our handoffs went real well,” Schmitt said. “It feels amazing to be part of this. Running the anchor leg is a little intense, but it’s fun overall. This has been a good year for us.”

Dollar Bay senior Kiera Isaacson cleared a school-record 5-6 in the high jump to win the event, two inches higher than Big Bay de Noc sophomore Destiny Bleau’s season-best jump that tied her own school record.

Bleau set U.P. D-3 meet records while winning the 200 in 26.01 and 400 in 58.05, and also added another victory in the 100 in 12.91.

Her effort in the 200 surpassed the previous best by Chassell’s Jamie Dompier of 26.36 in 2012, and her 400 time topped the record set by LL-H’s Emily Jokela of 58.91 two years ago.

“I had a great start again,” Bleau said. “I felt really good, then I suddenly realized I was all by myself. I knew I had to keep going (in the 400). I was hoping to get (personal records). I just had to stay focused and do it.”

Chassell sophomore Jordan Holombo established a meet record in the 100 hurdles in 15.94, which is three-tenths of a second faster than the 20-year-old record that was held by LL-H’s Holly Seppala, while Holombo added a first in the 300 hurdles in 46.55.

Dollar Bay junior Laila Bell took the long jump with 16-1, and Stephenson senior Faith Cappaert won the 800 in a personal-best 2:24.23.

St. Ignace senior Avery Visnaw took the pole vault after clearing 9-0, edging Baraga junior Elisa Delene on a tiebreaker, while Brimley senior Tallulah Slabosheski captured the discus with 114-11.

Baraga’s Delene was also third in the discus with a toss of 100-7, while teammate Madisyn Holm was third in the long jump with a leap of 15-2 1/4.

For L’Anse, Breyelle Bowers was runner-up in the long jump by going 15-3, while the Purple Hornets also placed third in the 3,200 relay with Princess Pierre, Dalanna Connor, Lily Froese and Kwynn Voskuhl, the latter also tying for fourth in the high jump.

Ishpeming’s Sophie Mahoski was third in the 3,200 in 13:04.83, adding a fifth place in the 1,600. The Hematites’ Nora Jo Anderson was sixth in both the 100 and high jump.

For Superior Central, its 800 relay was third with Marlene Johnson, Kiera McDonnald, Elaina Karvinen and Meredith Kempker, while Johnson added a fourth in the 400 and sixth in the 200.

John Vrancic is a sports writer affiliated with the Daily Press of Escanaba who was reporting for the Michigan High School Athletic Association website, mhsaa.com.