KINGSFORD—With two events to go at the Division 3 track U.P. State Finals here May 30, Forest Park’s boys team was in second place, 5 ½ points behind North Dickinson. Was the dream of the team’s first U.P. title since 1988 about to slip away?

No. The Trojans were in control. ND didn’t have a runner in the 3200-meter run. The Trojans did, and Tony Silva finished fourth, earning four points and getting FP within 1 ½ points.

The final event was the 1600-meter relay. Mick Valesano ran the first leg and quickly opened a gap on the field. Teammates Tim Martin, Alex Takala and Tony Greco preserved that gap and even expanded it. When Greco crossed the finish line in 3 minutes, 39.90 seconds, the Trojans had their title.

Despite not winning a single point in field events, Forest Park finished with 75 points to ND’s 72.5. They were followed by Cedarville (63.5), Rapid River (60) and Ontonagon (48).

As Nordics Coach Joe Reddinger noted later, there wouldn’t have been so much drama at the end if the Trojans hadn’t been disqualified from the 800 relay—due to a false start. The Trojans had been favored to win that event along with the 10 team points that come with it.

Thanks to the PA announcements, everybody understood what was at stake when the runners lined up for the start of the 1600 relay. Valesano said he was telling himself, “I’d better give it everything I’ve got” in the senior’s final high school event.

“I was excited. Everyone was excited.”

Greco, who ran the anchor leg, said, “I’ve got the best guys in this relay that I’ve ever run with.

“To win a race like that to win this whole meet--it’s something big, and it means a lot.”

The Trojans’ three wins came in relays, the 3200, which started the day, the 400 and the 1600. Individually, Josh Aberly had a second and a third, Valesano had a second, and Bob Reid, Josh Siler, Greco, Silva and Tony Renner added to the point total.

1600 relay: 1. (Tony Silva, Jake Divine, Tony Greco, Josh Aberly), 8:50.31.

110 high hurdles: 5. Tony Renner, 17.50.

100: 4. Josh Siler, 11.73; 6. Bob Reid, 11.79.

1600: 4. Greco, 4:56.35; 5. Silva, 4:59.60.

400 relay: 1. (Dustin Basirico, Mick Valesano, Reid, Siler), 46.53.

400: 2. Aberly, 52.53.

800: 3. Aberly, 2:06.14.

200: 2. Valesano, 23.69; 3. Reid, 24.07.

3200: 4. Silva, 10:58.21.

1600 relay: 1. (Valesano, Tim Martin, Alex Takala, Greco), 3:39.90.

• Maria Valesano has a little lightning bolt tattooed behind an ear, and she was a bolt of lightning at the U.P. Finals, leading the Lady Trojans to second place, the team’s best finish since it won the U.P. title in 1975.

Valesano won the 100 and 200-meter dashes and anchored the two winning sprint relay teams, boosting her team to second place behind Brimley. “I couldn’t ask for anything more this year,” she said. “Just awesome.”

The Bays won the team title with 84 points, with the Trojans seconed at 68. They were followed by North Central (47), Pickford (40.5) and North Dickinson (40).

Her two individual titles and the two winning relays account for the team’s four event wins—the relays include Kathleen Grandahl, Ana Cornelia and Hilary Roose. The Trojans were 1-2 in the 100, with Grandahl a close runner-up.

Teamwise, the Trojans’ times improved tremendously this season. “It’s the coaches,” Valesano said. “Ever since they have been coaching, our team has been improving more and more. And we want it this year. We knew we could do it, and we want it real bad.”

Grandahl said the emphasis is on each girls improving her personal best. Roose said the team has worked very hard in practice. Cornelia said the coaches gives them little quotes “that we think are good motivators” and that they think about as they run.

Forest Park’s other points came from Daryl Arcand, Audrey Sholander, Korie Kezerle and Roose. Valesano and Sholander were the only athletes to place in two individual events.

Arcand, who finished fourth in pole vault, earned Forest Park’s only field points—girls or boys—of the entire day.

Pole vault: 4. Daryl Arcand, 8-0.

100 high hurdles: 4. Audrey Sholander, 17.91.

100: 1. Maria Valesano, 12.93; 2. Kathleen Grandahl, 13.19.

800 relay: 1. (Hilary Roose, Ana Cornelia, Grandahl, Valesano), 1:52.81.

400 relay: 1. (Roose, Cornelia, Grandahl, Valesano), 53.08.

400: 6. Roose, 1:07.59.

300 low hurdles: 6. Sholander, 53.92.

800: 5. Kezerle, 2:36.52.

200: 1. Valesano, 26.87.

1600 relay: 2. (Roose, Cornelia, Kezerle, Grandahl), 4:28.18.

• The Trojans wrapped up their regular season by earning the boys and girls team titles during the Skyline Conference tournament, held at North Dickinson on May 22.

The boys team won with 170 points, far ahead of the second place Nordics (131) and third place Rapid River (98). Josh Aberly won two events, the 400 and 800-meter runs.

3200 relay: 1. (Tony Silva, Jake Divine, Tony Greco, Josh Aberly), 8:56.38.

110 high hurdles: 3. Tony Renner, 17.23.

100: 2. Josh Siler, 11.60; 3. Bob Reid, 11.61; 5. Dustin Basirico, 11.89.

1600: 1. Greco, 4:58.64; 2. Silva, 5:03.58.

800 relay: 1. (Siler, Aberly, Reid, Mick Valesano), 1:35.27.

400 relay: 1. (team not listed), 45.89.

400: 1. Aberly, 52.60; 5. Greco, 56.04; 6. Tim Martin, 57.05.

300 low hurdles: 3. Renner, 44.68; 4. Jim Wheeler, 45.16.

800: 1. Aberly, 2:12.57; 2. Divine, 2:15.80.

200: 1. Valesano, 23.45; 3. Reid, 24.51; 4. Siler, 24.55.

3200: 1. Silva, 11:08.37.

1600 relay: 1. (Alex Takala, Martin, Valesano, Greco), 3:47.12.

Discus: 6. Marcus Smithson, 93-0 ½.

High jump: 4. Renner, 5-6; 6. Jake Jacobson, 5-4.

Long jump: 5. Matt Courchaine, 17-0 ¼.

Shot put: 5. Courchaine, 36-0 ¼.

The girls team rolled to an easy win in the Skyline meet with 124 points. Second was North Central (91), and North Dickinson (87) was third. Maria Valesano was a double winner, taking first in the 100 and 200 sprints.

3200 relay: 3. (Sam Olson, Courtney Lehto, Niki Aberly, Korie Kezerle), 11:19.03.

100 low hurdles: 2. Audrey Sholander, 17.83.

100: 1. Maria Valesano, 13.24; 2. Kathleen Grandahl, 13.47.

1600: 5. Olson, 6:29.57.

800 relay: 1. (Hilary Roose, Ana Cornelia, Grandahl, Valesano), 1:54.72.

400 relay: 1. (Roose, Cornelia, Grandahl, Valesano), 53..66.

400: 2. Cornelia, 1:08.01; 3. Kezerle, 1:08.24.

300 low hurdles: 2. Sholander, 52.76.

800: 5. Kezerle, 2:50.69.

200: 1. Valesano, 26.98; 4. Roose, 28.92; 6. Sholander, 30.67.

3200: 4. Olson, 14:08.29.

1600 relay: 2. (Roose, Cornelia, Kezerle, Grandahl), 4:31.66.

Pole vault: 1. Daryl Arcand, 8-7.

Long jump: 2. Sholander, 14-9.