The Ferris State men’s and women’s outdoor track and field team dominated the annual Bulldog Invitational meet Saturday.

The women’s team held six first place finishes alone and took the top four seeds in the women’s 800 meter run.

Senior Mikinzie Stuart placed first with a time of 2:18, while sophomore Tina Muir placed second with a time of 2:19.

Sophomore Paige Onweller followed her with a time of 2:25 and sophomore Nikki Wiers brought the team home with a fourth place finish and a time of 2:27.

Stuart also placed first in the 1,500 meter run with a time of 4:51. She was followed by Onweller who placed second in the same event with a time of 4:56.

Senior Krystal Wilson also placed first in two events. She ran the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.44 and the 400 meter dash with a time of 59.72.

Junior Emily Cross took first in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 15.73. She also took third place in the field events for the High Jump, where she was able to jump to a height of 1.55m

Also in the field events, freshman Jessica Schewe claimed a first place victory, in the Pole Vault, where she vaulted 2.74 meters.

Sophomore Amy Joostberns claimed two second place victories, the first in the Javelin where she threw 30.31 meters. The second was in the discus, which she threw 36.04m.

For Elizabeth Troost, it was the first time racing after being injured since October.

“It was fun getting back, I hope more of our girls qualify for nationals,” Troost said, who got back in the race, running a 1,500 meter race in 6:03.14.

The men’s team took five first place finishes. Junior Justin Price as placed first in the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.27. Price also had a third place finish in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.52.

Another first place victory was held by senior Mike Mangieri in the 1500 meter run. Mangieri ran the race in a time of 4:14. In the 5,000 meter run, with a time of 16:05.

Freshman Tyler Crossman won a first place victory for Ferris in track. Junior Curtis Begley placed second in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 16:34.

Matt Jozwiak took first place in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:58.

In the 4x400 meter relay the men’s track team placed second, Price, Mangieri, Jozwiak, and senior Joe Periord completed the event in 3:29.

“The season is going good. PR (personal records) are all over the place and we had a pretty good meet in North Carolina this week. I just hope the guys team does a little better and finishes in the middle of the pack,” said Periord.

In men’s field, the team cleaned up the pole vaulting competition with a first place finish by junior Greg Burns with a height of 4.76 meter. Senior Justin Trombley placed third with a height of 4.26 meter, and junior Joe Leppek placed fourth with a height of 3.96 meters.

The men’s field team also claimed a second place victory in the Javelin. Sophomore Paul Stergiadis threw with a distance of 43.81m.

Final Destination: Detroit.

For 343 teams Detroit was the goal in October. In April, four teams saw it.

The high flying UConn team, the surprising Villanova team, the dominant North Carolina team, and the blue-collar home grown Michigan State team.

Fitting, that the city known for its blue-collar work ethic, pride, and determination hosted a basketball team from its backyard with the same attitude.

Michigan State, like Detroit, has been called ugly, slow, boring, and looked at as being “just not good enough.”

Sure it’s the blue-collar mentality, but this is a city that has built the finest muscle cars, the Corvette, Mustang, and Charger. Just like Michigan State had the finest of Raymar Morgan, Kalin Lucas, and Durrell Summers, remember him? He was the one that dunked over the UConn player.

The boys from Detroit, well, technically East Lansing showed the country how it is in Detroit.

A city still made up of proud and independent people who remain loyal to their city. A city that is a little rough around the edges, taking the brunt of the poor economy. Michigan State had been labeled the same as the host of the Final Four: Ugly.

Maybe. Sure, the football mentality of the Big Ten runs over into basketball. Sure, the poor economy has stomped over Detroit.

The slow, planned out offensive schemes. The slow, drawn out traffic on I-75.

It may be ugly. It may be slow. But there is a finesse that cannot be found anywhere else.

The Spartans had a swagger. Detroit has a swagger.

This is a city that created the muscle cars. The Corvette, the Mustang, the Charger. This was a team that created a defensively sound, “family” atmosphere.

In every huddle the Spartans screamed one word. It was not win, nor kill, not even augh! After the injuries and sickness plagued the team.

The Spartans yell “family.”

Senior guard Travis Walton explained it as this: It’s not the Walton Show, it’s not the [sophomore guard] Kalin Lucas Show. It’s the Spartan Show.

It’s not the GM Show, it’s not the Ford Show, it’s not the whatever company Chrysler is now show. It’s the Detroit Show. Detroit put on a great show.

The city was alive and hopping. World records were broken, as were NCAA records.

Hopes were lifted.

Fears were forgotten, and that was just for the players.

We know Michigan and Detroit are in a rough spot, stuck between hard and a rock. This state has been painted as a dire economic state similar to that of the West Virginia coal mines.

Except, last weekend that’s not how people saw it.

People saw Detroit as it was in its hay day. A city alive and kicking. A city that knows how to put on a party, and fill its bars with sport fans.

The actual amount of money brought in by the Final Four has yet to be calculated, but it was a boost in the arm for a city that is trying to hang on.

The Spartans rise to the National Championship Game gave Detroit a strong handhold. There might not be a light at the end of the tunnel, but this past weekend showed where Detroit is heading.

It may be ugly now, but it won’t be forever.

The seventh ranked Ferris State Bulldogs continue to prove that they are a force to be wrecking with in the GLIAC. The Bulldogs, currently 7-1 in the GLIAC, split with Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) and swept both Lake Superior State University (LSSU) and Northwood University last week.

“Softball players and coaches have short memories because there are too many games to be played,” Ferris State head coach Keri Becker said. “It was nice to see our consistent bats and pitching come to life.”

Ferris State came in the way of another long winning streak, this time it was SVSU’s 14 game streak. The Bulldogs snapped the Cardinals streak in the first game of last Wednesday’s double header as they went on to win 5-2. Ferris State rallied behind pitcher Holly Bruntjens as she allowed one earned run and struck out three while going the distance. A two run homerun by second baseman Amanda Harrington in the third inning helped break the game open for the Bulldogs.

In the second game of the double header, things were looking promising for the Bulldogs as they took their 4-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but things shortly turned. A few hits, hit batter and an error helped rally the Cardinals as they were able to pull out the victory. The SVSU win placed them in a tie for first place in the GLIAC with Ferris State and Wayne State.

The short memories from Wednesday’s fiascos were soon gone as the Bulldogs hosted LSSU on Saturday afternoon. The brisk wind didn’t stop the Ferris State offensive bats as hit into 6-3 and 7-2 victories.

Bruntjens got the call in the first game as she shut the Lakers down with her performance while allowing four hits and striking out three. The Bulldogs brought in Shannon Roney to finish off the game as she picked up her first save of the season while striking out five in three innings. Bruntjens helped herself and the Bulldogs out in the top of the fifth as she hit a two run homerun over the left field wall.

The Bulldogs used two more pitchers in the second game as Kayle Stevenson and Rhea Flores took to the circle. Stevenson, 6-0, picked up the victory as she went five innings while shutting out the Lakers. Flores entered her fourth relief appearance on the year as she helped Ferris State continue to roll as she closed out the last two innings.

Flores added two hits into the offensive attack as third baseman Makenzi Peterson added two hits and two RBIs of her own. “The team doesn’t make me feel like I’m a freshman because they make everyone fit in well,” Peterson said about starting at third base.

The Bulldogs traveled to Midland on Sunday as they played the first two games of a home and home series. Once again, Bruntjens took the mound in the starter as she threw five and a third innings while striking out eight and not allowing an earned run. Roney came in to toss the rest of the contest as she only allowed two hits while striking out three and picking up her second save on the season.

It took Ferris State six innings to get on the board but they did so with persistence. The Bulldogs used back to back homers from Bruntjens and Roney to start the scoring frenzy that allowed Ferris State to come out on top. “It was good, I thought I hit a crummy hit off the handle,” Bruntjens said about her homerun. “It’s tough to play back to back against a team, we’ll have to show a different appearance in our pitching staff.”

Ferris State behind the shutout performance of Stevenson put down the Timberwolves 4-0 in the second game of the contest. Stevenson allowed four hits and two strikeouts while the Bulldogs scored early to put away Northwood. The bats were led by first baseman Amanda Jager who added two RBIs.

The Bulldogs look to take two more from the Timberwolves as they go head to head once again at 3:30 p.m. today. “Northwood is a struggling team but everyone has a day, we need to keep up our aggressiveness and come out to play with our pitching and bats,” Becker said. Ferris State looks to continue its home field advantage as they host Findlay at 3:30 p.m. on Friday and Hillsdale at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The Bulldogs will look to take two more from arch rival Grand Valley State on next Tuesday as they head down to Allendale.